shopping – Page 2 – PhD in Clothes

Everlane The Denim Short Review plus outfit ideas

When did shorts go from fine to bad? For me, it was the summer after college. Nothing in particular happened, I just saw myself in a picture of denim shorts and thought “whoa, those are so short.” As I recently complained about in an instagram comment, why is it so hard for women’s clothing designers to get that I want a 5″ inseam, loose leg, and medium wash with no distressing? Where is the happy medium between seductive camp counselor and mom picking kid up from camp?! Anyway, I finally found shorts I feel ok in, and they’re the Everlane Denim Short. Here’s my review and some summer denim shorts styling inspiration.

Influencing and de-influencing myself

How do we know what we want when Instagram decides for us?

This is a question I’ve been asking myself more and more lately. And it sounds like some of you have, too, based on the responses I got on a recent Instagram post, especially among people who are in outfit sharing communities and the ethical fashion community (if you’re a casual instagram browser this might not resonate as much). This all started when I had been pining over this $168 Tradlands button up for months when I finally came to my senses by thinking through a couple questions: 1) why do I want this? and 2) can I get that another way?

4 fun shopping finds for Spring

Colorado is still overproducing snow, which has me dreaming of Spring Break–still a couple weeks away. We just booked our second stay at Amigo Motor Lodge (heart eyes) as a reward for all the dissertation/thesis writing happening in our house (my boyfriend is finishing his MA this year, too!), and this has me daydreaming about warmer weather clothing. Here’s what’s on my wishlist now.

Thrifted haul: March

After my shopping freeze in January, I decided to refocus my shopping efforts. My heart has been set on spring and summer-friendly teaching clothes that I can start integrating into my wardrobe now, but will be useful for the upcoming season and our impending move to a much warmer climate! With that in mind, here are the items I’ve thrifted in the last month.

A review of all my Madewell jeans

Before I started purchasing jeans at Madewell, most of my jeans came from Forever 21. That meant they cost $25 (pro) but also that they were rarely long enough and usually didn’t fit the way I wanted (con….). Then I switched to Gap jeans ($60) and thought they were a lot better, but still not perfect. So today I’m here to answer the question “should I splurge on Madewell jeans?” which is something I have only done in the last 2 years or so. The answer: depends on what you want! I have the Madewell slim boyjean, the skinny skinny high riser, the road tripper, and the 8″ rise skinny jean, so I thought I would just review them all at once here!

Target? For business wear? Groundbreaking.

an unsponsored adventure in which I tried on every item in Target’s new Prologue line

I’ve definitely bought teaching clothes at Target before, but I wouldn’t exactly go there for a suit. But their new line of minimalist business clothes, Prologue, definitely caught my eye, in an Ann Taylor/Everlane sort of way. So today, after I got my flu shot, I decided I deserved a Target trip.

Target trips usually end in new Method cleaning products and desk decor for me, but today I filled my cart with all the REALLY GOOD Prologue stuff and went to try it all on. Here are some of my favorites.

Round-up: Blazers for Fall

I recently had a friend ask me about colorful/statement blazers she could rock for Fall (hiii Amy!). So I thought I would do a round up here.

1) Nerd chic.

Corduroy AND double breasted? This is an academic YES. $56 at ASOS.

One fancy buy for Fall: A leather jacket

I’ve been on the hunt for a good leather jacket for several years now. Yes, years. And in that time, I’ve owned 2 jackets that were almost perfect, but not quite–both because I was trying to jump the gun when I saw them on sale. Anyway, this time, I decided to decide on exactly what I wanted in a leather jacket (minimal hardware, that cool waterfall effect on the front) and then wait until I found THE ONE.

How I buy Madewell items for less

I’ll keep it brief: Madewell is my favorite store. Almost every item I see makes me do grabby hands and say “I want to go to there.” But, Madewell is also a little too expensive for my life. Here are some ways I find it cheaper and on sale.

1) 30% off clearance

At the end of every season, Madewell does a week or so where you can take an extra 30% off clearance items–this is standard for so many retailers, but Madewell keeps the sale rare enough that I actually jump on it when I get the email. And it’s happening right now. Here are my current picks:

J. Crew Sale Picks

I know there’s a bigger sale getting hype on the internet right now (every influencer in the world is blogging about it, rhymes with Pordstrom, no more hints), but I look forward to July because that seems to be the time J. Crew puts their clearance on sale for an extra 50% off, aka the only time I buy their clothes. Here are some of my picks if you’re looking for back-to-school teacher stuff: