Kicks + Skirts

I walked into one of my classes this week to the sound of "you're killin' it with those shoes." I said, "that's a good thing, right?" "Um, yeah," she said. I remember the first time I ever dared to wear sneakers to work. It was in spring 2011, and I was a post-doc lecturer teaching four classes on a M, W, or F. I decided one day to go casual. I wore a striped shirt, jeans, and a pair of Chucks. A student walked in my class, smiled, and said, "hey, teach, nice kicks!" before taking his seat. I smiled and said, "thanks!" You might wonder why I still remember that exchange. It meant something to me. It meant that I could wear shoes that made me feel cool. It showed me that showing students my personal style, and not trying to look like whatever a teacher was supposed to look like, was OK.

Since then I have worn my kicks when I feel the need to. I don't wear them every day, as some Converse devotees do. I don't plan when I will wear them. I just decide on a whim, "yeah, I need to wear my kicks today." The other day as I got up early on a Monday morning without a plan of what to wear, and with little time to get myself together, I slipped on my hot-pink-and-black-and-white Converse kicks. I needed that pop of color get me out the door. I needed it to keep me on my toes, er, my feet.

Check out the two layers of my sneakers, and notice my beloved stars on the inner layer. ;)

From this picture below you can also see that I didn't pair my sneakers with pants. I wore them with a jersey-knit navy skirt.

A Google search for "converse sneakers and dress" or "converse sneakers and skirt" will show you tons of pictures of women wearing Chucks with comfy dresses and skirts.