Tag: academic

The $30 Work Dress

1 Comment

Time and time again, you’re heard me rave about these shoes, and that bag, and this skirt, etc.  Often, they are pieces I have found at Target.  It is safe to say that a large proportion of my work wardrobe is comprised of pieces from Target.  Why?  Well, my local Target happens to be a Super Target.  I walk in and have the supermarket side of it to my right and the regular Target non-supermarket side to my left.  The non-supermarket side happens to carry clothing.  LOTS OF IT.  Some of it work-appropos.  So, I walk on over for a few and scope out the new merchandise before grocery shopping for the week.  I am usually gone for an hour or so, but long enough to get some shopping in!

In this case, I didn’t find these dresses in store, but rather online.  I signed up for the Target emails, and one morning a couple of weeks ago, I got one alerting me that women’s Merona clothing was all 40% off!  So, I took advantage and checked out the goods! That’s when I found this dress:

img_3318

This one is a size 2 and fits like a glove.  Size 2-18 are available online.  It is thick-ish material, so it doesn’t show every detail of your undergarments, and comes in three different colors (i.e., black, grey, and navy)!  I LOVE IT.  Best of all, it is only $30, even at regular price!  It’s perfection.

I loved it so much, I got it in all three colors.  Hashtag: “oops, I did it again”.  LOL.  Anyway, make sure to read the reviews to get a better sense of what size to order.  I wear a zero in regular, a 2 in petites, so I suppose this dress runs on the smaller size…maybe.  At worst, you can order a couple sizes and keep the one that fits best.  Good luck!  I think you’ll be pretty happy with this one!

Until next time!  Stay ‘Chic’!

Redbook Magazine Real Women Style Contest – I’m a Finalist!!

14 Comments

Friends of Chic in Academia –

A few weeks ago, Redbook Magazine held a call for submissions to be considered for their annual Real Women Style Award competition.  I submitted the following seven photos and guess what?!  I’m a finalist!  I am among 25 women being considered, and there is now a voting process to select this year’s Reader’s Choice.

I never imagined I’d be selected out of the hundreds – perhaps thousands – of entries submitted, but it happened!  I am thrilled, but more so, excited to possibly have the opportunity share my thoughts about fashion and the professional woman on a larger platform.  When I started Chic in Academia, I wanted to show the world that one could be a woman in academia and do all that academics do – nerd out, indulge in science, change the world one scientific discovery at a time, be professional, be a boss, etc – and still maintain a feminine identity.  There appears to be a disconnect in many a workplace:  a woman cannot be both fashionable and a superstar in her field.  Especially in academia, paying attention to one’s attire might be construed as not paying enough attention to one’s science.  Ruminate on that for a minute.

I don’t deem myself the best in my field.  I am far from being the perfect or most successful woman in academia.  But, I do my best and have achieved my share of success, all while wearing stilettos and bright colors to work.  I get ready in 30 minutes or less every single morning and then turn my attention to science.  The fact that I put some thought into what I wear every day, does not in any way distract me from my work or my science. My message to other academics and professional women was was: You can too!  And you can also choose NOT too!  But the choice should be yours.  To quote the old adage, ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’.  A fashionable woman does not a dud make. 😉

A second goal for this blog was to help demystify shopping and debunk the myth that high-end, designer fashion was only attainable if you had loads of money.  My blog helps women shop for the items they covet at affordable prices by sharing information about sales, second-hand or consignment shopping, rebates, coupons, making cash from closet inventory.  I focus on making fashion affordable and attainable for all.

And so, although it’s been a great journey thus far, I see this opportunity to compete for the Real Style Award as a way to share this with even more women!  Women who may not yet know about my blog, but who could benefit from reading the information I share, or possibly even gain inspiration on a daily basis from the outfits I share on Instagram.  So, if any of this resonates with you, I would be so grateful if you would take a second to vote for me:  a real woman, scientist, momma, wifey, and sartorialist!  Go to this link

Vote here!

to vote. You’ll see this on the website, but just in case, here are the photos I submitted:

 

56c5fa98ef95a6018ec22871

56c5fa97ef95a60f7ed4d83c

56c5fa96ef95a67d24038fef

56c5fa9760c1c8772bdded3e (1)

Photos taken by (in no particular order): my hubby – Michael Frymark; Mariana Pimiento; Rachel Tindall, and Rachel and Noah Ray.

Thank you so much in advance and wish me luck!!!

 

To vote, click here:  

Real Women Style Award

 

Until next time!  Stay ‘Chic’!

How I made an easy, extra $200 last month with ThredUp

5 Comments

Ask anyone who knows me, and they will tell you that I am always on the lookout for ways to make extra money.  ALWAYS.  My hubby is also known for this…likely one of the things that makes us highly compatible!

 

Once upon a time, I was an avid eBay seller.  One summer, I made $2000 just from items sitting around in my house!  Two kids, one faculty position, and one side hustle as a fashion/lifestyle blogger later, I have found myself unable to dedicate the time needed to photograph, list, and ship items sold on eBay.  As my bff put it, “Your time is worth a lot more these days.  You need to focus on efficiency.”  And, so I did.

Part of my path to efficiency involved de-cluttering my home.  Over thanksgiving break last year (2015), I began to de-clutter.  I finalized the de-cluttering process over Christmas/NYE break.  I emptied out all closets, made piles, and figured out what needed to be donated, sold, or thrown away.  I also enlisted the help of an amazing service that both sells and donates clothes for you!  ThredUp is the service I used and it has been an amazing way for me to get rid of stuff taking space in my home.

Screen Shot 2016-02-04 at 11.26.42 AM

I first tested the service back in August of 2015.  I ordered a single bag.  I filled it with clothing I definitely hadn’t worn.  Honestly, I filled it with stuff I didn’t think would sell and that I was planning to take to the Salvation Army or similar donation location.  To my shock and surprise, the bag actually yielded $16.35 cents!  That’s a few days worth of my coffee splurges at Starbucks!!  Score!  So, I ordered four bags after that.  They sat around for a few months until I got through all the items in my house, but eventually filled them and shipped them out.

ThredUp accepts clothing, handbags, shoes, and accessories.  Women’s and children’s clothing only, but in our family, that’s half the clutter battle!  So, after the New Year, I filled up all four bags with clothing, etc. and dropped them off at my local FedEx/Kinko’s location.  Mind you, you can also schedule an at-home pick up.  Sadly, the cats in our neighborhood tear up every plastic bag they come across, so I didn’t want to run the risk of having the bag torn apart before it even shipped.  Darn neighborhood cats!

On January 26th, four of my bags were received.  It takes them about two weeks to process, which includes taking inventory of your bag, photographing items they will sell, determining how much to pay you up front, and donating the rest.  IF you don’t want to commit to donating items they won’t accept and want them to send them back, you can pay a small fee (~$13) to have them ship back the items they don’t take.  This, in my opinion, prevents you from fully purging and de-cluttering, but if you feel that you simply cannot release complete control to ThredUp, then they will gladly acquiesce and send you your stuff back. 🙂

Now, onto the money-making part.  In full disclosure, before I sent items to ThredUP, I sold to two local consignment stores: Style Encore and Plato’s Closet.  Both Style Encore and Plato’s give money on the spot, so I figured that was the best/quickest return on my investment.  Anything they did not take, I immediately put into the ThredUp bags and off it went.  Over the course of two weekends, I made $500 selling to Style Encore and Plato’s Closet.  The four bags I sent to ThredUp have since been processed and I have been promised $204.85!  In total, thus far, I have made $704.85 from stuff that has been sitting around in closets and other places in my house for years!!  That, my friends, is how everyone should roll. 😉

Screen Shot 2016-02-04 at 11.13.36 AM

Four bags, 12-23 items accepted per bag, average $37.64 payout per bag.  Not too shabby!

I currently have an additional 9 bags processing (potential to make at least another $300), and ordered an additional four, which I will use to send clothing the boy’s no longer fit into.  All the while, the most effort I have put into this is sorting clothes, filling bags, and taking them to FedEx.  They take care of the rest!  I for one, fully endorse this efficiency. You should too.

One additional note:  Any money you make goes through an embargo period, wherein you are free to use the money to shop on their site.  This is approximately a 14 day period, after which, you can withdraw the money and deposit it in your bank account using Paypal.  I am patiently waiting for my $204.85 to clear so it can sit happily in my bank account. 😀

If you should choose to buy, know that there are some pretty amazing things you can find, including hard to find items that have either been discontinued or can no longer be found on other sites like eBay or Poshmark.  I found the red dress in the graphic below on ThredUp!  Also, if you sign up using a referral link, you get a $20 credit just for joining. You can use mine if you’d like.  I get $20 too, so we all win!  Referral link, here: ThredUp.

www.clothesstore.com (1)

Photo in graphic by Mariana Pimiento.