Yesterday ended up being too hectic, though I did wear a very much me sheath dress. Today is a favorite outfit- black merino turtleneck, hand knit scarf, pencil skirt with interesting detail, black tights, black heeled Oxfords (used these for the picture, but will wear heeled booties at work.) Why this is me- lots of black, pencil skirt, tights (which are pretty much my winter uniform) and heels that are comfortable to walk in.

For context, I live in a close-in suburb of a very large US city. I’ve worked in academia my entire adult life, on both the East and West coast, first as a grad student/post-doc/staff scientist, and now in tech transfer. I commute by rail, and three days/week, walk my younger DS to school. Usually I wear Danskos for the commute, but I buy heels that I can walk at least 1/2 mile, I work with a lot of engineers, serial entrepreneurs and early stage investors, so I like to convey a sense of seriousness about my work, but balance that with some approachability. (And like many of you, I can count on being the only woman in the room for at least half of my meetings, so I’m often thinking about the balance between femininity, perceived sexiness, and authority in what I wear.)

(ETA finds for the sweater, the booties I actually wore, and the heeled Oxfords in the picture.)