The Case for the Mail Order Pants

Before I begin, a note: If you haven't heard the news already about Women's Wear Daily featuring beauty blogs in their pages, now's the chance to read all about it. And once you're finished, feel free to visit and congratulate every blogger mentioned! Cheers!

Folks, this has been a very good week for me so far. Yeah, there have been tons of breaks from the routine since last weekend - impromptu retreats, tons of book-reading, and not to mention a new phase in my teaching career. And it just so happens that, today being my first day of observation at an elementary school (short practicum to follow), I decided to wear the Gap Curvy jeans that came in through the mail yesterday.

Here's the deal: The jeans are "petite" size, which according to the nice folks at Gap were supposedly shorter than the "ankle" size that I'm used to wearing and purchasing at the store. Which should not have been a problem, but the hems still dragged across the floor because I was wearing flat sneakers. Maybe if I wore something with a little bit more of a platform, like running shoes or even heels, the hems wouldn't drag so much.

That said, damned if those pants didn't give me an exceptional booty - and not just that, but they were comfortable enough for running around after kids, sitting down on tiny chairs, and even those long walks out to the bus stop. I totally don't regret buying them at all; in fact, I'm already planning on getting more Curvy pants as well, since the black onese seem to have run out after they got featured on Oprah.

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A note on working in or with schools: One of the reason I switched careers to education has a lot to do with the fact that I don't have to look "professional" any more - which for me means being able to wear jeans and comfortable shoes, for a change. Not that I want to look too sloppy, but after working with many of the teachers I've met since I started grad school, I realize that comfort does take a lot of precedence in wardrobe decisions, especially if you run the risk of getting marker stains on your blouse at some point during the day. Also, I didn't wear makeup today - but if I were to put some on my face (and, really, there would be barely any time to do so) I would make sure that 1) I put on sunscreen (in case I need to go outisde) and 2) I keep it natural, or at least to the point where my face won't scare the children. The teachers I know, BTW, are quite lovely, and they've all been very gracious and helpful so far.