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[ Top row, from left: February 2012 / November 2011 / July 2011 // Second row, from left: November 2010 / January 2011 / February 2011 // Third row, from left: December 2010 / April 2011 / February 2011 ]
If I had had my act together today, I’d have (a) actually picked out a pair of green pants instead of continuing to endlessly search for the perfect one, (b) worn said pants and made it long enough into the day without getting baby spit-up on them to take photos, and (c) actually edited and posted said photos amid a blur of deadlines and an allergies-without-medicine induced haze. Because you all know part (a) was by far the least realistic of the required elements, I bring you…this recap of some of my favorite ways to wear green and green-ish through the ages, settings, seasons and stages of being not-yet-pregnant, barely-pregnant, hugely-pregnant and thankfully-not-pregnant-anymore.
*and I would love, love, love your suggestions on green pants. I tried those adorable tiny babypants from Target, but the pants-kryptonite of my waist-to-just-above-the-knee ratio proved their undoing (terrible pun intended). Have a wonderful Tuesday!
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- Necklace: Swapped
- Sweater/Jacket Thing: Vintage Piazza Sempione, mommed
- Maroon Maxi Skirt (worn as a midi dress): Old Navy
- Black Boots: Born ‘Mallory,’ gift from husband D.
- Brown Woven Belt: Loft
- Not Pictured: Black Tights: HUE
Well, hello there! We’re back from two (two!) trips with our big-girl 5-month-old (yikes!) in one week (about which more later), and though rejuvenated by visits to friends and family, we’re all a bit exhausted and facing a monster case of the Mondays, so I’ll keep this one short and sweet. This is another attempt at remixing this Old Navy maxi skirt as a midi dress, using some of the same techniques I used here: a topper to hide the nursing bra straps, a belt to provide some waist definition and hold the whole thing in place. This version is a bit more obviously wintry, but has a bit of a funky, country vibe with the boots overlapping the skirt hem. Though I’m not 100% sold on the proportions (which somehow managed to feel slightly Hey, Dude! (dare I date myself), and give me a serious case of distressingly-flattened hindquarters), I love the combination of cream and maroon here, with the pop of turquoise from the necklace. This boxier-than-I’d-normally-wear jacket has also become an MVP of my new-mom days, at the right level of formality for a bigger range of situations than I’d have initially imagined. All in all, I think the first attempt was more successful, but for a combination of not-quites on a crazy Monday morning, I’ll take it and run.
Midis with boots: awesome or a little too cowgirl for big city life? I’m thinking of chopping the hem on this skirt to turn it into a proper high-waisted midi skirt in the near future. Thoughts? Tips for hemming jersey?
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One last thought: I’d be so honored and thankful if you’d take a minute to vote for me in the Circle of Moms’ search for the Top 25 Fashion and Beauty bloggers! You can click here to vote (or the button in the sidebar), once per day until February 28, 2012. (No registration required).
- Maroon Skirt: Kyla‘s closet sale
- Pink Knit Blouse: Banana Republic (2008)
- Tweed Cropped Blazer: Tracy Reese via Nordstrom’s (2004)
- Black Tights: HUE
- Black Croc Wedges: Stuart Weitzman via Bloomingdales
Happy Valentine’s Day (if you feel so moved!)! I couldn’t help but fall for this month’s Everybody Everywear theme of pink and red together, since I (a) adore the color red and (b) have apparently never met a pairing of tightly analogous colors that I couldn’t find a way to love. Laughing in the face of color-matching “rules,” I’ve worn red-based tight pairings on dates, at home, at work and school, while pregnant, while postpartum (and still wearing my maternity jeans). I’ve also waxed poetic about my love for these kinds of clashing-but-not-clashing color combinations, which, once you get used to them, can feel downright visually soothing.
This outfit is a version of red and pink together that would work even in a moderately conservative office. I wouldn’t wear it in an environment where I’d never seen anyone wear anything that wasn’t a black suit with a white shirt, but if I’d been there a while and had seen matched separates and the occasional texture or color walk by, I’d give it a whirl. While a brighter skirt would also have worked, I’ve chosen a darker shade here, which preserves the playfulness of the red + pink combo, but adds a touch of sophistication and makes it decidedly office friendly on days other than Valentine’s Day. I’m using the cropped blazer to add a little extra punch of formality (and let’s face it, it’s pretty cold outside), and to provide a kind of a decoy for the color blocking below: in a funny way, it serves the neat function of letting the bright elements in the outfit stand out and blend in at the same time.
Are brights and “clashing” colors a go in your workplace? Do you have a favorite color pairing or strategy for making brights work for work?
Never one to be left out of the party, baby M. decided to play along, as EBEW’s youngest participant. In fairness, she would like you to note that this was totally by accident (i.e., mom discovered as we were leaving that baby was wearing red and pink, too!), but also that ever since grandma bought her this adorable hot-pink-and-tomato-red jacket, she rocks tightly analogous color pairings almost every day. It was also one of those I-should-have-worn-a-raincoat spit up days, so this outfit lasted for approximately fifteen glorious minutes.
On baby M.:
- Pink and Red Fleece Hoodie: Carter’s, gift from MIL
- Ballet Pink and White Striped PJs: Hanna Andersson, gift from my mom
- One of two kinds of socks that ever manage to stay on her feet: Target
Like what you just read? You can subscribe to Narrowly Tailored via RSS or bloglovin’, or follow me on Twitter to be the first to know what I’m up to. Note: Google Friend Connect will be discontinued in early March, so please shift your subscriptions to RSS or Bloglovin’ before the end of February!
One last thought: I’d be so honored and thankful if you’d take a minute to vote for me in the Circle of Moms’ search for the Top 25 Fashion and Beauty bloggers! You can click here to vote (or the button in the sidebar), once per day until February 28, 2012. (No registration required).
- Tweed Sweater: Vintage Ralph Lauren, mommed
- Maroon Maxi Skirt (as dress): Old Navy
- Black Tights: HUE
- Brown Woven Belt: LOFT
- Scarf: Malo, mommed
- Earrings: Lulu, gifted
- Black Suede Booties: Franco Sarto via Nordstrom’s
Ever late to the party, I’ve been on the hunt for a full-ish midi-length skirt since they burst (back?) onto the scene last spring. Admittedly, it’s been a pretty casual hunt: if I were the skirt, I’d have almost zero fear of being captured. My tenuous relationship with waistbands over the past thirteen months has been in part to blame, but it’s probably more generalized pickiness, and a hesitancy towards jumping in on a trend that feels unlikely to suit my proportions. (I am really, really working on feeling all kinds of love for my post-pregnancy body, but there’s a difference between how you feel about your body and how you feel about what clothing items do for it. I recall audibly gasping when I tried on one such pleated number. Holy hip-inflation, batperson!)
When I’m tiptoeing my way in to a new style, I’m always on the lookout for low-cost, low-commitment ways to try something out, so last week, when Terra showed off this neat trick for converting a maxi into a midi-for-short-folks, no scissors necessary, I gave it a go. Like most “x worn as y” tricks, there are some contrived little nips and tucks going on (sweater to cover the fact that I don’t own a strapless nursing bra, scarf to mask any awkward layering incidents, etc), but I’m really pleased with the way this turned out. It wasn’t something I ever would have figured out on my own, and it gave new life to a piece I’d been struggling to wear. And while these booties are not the most comfortable pair of shoes I’ve ever worn, they’ve become my “instant drama” item of the winter, adding a little punch and surprise wherever they go.
Midis on minis: yay, nay, or eh? What are your favorite strategies for dipping your toe into the pool of a new trend? What motivates you to get off the dime and give something a go that you’re skeptical about?
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- Necklace: Gifted
- Earrings: Mall vendor
- Grey Cowl-Neck Tee: Filene’s Basement
- Aubergine Cord Skirt: Thrifted
- Black Belt: Ann Taylor
- Red Cardigan: Vintage Michael Kors, mommed
- Black Tights: HUE
- Black Boots (finally!): Born “Mallory,” holiday gift from D.
2012? Seriously?
I remember when I was applying to law school (back in the dark ages of the fall of 2008, which is now starting to seem like a really long time ago), D. and I looked at letters inviting me to apply for the Class of 2012, and the date sounded almost futuristic, like some kind of insane fantasy. 2012? That’s when some people think the world is going to end!
And yet, it seems that brave new world has arrived: even though I keep writing checks dated 2011, it is, in fact, January 2012, and my last semester of law school starts in a week. And while I’m not big on new years’ resolutions per se, I’ve definitely got a list on my mind of things I’d like to work on in the coming year:
- Make my last semester of school meaningful. I’m unlikely to ever be in school again, and I want to make it count. Separate and apart from my desire not to have “senioritis” affect my grades and jeopardize 2.5 years of hard work, I don’t believe in doing things halfheartedly, particularly not right now, as my time is so limited on all fronts. I still have some (actually, a lot) of big dreams out there and some things I need to be doing to keep them in the realm of possibility, and it’s worth remembering that. Even without the utilitarian aspects, I want to be intellectually engaged and alive to the moment.
- Get back to running — injury free. I’ve had so many false starts in my running career, but the physical changes associated with pregnancy, childbirth and recovery give me (a) a lot of healing to do and (b) a chance to start fresh. So for 2012, no big races (nothing longer than 10K), no crazy training plans, just safe, measured progress, and a lot of cross-training.
- Go more places with the little one. For a variety of reasons, including a dislike of chaos, I didn’t do a lot of venturing out on the days I was home by myself with Baby m. during the semester. Now that we have a little more help and I’ve picked up the pieces a bit more, I’m hoping I’ll get better at taking her places by myself on my non-working days.
- Go more places… without the little one. True confession: D. and I have only been out together without m. twice since she was born…3.5 months ago. Whether it’s going climbing together or just going to see a movie, it’s something we should do more of.
- Become a radical completionist. As evidence of my distractability, I can’t even begin to narrate what happened from when I sat down to write this and finally finished it. I have a huge to be filed file and a tendency to look at a task, contemplate it and then put it off, whether it’s postal mail, email, blog stuff, cleaning our house, writing, etc. It’s a lousy habit, and one that would restore hours back into my days and weeks if I could kick it.
- Meet my breastfeeding goals, but let them evolve as circumstances require. I didn’t expect that I’d be able to breastfeed, but it’s been a wonderful experience for us in ways I couldn’t have anticipated. It’s also one that’s required some Herculean efforts to make work (about which more later), but which I’m willing to keep doing (in a totally non-judgmental please just do what’s best for your family way!!).
- Honor my physical and emotional well-being…and my desire to get back in shape. This is easier said than done, but I’m working on it.
- Shop sanely and sustainably. I talked a little bit about this in the context of my commitment to thrifting more in the coming year, but there’s more to it than that: thinking critically about wants and needs, making investments that will last, not plunking down cash for things I don’t love and feel fabulous about.
- Be a confident parent and a present partner. Worth it for everyone’s sake. Also some stuff about reducing the amount of clutter in our house — physically and emotionally.
Where do you stand on new years resolutions? What are you most looking forward to in 2012?
I should add a brief post-script about this outfit: I have been looking for these boots for ages (thanks, D.!), and they were worth the wait. I still haven’t gotten over my thing about reds and aubergines. This skirt is an exception to the “never thrift things from Target” rule: the fit is iffy, but it’s a good quality garment that seems like it will last a while. Unlike this shirt, which has a spit-up stain the size of Texas on it that refuses to budge. Le sigh…
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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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- Printed Knot Top: Banana Republic, on long-term loan from A2.’s closet
- Black Jersey Skirt: Mountain Hardware via Hudson Trail Outfitters
- Brown Die-Cut Flats: Lifestride via Zappos.com
Hey! Look! I’m not pregnant anymore!
At times, I wasn’t quite sure that would ever happen!
This isn’t what I wore on Tuesday, my first day back in classes, but these are my first post-partum outfit photos, taken when baby m. was seven days old (I look—I hope!—slightly less dead-eyed at this point). I’m still getting my bearings in so many ways right now—including sartorially—but this is a reasonable representation of the kind of thing I’ve been wearing much of the time: some vaguely nursing/pumping friendly top (I’m trying not to wreck this one, A2.!), flats, and a jersey skirt of some stripe or another. This formula has pros and cons (gentle on my recovering waistline, but not always so practical for someone who now spends large stretches of time crawling around on the floor), but it fills an important need in my post-partum style vocabulary, giving me the chance to feel “assembled” without having to fret quite as much about whether what I’m wearing fits just so or whether I’m wrecking some beloved and non-machine-washable item with the inevitable baby spit up. It’s not the solution to all of my getting-dressed-post-baby challenges (about which more later), but it certainly helps with some of them!
Those of you who follow me on Twitter know that Tuesday was my first day back in class since baby m. was born, and were kind enough to pass along some much-needed encouraging words as I prepared m. for a fantastic day with my mother-in-law and tried to pull together my deepest thoughts about the horizontal merger guidelines. On the whole, my first day back was great: m. had a great day at home, and I felt, surprisingly, more efficient and balanced for the experience. We’re still working out some of the logistical details of how I’m going to get homework done on the two days a week I’m home with m. (without becoming nocturnal and/or destroying what’s left of our weekends), but almost three weeks in to being a full-time law student and a first-time parent, I feel . . . if not very nearly competent, at least less spastic than I expected. And that’s progress, right?
Still, in the spirit of hilarious comments law students are willing to make, I have to relate by far the funniest moment from my first day back at school. A young woman in my antitrust class, who competes on the moot court team with me and is a friend of friends, turned around at the break and said, at full volume and across about a two row separation in the classroom, “Oh, [S.], were you absent the last two weeks?” My friends sitting in the adjacent seats laughed, and I looked at her a little bit funny and said, “yeah. . . I don’t know if you remember, but I had a baby two weeks ago.” She was rather taken aback (understandably), and the rest of the folks in the room laughed. Of course, she apparently recovered quickly, since a few minutes later, she managed to ask me a rather hilarious variant on “was that planned?” In a way, it was a very funny reminder that as fraught as the embodied experience of being pregnant—and being a parent—can seem to the person living it, more of that struggle than you’d think is completely invisible to the outside world.
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- White Draped Tuxedo Top: Joie via Nordstrom, gift from Mom
- White Tank: Gap Maternity
- Navy Abstract Floral Skirt: induetime via eBay
- Suede Wedge Sandals: Earthies via Zappos.com
- Silver Necklace: Gifted
After the rain and flooding finally abated on Friday, D. and I went to dinner with Emily and her boyfriend Chris, and in her honor, I tried out the sock bun for the first time. My hair isn’t quite long enough to be put up on a regular basis, but on such a ridiculously humid day (seriously, I can only describe the outside air as “dripping”), it seemed worth a try. Plus, I heard a rumor that straightening my hair just might not be something I have a lot of time for in the near-ish future, so figuring out something to do with my growing-out hair that keeps it out of the way of grabby little hands seems advisable. 
I’m not 100% on continuing to wear this top, which is now doing nothing to downplay my upper half. All the same, I’m intrigued by it’s relative ease, and deeply appreciative of the way it’s traveled with me from “really, you’re pregnant?” to “OMG! YOU’RE REALLY PREGNANT!” (note the obvious lack of side view in the latter case). The look as a whole teeters dangerously on the edge of hippie drapey earth goddess whatever, but I loved how it still made use of things that felt like real clothes: woven fabrics, texture, pleating, a pencil skirt, heels, jewelry. And true to form, this is yet another way I’m proving my mum’s advice right. When she gave me this top a few months ago, I think her exact words were, “see, this is the kind of thing you could wear, even really pregnant, and feel dressed up.” And sure enough, she was right. Again. I really hate it when that happens.
As an aside, many thanks to everyone who checked in on us after our long string of bizarre weather events in the past few weeks. Despite the earthquake, hurricane and extensive flooding, we appear to have emerged with only a small amount of water in the basement and a slightly-enlarged crack in the garage floor. We are, however, bracing for the possibility of a mid-week snowstorm (despite the 80+-and-sunny weather), if only because it seems like the next logical shoe to drop!
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- Cream Cashmere Tunic: Stefanel, mommed
- Layering Cami: Be Maternity via Target
- Navy Abstract-Floral-Print Skirt: induetime via eBay
- Brown Peep-Toes: Naturalizer via amazon.com
- Metallic Fabric Belt: LOFT
- Maroon Earrings: Target
And just like that…3rd year! Finally?
It’s hard not to love the first day of school, with all its anticipatory, nervous pleasures. And on what should be my last first day of school ever, it was hard for me to resist getting a little bit misty-eyed as I packed my lunch, tried to pick out the perfect outfit, and headed off to class with all my neatly-labeled notebooks and carefully annotated reading assignments.
Of course, this first day of school was different in so many ways, and not just because it was my last: not only is the last year of law school a little bit of a bizarre experience to begin with (as many 3Ls know by early September what they’re headed off to do after graduation), but I’m coming back to school more than nine months pregnant and waiting to go into labor . . . any time now. And while I was pretty sure I looked enormous at the end of May, I didn’t really look all that pregnant then, so I’ve spent my first days of school this week laughing a little bit at some of the surprised looks I’ve gotten when people ask how far along I am. And like any setting involving a wide age range, there have been a few hilariously inappropriate reactions, but for the most part, my classmates are delighted, if a bit concerned at what will happen if my water breaks in class.
Unfortunately, my first day of class wasn’t entirely fun and games, as I’d be lying if I wasn’t confronting a fairly serious pregnancy-related body-image fail this week. I’m doing my best to come out of it and to find ways to dress that make me feel good about my changing (and exhausted) body, but it hasn’t all been sunshine, roses and thoughts I’m happy to admit to. With this outfit, I stuck to one of my favorite tricks for fighting the body-image blahs: finding or simulating a familiar, favorite silhouette that feels like me — or at least a version of me that swallowed a basketball inadvertently. I’m also letting my accessories do some of the work of attracting visual interest and drawing it towards my face, rather than my midsection. Obviously, I’m not fooling anyone, but it made me feel put together, composed, and maybe slightly less swollen.
What are your favorite tricks for dressing through the body image blahs? Do you have a go-to outfit or strategy that gives you a sartorial boost when you’re not feeling your best?
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- Peach-orange Top: Japanese Weekend via eBay
- Plum Jersey Skirt: Old Navy (non-maternity)
- Silver Necklace: gifted
- Teal Earrings: mall kiosk
- Sueded Wedge Sandals: Earthies via Zappos
There’s a hilarious irony to the fact that the majority of my late-pregnancy discomforts (and, well, occasional moments of desperation!) tend to be ameliorated by staying as busy and active as possible. Case in point: my urge to take immediate action in response to the increasing amount of clutter in our house . . . between 10 p.m. and 1 a.m. last night. (After which there was another earthquake. Connected events?) So, in the spirit of, “I’ve found something that works and now I’m going to do it ALL THE TIME,” I’m trying to stay busy and engaged, flexing my creative, organizational, intellectual and physical muscles as much as I can.
To that end, a belated take on one of my favorite summer trends, as the season begins to fade away from us (tear!), and yet another unusual-for-me proportion. Intriguingly, also an example of how sometimes, color + color works better than color + neutral: when I tried to wear this top with they grey version of this skirt, it looked like something of a hot mess, but I’m loving the unexpected combination of plum and peach here. Since I seem incapable of exposing my ears adequately in photos, you can’t see it very well here, but there’s also a sneaky triad hiding in this outfit — can you find it?
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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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