beware boys!

if you are a boy/man/guy/dude, here is your disclaimer: this blog is going to talk about becoming a "woman" in chicago. it will be done so quite tongue-in-cheekly. i may also mention the word "period" and not in reference to proper punctuation. lastly, the main topic of this blog will be fashion in chicago. if you need to refer to my last fashion blog, please click here:

boots

or

skinny jeans

disclaimer done.

(hm... maybe blogging with disclaimers defeats something... hm...)

anyway!

as a woman, there are many rites of passage we seem to experience. these include (but are not limited to): being able to complete a double flip on that bar in the playground, having your menstrual cycle and all the other goodness that accompanies it, shaving and wearing makeup for the first time, your first kiss, cooking your first pancake (and consequently making your brother very, very sick) and so on and so forth.

this past weekend, wedged between shaving my legs and having a baby, i experienced another rite of passage:

buying your first, real business suit and heels (purchased from the women's section and nine west, not the juniors and payless).

(this could also be relabeled: spending a lot of money to subject yourself to a masculine costume while brown-nosing future internship supervisors and employers LOL)

but, i will not relabel it as such because...
i...
actually...
like my suit and shoes...?!?!

this is a milestone for me. prior to coming to chicago, i went through a phase where i hated the idea of suits and how they squashed all my creative expression and made me conform to something i am not.

but, i seem to have grown up because a few months ago, i began to admire the sleek, shapely look a pencil skirt and button down could provide.

thus, last weekend, my gracious and fashion savvy friend alissa took me shopping for my first, real, woman's suit and heels. i needed to do this because i will soon be going to interviews for my second year internship (which, i'm learning, are MUCH more competitive than they tell you up front).

though i truly think there is much more to womanhood than clothing (though, it continues to be an interesting and important marker), i celebrate this moment and this gender that i am (or, according to my classes, has been socially constructed for me).

"with this suit and serious expression, who wouldn't want to hire me?"


my first real pair of heels! ...i know, it still takes me awhile to get over the similarities between these shoes and the stereotypical footwear of witches or elves.


"alissa! i have hips?! (and intentionally awkward hands :))"