dressing

I started out my first professor job in new shoes, dress pants, and some nice silk shirts that my sister bought me as a PhD graduation gift.  I had a strong desire to dress like a professor even if I didn't look old enough to be one.  At that point only about 5 years had passed since I was a clerk in a law firm, so most of those professional-attire things still worked too.

But now?  I am actually old enough to have worn out most all of those dress clothes.  I have been in a bit of denial and didn't want to either fork over the money or endure the psychological "scars" of moving on to new professional clothes.  So I stopped dressing nicely, adopting the more "casual professor" look.  I had even convinced myself that wearing jeans or cords meant that I had somehow reached some level of professional maturity that I didn't need the clothes to make the professor anymore.


Whatever.  


I wore a nice professional dress and little heels to a couple of meetings with administrators and a journalist yesterday and the reaction to me felt quite different than usual.  How much of that was me and how much was them, who knows.  Whichever the case...


I just got a total bee in my bonnet and ordered a bunch of grown-up clothes online.  While I'd been feeling the desire to update my wardrobe since before M was born, I hadn't yet felt comfortable enough with my post-baby body shape, or milk-excretion (which is now completely over, M & I aren't nursing at all anymore), or spending the money, or seeing styles that I actually wanted to wear.  But now after a field season of lots of physical activity, a return to my old bra size, and a month of summer salary I was ready.


That is when a perfectly timed 10% off from Boden with free shipping & returns email showed up in my in-box and check out some of my selections...  

Maybe the dresses and heels are a bit too feminine for my 20% female faculty department.  But you know what?  Who gives a shit?  Not me anymore.