I've always been a Gap girl, so I'm not really going outside of my comfort zone looking there. That said, I have Style Cash coming up the 17th-20th at Gap Factory AND credit there from using my Gap credit card, so I'm playing around on ShopStyle looking to spend my money. Trying to decide what makes a "statement," because my five year old told me it's good to make a fashion statement :)
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As I begin this project, It makes sense to ask the most honest and fashion-forward person I know, my five-year old daughter Ginny, for advice. How do I find clothes that will make me happy? I asked Ginny which of her outfits made her the happiest. She said, "My green leaf outfit," which surprised me since she's been Lady In Pink since she was old enough to talk. I asked why, and she said, "Because it's a fashion statement."
Oh, ok. What does that mean? "It's different," she explained, which made me feel bad about all those times I've gone wild stocking up on shades of pink teeshirts at Children's Place sales. I got that leaf outfit rather by accident. I joined Fab Kids last Black Friday to get these amazing $9 pink sparkle boots, and I kept forgetting to skip my subscription. I ended up needing to spend a lot of money at Fab Kids, and in an effort to clear out my account so I could cancel the subscription, I bought a bunch of stuff on a whim. That leaf outfit was part of that order. My lesson of the day from Ginny? Think outside the box. Explore new places to find things that will make me happy. Experiment. Get excited about making a statement. Hopefully, this project (and sharing it and getting suggestions-- hint, hint) will help me to do that.
You can go anywhere in Ginny's leaf outfit!
So I sat down to put together my grown-up shopping cart widgets... and before I knew it, I was in kid-clothes-heaven over at Mini Boden. It's definitely not a regular shopping spot for me (we do pay for childcare for two!), but I love, love, love their kid stuff. So cute, so well-made, & unique.
As I've been thinking about this next phase in my wardrobe life, I've been virtually shopping. A lot. I try to think through my decisions though, so I've found it best to put things in carts and walk away for a few days. Sometimes things get sold out, but sometimes they go on sale! I tell myself I break even. Here are two of my current clothing carts. Decisions, decisions.
Do you know what this code means? It means that I've owned my fall coat for 15 years now, despite the fact that it's always fit a little funny in the armpits.
I've noticed this look Army/utility look is in, and I've always liked it, so I'm moving on. The contenders:
The above clothing is pilled, ugly, ill-fitting, and frumpy, & I distinctly remember wearing the beige Banana Republic sweater while on an otherwise forgettable random Match.com date. My husband and I have been together for over ten years now. We did not meet on Match.com.
That darn sweater’s been taunting me for several winters now. I never felt really pulled together in it, but it’s really hard to let go of a sweater I know cost good money, and it still fit… but its best days were behind it. I think I was in the right mood the day I did this. I’d actually done a major pants purge last winter because, while I’m the same size I was pre-kids, not everything goes back to the same spot after you have kids. Some of those pants were quite uncomfortable. That made it easier to let go. So I let go. Besides being motivated with the next phase of the project (buying new clothes!), I also found it easier to make the piles bigger because I had a plan for where everything was going. NOTHING went in the trash. The “Tier One” clothing that I had just tired of went to an awesome consignment shop. An awesome consignment shop is one that doesn’t smell like grandma’s house. This one smells lovely, and it’s focused on a Reduce, Reuse, Recycle mission, which means I can also buy my favorite earth-friendly body products there (for free!) with store credit. [Desert Essence is awesome and I've used it for the kids since they were babies. If you're interested, I linked it at the bottom.] Anything the shop didn’t want went straight to Tier Two (do not pass go, do not come back in my house). “Tier Two” clothing (not in amazing shape, but still useful) went to the local food pantry. They have a room where families can get clothing for free, so it stays right in the community and helps people out. “Tier Three” clothing, for me, anyway, wasn’t stained or ripped. I don’t have much trouble parting with those things. Tier Three was mostly free tee shirts. When you work in a school and do volunteer work, you find yourself swimming in free tee shirts. So hard to part with them, but not enough days in the month to wear them all… and I’m pretty sure I’ll feel frumpy looking at myself in the mirror in a “Thanks for Volunteering in 2008!" shirt. I let go of the thicker ones (they’re never as comfy), the repeats, & the awkwardly long, hugs-my-hips-‘til-it-restricts-movement tees. All of those can go to a cloth recycling bin I found. They’ll take old towels and blankets, too. Nothing goes in a landfill! Anything to help the environment and relieve the guilt of getting rid of a Banana Republic sweater. I’ve spent the past two months at home with my children, a five year old daughter and three year old son. If I’m lucky, I get to go to the bathroom by myself, but everyone knows that injuries and screaming battles are most likely to occur during those brief sojourns. Realistically, I get two minutes in the bathroom, and knowing all the germs floating around our little ecosystem, I do try to use some of those moments to scrub my hands.
And those are the moments when I look in the mirror. Sometimes, I can’t look past the toothpaste spray caked on (how can short people splash that high?), but when I do, my usual reaction is, “Oh. I guess that’s how I look today.” I can’t say I’ve felt pleased with what I saw very often, and half the time, I’m actually surprised by what I see because I put so little thought into putting myself together that morning. It’s not a self-esteem thing—I feel comfortable with my post-kids body. I’m just not really trying, at all, and I look like it. Soon, I’ll be returning to work. Bathroom breaks for teachers are actually shorter than they are for moms, but again, they’re tiny little moments of respite. Under fluorescent lights. If I want those tiny breaks to raise my spirits, something’s going to change. I’ve started reading fashion blogs and thinking about what I’d want to wear that would make me smile. Like so many other things in my mom-life, though, if I don’t find some way to really commit to it, I won’t stick to it. Thus, I just spent $96 on a website. Let the journey to pulling together my grownup look begin! |
AuthorI'm so grateful to have you here with me. I LOVE being a mom, but I'm trying to still be "me" while being a mom, & this blog has been a tool for me to figure that out. Hopefully it's that for you, as well. I look forward to hearing from you so that I can make this blog meaningful for you. Thanks for being here! Archives
December 2022
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