Hello friends, and apologies for the long time away. I have no excuse other than I haven’t felt terribly stylish lately. I guess as I settled into work, I also settled (too well) into my style -
Fortunately, my recent trip to a conference (the first of three I will be attending in coming weeks) helped me to put some thought into style once again.
Attending conferences is an important step for young members of the field like myself to rub elbows with professional contacts who might one day have a job opening.
Between long days and varied activities (lectures, cocktails…) it takes a certain degree of thoughtfulness to dress the part. AIC (American Institute of Conservators) seems to me to be particularly tricky, as there are many members of the museum world, who really bring it when it comes to fashion.
First, a note about packing: While the ladies of Academichic have mastered conference packing, I still stink at it. I can think of about 30 scenarios for any one day of the trip - which leads to pretty excessive over packing. So a peak into my luggage will reveal no rhyme, no reason, just six pairs of shoes for a five day trip.
Packing aside, lets move on to outfits:
DAY 1:
The first day of the conference entailed not only a very full day of lectures, but also a cocktail party hosted at an art museum. Thus, a slightly classier look. This dress is a bit of a stretch for me, as I fear all over pattern, but I felt like the vertical pattern was at least forgiving. I should also note that Milwaukee was quite cold, and my very kind roommate let me borrow her cardigan.
I’d like to take this opportunity to highlight the excellent sartorial taste of a colleague:
I particularly like the way that EK combines the casual jeans and boots with the polished tie and jacket.
DAY 2:
Day 2, cold weather remains. Sure that today would require another 8 hours of sitting, I settled on comfort. This cardigan has been a constant in my wardrobe - it combines the comfort and practicality of a cardigan with the structure of a blazer.
DAY 3:
I really love these pants: they are high-wasted, with a six-button fly that reminds me of a sailor-style trouser. The morning of day three started with a minor fashion emergency: the dreaded gapping blouse. I ran down to the front desk, thinking they would have a sewing kit to solve my problem, but they had “just ran out” … fortunately a complete inventory of the bottom of my purse revealed a straight pin that did the trick.
Stay tuned - I head out for my next conference (in New Orleans) Tuesday.
ev
