Moms are constantly being picked on about Mom jeans and yoga pants. If it were up to me, I would live in my yoga pants and my favorite long sleeved tee shirts. My high fashion consists of Guy Harvey and Vineyard Vines Tees. My "Mom Jeans" are from American Eagle, $30, and they don't look like Mom Jeans. My favorite shoes are my 5 year old, well-worn Sperry topsiders. I look at some Moms in carpool line and they usually look much like I do. Some have played tennis and have their tight shorts on and their butts look amazing. Some have taught exercise classes all day and they look amazing in their yoga pants. Some Moms have just left court and have been litigating cases all day and they look great!! Some Moms are in their yoga pants and a side pony and rock it. Let me clear one thing up. My yoga pants have never been to yoga. I just love them!! Now, I do Pilates and dance in them. (Dance=until this pro/am dance competition is over and then I will be back to Pilates only!!) Some Moms just look like a hot mess. Usually I am one of them. I am going to work on this.
Okay, so what are we supposed to wear without being judged? I refuse to dress up to go to carpool, the grocery store and Target. I watch reality TV and see these ladies on "The Real Housewives of..." all around town in cocktail dresses, full makeup, eyelashes and hair curled. Not a ball cap in sight!! Let's settle on something comfortable. I am, by no means, someone to be giving out style advice but maybe I can help moms spruce up their wardrobes with a few simple tips. Again, just to be clear, we don't need to wear heels and be uncomfortable to look good. We can wear a solid colored tee with an inexpensive thin cardigan (from Gap Outlet) over it to look a little nicer than just the tee. A white tee and a white collared shirt are your best friends. Everyone looks great in a crisp white collared shirt, no matter what size you are!! You can throw a scarf around your neck if there is a chill in the air and look great. Something like this:
Or this:
In the summer, we can wear things like this:
Or this:
I am short so I don't have some of the options that some of my tall readers have so here are a few tips for us "Shorties". "Petite" women should never wear long skirts. It makes us look 6 inches shorter. We should not wear Bermuda shorts. We should not wear bell bottomed jeans, no matter what real stylists tell us!! Some of us petite girls are told not to wear Capri pants. I disagree a little bit. If they are longer capris, they don't look good on us. If they are calf length capris, those are fine. Shorter shorts make our legs look longer!! We can create that illusion of being tall, even though we are not. I can't wear long dresses or skirts. Tall girls can rock those cute Maxi dresses. We cannot!! Y'all tall girls, just go on with your bad selves!! Us short girls will be in our short skirts and dresses.
We don't have to "dress up" to look nice. Invest in a nice belt. I bought a belt from Gap years ago that I only paid $30 for and I wear that thing all the time. A nice leather belt will usually set you back over $80 but if you think about it, you will wear it with nearly everything from shorts, jeans, capris or even over a cute dress. Spend a little money on your belt and get a good one. You can buy less expensive sandals at TJ Maxx or Target to set off your look.
Now, even though I am short, I hate wearing heels unless I am at an event or church. It isn't practical to wear heels when you are a mother who works at home. Chasing around children in 6 inch heels is impossible. Plus, wearing them to the soccer field will ruin the heels!! Save your heels for church, charity events or maybe even date night!!
Buy some inexpensive jewelry from a downtown boutique or even a vintage store. Some of the jewelry that my mother wore in the 70's is still in style now. Layer small bracelets or a silver cuff to dress up an outfit. Most moms can't afford real gold earrings so just be sure to buy "gold" earrings with sterling posts. That will make you look great without the expensive price tag. As the saying goes, fake it 'til you make it!! You don't need a string of $5,000 pearls. You can get the $20 string and nobody will know the difference. Here in the South, a string of pearls is an essential part of your jewelry box. You can raid your mother's jewelry box and find a string. If they need restringing, you can buy a cheap skinny ribbon and restring them yourself and tie a bow at the end. Restring them in any color ribbon to go with any outfit. Simply tie a small knot in the end and roll them onto the next color of ribbon. Easy!! Also, friends can help with jewelry. Trade a few necklaces and earring for a month and make a new style!! Borrowing and trading can be fun!!
Okay, so I hope this helps. Now, don't judge me if you see me in carpool line with my ball cap on and NO PEARLS!!! Much love to all of you Moms who work so hard every day!! Your work can often be overlooked unless it is not done.
