Erika S. outfits

this is my basics jam

My style sensibilities have been changing…and it’s veering closer and closer to a uniform of purely neutral basics.  It’s like I’m heading back to white rice territory, after years of trying to make the most interesting and complexly flavored fried rice out there.  I’m cutting out the fluff and I’m crawling back into my comfort zone, the safety of neutral colors in classic cuts and fits.  It makes getting dressed much easier, faster and stress free.  You can never be too over dressed or underdressed with basics, otherwise the point of having basics would be defeated. Right?   On this note, I just got back from shopping for basics at the most basic of stores with zero creeper hipster appeal, Uniqlo.  The moment I walked in to the store today, I was thinking, yeah, this is my JAM!!  I had just left Zara, which assaulted me in all its trendiness with everything black/army green/oxblood and covered in studs/mean animal faces/leather sleeves.  Uniqlo with its stacks of logo-less, glitter-less, graphic-less, simply cut clothes was refreshing and welcoming.  This is what I picked up today, all of course at teacher-friendly prices.  For more of a basics guide, check out this post by refinery29, where they pick apart the basic basics, through the ages.  Technically, I fall into the 30’s category, but can barely afford the 20’s category.  Big poo.

 

Boring?  Or classic?  Either way, these items came home with me because they went perfectly well with what I wore out shopping today.  My everyday basic outfit, jeans and a tshirt, with my going-to-be-with-me-for-the-next-10-years-just-like-my-other-one-was Freitag bag.  The boots come and go, get swapped out with black flats, flip flops or converse, and some days lipstick gets thrown in the mix too.  For the most part though, this is it: my everyday basic outfit.

glasses: warby parker – t-shirt: alternative apparel – belt: gap – jeans: madewell – boots: ecote via urban outfitters

Erika S. outfits, parties

Going Out

B and I actually “went out” friday night, meaning went out to a place that didn’t involve our couch. Amazing really, considering that for the past few months we’ve spent just about every weekend on our couch, drinking wine and watching movies.  All domestic and shit.  This domestic and shit phenomenon is a common thing among teachers – in bed by 10pm, awake by 6am and forced to be perky by 8am when the kiddos walk in your classroom door.  So by the time the weekend rolls around, all you want to do is marinate on the couch hugging a bottle of wine.  If anything, you might head out to the local bar with your other teacher buddies, drops some cash on beer and unhealthy bar food while you discuss dropping knowledge on shared students.  This Friday night however, B and I had a plan – we had an invite to a Punch Party at B’s friend Darren’s house in the Lower East Side.

After 30 min of rifling through my closet, B hassling me to hurry up and 5 outfit changes, I resigned myself to the going out basics.  Skinny black pants, a basic t-shirt, black boots and red lipstick.  There is still a whole bunch of exciting things going on, while still being basic enough to not feel like you’re out on a sartorial limb.  This is my new go-to fashion philosophy:  Basic, reliable and comfy but with a few interesting details.  My two details for the night were my new hard-ass studded booties and a new lipstick, Red Square by Nars.  All together exciting enough for this increasingly fashionably lazy teacher out on a Friday night.  Didn’t even bother putting in contacts or changing my ever present teacher-bun-hair!

glasses: warby parker beckett – jacket: two year old madewell, but similar one here – flannel: uniqlo – t-shirt (which I looove, btw) & booties: zara – belt and pants (got mine on super sale): j.crew – necklace: f21 

Erika S. outfits

Layers

I’m forever discussing the weather – It’s cold (40˚’s) now in New York.  Due to Hurricane Sandy, our school’s boiler is out, meaning no heat.  I can see my breath in my classroom in the mornings. Thanks to my trusty space heater,  the 4-5 layers start coming off by the afternoon.  Today is PD (professional development) day, no students.  Instead of classes, we talk about rigor, final products and incorporating reading, writing and speaking into math and science, in a way that may or may not leave time for the math and science itself.  I started the morning off with 5 layers and ended the day with just 2.

puffy coat: marmot – jacket (on sale now in stores): co by urban outfitters – cardigan and belt: j.crew – flannel shirt last seen here: uniqlo – jeans: madewell (same jeans, different wash) – scarf: unknown/crossroads – sneaks: converse

Erika S. outfits

Bad Dog!

Took Bambi on a walk today, and she immediately stated acting like a butthole – ie. growling, snarling and trying to attack other dogs.  She has serious small-dog-asshole syndrome, that I’ve never been able to break.  My newest tactic has been to try the Gentle Leader.  All it’s done so far is make her look even crazier when we pass other dogs, which in turn makes me look like the crappiest dog owner ever.  I’m not a bad dog owner, I swear!  She’s just a crazy mean old chihuahua.  See below, Butthole Bambi in action on a normal everyday walk.

Her being a butthole on our entire walk soured my mood, which then soured the mood of the aussie, B.  Not even my new scarf fixed things and I had a squeeze out a smile for this photo.  

hat: f21 – glasses – warby parker – scarf: madewell – jacket: urban outfitters – t-shirt: hanes – belt: gap – jeans: hella old j. brand – bag: marc by arc – shoes: adidas

PS.  I’ve had Bambi for about 6 years now, and she’s been this way the whole time.  I’ve tried everything under the sun to train her, from dog whisperer style to pack walks to muzzles to hired expensive trainers.  Nothing has worked, so I’ve resigned to just accept her for who she is – a mostly sweet cuddler who loves squeaky toys but hates all other dogs and children.  And before you pass judgment on me for naming my dog Bambi, she came from the rescue with a gag-reflex name: Barbie.

Erika S. outfits, teaching

surviving tuesdays

How to survive a hectic Tuesday at school after a 3 day weekend:  an easy no-iron shrunken boy shirt and black super stretchy jeans.  It will take you 5 min to get dressed and you’ll be physically comfy all day while your patience and sanity gets  shredded to bits.

This was one of those Tuesdays, where grades are due, you have “guests” possibly coming into your classroom to “observe” the next day and kids pretend the no-talking-during-a-quiz rule is new to the world.  So before I got down to planning and grading, after my last class of the day, I had some fun with my trusty Smart Board and camera.  Cool colors!  The refresh rate on the board is pretty low, and I really want to make this a teachable physics moment, but I’ll spare you guys the lecture.

The rumply leftovers of the day:

glasses: warby parker – button up: madewell – belt: gap – jeans: uniqlo – boots: steven

Shout out to class A for taking it like a champ today and making all the connections between photosynthesis and cellular respiration!  (none of them even knows this exists, this is just my mental high five.)  Go on with your bad selves.

Erika S. outfits

No butts about it

glasses: warby parker – cardigan: j.crew – tank and booties: uo (different online price)- jeans and necklace: f21 laundry tote: ikea

I wish I were that kind of California girl.  The kind that goes skinny dipping in the 50˚ F San Francisco waters.  I’m more the type to fall into the 50˚F SF Bay while sailing on Viking.

I picked up this shirt just yesterday at Urban Outfitters, when my sis and I were early to meet B at Xi’An Famous Foods in the East Village for dinner.  Another cheapie score, ringing in at $7.50.  I immediately thought of the (possibly NSFW) video for Human Condition, by one of my favorite SF local bands, Nova Albion.  

Just in case you were wondering:  No, I did not wear this tank to school.

Erika S. outfits

Go wan us

B has a walking plan for us.  We’re walking the grid in our area of Park Slope.  Eventually, by the time we’ve snaked up and down every street, we’ll have covered every single block north/south between 8th – 3rd ave, and east/west between Union st – 16th st. The idea is to cover everything and make note of interesting spots and places we like, a full-scale exploration of our hood.  Today we covered 3 miles of the walking plan.  There’s cool stuff out there!


glasses: warby parker – tee: mnkr – jeans: h&m – bag: freitag – sneakers: converse – belt: gap

These ‘boyfriend’ jeans were a $7 find at H&M.  I love them, but I seem to be the only one. My sister says they give me a flat butt (they do), my mom says they highlight my long torso/short leg proportions (it does – my height is all in my freakishly long torso) and B says they “don’t look like any kind of fashion, they just look like big old jeans” (the point exactly. duh).

Erika S. outfits, teaching

a first day for everything

There is a first for everything.  Today was the first day of school, the first day of many to come as the leader of room 267 at Leader’s High School in Brooklyn.  I met my Crew (our version of a hardcore homeroom, meant for character building, teaching of social and literacy skills) for the first time, 15 timid little 9th graders who will blossom into grown men and women in 4 short years with me.  I already love them.

I also met my 80-odd Living Environment (New York’s name for Biology) students, freaking them all out as the crazy ass science teacher who eats dirt on the first day of school.  It was a quick run through on observations and inferences, a common lesson done by science teachers around the world on the first day of school.  Kids were buzzing about it in the hallways and to other teachers, an indication of success!  The real measure of success is if they start making inferences on their own without me resorting to tricks. 

First day of school outfit, taken at the end of the night.  It’s 9:30 right now and I’ve yet to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner.  I’m running on stress and coffee fumes.  Everything but the goofy grin is meant to convey the sense that I know exactly what I’m doing at all times and that I am to be taken seriously.  Until I eat dirt.

Erika S. outfits

Copper Door

My sister is in town for the long weekend, so I took her to the Warby Parker showroom to pick out glasses and finally redeem the gift certificate I gave her last christmas.  I love their office/showroom/space.  It’s not a store by any means, so it’s really confusing to find at first.  Head in through the main door of the Puck building (on Lafayette, to the right of the entrance to REI), sign in at the security desk and head to the 5th floor.  I recommend stopping by the copper door for a picture on your way out.

sunnies and necklace: f21 – tshirt: stolen from b (purchased somewhere in australia) – bag: freitag – shorts: uo (last seen here) – shoes: worishofer

Erika S. outfits

print rage

glasses: warby parker – tank: anthropologie – belt: j.crew – skirt: dkny – bag: freitag – shoes: worishofer

These pics were taken a little while ago during my first ever trip to Central Park.  I’ve been on a “aztec” or “tribal” print rager lately and there isn’t an end in sight.  I hate the pseudo ethnic naming of these uber trendy prints, but I’ll use them for a lack of a better descriptor.  Cue top above, which I got on sale from Anthro last month, this clutch I got last week, and my favorite freebee bag ever from beauty.com.  (I’m a huge sucker for gift with purchases).