This is my third year of professoring, but I am still pretty nervous today. We got woken by smoke and fire engines (I hope that folks are all right) and then some pretty hard core cat fighting. Maybe Lula is feeling sympathy nervousness for me, but lately, she's been very jittery, refusing to eat all her food and growling at the kitten every 10 minutes. But if we separate them, she cries until we reunite them.
But that's not my problem today. I teach my first Master's level class at my school (I did teach one of those upper undergrad/master's level classes once after I had defended in G-school). And I teach two more sections of my bread-and-butter course that I've taught every semester. When picking out an outfit, I wanted to go for some authority but not completely boring. I thrifted this dress, a ponte de roma double knit, back in May. I had to take it in on the sides and patch a small hole, but I think it works well for $4. Because of the seams just below the bust, it doesn't quite work with a belt, but I am throwing a light cardigan on top (I have nervousness about upper arms in the classroom). Even with the cardigan, this is a 100% secondhand outfit. (Students generally think professors are loaded,* so it's always my private joke that when I wear thrifted items to class).
Hope you have a lovely Monday!
*I realize the fact I've just returned from Europe shows that we are not impoverished.
Dress: Unknown label, altered by me, thriffted
Shoes: Ecco, thrifted
Scarf: via eBay
Good luck today! I definitely wouldn't worry about showing some arm, but what color cardigan are you sporting with this?
ReplyDeleteMaybe Lula just doesn't want you to go back to work? I woke up to some pretty loud Jude whining this morning, which is always a fun way to start the day.
Added cardi or no, this outfit is incredibly chic and urban! I love that it's all second-hand, too!
ReplyDeleteGood luck, Rad! I'm sure you will be brilliant in your MA level class and knock 'em dead in the sections of your other course, too! Do I remember correctly that you finagled your schedule so that you're only in the classroom two days a week?
Thank you!
ReplyDelete@Anne: I may or may not keep the cardi on, depending on the class room temperature. Lula just hasn't been herself since we went to Germany. I hope she trusts us again (sorry kitty!)
@LaHdM: Yes, most of the full timers only teach 2 times a week (our public university was historically a commuter school so its more convenient for working students). Thanks for the vote of confidence. I hope the MA class goes well!
You look stylish and comfortable. I hope your first day goes well.
ReplyDeleteWhat is it with cats and fighting at 4 a.m.? I'm suffering from cat-induced sleep deprivation this morning, first it was the wanting to snuggle and get petted in the middle of the night (and who can resist) and then it was the fighting in the bed. And also, a hairball. Oy.
ReplyDeleteAlso, on topic, you look fabulous, bringing the serious in New York black. Have an excellent first day.
I think you look professional, authoritative, classic and stylish.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with your classes! You'll be great, I'm sure!
You look awesome! Good luck on the first day.
ReplyDeleteYour studenta are lucky to have you.
**as for the kittehs, ours were a bit skittish and odd for a few days after we got back from our trip too. : (
I think you look great. As a grad student, I have certain women professors whom I watch very closely, to learn how to be a woman in the academy. Fashion is one of the things that I watch and this outfit would get you put squarely in the group.
ReplyDeleteAnd I am sure the MA class will be fine. Or at least I hope so, because if you get have authority issues, I will totally be SCREWED tomorrow, when I teach my first MA level class. I, after all, have no PhD at all.
You look great and I love what you have to say about thrifting and professorial expectations. It's really a bit of subversion, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteGreat first-day outfit, Rad. I hope everything went well and you had a good time.
ReplyDeleteI've been teaching for 26 years & I still get first-day jitters.
I do recall thinking professors are loaded but I think that's because I had some professors who *looked* loaded and mentioned their family's vineyards? One of them had a lovely collection of Thomas Pink and the other just - you know. Oozed Brooks Brothers.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I hope it went well!
Hi RAD, you look tres chic in your first day outfit. I hope all went well, I'm sure it did. The cardi is a good idea. Classrooms are always freezing. Did you walk in with an impressive briefcase?
ReplyDeleteS.U., classrooms are NOT always freezing. The a/c is broken in mine and I'm dying in there. 'This is what hell will be like," I told the students on Thursday. "A boiling hot room, and someone yammering at you for an hour about grammar."
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with Charlotte on classrooms not always being freezing. My department in undergrad was housed in an annex "building" (I use that word loosely) that was essentially a glorified double-wide trailer. The heat and a/c were totally unpredictable, so it was somewhere between 65 and 90 on any given day.
ReplyDeleteAnne, between you and E-Jo I'm going to be at Target by the end of the week! Cute dress.
ReplyDeleteRad, that dress is splendid, and I love the scarf.
Yes, my classrooms can be HOT HOT HOT, but I usually just sweat through them rather than not layer. Water helps. And then I make up excuses for my sleeping students by thinking, well, they are just really tired...
ReplyDelete@Jesse: I've never mentioned my family's copious property (there is rumor of deeded land in North Korea) but maybe if I did...
@LaFille: Thanks, it's been a week now, and Lula seemed a bit calmer today at feeding time.