white pleated button-down (Martin & Osa)
grey blazer (Gap)
plaid skirt (Loft)
grey tights (Hue)
riding boots (Etienne Aigner via DSW)
Usage:
On the last day of May I declared a personal hiatus from the formal classroom. Today, five months later, I'm returning to school. Although I'm only filling in as a substitute teacher, I'm excited and nervous to operate in an academic setting again.
Today I'm sporting equestrian-inspired footwear to commemorate jumping back in the academic saddle. My skills may be rusty, but my enthusiasm for education has undergone a revival. Giving myself a breather, exploring other employment options, and reacquainting myself with arts education have reminded me how much I enjoy learning. Here's hoping that energy sustains me through this period of re-training.
Not only is this new teaching experience allowing me to exercise a dormant part of my brain, but it's also enabling me to explore a neglected section of my closet: professional clothes. Months ago, when I felt overwhelmed by DIY house projects, I longed for this day. Now I'm relishing the break from casual apparel and embracing professional attire.
I especially like that the changes in my employment coincide with the changes in season. It infuses the "turning over a new leaf" concept with new meaning. (And there's a bit of schmaltz to get you through Friday.)
Enjoy the weekend!
Prompts:
- I mentioned that my professional clothes have been on vacation until now. Do you organize your closet according to context -- sorting clothes into "casual" and "professional" categories -- or do you cross-purpose your clothes to suit a variety of settings?
- Is this outfit overly themed? Too, erm, suitable for a polo match?
- Teachers, what are your favorite go-to ensembles?
Posts
10 comments:
Good luck today! Substituting can be a challenging task, so I think a put-together outfit as you've created here is a great choice for feeling you've got things under control and for looking the part of someone in charge. (Depending on the school/class, that can get tricky for a sub.)
I love the skirt and the boots especially.
Knock 'em dead, Anne-Marie!
I love your outfit! Those boots and that skirt are adorable! I think you look fine, not too 'themed.' I work at a private artsy school so I usually don't get this formally dressed up for my job, but you look cute. :)
You'll be fantastic!
The combination of grey and brown is brilliant, and I like how you evoked the equestrian look without looking like you just hopped off a horse. It takes it from being too theme-y and makes it much more classic.
I tend to sort my closet by style which tends to encompass suitability for work or play... But I love this outfit! I'm a fan of the equistrian feel and my only opinion would be to lighten the white top. It a bit TOO buttoned-up for my taste :)
pretty stockings!
I love this outfit, very academic! I have the same skirt :)
I mix and match pretty much everything in my closet so, I don't seperate it by purpose just by color so it's easy to match things up...
I love this outfit, and I hope subbing went well! I also like the brown and gray, and it doesn't strike me as too themed at all.
I tend to differentiate between hanging clothes and folding clothes, and most of my casual clothes tend to be cotton, so they get stored in my dresser. Everything else, though, whether it's casual or dressy, I hang together in the closet.
On another tangent-- I continue to be amazed by the turn in signification tall boots have undertaken since I started teaching in 04. Coming from Chicago, where tall boots in winter were the norm for young professionals, I wore a pair of tall boots with tights and a knee length skirt to teach. The things students said to me about them made me uncomfortable, but when a friend of mine told me they'd been calling them my "dominatrix" boots in her class, I swore them off forever. (They didn't even have a heel that was tall or skinny! And they had a round toe!) These days there are so many more options, including shoes with a flatter heel, and I see people teaching in them all the time.
-Liz
Thanks for the encouragement! My first day went well, due in part to sartorial choices, I bet ;) Looking authoritative helped me earn the students' respect, so I'll feel more comfortable dressing casually in the future.
Liz, not sure how to comment on the turn in signification of tall boots you've noticed. You suggest the differences in perception might be closely related to region; that'd be my guess, too. In high school I owned a pair of boots nearly identical to the ones you described, and I don't remember them prompting sexual jokes. Then again, I didn't have a thoughtful teacherfriend to clue me in, so I wouldn't have known. ;) Still, thanks for mentioning your observation. Tall Boot Signification is on my radar now!
-AM
Amazing pics totally loved your boots and skirt. You look like a celebrity, Good luck :)
Frans
Classy and perfect, with grey tights.
Trop belle
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