- Wine Jersey Dress: Japanese Weekend via eBay
- Winter White Sweater-Jacket Thing: Vintage Piazza Sempione, mommed
- Necklace: Beadle Bop, via Etsy.com
- Black Tights: HUE via amazon.com
- Brown Riding Boots: Franco Sarto via zappos.com
- Earrings: mall vendor
So, I really, really hope y’all aren’t sick of this dress yet….
While I didn’t wear this dress as much as I expected during my pregnancy, I’ve been pretty much living in it postpartum. And why not? It’s a wonderful color, a forgiving fit, and, when I’m feeling particularly dextrous, the right kind of nursing access for the current ratio of baby m.’s head and the applicable food source to allow me to feel comfortable nursing in public. Even better, it’s one of the few dresses I own that actually can provide easy pumping access, as well. And even though I never would have thought to mix these this dress and this jacket on my own, one of Dotty’s great remixes of an off-white moto and a colorful dress caught my eye and I thought I’d give it a whirl. It doesn’t produce the world’s neatest, most hour-glassy rendition of my current proportions, but it has a funky, almost rock-and-roll vibe in a still-business-casual ensemble that I really, really love.
On a more serious note, I hope you all have a wonderful holiday with all those nearest and dearest to you this weekend. We were already overflowing with thanks this year when a very special Thanksgiving present arrived yesterday morning: our nephew! My sister-in-law, E., and her husband D2. welcomed baby o. Tuesday morning, and though little m. doesn’t quite understand what it means yet, we know she’s looking forward to meeting her cousin. And on a decidedly less cosmic note, we are looking forward to a weekend of snuggling with our little girl, who, believe it or not, is two months old!
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- Navy Maxi Dress: Liz Lange for Target
- Mottled Military Detail Sweater: Vintage Ralph Lauren, mommed
- Silver Necklace: gifted
- Teal Earrings: mall vendor
- Red Pumps: UO
I’m hoping that by the time you read this, my sweet SIL E. will have welcomed her son into the world! We can’t wait for baby m. to meet her newest cousin (my oldest brother’s daughter is 11 months older than m.), and are hoping we’ll wake up to wonderful news to kick off our Thanksgiving holiday (though we’ve been waiting with bated breath for updates, the time difference and the sleep constraints of life with a newborn likely mean we won’t be able to stay up all night waiting for the grand finale).
I don’t know quite why I feel so much like I should be frolicking among the lilies of the field in these photos (even though that’s a pretty far cry from life as I know it, with the end of term hurtling towards us and an increasingly-vocal two month old to attend to), but I just do. I think it’s that maxi dresses worn in the fall just screams, “I could go frolic, or maybe I’ll just wander around Brooklyn running errands on an effortlessly casual schedule.” (See, e.g.). But frolic or no, this is what I wore on a day at home with a sniffly baby m., intermixing snuggling and homework and attempting to use a bulb syringe without infuriating said congested infant.
This maxi dress was a workhorse at the end of my pregnancy, in the suffocating late summer heat, and even though it says “maternity” on the tag, I’ve been getting a kick out of remixing it post-pregnancy as the temps finally cool down. Not only is it a fun, on trend shape that I can actually wear in my state of bodily limbo, it’s emblematic of an interesting by-product of my postpartum, well, dearth of pants: I’ve found myself wearing skirts and dresses more on casual days than I ordinarily would. It still won’t work for going to the park, but for studying and playing with baby, a maxi provides a combination of comfort, modesty and laid-back ease that I wouldn’t necessarily have expected. And the counterintuitively figure-forgiving fit? An added bonus. I’ve glammed up this combination with red heels (that, wow, call attention to my pasty white skin), but flats or loafers would have worked for an even more casual (and easier to walk in) version.
While I love this look for a low-key day at home, or even an evening out, I’m less sure about the viability of the maxi in the workplace. What do you think? Long skirts or dresses at work: yay or nay?
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- Draped Cardigan: vince via Nordstrom’s, gift from mom
- Red Tank: Liz Lange for Target
- Boot Cut Jeans: Old Navy
- Red Heels: UO
- Necklace: BeadleBop via etsy
- Teal Earrings: mall vendor
Those of you who follow me on twitter know that it was not exactly a banner weekend around here. But though our Saturday had a less than ideal start, it had an unexpectedly lovely finish: with both baby m. and husband D. on the mend from their respective (and very minor) colds, we were able to take advantage of my parents’ generous offer to babysit and actually go on a (gasp!) date for the first time since m. was born two months ago. We had a delightful dinner at a casual brasserie near us, and while we were only gone for two hours and fifteen minutes (during which m. was sound asleep and my parents were watching the unexpected football resurgence of my alma mater on tv), it was wonderful to be able to indulge in some of those things that have been absent from our lives for a while: unpasteurized cheese, sparking wine, and uninterrupted adult conversation.
I had grander plans for what I was going to wear for this vaunted occasion, including this gorgeous blazer (a pregnancy gift from mom) that I can’t seem to wear without looking like Freddy Mercury, but I ended up wearing an outfit that felt like a dressed-up snuggie. I’d never tried to wear this cardigan with non-skinny jeans before, but I love the way it looks with this boot-cut pair and heels. And what do you know: yet another analogous color pairing, this time of bright red and red-orange (with a pinky-peach necklace thrown in for good measure). Was it the apotheosis of date night outfits? Of course not, nor was it the most glamorous, feminine thing I’ve worn since m.’s birth. But it was appropriate for the occasion and helped me mentally refocus for a relaxing, rejuvenating evening after what had been a very, very long day, which earns it at least an A- in my book!
Long cardigans with pants? Yay or nay? What do you wear when you want to feel glammed up and comfortable at the same time?
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- Peach-Orange Top: Japanese Weekend via eBay
- Red Cardigan: Vintage Michael Kors, mommed
- Skinnies: Gap Maternity
- Brown Metallic Loafers: Naturalizer via DSW
- Earrings: Mall Vendor
And with that, friends, our experiment comes to a close. There’s not a ton to say about this look, which was perfect for a day I spent at home with baby m. and not getting nearly enough work done, save that it wouldn’t have happened had it not been for my oh-my-goodness-totally-desperate need to do the laundry. How is that, you ask? Well, if I hadn’t needed to wash them, I would have worn my boot-cut jeans, and then this top would have been too long and so on and so forth and I never would have found myself, at 5:00 p.m., taking photos in the fading afternoon light while waiting for m. to wake up from her nap. Which goes to show that Amy is so right: there’s almost always a way to turn “clothes” into an “outfit,” and it’s probably worth trying, even if you aren’t really planning on leaving the house (and perhaps especially if you aren’t planning on leaving the house because you’re spending it at home with an infant!). And really, it was worth it: I felt better, and I managed to salvage a crazy morning into a productive afternoon and evening. In an ideal world, I’d have worn this combination (which is my favorite analogous pairing) with a gray or navy pencil skirt and brown heels or boots, but this more casual version worked well for the day I was, you know, actually having.
As an aside, baby m. is 8 weeks old today. How did that even happen?
Have a wonderful weekend, friends, and safe travels to everyone heading out early for the holiday!
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- Wine Jersey Dress: Japanese Weekend via eBay
- Black Tights: HUE
- Brown Riding Boots: Franco Sarto via Zappos.com
- Red Cardigan: Vintage Michael Kors, mommed
- Earrings: Old Navy
- Belt: American Eagle Outfitters, circa 9th grade
I really did have plans to get this post up earlier today . . .
In another funny chapter of Camera v. Mirror, when I wore this, I remember thinking that the tightly analogous pairing of wine and bold red looked so much more mellow and soothing here than in the previous rendition, but looking at the photos, it seems the facts were otherwise! So, if you saw me in the hallway and thought, “wow, that woman is wearing a lot of color today!” . . . I bet you weren’t the only one.
That said, I loved this rendition of my analogous pairings mini-remix. This “during & after” dress, which I love dearly, is one of my only pieces of nursing-specific clothing, and has made me want to reconsider my general unwillingness to spend money on limited-purpose items. (While much of my wardrobe can be adapted for nursing access more easily than I would have originally thought, it turns out it’s actually pumping (which requires access to both sides at once) that represents the bigger wardrobe challenge.*) The black tights are kind of a cop-out here, but I’m quite fond of the effect the boots have on the overall look, converting a dress that I’ve typically dressed up for more formal occasions into something a little more laid back and a little edgier. The belt’s making an uneasy peace with the under-bust seaming on the dress, but it provides a necessary hint of waist definition and keeps the bright colors looking grown-up rather than, well, like the dress I just bought m. for the holidays!
Tomorrow (really!), the thrilling conclusion!
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* Something I should have said a long time ago, with the note that a vague disclaimer is nobody’s friend: For sometimes well thought-out and sometimes not very coherent reasons, I am (at least for the time being) exclusively breastfeeding baby m., which does lend itself towards some discussion of how functional my clothes are or aren’t for nursing and/or pumping. That said, please, PLEASE be assured that I have absolutely no opinion on how you feed your child or how you may feed your future children or really anything about your reproductive and family life, save this: I hope you and the people you love make the decisions that are right for you and that you all feel comfortable with them — and really, actually comfortable with them. Seriously. Go happily with (or without!) God in whatever direction you feel so moved. Parenting is hard enough; there is no judgment here. I’m happy to talk (or not!) about the various choices we’ve made, but I don’t — even for a second — pretend they’re the right choices for everyone.
- Black Jersey Dress: Ann Taylor
- Berry Tights: HUE via Bloomingdales
- Black Croc Wedges: Stuart Weitzman via Bloomingdales
- Woven Belt: LOFT
- Red Cardigan: Vintage Michael Kors, mommed
- Silver Necklace: Gifted
- Teal Earrings: Mall vendor
So remember last week, when I wore this belt and a pair of colored tights and felt instantly back in control of my closet, for reasons possibly passing understanding? Since I’ve never met an argument I couldn’t take to its illogical conclusion if sufficiently prompted, I seem to have decided to wear a whole line of outfits inspired by that one…all in one week! It was probably really boring for the people around me, but it was an instructive and fun remixing exercise.
Like colored tights, tightly analogous color pairings scream “intentional!” (and sometimes “intentional regardless of taste!”) to me. All the same, they’re one of those self-consciously style-blogger-y outfit tricks that I fell deeply in love with nearly at first sight. These are not clothes you would pair by accident, but I’m always amazed at how soothing these pairings can be in practice. (See, e.g. …). For whatever reason, my favorite analogous pairings are in the red family, so these three looks combine berry/aubergine, wine, red, and peach-orange. They also all make use of one of my most-beloved wardrobe workhorses, a beloved cardigan in what is unmistakably my “power” red.
I’ve remixed this black jersey dress 9,000 ways to Sunday, but many of them have followed this same basic formula: dress + cardigan + tights + belt. This time, instead of varying what passes for the “belt” element, I’m relying on the unusual pairing of tights and cardigan for visual interest. And while I liked this take on the tightly analogous pairing, it felt both too safe and too discordant to me in some respects: the distance between the two colors seems to drain some of the punch out of the look and raise the specter of “did she really know those colors don’t quite match?”
Later this week: parts 2…and 3!
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- Winter White Sweater/Jacket Thing: Vintage Piazza Sempione, mommed
- Black Nursing Tank: Bravado Designs via Figure8Maternity
- Boot Cut Jeans: Old Navy
- Brown Metallic Loafers: Naturalizer via DSW
- Necklace: Gifted
- Earrings: Mall vendor
In somewhat comedic symmetry, the last time I blogged this sweater/jacket thing was the day after I found out I was pregnant with m. (Amused note to future self: taking a pregnancy test at 11 p.m. after coming home from a wedding, regardless of the results, will not lead to sleep! But apparently it did lead to pretty adorably curled hair the following morning.) Because I feel like I’ve been living dog years of late, January seems like a lifetime ago (and in a way, of course, it was!), but the basic look is pretty much the same: warm winter white paired with dark denim and warm medium brown and the same silver necklace, tweaked slightly for my current circumstances.
In the last iteration, I was lamenting my difficulties with surrendering my waist (irony alert!), in part because I was loathe to de-emphasize my favorite body part. Postpartum, I have related anxieties, as I try to figure out how to dress for my altered proportions. I’m navigating my way through a sartorial uncanny valley, dressing a same-but-different body for a life that’s same-but-different in both visible and invisible ways. That said, I think I like the halfway-structured aspects of this top, which disciplined my top half without overly constraining it, and the way the lush richness of the knit fabric and sleeve detailing dressed up an otherwise humdrum pair of jeans. You all had some great suggestions last time of how to wear this jacket; any further thoughts as I try to make it work in the future?
Have a lovely, lovely weekend everyone! Coming next week: several days in the life of a tightly analogous color pairing, along with still more maternity wardrobe essentials.
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- Patterned Wrap Dress: Liz Lange for Target
- Oatmeal Cardigan: Halogen via Nordstrom’s, gift from Mom
- Black Tights: HUE via Bloomingdales
- Brown Riding Boots: Franco Sarto via Zappos
- Nursing Tank: Bravado Designs via Figure8Maternity
This was not what I had planned on wearing. There was an elaborate and very dramatic plan involving a new pair of boots that I decided I wasn’t sure if I was keeping and a blazer that looked ridiculous over my nursing-boosted chest and a baby with reflux hiccuping in that adorable drunken-sailor way she does every morning, and this is how I ended up leaving the house.
But despite the morning chaos (which is not news in a house with a small child!), I ended up being really happy with this outfit. I was glad to be able to get a little more wear out of this dress, which was a true maternity staple; it turns out the true wrap expanded its window of wearability on the way up and on the way down. While it’s not the world’s most pump-friendly dress (about which more later), it provided enough access for me to be able to pump at school and nurse baby m. when I was at home, and after having seemed almost-too-short at the end of my pregnancy, it’s a wonderful length current in my mostly-bumpless state. What I loved most, though, are the touches that make this pretty office-oriented workhorse so much less formal and stuffy. The brown boots and the oatmeal cardigan take the outfit to a much more laid back, slightly offbeat place that I ended up really loving. I may have started the day behind schedule, but I felt polished enough to talk confidently about predatory pricing and relaxed enough to talk about topics with a slightly broader appeal. And on a day when I was rushing out the door a little more than usual, I was so thankful for the way I was able to remix a typically one-and-done dress into an outfit that felt a little more interesting and a little more, well, narrowly tailored to the day I was actually having.
So, maybe I’m relaxing my stance on continuing to wear a few carefully chosen maternity items, at least for another week or two. If I’m still doing it in a few months, somebody tap me on the shoulder and tell me it’s time to cut the cord, okay?
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- Waterfall Cardigan: vince via Nordstrom, gift from Mom
- White Nursing Tank: Bravado Designs via Figure8Maternity
- Brown Woven Belt: LOFT
- Seamed Ponte Pencil Skirt: Halogen via Nordstrom
- Aubergine Tights: HUE via Hue.com
- Oxfords: Seychelles
- Earrings: Old Navy
Thank you, Liz and Linda, for picking an Everybody, Everywear theme with which my postpartum closet could cooperate, and thank you, weather gods, for contriving appropriate tights weather for today. And a big day it was: it was baby m.’s first day at our nanny share, which she seemed to love and which induced in me all kinds of typical-but-silly new parent paranoia (which has since, thankfully, dissipated).
I’ve come to love colored tights, but I’ll fully admit they’re one of the most self-consciously “style blogger” things in my wardrobe, something I definitely wouldn’t have worn a year or two years ago. So in honor of broadened horizons, here’s one of my favorite pairs of colored tights as the centerpiece of an outfit that includes, well…nearly all things I probably wouldn’t have worn (or at least wouldn’t have worn together) in my pre-blog life (that belt! those shoes! that obsession with ponte knit work staples!). And to take it to yet another level of meta-contrivance, it’s a look inspired by the post-partum stylings of a near and dear bloggyfriend, E. of the now-defunct (tear!) Academichic.
And yet, despite all that, it may just be my favorite postpartum outfit yet, because it made me feel back in the saddle somehow, put together and confident and ready to take on the world, or at least to find a way to dress my still-confused postpartum body in a recognizable and empowering way. And on a much less philosophical note, can I express my joy at rediscovering this woven belt? At a time when I was despairing of being able to make belts work with my shifting waist and bustlines, this one just clicked, and it makes the outfit sing. Thank you, frantic Monday morning wardrobe impulsiveness!
Are you a fan of the colored-tights look? Would you wear them to work, or are they strictly casual elements in your life? What’s your favorite color?
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- Breton-Striped Raglan: Old Navy
- Nursing Tank: Bravado Designs via Figure8Maternity.com
- Necklace: Gifted
- Earrings: Old Navy $7 bin
- Boot-cut Jeans: Old Navy “Flirt”
- Those Red Heels Everyone Has: Urban Outfitters
Remember when I threw myself a pity party about my lack of pants? I decided to put on my big girl panties, take a deep breath and spend a (reasonable) amount of money on a few key pieces that, while I don’t “need” in some per se sense, will make me feel more like myself in my stretched out skin and embrace the body I have now, with all the honestly-still-a-pretty-big-deal things it’s doing.
…which is really all a fancy way of saying, I did it: I bought mom jeans. But this deep, dark, very-reasonably-priced pair from Old Navy is actually decidedly un-mommish, and has the very-slight-bootcut and mid rise I so dearly missed about my pre-pregnancy jeans. And I’ll admit it: they’re flattering, comfortable, and while I still could in all honesty probably care less what number is on the tag, I’m much happier with this state of affairs than I was wandering around pantsless and contemplating just how many months I was going to spend restricted to elastic waistbands and jersey dresses. They’re pants that fit the body and the life I have now, equally functional for long days of trying to study during baby m.’s naps, long walks in the park, and the eventual out-of-the-house date night we promise we’ll have sometime soon.
This top is also new, from the same Old Navy trip, and I love its slouchy chicness and easy, practical shape (nursing access is an up-or-down possibility, depending on how rough I feel like being on the neckline and how much I’m willing to risk baby m. deciding to share her breakfast with me….). Overall, the look is one I probably wouldn’t have worn pre-pregnancy, when I loathed the idea of surrendering my waistline and wearing something so un-fitted up top. But maybe that’s just another positive thing about this strange journey my body has been on for the last year: even now, as I’m trying to figure out how to live with and dress my post-pregnant self, the project of learning to dress — and feel good about — an unfamiliar body is pushing me to experiment sartorially in ways I wouldn’t have though to do.
But really, let’s be honest: when you’re wearing three-inch-heeled red pumps with a round toe, that you can actually walk in, how bad could things possibly be?
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Hi! I'm S. Welcome to Narrowly Tailored, a blog about life and style from a law student and new mom. In short: work and life gets dressed; balance mostly gets amused.Follow Along
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