On Problems and Progress

I've been doing a lot of thinking lately about returning to the blogging world. I miss writing for myself on a semi-regular basis. However, I also wanted to step away from focusing on my college experience seeing as, well, it's almost over and instead turn to teaching. But I didn't want to do another education blog - those of you who have followed me over here from "COLLEGE" know about my stint with educational related questions.

So I decided to go the ever so slightly less popular route of a teaching fashion blog. I've recently become aware of how my clothing choices impact how I am viewed in the classroom. I used to think I dressed just fine for field experience. I wore slacks or dark jeans without any sort of rips and the occasional skirt or dress. I usually dressed at the level or slightly better than my host teacher, but thinking back, I made some pretty questionable choices.

Basically, I wore a lot of cleavage revealing shirts.

The skirt that changed it all.

About a year ago that all changed. I blame all this on J Crew pencil skirts. Specifically the No. 2 Pencil Skirt in Double-Serge Wool in Heather Acorn. I fell in love with it the moment I saw it online. Such a perfect color that could easily transition from spring to fall. It was the first piece I saw and thought "I'd love to have that for my teaching wardrobe." I'd never thought in this way before. I'd always thought of my everyday wardrobe and teaching wardrobe as overlapping, if not completely the same. This revelation changed how I thought about my clothes. I started exploring and cultivating my sense of style.

That is to say that I started shopping at Urban Outfitters, Modcloth and J Crew. A lot. Lately I've been Kickstarting a lot of sweaters. That needs to stop.

I've heard that you shouldn't jump in head first like I did and try and replace your entire wardrobe at once. I'd say about 75% of what I wear on a daily basis has been purchased in the last 6 months. Listen to me: you probably shouldn't do that. The only reason it worked for me was because I'd been developing my personal style and teacher style independently of each other for a while, I had just never thought of them that way. It's like my styles were in a relationship that everyone knows isn't working anymore, to employ a poor metaphor. They broke up and they still get along fine and everyone is much happier for it.

And it's true, both are more happier for it. I get more compliments on my everyday clothing choices when I'm out with friends and I get more compliments on my teaching clothing choices from my students when I'm doing field service. How I look day-to-day better reflects who I am and how I look in the classroom better reflects the teacher I hope to become. It's a win-win.

So what can you expect from this blog? Once school starts up for the spring semester, my goals is to document my classroom related fashion choices daily. In the meantime, I'll be doing weekly posts of that nature. I'll also be posting about my experimentations with makeup and accessories. I'm sure the break will be more content-heavy as opposed to picture-rich and none of this is set in stone. If you've got ideas for me, feel free to leave them in the comments. For now, I'll leave you with today's selfie. I had two papers and a final due today and then 5 hours of work, so I'm not looking the best. Couldn't resist a red lip though! I have to keep something on them at all times otherwise they'll chap due to the frigid weather we're experiencing.

Finals face!

Question of the day: How do you transition your everyday clothes to your professional wardrobe or is this a non-issue for you?

WIP

Welcome. This is currently a work in progress. Check back later for actual posts. Thanks for stopping by!