Fall is Here, Hear the Yell, Back to School, Ring the Bell

I no longer have to go to school, but I still love this time of year. Now, I hated school, and I am so glad that it's done and over with, but I always looked forward to buying back to school clothes and shiny new supplies. It's the nerd in me. Needless to say, I devoured all of those stupid "Back to Cool" guides in magazines, making lists of what I would need to be the envy of all my classmates. I've put together my own little guide for those of you like me, who have no desire to actually go to any kind of learning institution and do homework but want to look the part.Ah, the timeless classic, J. Crew. The pantheon of New England preppiness. If I had gotten my way and went to some fancy private prep school like Exeter, I would have worn nothing but J. Crew. But, that's not really me, and I know that private school would have sucked just as bad as public school, but my teenage imagination sometimes got the better of me.

Let's hear it for the old school messenger! I love these two from Retrodelic. They have that elbow-patched professorial look about them, but when paired with skinny jeans and Converse they become hipster chic.

When I was in high school, the cosmetics de rigeur included heavy black eyeliner and whatever glitter-laden lipgloss one could find. I was only one of a few girls at my school who worshiped at the altar of Sephora, and for us, the essentials would have included something like this Fall Fantasy palette by Stila. Chic and a little more subdued than the black-rimmed-angst-ridden-MTV-poseur look.

As stated earlier, my nerdiness knows no bounds, especially when it comes to school supplies. Don't ask me why, but I love pens, pencils, erasers, and notebooks. See Jane Work is a great place to satisfy all of my school supply cravings. The Acme pen and pencil set is adorable. I love how the case looks like the old-fashioned composition notebook. And these erasers are too pretty to use, emblazoned with such icons as the Eiffel Tower and pink poodle.

Kate Spade is the queen of vintage-inspired whimsy. I have the 2007 version of this planner, and the images inside are just as fabulous as the cover. There are page-sized illustrations for each month, and they are cool enough to rip out and frame as little works of art. I cannot wait to get this 2008 one.