How I wore it: heart on my shirt

Today was my first day back at work since Friday (we had our first mini between-term vacation, for students to chillax and for teachers to write grades and comments) and I was not feelin' it. I had a very cute outfit planned, what with boots and tights and skirts and whatnot, but the weather has been warm and humid (not to mention, this morning, rainy), so I decided to wear something a little less…sticky. I didn't bike, as it was pouring when I left my house (natch, it stopped two seconds after I stepped outside, but I had already resigned myself to saving money by taking the school bus, so…), but I managed to get a long bike ride in on Monday and a couple of minutes in yesterday. Not too bad!

Here's my "back to work and thrilled about it" look of the day:

Tilt! Also, these shoes look way greener on iPhoto!

Of course I was already at work when I realized the date (October 8th) - John Lennon's birthday is tomorrow and here I am wearing a Beatles t-shirt in advance. Oh, well. It's not like I don't own other Beatles tees. (By the way, Baby Boots and I are both sitting on the couch as I write this, watching 'Yellow Submarine,' her new favorite movie. I'm a great mom.)

I cuffed the crap out of my black jeans because: a) I really like the look of cuffed pants and oxfords and b) these jeans are ridiculously long on me. I bought them in "tall" over the winter because they didn't have them in regular (and I couldn't wait, as these were replacements for another pair and life without black jeans is no life for me); I figured it wouldn't matter so much, as I tend to wear boots so often. I honestly didn't think of cuffing them until today. I'm so glad I did! 

The weather is supposed to cool down a little the next couple of days, so I'm looking forward to wearing boots again and introducing y'all to one of my favorite pairs. Ever…

Beatles tee: Old Navy (online)

Black jeans: Old Navy (online), remixed

Green oxfords: John Fluevog, remixed

How I wore it: song 2

Just like yesterday, I decided to go with a tried and true classic for me again today: a colorful dress, tights, and tall boots. And, oh boy:

… am I glad I did!

I can't believe I've had this dress for four years. It's been so wonderful for me. It is probably, quite simply, my favorite dress. Every time I wear it, I feel like a super-star and someone says something nice. 

The boots, ah, the boots. I've had them for about a year and a half, but haven't featured them except for once. Although I wear them a lot. 

Tonight the whole family is off to have dinner with friends, so I wanted to be cute, but comfortable for the whole day. I think I pulled it off, by golly!

So, question, Style Nation: This dress says that it's dry clean only, but its lining is polyester and its shell is 97% cotton and 3% spandex. Should I risk washing it by hand/delicates or should I just bite the bullet and send it to the cleaner's? What do you think?

Red dress: Calvin Klein, by way of TJ Maxx, remixed

Grey tights: Gap, remixed

Boots: Paige Riding Boots, by way of Country Outfitter, remixed

How I wore it: ahhhh...

Is there anything better than shrugging on one's tried and true silhouette?

Yeeeeahhhhh! Tunic, skinny jeans, tall boots, grey and black… I mean, this is me, folks! This is how I dressed for all of 2010-2011! 

This was my first tall boot deployment of the year and, damn, was I happy to wear my beloved Fryes. It was raining this morning and I was hesitant to wear my boots out in the weather, but I knew it was supposed to clear up and I took a calculated risk. They did fine and I'm psyched I chose to wear them. 

Ahhh, dark jeans, Fryes, and a tunic. Why haven't I been wearing this every day? 

Grey headband: Urban Outfitters (online), remixed

Charcoal sweater: Gap, remixed

Grey tunic: American Apparel, remixed

Black jeans: Old Navy (online), remixed

Grey jeans: Frye Paige Huaraches, via Zappos.com, remixed

How I wore it: Captain Badass

The weather has been rainy and damp these last couple of days and the schedule for the rest of the week is a little off (it's the last couple of days before the end of the first unit of the year), so I'm a little off-kilter with regards to my biking routine. I was able to bike on Monday, but nothing for the rest of the week, probably. Boooo…

The upside, though, is that I'm able to wear fun outfits that I don't have to worry about getting grease stains on. And long, dangly earrings that won't get caught on my helmet straps… I decided today to wear my favorite badass plaid pants:

Wow, the way the photo (which I edited carefully) appears on the blog is atrocious. I promise that have shoes. And legs, for that matter. Refer here to see the pants and boots in light. 

Not much to say here. A simple black top, cool plaid jeans, and badass black leather boots. I felt great all day, although these jeans aren't the most flattering pants I own. You know what, though? They make me feel great and I always get comments on them. One co-worker calls them my "Sex Pistols pants." A new co-worker complimented them and said she wanted to buy a pair just like them, and my daughter's preschool teacher also admired them. So yay for them and me! 

It's the end of hump day and I'm looking forward to a four-day weekend (with a lot of comment-writing, but still). What's up with y'all?

Black shirt: Gap (online)

Plaid jeans: Gap (online), remixed

Black boots: Fluevog, remixed

How I wore it: eh?

Today, after much internal debate, I decided to wear a dress over leggings for my Monday. We had super-summery weather over the weekend, sunny, with highs in the mid-80s. Today promised us slightly cooler weather, but clouds, so I thought I'd take advantage of the in-between temperatures and wear something I was pretty unsure about.

… And for good reason. Behold:

I mean, the dress itself is cute. I styled it awfully: I don't think it's an "over leggings and casual mocs" kind of dress, but it's an objectively pretty dress. I bought it in the fall of 2006, if you can believe it, after a shopping spree at H&M in Philly with an old friend from NYC. It was a good purchase: I was teaching my own Sanskrit class in university (I was a fourth-year grad student) and a cute dress was a must. 

Since then, I've worn it often - I'm shocked I've never featured it here - usually with boots. However, after I left grad school and - coincidentally - stopped my 5-days-a-week gym habit, this dress was no longer my friend. It clung unflatteringly to my belly and made me self-conscious about looking pregnant years before Baby Boots was a gleam in our eyes. I did wear it while pregnant, which was great. Today, between biking and super-heavy leggings, I was fine with it and even remembered to suck in every once in a while.

But… I just don't know if I like it anymore. I look at my last outfit and I like myself so much in it! Flowy, unstructured dress, flowy sweatshirt… I love it. There's so much to this dress, with its clinginess and short, flowing sleeves, and that red solid detail that flows into a sad bow in the back -

… The least cute pin-up EVER. I look deranged.

You see, it's just so fussy. And I don't know if I do fussy anymore. 

That being said, it's damn cute with tights and boots and who knows if I'll always be working in such a casual environment as I am right now (although I do own a lot of other dresses). I always get complimented when I wear it and it reminds me of happy days in Philly…

So it comes down to your opinion, Style Nation. What should I do with this dress? Donate it or keep it in my closet for a bit longer? Help me out, y'all!

Patterned dress: H&M

White tank (underneath): gift from parents from Geneva, remixed (?)

Grey leggings: Calvin Klein, by way of TJ Maxx, remixed

Mocassins: Minnetonka, by way of Lord and Taylor (NY), remixed

How I wore it: guest star

Hi all! Thursday turned out to be a kind of tough evening in the Boots household, as Baby Boots was just not having it. I lost my patience a couple of times with her, although I was able to put her to bed before 8 PM (she was EXHAUSTED), so I spent most of yesterday (Friday) in a funk, feeling guilty about being a bad mommy and hoping for a do-over.

So yesterday I took my time with Baby Boots and we all ended up having a great evening. It helped that she FINALLY napped at preschool (for the first time since she started transitioning over from Toddlers to Preschool), that the weather was lovely, and that some of her friends were playing outside when we got home.

Something else that helped? I invited her to be part of the photo shoot:

Should've maybe combed her hair before taking the photo…

What a ham. Both the mother and the daughter. Also, who knew that my hair could be neater than someone else's at 6:30 PM? Enter Baby Boots. Her curls are untamable - she's actually got her hair in a bun, but - as the day goes - all those little curls spring out from however she's wearing her hair and just take over. 

Anyway, back to my outfit. It's pretty much identical to this, only with different shoes and my walrus sweatshirt. The weather was going to be lovely, as I mentioned, so I decided to get another wear out of my short black dress and my short black leggings. I wore the sweatshirt out of propriety and was glad to have it on my bike ride home, despite the shining sun and 70 degrees. When I look at/think about this outfit, I sometimes wonder if it comes off as too young. I'm 33, after all, a professional woman with a doctorate and a child and a mortgage. 

But honestly? Screw it. It was perfect for biking, going to preschool and back on foot, and playing in the grass with children. And that's the other big part of me. Over the summer, I had a lot of revelations about identity and selfhood (with regard to my own self) and this outfit is just inching closer to the vision of me that I most like. 

Rock and roll…

Walrus sweatshirt: supermaggie.com, remixed

Black dress: Old Navy (online), remixed

Black leggings: Adidas, by way of TJ Maxx, remixed

Shoes: Target, remixed

How I wore it: basic and stripes

Today we were supposed to get rain (not yet happened, though) and I had an unexpected respite from my usual Thursday faculty meetings, so we arranged for my husband to pick me up early from school today. So while I tend to dress up more extravagantly on Thursdays, as I don't bike, today I wanted to be comfy in case I got caught in the rain.

So I deployed boots (well, booties) for the second time this year and wore one of my new favorite button-down-ish tops. No one gasped in amazement when they saw me, but I really liked my outfit today:

Ignore the closed eyes…

Although this striped shirt is so basic, I have a passionate love for it. I bought it online from J. Crew Factory last spring, as I tend to take advantage of their sales through Gilt. I've often paired it with khakis or jeans, but never with black jeans. I have to admit, for an easy almost-Friday look, I was super-happy with it. 

It doesn't show so well in the photos, but I'm wearing my beloved Fluevog badass short black boots. Still love 'em.

Well, that's all, folks. My daughter and I are installed on the couch, watching the end of 'Yellow Submarine' (I've trained her well). And she's in a pissy mood, so I gotta go deal with that…

Striped shirt: J Crew Factory

Black jeans: Old Navy (online)

Black boots: Fluevog, remixed