How I wore it: attack of the Mondays

Happy Monday, y'all! This weekend flew by for me (no date night outfit, as I was too busy having fun to document anything) and suddenly it's the week again. I received my first panicked e-mail of the year last night from an advanced student and, well… it's starting again.

(But I have potential good news: I was personally invited to a fall reception at the Asian Studies department of a local university. And I've been asked to give a talk on my research. More details to follow once I know more!)

For today's outfit, I'd had something in mind for a while, but I thought I'd be too shy to implement it. However, as last night and this morning wore on, a lot of factors were in my favor: the weather, the wearability of my outfit while biking, and comfort.

So… I wore this:

I bought two different versions of this dress (the other one is blue: see the second outfit) in spring of 2014. I've worn this polka-dot version twice before and, much like its blue counterpart, it's quite short. Since I knew I had to wear it with leggings anyway, I thought "Why not wear this to bike to work?" And so I did. 

The leggings are dark grey, though you can't tell from the photo, and they were also bought a couple of weekends ago. 

While it's not the most flattering dress in the world, I love it, it was quite comfy, and I got loads of compliments on its bright color. I feel as if I'm taking more personal risks with my style - not to mention changing it a fair amount - and there are several factors for this: one is sheer wearability. I now bike a lot and need to be more comfortable than before. I'm also more established at my job, so I feel a little more relaxed. And also? People change. I have different priorities. I feel more comfortable wearing stuff that might have horrified me a few years ago, or at least intimidated me. I'm excited to see where this all goes!

Dress: J Crew Factory

Grey leggings: Calvin Klein, by way of TJ Maxx

Black flats: Me Too, by way of DSW, remixed