I've been thinking lately about my temporary or timely, depending on how you look at it, identity crisis. Before I moved to Cambridge and consequently activated my new academic persona I was completely comfortable and happy being slightly irreverent. Look! I'm in Philadelphia Magazine!
But this kind of fun colorful lifestyle was about to change.
At the beginning of the third semester I passed the comprehensive exams. High on success, I poured black dye over my head and starting wearing lipstick and nail polish. It was a small taste of liberation and it helped me unravel the stress uniform. However, I will say that the Cantabrigian look suits me quite well. Tweed, wool, menswear, wingtip oxfords, stripes, madras, plaid, neo-vintage nerd eyeglasses, J. Crew! These have all been happily absorbed into my wardrobe.
For a fresh breath of creative air see these gems. All of the women are incredible sources of inspiration. I especially love the Idiosyncratic Fashionistas. Instead of just telling you how to copy, they teach you how to have a great time and do it your own way.
But this kind of fun colorful lifestyle was about to change.
Maybe it was the eight months of cold weather, maybe it was the twelve hour days in the library. I'm sure it was a combination of many things related to my new environment. My grounded sense of identity, as I had known it for so many years, began to quickly dissolve and mutate. There was nothing I could do to stop it. Before long I could relate to local eccentrics wearing shirts that said Danger: Re-Animated Corpse. It may sound insignificant or even dramatic, but it was difficult terrain and probably contributed to my gray days of malaise.
At the beginning of the third semester I passed the comprehensive exams. High on success, I poured black dye over my head and starting wearing lipstick and nail polish. It was a small taste of liberation and it helped me unravel the stress uniform. However, I will say that the Cantabrigian look suits me quite well. Tweed, wool, menswear, wingtip oxfords, stripes, madras, plaid, neo-vintage nerd eyeglasses, J. Crew! These have all been happily absorbed into my wardrobe.
Now that I am beyond my grad school days, which ultimately turned out of course to be an immeasurable experience in the best sense, I have returned to the original (now with larger brain and tweed blazer!) fun-loving weirdo: me. That is worth celebrating! With new shoes probably.
For a fresh breath of creative air see these gems. All of the women are incredible sources of inspiration. I especially love the Idiosyncratic Fashionistas. Instead of just telling you how to copy, they teach you how to have a great time and do it your own way.
I get so excited about being expressive today, tomorrow, and forever though I still plan to dress monochromatically when I'm advanced.
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| Yeah! |
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