What Would a Nerd Wear

Winter Favorites

2012-03-30T13:10:00.000-04:00

Here are some winter favorites. Winter in the midwest was absolutely freezing and it was difficult not to succumb to wearing fleece leggings every day. But I'm proud of figuring out that wool skirts and tights feel a lot warmer than jeans (at least for me) and introducing some color into my winter wardrobe. Again, I haven't linked back to the original posts, but feel free to leave questions in the comments. This is the last of my favorite outfit farewell tour and my last post here--thanks for sticking around for the wrap up and thank you especially for the many overwhelmingly kind comments on the goodbye post. I can't tell you how much they meant. A big and final XO.

Fall Favorites

2012-03-30T09:03:00.000-04:00

Fall is most people's favorite season, and I am no exception. I love sweaters, scarves, layers, and the feeling of going back to school. I didn't link back to the original posts, but feel free to leave questions if you have them and I'll answer them in the comments!

Summer Favorites

2012-03-29T12:55:00.000-04:00

Here are some summer favorites. Summer is a season I didn't actually grow up with in the Bay Area, so I think I'm most proud of this season's outfits, because I finally figured out how to dress for the heat. Unsurprisingly, I also really love how summer encourages dressing really simply. I didn't link back to the original posts, but feel free to leave questions if you have them and I'll answer them in the comments!

Spring Favorites

2012-03-29T08:57:00.000-04:00

Here are some spring favorites. I love seeing the trees come back to life and I've loved spring in DC, which has been far longer than the 9 seconds of spring we used to get in the midwest. I didn't link back to the original posts, but feel free to leave questions if you have them and I'll answer them in the comments!

It's time for me to hang up my hat.

2012-03-28T08:32:00.000-04:00

Dear friends, family, readers, lurkers, and others,

It's been a fantastic two and a half years writing this blog. When I started, I always thought this would be a six-months-to-a-year project. I never anticipated that I'd love it so much, that it would grow to the size it did, or that I'd ever mix patterns :) Most of all, I could not have imagined what an incredible community of other bloggers, grad students, cancer survivors, bibliophiles, and friends this blog would expose me to.

After much thought and some heartache, I've decided it's time for me to hang up my hat here at What Would a Nerd Wear and give myself the time and space to pursue other projects. This blog began when I was immersed in a grad school community and I needed a little creative balance. It was a moment of transition between college and graduate school when I was exploring how to dress more professionally as a graduate student and graduate instructor. This space has been pivotal in helping me explore and practice how to address the sartorial challenges of being a woman, a learner, and a teacher in graduate school. It has been a lot of fun to do things I never anticipated I would: run a website, learn html, wear heels and lipstick for the first time in my adult life, and finally pack a suitcase I can lift. However, I no longer need this blog in the way I once did--I have many creative outlets in DC, I feel more confident in front of my closet, and I am finding myself increasingly craving extra time for my intellectual passions.

I am so grateful for the inspiration so many of you provided and for the kind and encouraging feedback many of you have given along the way. I have kept blogging far longer than I originally planned because of the warmth and kindness of this community, which has been the most rewarding and wonderful part of the past few years. If you'd like, I hope you'll stay in touch via email, twitter, or instagram (whatwouldanerdwear)--a girl can't cut herself off from the internet completely, after all. During this last week, I'll post past seasonal favorites to wrap up and secretly to give my future self a set of Clif's notes for whenever I'm stuck in front of my closet in the morning.

Thank you again for being a wonderful and supportive community! It's been such a fun ride and although I am looking forward to having more time for my dissertation, my friends, and my Christopher, I suspect I will miss this hugely.

Love and many thanks,
Tania

Girl (last) Friday

2012-03-26T09:59:00.000-04:00

works cited: j. crew factory tee; thrifted skirt; UO flats and belt; RIP sunglasses which I stepped on later during the weekend

In the name of honesty, this outfit is actually from last Friday, a day where bright colors and mixed patterns seemed to celebrate the warmth and weekend ahead. Christopher, his brother, and I spent the afternoon on the roof of a building in our neighborhood, soaking up the sunshine and a few Fat Tires. Fittingly, for a Monday spent camped out at a coffee shop soaking up americanos, I am wearing all grey today :)

P.S. Skirt previously:

Once More

2012-03-22T15:51:00.000-04:00

works cited: emersonmade skirt; gap shirt; breda watch; target flats; bag for free back at school

I poached this outfit from my pinterest board--nothing prettier than denim and a yellow skirt. Today I'm finishing up revisions on a chapter and I'm going to try to visit the cherry blossoms once more before they leave us for the season--they're so pretty, I can't help but to try to ride my bike out there every day until they're gone.

Viva la Spring!

2012-03-21T08:38:00.000-04:00

works cited: emersonmade skirt (at wholesale); target flats; etsy necklace; gap tee and jacket; thrifted bag; hand-me-down watch

I am glad to see spring arrive, even after the winter that wasn't. It's great to have bare legs, trees budding, sunshine until 7:30, dinner on the plentiful roof decks of the District of Columbia, books and drum circles in the park, long bicycle rides without mittens, yellow skirts, the return of homemade popsicle experiments in my freezer, and as many trips as I can squeeze in to the capitol to see the cherry blossoms as they're blooming. Welcome spring, I hope you stay awhile!

Repetition Compulsion

2012-03-20T15:22:00.006-04:00

works cited: j. crew factory skirt; UO striped top; target flats; thrifted bag; lanyapi necklace; breda watch

One of my friends who is visiting this week, Caitlin, is super-stylish and has a funny habit when it comes to getting dressed. She goes through phases with her clothes where she'll love one piece and wear it--over and over again in a bunch of different ways--for several weeks, before moving on to the next item. Over the years, she's done this with her favorite embellished white tee, a printed skirt, high-heeled clogs, a black coat with an oversized collar, a vintage red silk dress, and once during sophomore year of college, I swear she wore a green and white tank printed tank top for three weeks straight. She always looks fabulous and if you're lucky enough to get in the way when she's cleaning out her closet, you'll come home with amazing stuff. Anyway, whenever I wear the same thing several days in the row, I think I'm picking up Caitlin's habit of repeating the same piece over and over--and if I'm lucky, I'll look half as good as she always does :)

Picnic Weather

2012-03-19T09:34:00.003-04:00

works cited: j crew factory skirt; five bamboo tee; h&m sweater; lanyapi necklace a gift from christopher (from nana's in DC); steve madden flats; nutcase helmet (from bicycle space in DC); my bicycle is a vintage raleigh triumph that christopher restored for me; his is an 80's trek that he found on craigslist and restored himself

This weekend, when Christopher and I both returned from our trips, we took our bicycles out for an afternoon picnic under the cherry blossoms on the potomac. I've gotten cabin fever this winter, working indoors so often and living in an apartment without any kind of outdoor space, so I was dying to be outside in the sunshine this weekend. The day was perfect--sunny and breezy and smelling like spring--and I kept wishing I could bottle it (as the old adage goes, those who cannot bottle, photograph). This week I have an embarrassment of riches--two of my best friends from college are visiting and so is Christopher's twin brother--but I promise to keep posting (if only for you, Mama!). XO.

Another Trip, Same Tiny Suitcase

2012-03-14T08:45:00.000-04:00

It's been a busy month traveling! This week I'm out west on a "working vacation," one of my family's favorites, where you pack your laptop and books and head somewhere beautiful. Christopher is traveling for work, so I decided to skip out on the city for a week and get some west coast sunshine. My last trip's packing project was such a success, I decided to try it again: 8 pieces and 8 outfits (I cheated and didn't count shoes). Here goes:

(denim skirt from spotted moth; bdg cranberry cords; gap black dress; loft orange cardigan; gap white sweater; j. crew factory denim shirt; target striped tee; h&m polka dot blouse; the poor picture quality is all my responsibility)

Overall, I think round one was a bit more successful, but I was happy with this one, too. I'm beginning to think 8 pieces is enough for any trip I'd need to go on. In any case, I have been clothed throughout my trip, and that's what counts the most, right? I'll be back Monday! xo

And This One's For Me

2012-03-13T16:53:00.001-04:00

works cited: ruche skirt; h&m top; thrifted belt; target flats; bag from out of print; earrings from a street stand

If Friday's outfit was for my mom, this one is definitely for me. Mixing stripes and leopard is something I would not have thought to do before I started this blog but I have come to love the mismatched combination. It's like french fries dipped in a milk shake--unexpectedly great together (and with much less potential for causing heart attacks).

This One's For You, Mom

2012-03-09T13:04:00.000-05:00

works cited: ruche skirt; crewcuts boys sweatshirt; found locket; target flats; j.crew belt; tote free from a bookstore on campus

My mom called me the other day to tell me two things: "You aren't posting enough!" and "I think your simple outfits are the very best. If I were writing your blog, no one would read it because you'd be wearing your red pants and a gray top every day. Those simple outfits highlight your natural beauty [words only a mama would say]." So here's a very simple look for you, Mom, because I like simple outfits best, too, even if they aren't flashy or glamorous. In a skirt and a gray top, I feel very much like myself, and sometimes simple is just what I'm in the mood for.
Hope you have a terrific weekend!

Spring Book Recommendations!

2012-03-07T09:13:00.000-05:00

(still from here, from this video)

It's been a while since my last book recommendation post, but I hope my tardiness has at least produced an airtight list of recommended reads. You can find my suggestions and a link to a longer reading list after the jump.

The City & The City (China Miéville)--Easily my favorite book of the last few months, The City & The City is set in two fictional neighboring eastern European cities whose contentious political rivalry has forced the cities to remain completely separate, with a mysterious and frightening border control system to police the borderlines. It's a mystery novel and it hits the ground running with a very strange murder that occurs between the two cities, forcing the two governments to communicate in order to understand the murder. Typically, I don't care for the jerky pacing of mystery novels, but this one belies its genre: it is subtle, beautifully-written, and its political commentary is complex. I literally couldn't put it down.

Waiting for Sunrise (William Boyd)--This is out in the UK but comes to American bookstores in April. I was hooked from the start, where the protagonist is an early psychoanalysis patient with a colleague of Freud's in Vienna. The plot is fast-paced (sometimes a bit tricky to follow) but the inclusion of history, psychology, salacious love affairs, botched spy missions, and some strange narrative strategies made this a winner in my book. It reminded me of a more sensational version the The Untouchable, one of my all-time favorite novels.

Mrs. Woolf and the Servants (Alison Light)--I actually read this last year for my comp exams, but I've been re-reading it for one of my chapters and loving it. The academic in me can't recommend this without the cliched academic "some-of-this-is-pretty-problematic" caveat--Light is purportedly restoring the marginal narratives of Woolf's household employees, but she writes their stories primarily through the lens of Woolf or in relation to Woolf. Part of this disjunction stems from the difficulty of finding a lot of accurate historical sources on the servants outside of Woolf's letters and diaries. But since I am more interested in Woolf and her experience in the house than the servants, this wasn't an enormous drawback for my reading experience. To get to the point: this is a great read for history buffs, or people who enjoy a well-drawn biography. Light's portraits of the servants and their lives are peppered with great factoids, her writing is accessible and light on its feet, and the book has a great narrative, so it's a pleasure to read even while you're absorbing an enormous amount of history.

Last time, a few people asked if I had a Pinterest board for what I've been reading, so I made one! If you're interested, you can find it here. I update it every so often with books I'm starting or finishing, and the comments can be fabulous--it's like crowd-sourcing opinions on your next read. It includes other books I liked but didn't lurve (for example, MWF Seeks BFF, a really fun memoir/pop-sociological study on female friendship; or The Lonely Polygamist, which fascinated me because it was about polygamists but failed the Bechdel test despite the abundance of female characters).

Read anything great lately? Do you have a pinterest reading board, too? Please leave your suggestions/opinions/recommendations/counterpoints below!

Infantile

2012-03-06T08:19:00.000-05:00

works cited: ruche dress, loft cardigan; thrifted belt; steve madden boots; (in the corner bag from foyles in london, coat from h&m, scarf from etsy)

I'm not ashamed to admit that I prowl the pages of the J. Crew children's catalogue for inspiration for my fully-grown closet. I openly wish it was as fun to get dressed as an adult as it was as a kid, when my sole aims in the morning were to wear something that:
a. made me look like I belonged in a Little House on the Prairie book or
b. irritated my mother because the "colors clashed" or
c. both
The ideal outfit for fulfilling my historical-fiction-fantasies and inciting my mother's annoyance (largely a show for my gleeful benefit) was red and pink together with a makeshift "pinafore" layered over it and some really grubby black lace-up boots which I fancied were "pioneer shoes." It was magnificent, I'll tell you.
But this has gotten off-track: as I was flipping through the Crewcuts catalogue, I saw some great combinations of polka-dot dresses and bright cardigans and thought, that looks cheerful and I'm going to wear it, too. I think my 8 year-old self would agree, though she probably would have layered a pinafore over the whole get-up.

Orange You Glad

2012-03-05T08:39:00.001-05:00

works cited: loft sweater; anthro blouse from my sister a few years back; gap jeans; thrifted bag

I secretly think Pantone's dictums about the color of the season are a bit ridiculous, but I do like the orange it choose for springtime--it's bright and cheerful and goes with all the pinks and yellows I typically love. Plus it makes a great occasion to reference out the oldest and most repetitive fruit-themed knock knock joke in the book.

Transitions

2012-03-02T09:14:00.000-05:00

works cited: gap sweater; j. crew skirt; blowfish flats; breda watch; bag from NPR (long live radiolab); earrings from a stall at eastern market

Like a lot of people, I'm getting a little tired of my winter clothes so I went digging in my storage bins to see if my summer clothes could enliven the stuff I've been wearing all winter long. I really like the look of white on white (a la this photo) especially with the juxtaposition of a winter knit and a summer skirt. This has been a busy week and I'm really looking forward to the weekend--I'm planning on going for a fancy cocktail at the cozy Tabard Inn if the weather is dreary and spending my hard-earned pennies at Kramer Books (come across any good books lately?). I hope you have a great weekend!

Spring Chicken

2012-03-01T09:24:00.000-05:00

works cited: spotted moth dress; necklace and bcbg sweater gifts from my former roommate; steve madden boots

With spring around the corner, I've been able to take my bare knees out for a spin a couple times this week, which has felt lovely. The warmth has definitely been a panacea for midterm deadlines, grading, and other grad school ailments of the to-do-list variety. Somehow everything feels more do-able when the sun is shining outside. Viva la springtime!

Number One Bows

2012-02-28T09:51:00.000-05:00

works cited: gap jeans; ralph lauren outlet button-up; madewell sweater; j.crew boots; american apparel sash

I've worn this outfit a couple times this winter and haven't yet managed to get a picture of it. I started wearing the giant bow first as a joke when I went to high tea a month or two ago, but then I ended up keeping the bow on all weekend, long after tea was over and the bow was an ironic costume-piece. Now I unapologetically love the slightly cartoonish, playful vibe it lends an otherwise preppy outfit. It makes me feel like I walked out of one of my childhood Frances Hodgson Burnett novels.

I'd Like to Thank the Academy

2012-02-27T08:47:00.001-05:00

works cited: h&m skirt; secondhand j. crew jacket; american apparel sweatshirt; hue tights; thrifted bag; steve madden boots; hanes tee shirt; necklace from the summercamp lost and found

I threw this on yesterday to run a few errands and ended up wearing it straight through the day and into the evening, where I watched the Academy Awards with a few friends late into the night (and lost in our betting pool, as usual). Last year, I was obsessed with True Grit and was crushed when it didn't win Best Picture. This year, I really liked The Artist and Midnight in Paris (a great literary nerd movie if you haven't seen it) and was cheered to see them both do well. Did you watch? Any favorites win or get snubbed?
P.S. An interesting article about the make up of the Academy.

8 Outfits, 1 Very Small Suitcase

2012-02-22T14:53:00.001-05:00

My latest trip back to the Midwest was a packing challenge. I am an egregious over-packer by nature--I'll bring a 50-pound duffel on a 10-day trip--but last week I really needed extra space in my teeny carry-on to bring books and photocopies back, so I tried to whip myself into shape with a packing challenge. Inspired by Elsie's 8 pieces, 8 Outfits, I thought that I'd pack only 8 pieces (plus 2 pairs of shoes) for my week-long trip. These outfits are definitely basic, but I was proud of how much wear I got out of each piece. Here is a mostly-accurate* rundown of what I wore on my trip:

pink dress from ruche; steve madden boots; h&m striped tee and blazer; gap jeans; j.crew white tee, plaid shirt and cardigan; UO flats
*Modifications: I actually packed danskos (go ahead and laugh) instead of flats because the weather was pretty snowy and rainy, but had the weather been slightly better, these flats would have been the shoe of choice (they take up much less space and they're about 12 times cuter).

This was a fun experiment, I'm off to give myself a few pats on the back for packing so lightly and conquering my tripod to take my own almost-in-focus-photos--huzzah!

[CLOSED] Giveaway: $50 to Ruche!

2012-02-21T12:53:00.002-05:00

Today you have the chance to win $50 to my favorite online shop, Ruche. Their affordable and pretty clothes are a staple in my closet. They also have rad lookbooks and often include great literary references (like Ibsen, above, one of my favorites). To enter, check out Ruche and leave a comment below. I'll pick a winner next week. Good luck!
P.S. If I won, I'd buy this striped dress.
P.P.S. I'll be back with regular posts starting tomorrow, I promise. It's been a crazy week! xo
UPDATE: the winner is Christie! Thanks for playing.

Ten Years of Life

2012-02-15T12:10:00.005-05:00

I don't usually give in to sentimentality or to the personal overshare but I'm making an exception for today, which marks the ten year anniversary of the day I was diagnosed with leukemia. The day I was diagnosed made me anxious for the day when life would "return to normal." While life has returned to normal in many big ways, it is completely different in all the small ways. I find it impossible to take beautiful moments and even difficult ones for granted now, because I am reminded of what I've fought through to make it there. So even when I am crying on the steps of the Library of Congress about my dissertation chapter, I am always also thinking, "What a blessing to be alive and to have the luxury to cry about this!" Today I feel so happy to be healthy and long-of-hair; I feel deeply indebted to my parents who sacrificed so much of their own lives in the pursuit of my wellness; and most of all, I am grateful just to be alive, and to experience all the goodness and all the hardships that come with it.

Out of the Office

2012-02-13T08:57:00.000-05:00

works cited: thrifted skirt; UO belt; jcrew boots and tee; h&m sweater

This week, I'm back to my beloved flyover zone for some meetings, research in the library, and catching up with friends at the university. This week will be low on posts for two reasons: I have a lot to get done; and I can't fit my camera (or really many clothes) in my bag because I have to save space for all the books I need check out! A girl's got to have her priorities straight, right?
One funny thing I've been thinking about: It's the first time I've been back to the midwest and my home university since I moved to DC and I am so excited for my trip. Four years ago (in my first year of grad school), I remember visiting my sister in California for spring break and when I landed back in Chicago to gray, drizzly, wintery-mix skies, I burst into tears on the runway. If you had told me that just a few years later, I'd be over the moon with excitement as I flew back over those cornfields, I never would've believed you. I'm amazed at how much has changed in the past five years, and I'm looking forward to DC eventually feeling as much like home as the midwest came to feel.
See you next week!

work/alvin ailey/work

2012-02-10T08:55:00.002-05:00

works cited: megan nielsen skirt; h&m top; j.crew boots; hue tights; breda watch

This week has been a bit nuts for me as I race toward deadlines, but I did take Wednesday evening off to go to an Alvin Ailey dance performance with Christopher, which was incredible. I had seen them once before in 1998 after my 8th grade English class did a whole unit on "Revelations." It was such a treat to see it again, especially in the middle of a crazy week.