What do you do when temperatures swing wildly in your classroom over the course of the day? Dress in layers, obviously. My classroom is on the third floor, on a south eastern corner. This means I have an incredible view, and the morning the sun shines directly though the large windows straight at my smartboard and heats up the room to sweating temperature. Then in the afternoon, the sun shines directly into the lab portion of my room, turning that half into a hotbox and ensuring all photosynthesis experiments go really, really well. The key here is that the lab room is separated from the classroom by a almost a full wall, meaning my classroom mellows out into a really comfortable temperature near the end of the day. Anyways, here is an outfit from hella days ago. I wasn’t planning on taking photos, until my friend Melissa said, “That’s a cute outfit. Are you taking photos?” Well gosh, I guess so then!
Almost everything here is old. The coat and boots are from the Brooklyn years, which by now is more than 5.5 years ago. They have both held up well though, in terms of durability and style. The one new to the blog item here is the eyelet top I bought last month on super sale (extra 40% off!) at Anthropologie. It’s comfortable, but really short in the body which I fixed by wearing a tan colored tank underneath. I really like white frilly tops for school, as they make jeans look just a bit more dressed up. Happy almost Thanksgiving break everyone!
Another day, another attempt at copying an outfit from Pinterest. It was nice to be able to peel off layers during class, only to pile them back on during prep periods. Still super digging my reversible bomber jacket. In hindsight, I should have fully tucked in my shirt – it looks sloppy. But hey-ho, anything goes sometimes!
It’s been snowing here in Denver, but it’s only October! It seems like fall came and went in a blink of an eye. An early snow storm ran through Colorado just at the start of the changing leaf colors, which made all the trees drop their leaves while still green. Tomorrow is Halloween, and we have about a foot of snow outside, and a SNOW DAY today. The storm started on Monday, and we got an early release yesterday from school. I snapped these pictures during lunch, right when we got the email that we could go home at noon. I was pretty excited at the prospect of a snow day brewery trip with co-workers and snapped these in a hurry so they’re a bit fuzzy!
I really liked this day’s outfit. I had pinned this picture long ago on Pinterest and finally got around to recreating it. I’ve had these items in my closet for a while now, so the new star of the show is a Uniqlo reversible bomber jacket. I saw it on a mannequin while in the shop this past weekend and spent a ridiculous amount of time trying to find it on the women’s floor. Turns out, it was a men’s item. I wear men’s clothes all the time, so I tried on the XS (I normally wear a small or medium at Uniqlo depending on the item), and into the shopping bag it went. I need another jacket like I need a hole in my head, but that day I bought two more because I’m a sucker without any self control. The jacket is reversible, y’all. It’s like a two for one! There is currently a women’s version as a puffer, but I preferred the colors and the bomber style of the men’s. I instantly felt like a super cool sailor man when I paired it with a beanie (later at the brewery) and stripes.
Normally I only post positive kid quotes, but today I’m getting real honest. “Don’t even give me attitude. I didn’t come to school for your attitude” was what a kid told me when I told him to get off Snapchat while in class. Yup. srsly.
jacket and sweater: uniqlo – shirt: cos – jeans: bgd – boots: ll bean
I read a NYT article recently that made me feel like a total sheep, but with fashion. This actually happens pretty often. I’m not exactly ground breaking in my fashion choices, and obviously, fashion is just a hobby for me. I would say that I pay low attention to the trends of fashion in terms of runways, medium/high attention to the trends of fashion in terms of Pinterest/blogs, and very high attention to what I see in real life. My recent boot purchase was directly influenced and fueled by this blog, Girls Of a Certain Age. Kim France was the longtime editor of Sassy Mag and then Lucky Mag back in their heydays of the 90’s and the 00’s (aka my fashion formative years). I’ve always liked her style, though to be honest, always annoyed by her writing. She uses words like “slouchy” and “natch” so often it’s predictable and dated. As I typed that last sentence, I instantly started wondering which words I overuse to describe fashion in this blog…
I’ve been following Kim’s (and Andrea Linett’s) fashion choices for so long I’ve heard them wax poetic about clogs, specifically No.6 clogs, for years. That brand is a bit on the $$ side though, so in my clog wearing years (my first pair was back when H&M did their colab with Swedish Hasbeens), I’ve found more reasonable alternative brands, and I’ve amassed quite the collection of clogs. One of these brands is Sven Clogs based out of the state of the “hot-dish” (a term I learned from my Minnesota native friend Sara), Minnesota. Granted, this brand can also be a bit pricey, but they run specials all the time and they have a pretty nice closeout section. In addition, they often do “deals of the day” where a staple style of theirs goes on discount for the day. The last 2 years, I’ve waited for their Black Friday sale where they usually do 20% off all clogs.
One of the most famous No.6 styles is the clog boot, two words that don’t seem like they should ever go together. I’ve been eyeing this pair for ages, and have almost purchased them a number of times, always pulling back at the checkout page, gagging at the final price. It’s just still too much to pay for shoes with my teacher’s salary. The most expensive pair of shoes I own right now are my recently purchased Red Wing Boots, which rang in at almost $300 after taxes (I’m convinced I’m going to wear them forever).
While I’ve been eyeing the leather boots, the shearling version had wiggled its way into my fashion brain. It’s snowing here in Denver as I type, and that’s how I’m justifying these Ugg-boots-cum-clogs that may seem revolting at first but then you realize how genius they are. B the Australian really, really, dislikes them, but I blame that on his distain for the Ugg boot trend and how Americans wear them outdoor (apparently they are supposed to be indoor slippers). Sven has an exact copy of the same boot (admittedly for the same price), but they have a closeout section, and I since I subscribe to their newsletter, I caught wind of a special they were running – $175 for all shearling boots in the close outs – and they had them in my size in black. Even though it was the middle of summer at the time I jumped at the sale, and how that it’s Winter, I’m very glad that I did. These boots are THE BEST. I’ve been wearing them without socks (as suggested), and I’ve walked quite a bit in them. My feet stay so warm, I’ve yet to get even a hint of a blister, and they are so easy to pull on and off. I imagine I’m going to wearing them for winter walks to dinner or to the brewery. I have yet to see these boots on anyone else here in Denver, but I’ve already been asked a few times in hushed tones “are those No. 6 boots?” #winning
I haven’t been on here lately – my remote shutter release broke, which means walking back and forth across the classroom to the camera for a 12s timer to take every photo, and no busy teacher has time for that. I have though, still been getting dressed every morning, sometimes in stuff that is new and that I really like. In addition, I’ve been getting some interesting comments from the kids about my clothes. Read on to get a good chuckle here and there.
Shirt: topo designs – jeans: levis – boots: red wing boots
I don’t usually play favorites with outfits, but this one was definitely a hit with the kids. This was the debut of my new Red Wing boots, and the very first snow of the year here in Denver. It had gone from 81˚F on a Tuesday afternoon, down to 20˚F by that night, dropping tens of degrees over a just a few hours. I left the gym that evening in a tank top only to rush home to harvest anything and everything ripe or unripe from the garden. I ended up with about a pound of very green cherry tomatoes to make into a meh green salsa later in the week. Anyways, these new Red Wing boots are the best. Not cheap by any means, but I expect these to become old favorites year after year like my Blundstones.
This Topo Designs shirt I picked up at the company’s warehouse sale this past summer for just five bucks. It has pockets!!! I stumbled onto the sale via their insta account and went early that morning on my own just to see what was available. I ended up walking away with heaps of stuff, all at a screaming deal. So I learned one thing that day – If there is a brand you like and they are local, follow them on Insta. You might just get lucky!
This particular afternoon as I walked down the hall to a meeting with my arms overflowing with my jackets, coffee mug, computer, and backpack, a kid yelled down the hall, “I can f*ck with that fit, Miss!” It took me a few seconds to translate that phrase into old person speak before I could yell back, “Thanks!”. Translation: I like your outfit.
earrings: a small shop in nashville whose name has been forgotten already – top and pants: uniqlo – shoes: birkenstock
I have just one photo from this day, because I didn’t have any free time other than bathroom breaks. I had five minutes to snap this picture before kids came in to retake a quiz during lunch. Also that day, my planning period was sucked up by a meeting, and my classroom gets used now during my second planing period for the day (our school is getting bigger – I’m dreading having to move around and share classrooms all the time).
These pants though, are a new favorite. They are basically fancy sweats and so damn comfortable while looking interesting and polished at the same time. It’s no secret that I love somewhat weird architectural cuts and that I love Uniqlo. So the Uniqlo U line is perfect for me. These pants look really weird styled by Uniqlo, but when I tried them on, they looked normal, just a bit “interesting”. I texted a photo to my friend Melissa and she said I could pull them off, so straight to the register it was. B thought they were weird and cartoony. I actually love how they remind me of Popeye the sailor man with the exaggerated cartoony legs. The kids also approved. One girl that morning: “Miss, i like your pants.” “Thanks! My husband said they look like cartoon pants.” *scoffs* “Miss, you can do better!” *shakes her head* “cartoon pants…” *scoffs*
earrings and hair pick: cant remember anymore – sweater and t shirt: uniqlo – belt: gap – jeans: levis – shoes: mohinders
This was what I wore yesterday to school for parent teacher conferences (on a Friday). I planned to wear a blazer and smarten up my look for parent meetings, but I decided that “warm and casual” would endear my RBF to the parents more. I know, big eye-roll from me too. But after my last Back to school night experience with parents that are hard to please, I wanted to try and avoid the whole “she’s so serious and unfriendly” shtick.
No funny kid story here, just a few eye leakers. I was told by more than a few parents that my class was their kid’s favorite, and that they couldn’t shut up about how interesting it was. *tears* pats self on back* I also got a few of “why do you have an F in Physics?!?” *sigh*
This post is coming a week late, but it’s a perfect example of my Friday mantra: comfortable and casual. Last Friday I wore my comfiest pair of black pants from Forever 21. You could do yoga and bike to work in these babies even though they are high waisted and marketed as jeans. My new thing this school year are clothes that trend towards the “athleisure” look. I hate that word, and it reminds me of 20 somethings in makeup wearing Lululemon and spotless Nikes while they shop at Whole Foods for prepared meals (I’m so judge-y, I’m sorry, not sorry). But here we are – I am one of them now. I shop at Athleta, I’m technically wearing a workout shirt here, and I now own more than a few pairs of Nikes. I draw the line at Lululemon though….for now.
I always wear a dress on back to school night. I wore the same one three years in a row, and It was about to be four, but then I spied my blue COS coat/dress thing in my closet. I was convinced I’d get a lot of wears out of this thing – and this outfit was just wear number 2. I’ve really been trying to buy less this past year, and buy more mindfully. But I’ve failed, as evidenced by this blue coat I bought back 9 months ago and have worn exactly twice. I do still like it a lot, I just need to figure out more ways to style it, as its quite the bright statement. I need to get as much use out of it as possible while this weather lasts. Once winter hits, I’ll be living in my Arc’teryx Atom forever.
The sandals on the other hand, have gotten many, many wears over the years (since 2012), and will be a staple in my closet for years to come. They give just enough “fancy” to elevate a simple t-shirt dress into something appropriate to meet parents in.
On that note, I really need to work on my Back to School Night game. I’m terrible at meeting parents. I’m not the best at small talk in general, and I always feel socially awkward around adults. My prepared speeches always disappoint, I get thrown when I get told kids names as if I only have one Jessica, and my words always come out fast, shaky, nervous, insecure, and therefore curt sounding. I always end up with at least one angry parent. This year, I had one parent say, “That’s it?!?” at the end of my intro/welcome to my class talk. Sigh. You’d think I’d have this all figured out by my 11th year, but nope. Every year I get more and more involved parents who want to know things – I just don’t know what it is they want to know! Who has a Ted talk on giving good Back to School Ted talks? I need to watch it.
coat: cos – dress: uniqlo – belt: jcrew – sandals: madewell – earrings: sara boeck – watch: fitbit
Every time I see these jeans in my pants drawer, I think about trying to recreate this image with what I have. It just looks so relaxed but chic with the clogs, and white linen-but-ruffly top. When I see an outfit like this, I picture some ridiculously cool 30 something mom with a chubby little baby and a cool minimalist but impeccably designed and decorated Spanish villa style house in LA somewhere. Definitely not me in any way. I think I ended up looking more like the adult-kiddie version with my new favorite hair accessory, the snap hair clips in pastels. Also, a kid said to me, “Miss, I like your pockets!” #winning
It was bound to happen one day. Most days I am inadvertently matching with a fellow teacher. Today, I went to the door to let in my AP Bio class, and there was my outfit, on another person, a student. Obviously I had to ask her for a quick photo, and her permission to post this online. I really don’t mind matching with her though because she is so darn cool looking 😉
shirt: uniqlo (on both) – jeans: levis (unknown on her) – shoes: birkenstocks and vans
School is officially in session! The first week is coming to a close and I’m just now getting around to posting about the first days of school. It’s always hard to break back into the teaching routine every fall. I’m exhausted by the end of the teaching day and my body feels like it’s been run over by a truck by the time I get home (after a HIIT or spin class after school as well). I’m sure I look like a zombie walking out of the building every afternoon, it’s so hard to be “on” as an introvert after such a relaxing summer of being “off”.
It’s been a great week so far though. I have a fantastic group of kids this year, for real. I know I say this every year, but these kids are so freaking awesome this year in both Physics and AP Bio. I’m very excited, as cliche as it sounds. We did labs these past 2 days and I was blown away by the thinking these kids were doing. So much creativity and insight, I’m really going to have to ramp things up this year! I’m also super thankful to be able to teach the same subjects for a second year in a row. It’s big, because it means I can actually improve my lessons from year to year instead of constantly running just to keep up. Now I will finally have the luxury to think about how to make lessons more exciting, how to build independence in learning, and how to really work at developing critical thinking and analytical thinking skills in science.
Anyways, this is what I picked for the first days. The first day is 9th grade only, so I did not have classes ’til the second day when my 11th and 12th graders showed up. My tank is not new here at all (I’ve had it for over 6 years!), but pretty much everything else is. My pants are the Everlane Straight Leg Crops and they’re really good for everyday use even though I got them in a size too small. A woman at the SF store told me they stretch out a lot, but I should have known not to go that small as I generally prefer looser pants now a days. I normally wear a size 8 and these are a size 4! But still considering I went 2 sizes down, they’re really stretchy and still super comfortable even sitting down.
The shoes are my new favorite sandals, the Mohinders Woven Slides. These sandals were my best shoes of summer by far – super comfortable, versatile, and ethically made, which is something I’m trying to learn towards more and more. I’m eyeballing getting a pair of their woven flats, but I can’t justify another pair of shoes just yet. These were a gift from B via Huckberry last December, so hint hint on the shoes!
These earrings though…a co-worker stopped me in the morning and said I was really upping the earring game this year. I secretly pumped my fist Napoleon Dynamite style when she was out of sight. I have my good friend Sara to thank for them, as she made them herself! They’ve inspired me to start a ceramics class this November!
earrings: a sara boeck original – tank: madewell – pants: everlane – shoes: mohinders – watch: fitbit
That second day, the air conditioning was not functioning very well, and I sweat through my dress every period with the nervous type of sweat. I’m sure you can all relate. The dress (and sandals) you have all seen before. It’s such a great spring/summer work dress that I have one in Navy also. Good to know it can handle sweaty pits without showing the sweat stains too badly!
Teachers Have Lives Too! 
