Jeans, RACHEL Rachel Roy; shirt, J. Crew; jacket, Old Navy; shoes, J. Crew Factory; bag, MbMJ (via eBay)
Ready for another dose of glamour reality? Feast your eyes on this fashion statement. In fairness to my flannel, it is perfectly suited for the tasks most frequently at hand: running after kids, deciphering toddler melodramas (which requires a primal-screams-to-English dictionary), and disposing of toxic substances. Some days – more than I’d like to admit here – I don’t reach even this level of put-togetherness; it’s sweats and a T-shirt that saw its glory days about 47 wash cycles ago.
But on this day, we were visiting the grandparents, so I not only upgraded to jeans and a button down, but I even wore a pair of “nice” flats. Visiting the grandparents is serious business. There is candy involved. And the kids usually get some treats too.
Dress,, Max Studio (via eBay); jacket, Old Navy; boots, Josef Seibel; necklace, House of Harlow; bag, MbMJ (via eBay)
I have been eyeing the Bailey 44 column dress for a few months now, and by “eyeing” I mean obsessively checking eBay. Unlike many of my eBay stories, this one doesn’t have a happy ending; I never found one within my admittedly small budget. But wait! It was not an entirely tragic ending either, because I found this lookalike and the nice seller took pity on me and let me have it for $40, shipped. (Did I ever mention how much I hate shipping fees? A lot. This dress only cost $20 to start with.) I like the dress a lot, but it’s not without its issues. It’s definitely body-conscious in the most, um, conscious way possible (more on that in a minute), and it’s a smidge shorter than I’d like. Definitely not work appropriate, on both counts. All in all, a bittersweet tale.
Why, yes, that is fresh snow on the ground. In April. Mid-April, to be precise.
OK, guys, can I get personal for a minute? Can we talk … unmentionables? Specifically, shape-wear. I have 2 kids. (You’re shocked, I know. Because I never, ever talk about them.) Anyway, sometime around the 4 month mark of pregnancy round #2, my abdominal muscles were all, like, “Eff it, lady, we’re out!” I haven’t seen them since; they are probably auditioning as extras on Jessica Alba’s torso. But I digress. Post-babies, my stomach is … well, there is no nice way to say it. Smooshy. It’s smooshy. Which means that I’ve had to reconsider my previous, belligerent stance on shape-wear, at least on occasions when I’m wearing something like the dress above. And by reconsider, I mean that I went to Target and got me the mother of all granny panties a pair of these:
Self Expressions by Maindenform Body Con High Waist Boyshort
These are rated for “firm” rather than maximum support, which means I can still breathe while wearing them. And at least look at a restaurant menu.
I also got a half slip, which I’m hoping will prove to be my secret weapon against skirt- and dress-static next fall and winter. As an aside, I can now answer the question “When did you first feel like a proper grown-up?” It was April 11, 2014. Because nothing, and I mean nothing, will make you feel more like you’re turning into your mom (the benchmark for adulthood, surely) than buying a slip.
Dress, J. Crew (via eBay); top, Target; belt, J. Crew Factory; shoes, Ferragamo (via Etsy)
This is so easy, it almost doesn’t feel like a proper outfit. I’m almost embarrassed to throw it up on this supposed style blog. Almost. I have no shame. (As evidenced by the fact that the archives from 2012-2013 are still available for your perusal.)
So yeah, this outfit. So easy. I can basically throw pretty much any top under this dress and it works. I consider it one of my “uniforms”, and I plan on working it till this J. Crew dress falls apart. I don’t consider that clothes are really an investment, but a piece like this is as close as it gets. My only regret is that it isn’t 2-3 inches longer, so I could wear it to work without qualms. Boo.
