Teenage Dream|| Worn

This is a full circle fashion moment.

“My god, are we gonna be like our parents?” *bonus points if you know the movie ;)

I’m fairly certain I wore this exact outfit nonstop the summer between seventh and eighth grade. The sneakers were probably K-Swiss instead of Adidas. The watch was definitely analog by Swatch. And the shorts were, if memory serves, a little bit longer. I went through several decades thinking my thighs were too big to see the light of day. One of the many things I’d tell my younger self is to wear less clothing!

We aren’t leaving the house too often. But, our library finally reopened and I occasionally get to take a solo trip to pick up books. And for a second, it feels a little bit like how life used to be.

Style Archetype|| Urban Academic

This year I’ve happily rediscovered my interest in fashion and personal style. My focus has been on finding things in my closet that I already love and wearing them in a way that works with my much more laid back life. I’ve also taken a hard look at consumerism and fast fashion. I haven’t been compelled to shop the way I used to and most of my clothes are thrifted. The other day I was hanging out in Target, as you do, and I saw plenty of things I liked. But, I didn’t see anything I loved enough to buy. That’s huge for me! And while I’m moving more in the direction of curating a closet of wearable items that reflect my personal style and make me feel great, I knew that a capsule wardrobe wasn’t for me. I could never figure out a way to pare down my wardrobe while at the same time having enough variety to keep it interesting. For a lot of people, clothing is purely utilitarian but a lot of times it’s a way I can express myself creatively. Then, I discovered the idea of style archetypes or wardrobe moods while scrolling through Reddit one sleepless night.

Style archetypes…this is an idea I can get into! I’m concentrating on developing my archetypes. My first one is Urban Academic. For this category, I focus on classic pieces while styling them in a slightly edgier way.

My style muses for this category are Tracee Ellis Ross, Yara Shahidi, Jenna Lyons, Rashida Jones and Sarah Jessica Parker. All of these women serve up street style in a wearable way that I love.

Feeling inspired here are a few looks I pulled together. Nothing here is new. Once again I looked at things I already owned with an open mind and created pairings that feel fresh to me.

Worn|| Ordinary

I’m a stay at home mom. This means that most of my days feel like a repeat of the day before. In the haze that is created by those mundane little things set to repeat, I sometimes feel like I’ve lost me or at least the me I used to be. I know I’ve said it here so often that you’re tired of hearing it but part of my journey this year is figuring out exactly who am i am in this moment and learning to love her. And celebrate her.

In the last week or so, I’ve really been looking at lot of old images from pinterest and some of my old fashion magazines- remember them- thinking about style in general and my style specifically. I still haven’t figured out exactly what my style is anymore but this outfit has some small details that I’m always drawn to. Embroidery always makes my heart skip a beat and yellow is my forever favorite. The peep-toe heels with an ankle strap are old fashioned in the best possible way. Nothing here is new. This JCrew top and Kenzie shoes are probably 9 years old. I thrifted these jeans a year ago and while I loved the relaxed fit and the wash they were way too long to cuff. So yesterday, I hacked them off to the perfect ankle grazing length and distressed them. I'm kind of obsessed with them. This entire look made me happy as I went about my absolutely ordinary day. And sometimes, that’s all you need.

This is the face I make when I’m trying to explain to my 5 year old why I’m taking photos of myself and not him! Ha!!

This or That || Episode 2

This striped top is one of my latest thrift store finds. I was immediately drawn to the stipes and the colors. When I pulled it off the rack I was pleasantly surprised by the boat neck and the bracelet sleeve. The fabric, though polyester, feels luxurious and it was only $5.99. We were obviously meant to be!

The top lends itself to dressing up but because my life as a SAHM is pretty laid back, I needed to work out how I could dress it down a little.

So, I made it a little more casual with white jeggings and black flats. While this is more put together than I tend to be when running around with a five year old, because white pants with a kid are a disaster in the making(!), I would definitely wear this for a day date with my husband or brunch with friends.

What’s a night out without a little or in this case a LOT of leg! I wouldn’t have thought twice about wearing shorts this short a decade ago! But, few extra pounds and few more years have made question my style way too much. I fell in love with the sweet scallop detail so they came home with me even though I was unsure if I’d have the nerve to wear them. This year I promised myself to give less damns about what people think I ought to be wearing so here we are!

D E T A I L S:

B L O U S E- Banana Republic- thrifted

J E G G I N G S - American Eagle

F L A T S- find here

S H O R T S- Forever21- thrifted

P U M P S- Aldo

C L U T C H- Banana Republic

*this post may contain affiliate links

Worn|| But Fashion

Where my America’s Top Model fans?! Tyra, Ms. Jay and Mr. Jay snatched our collective edges in the early 2000s. And thanks to Al Gore’s internet, those first groundbreaking seasons are GIFS that keep giving!

The kiss of death was for the panel to declare the hopefuls “too catalog” or, Ana Wintour forbid, too commercial! One of my favorite scenes was for a swimsuit shoot. Tyra explains to the young wannabe that she has crossed a line into bad taste. They are models not centerfolds, damnit! It can be “ho but F A S H I O N”. That friends was not only epic television, it serves as my own little style mantra when getting dressed.

So when I decided to wear this cute little thrifted shirtdress instead of wearing Chucks and the cardigan I planned to wear, I thought “suburban housewife BUT FASHION!” I’m not sure if having a tiny trio of sartorial saints whisper in my ear is indicative of larger issues at play, but I’m fairly pleased with the results!

Jacket|| Forever 21

Shirtdress||(Old Navy) Thrifted

Sneakers||(Aldo) Thrifted

Belt|| Target

Worn || Game On

As of late, I’ve been really unsure of my style. Questioning what I like or whether I have any style at all. My mid 40’s has been a trippy time, my friends.

A lot of that uncertainty is tied to how I feel about my looks and body. And if I’m being 100 (as the kids say), most of the time it’s difficult for me to quiet that inner voice that screams about the weight I’ve gained in the last five years that refuses to budge, upper arms that never go uncovered, hips and thighs that are too wide and too thick, the double chin that I can’t contour away and on and on and on.

While I’m working on loving who I am right now. In this moment, In this body. I’ve tasked myself ridding my closet of anything that doesn’t make feel good when I put it on. As our favorite, new chaos coordinator, Marie Kondo would say, “does it spark joy?”

This simple look of things I’ve had for years and a new thrifted t-shirt did indeed spark a little bit of joy.

Have started Kondo-ing your wardrobe? Are you finding any old favorites or forgotten gems?

{worn} Snow Leopard

Yesterday it was almost 60 degrees. Today it’s not quite 40. So I guess we’re going to do this long gray January thing! Sigh.

Lately, I’ve been craving all of the neutrals. And because I’m a maximalist at heart I pile them on with reckless abandon! There is nothing particularly extraordinary about this outfit. And, during the cold months jeans, a cute sweater and boots-and all of its variations-become my uniform. But, the thing I love most about this look in particular is that it’s the perfect example of mom style on a budget.

The boots are the only relatively expensive thing I’m wearing. They were $120 and are at least 5 years old. I’m fairly certain these were a pre Rowan purchase so that would put them at closer to 6! The chunky and relatively low heel make them manageable for wearing when I’m out with him. At this point the cost per wear is down to a few cents! The cardigan and the jeans were thrifted and totaled $10. I scored the blouse on the Tj Maxx clearance rack for about $6 and the scarf was left behind by one of my daughters when they moved out so it was F R E E!!

Mom-ing is hard! I’m certainly not going to tell any one of us how we should or shouldn’t dress on any given day. My kid is almost 5 and there are still days when managing a shower requires a plan as detailed as a scene in Mission:Impossible. We struggle with taking time for ourselves or spending money on ourselves. This year I’m really focusing on putting together a closet that not only makes me feel good when I can grab a few minutes for myself but is also priced so that when the inevitable peanut butter fingerprints end up on my top I’m not too freaked out about it!

Do you have a winter “uniform”? How has motherhood changed the way you approach getting dressed?