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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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- Doubleknit Blazer: Halogen via Nordstrom’s
- Dot-Matrix Dress: Target
- Belt (worn backwards): Forever 21
- Black Tights: HUE
- Brown Riding Boots: Franco Sarto via Zappos.com
- Teal Earrings: Mall vendor
When my late, great advisor in graduate school (the first time) thought I needed a little prompting to get going on a writing project (not that that ever happened. Ever. Of course not.), he would say, “[S.], the tempus is really starting to fugit on this one.” Or sometimes he’d just an e-mail with the subject heading, “the tempus is fugiting!” and a description of what I was supposed to be working on in the body of the e-mail. (Knowing now how little time he had left when he sent some of those e-mails, I wish I had spent more time just listening to him and less time frantically responding to those e-mails, but that somewhat cruel irony is better left for another day). It wasn’t really all that funny a way of trying to get me off the dime (again, that was never necessary! ever!), it was just one of those sort of classic things about him: that he was the kind of person who felt so strongly about your needing to meet a deadline that he had to express it partially in Latin.
But that time has come, now, on a number of projects, as I hurtle towards graduation (a word that never sounded so sweet). Time really is flying by, and there are days that I struggle to break through the deep procrastination that comes from not having a realistic plan for getting it all done on time and in a way that I’m proud of (note to Congress: your inability to resist the temptation to change federal law regarding religious refusals in health care is not helping. Settle down so I can finish writing, already!). But some days are better than others, and I’ve been glad to have some time during this “spring break” (hah!) to work in more uninterrupted blocks than I would normally be able to. We’ll get there, even if I have to just keep breathing through it sometimes. And who knows, being overdressed for a day in the library can’t hurt, right?
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- Necklace: Swapped
- Black Tights: HUE
- Tweed Sweater (again!): Ralph Lauren, mommed
- Black Jersey Dress (again!): Ann Taylor
- Boots (again!): Born “Mallory,” gift from husband D.
- Black Nursing Tank: Bravado Designs via Figure8Maternity.com
I’m breaking several style-blogger rules at once here, using such oft-remixed elements, but I’m hoping it ends up being more “positive testament to unexpected wardrobe versatility” than “wow, could you wear a different sweater?” In my defense, these photos were not taken on consecutive days (sorry: performativity alert! Where’d that pesky fourth wall go?). On the other hand, it’s hard to blame yourself for wearing things you love in different ways: this dress is a constant standby, this boxier-than-usual sweater has been an unexpected postpartum superhero, and the necklace is precisely the right shape to keep baby m. intrigued without a huge risk of her accidentally choking me whilst expressing her enthusiasm for it. (Who said getting dressed with a small child wasn’t exciting?)
But there’s a broader point, lurking behind this meta-remix of an outfit, and it’s one worth reminding myself of: even my old-favorite-ist of old favorites still offers new possibilities. And in a way, that’s both challenging and comforting.
And well-timed. Although I’m not doing anything as organized as a 30-for-30, I am taking a little break from shopping this month. Time and budget are part of the reason, but not all of it. I’m hoping a little time consciously resisting the desire to acquire will give me a little mental clarity and re-energize my creative muscles a bit.
When you’re surrounded by fashion inspiration (thanks, bloggy friends!), and when your body is in a state of flux (not such robust thanks, pregnancy), it’s easy to convince yourself that things that are really “wants” are needs. More times than I’d like to admit, I’ve looked at something and thought, “if I just had…” I’d never need to shop again! My wardrobe would be complete! But it’s like the myth of the last big score (okay, okay, we’ve been watching to much White Collar): the house always wins. And that’s fine! It’s the great thing about fashion, the idea that there are interesting things out there waiting to be discovered and to be used as raw materials for creative styling. But it does mean that the idea of wardrobe completionism (or its more insidious cousin, wardrobe-completionism-as-sense-of-self-completionism) is pretty unhelpful.
The much-ballyhooed piece in this weekend’s WSJ about the superiority of French parenting referenced the Stanford Marshmallow Experiment, where young children were offered two marshmallows if they would wait, in the presence of a single marshmallow, for fifteen minutes. While I’m not a small child with a desperate urge for a sugar high of painful proportions, I have been feeling my own sense of fragmented distractability lately, a strange desire to be constantly adding new things and doing new things. Not shopping isn’t really the solution to this broader problem of needing to be able to sit still and focus on just. one. thing. in a more effective manner, it’s a piece of the puzzle, somehow. I’m hoping that the discipline of the exercise will give me a little breath of fresh air, though, a sense that for a few weeks, nothing new will be jammed into the sometimes-hopelessly-overfull of my days, that I’ll learn to say “that can wait,” or “I don’t need to.” Or at least, I’m crossing my fingers that that will be the case.
Have you ever taken a hiatus from shopping? Just for clothes or for other things? Did you find it clarifying?
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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).
- Abstract Print Wrap Dress: Liz Lange for Target
- Black Nursing Tank: Bravado Designs via Figure8Maternity
- Red Cardigan: Vintage Michael Kors, mommed
- Black Tights: HUE
- Brown Riding Boots: Franco Sarto via Zappos.com
- Earrings: Old Navy
At some point, I really am going to be charged with criminal overuse of this red cardigan, and with continuing to wear a (dwindling) number of maternity items for far too long after delivery, but we can hold that off for a few more weeks, right?
I realize it’s a total cop-out to still be wearing what is technically a maternity dress with an eleven-week-old. That said, I’m secretly thrilled that this dress, which I struggled to style early on, has continued to be an outfit-maker (with a resulting average cost per wear of about twenty-five cents). It’s taken me from “oh, come on! I look pregnant! Really!” to “you’re kidding me! She’s STILL PREGNANT?!?” to my early post-partum days with relative ease. The bold print plays well on its own, too, when I’m not up to piling on the extras.
Like all stand-out pieces, though, its distinctiveness can be a double-edged sword. With dresses in particular, it can be a challenge to keep “making new” something that’s designed to be complete in its own right. In the hectic hurly-burly of the end of the semester (and by end we’re now talking a number of hours only slightly greater than twenty-four), I’m milking these kinds of unexpected workhorses for all their worth. While I appreciate the challenge of getting dressed with creativity and originality, sometimes nothing replaces walking up to your closet and knowing that a combination will just work.
What makes a distinctive piece into a workhorse? Where’s the line between those stand-out things you can use again and again and those that get used once in a blue moon?
I apologize for my slow replies and posting schedule during the end-of-term craziness, and thank you all for your patience! I’m very much looking forward to catching up and having some time off in the now-very-near future.
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- 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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- 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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- 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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Above:
- Pre-pregnancy Bootcut Jeans: Kut from the Kloth via Nordstrom
- Scarf: Target
- Rust Slub-Knit Tee: Gap Maternity
- Metallic Loafers: Naturalizer via DSW
- BeBand: BeMaternity (Ingrid & Isabel) via Target
Below:
- Brown Die-cut Flats: Lifestride via Zappos.com
- Silver Necklace: gifted
- Orange Draped Top: Olian Maternity
Baby m. needed some extra snuggles, so she decided to join us for these photos. We hope you don’t mind. Incidentally, she turned one month old this weekend. When did THAT happen?
Oh, man. If I had a kingdom, I’d trade it for some clothes with a regular waistband. You know, one with a proper closure. Seriously.
I’m almost-but-not-quite able to wear my pre-pregnancy pants and skirts, including these beloved bootcut jeans. So close, but yet so far: while they button, there’s an unacceptable risk of muffinage. A rubber band and my BeBand make them wearable for low key around-the-house days, but in my non-pregnant state, it seems to take away some of their essential je ne sais quoi as, well, jeans. On the other end of the spectrum, most of my early-stage maternity pants are too large to stay up, which isn’t very practical for someone who spends much of her day on the floor.
So what’s a recently-pregnant gal to do? I’m normally the champion of the theory of buy clothes for the body you have now, but there are limits on that theory: while I’ve (admittedly) stalled out a bit in my post-partum weight loss, I’m determined to get back into shape, and I’d rather not spend a fortune on clothes that I’m hoping won’t fit in [insert appropriate time period here]. Dresses and jersey skirts work well for class and for some of my at-home days, but it turns out, I haven’t yet figured out a way to get by entirely without pants for the truly casual moments I’ve been relishing this fall, including taking baby m. on her first hiking trips to the park.
This is, of course, both a practical problem and a psychological one, requiring some sartorial creativity and some emotional discipline on my part. But help me out, dear readers: how do you dress when your physical form is in a state of flux, whatever the cause? How do you honor both the body and the budget you have today?
Incidentally, I’m taking some of Amy of BiblioMOMia’s great advice on fall trends and the postpartum body from her guest post in these outfits — be sure to take a look at the full list!
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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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