What I Wore: Shopping en famille

Look, I know. These pants? Not the most flattering option in my closet. I know that, and I’m forcibly reminded of it every time I look at a picture of myself wearing them. And yet … I can’t stop. In my head, I’m 26 with pre-baby hips, and I look effortless and cool in a not-annoyingly-hipster way, and … yeah, magical thinking doesn’t work and here we are. But I know what the answer is!

Stop taking pictures when wearing these pants.

Hah! Were you expecting a different answer?

Anywhoodle, this is a pretty basic outfit, and I realize now that it probably could use a necklace or something, but I wore this to go to the mall with the fam, and a necklace would be too wearing-it-for-the-sake-of-blog-photos. Know what I mean? The only reason you’re seeing this outfit, really, is because I was having a Good Hair Day. A Good Hair Day makes almost everything better, especially when you’re no longer 26 with pre-baby hips. It even makes the skies part and the sun shine. Just kidding. Good Hair is magical but not, like, weather-changing magical. I wish.

Still, never ever underestimate the power of Good Hair.

Good Hair can save a so-so outfit; its absence positively dooms many a cute outfit – the above is but one example. (Also, note to self: blush and concealer. Never forget the blush and concealer. Because, yikes!)

What I Wore: Here and There

It seems to be all the rage nowadays to call yourself an introvert, but the sucky thing about actually being an introvert is that, some days, you just want to crawl into a hole and hibernate for a couple of decades. And the mostly-awesome-but-sometimes-enormously-exhausting thing about kids is that, well, they’re always there. And they need you to be there too. Physically and mentally. I am luckier than most when it comes to child care, but even so, some days … I’m really, really tired. And I really, really wish that life came with a pause-and-be-hermit button.

What does that have to do with my outfit? Well, I still need to get dressed on those days, and sometimes I make an effort, and I end up with an outfit that looks like I made an effort. Other days, I end up with an outfit that … doesn’t. This was one of the latter. But:

[I should probably embed this into every post.]

Sometimes, I also try for a do-over. Like so:

When you hit on a combination that works (more or less), it’s nice to have the option to be lazy and just tweak a few things here and there, as opposed to putting together a whole new outfit. Is this one an improvement on the original? Eh, let’s call it a toss-up.

What I Wore: Self-Explanatory Title

It was a grey and dreary day, so I decided to make wear my own rainbow. That, by the way, is only 37% sarcasm, because I sometimes dress with the ethos of a grade-schooler. But, listen, this outfit got 5 whole likes on Instagram, at least two of which I’m almost certain were from actual, live humans, and that makes it a total win (by my practically non-existent standards). So, hah!

All kidding aside, can we talk about my cardigan? You may have noticed that I have eleventy million J. Crew Factory Clare cardigans; my very first one is about a year old, so I figured this might be a good time for a little review. Obviously, I like the fit a lot. They do have 3/4 length sleeves, which some people hate but are a must-have for me – I have an irrational dislike for full-length sleeves, especially on crew-neck knits (they end up feeling suffocating). So, quality. Brand-new, the hand-feel is nice. Not, like, cashmere-nice, but nice enough. However, one year out, I’m starting to see wear. That may not seem bad, but keep in mind that I have a lot of these cardigans, and consequently none of them get a ton of wear; we might be talking 2-3 times a month, tops (except for the black, which gets more wear). I also hand-wash them (though not after every wear). I think, when all is said and done, that these look good for about a year, and then start going downhill. With that said, I would still recommend them. They routinely go on sale, and I don’t think I’ve paid more than $15 for the majority of them; at that price, I think they’re a decent deal.