OMG, it’s been a month since I last updated!!! I apologize, but I have a lot of stuff lined up for this blog, to include:
I haven’t abandoned the blog just yet, so keep an eye out for some great posts.
My husband recently had a business trip in NYC, and so I joined him for one night to have a date night (I know it’s a bit extravagant, but we really needed one and we are so grateful to my parents for watching the kids). Date night consisted of a leisurely (and hot!) dinner at Piora in the West Village and then going back to the hotel to sleep in–perfection! Anyhoo, this is what I wore for our fancy dinner.
The dress was sent to me from Stitch Fix and is by Collective Concepts. They originally sent me this dress because I requested something to wear at the beach. My stylist seemed to think this was appropriate to wear to cover up from the sand to the boardwalk?! I wrote back that while I love the dress I don’t think something that is dry clean only works for what she was suggesting! While I ordinarily love Stitch Fix, this was definitely their first (semi) miss. I did buy it because I knew I would wear it for date nights (I’ve worn it twice now). I think it also is a great wear to work and then happy hour outfit–just slip on a blazer for work and take it off for happy hour. I actually brought a dark denim jacket with me that night just in case I got cold, which would dress down the outfit. So while the Stitch Fix suggestion was inappropriate (I honestly think they were just trying to get rid of some inventory), I still find a lot of versatility in the dress. If only the dress was machine washable, and then I would totally wear it while lugging around a kid.
Another great detail I added to this outfit were my earrings from Bauble Bar (similar to these). My husband actually called them the Statue of Liberty earrings. They definitely added a little character to my outfit. I also love how unique they are without them being dangling earrings, which is perfect for little children who try to grab things that dangle like earrings and necklaces. My daughter looks at them and that’s about it. So if you are looking for earrings beyond your studs, you should really think about these!!!
And then I completed the outfit with my Dolce Vita sandals. I would have worn heels, but I knew we would walk a lot in the city. We ended up walking back to the hotel in Chelsea from the West Village. Which probably also wasn’t the best choice in these sandals since they offer no support for you foot whatsoever. But at least I wasn’t dying in heels, which I know would have happened.
P.S. Sorry for the poor picture quality. They were taken in the hotel room with my iPhone and poor lighting since I left the DSLR at home.
So here’s another Stitch Fix top (I know, I know! Everything seems to be from Stitch Fix!!!). I like the top, but it’s not that practical if you are breastfeeding. The buttons are decorative, so it won’t open enough for me to easily feed Sammy. But I don’t mind it so much at this stage because I only feed Sammy 3-4 times a day. I actually love wearing this top if I am going out to run errands with kids in tow, and then I can easily dress them up with some heeled sandals for a casual date night (preferably with margaritas).
The top is from Stitch Fix by Fun2Fun. The jeans are distressed boyfriend jeans from J.Crew Factory, similar to these. The shoes on the left are Toms and the sandals are Steve Madden.
P.S. I hate taking selfies, so excuse that picture.
So I usually don’t like maxi dresses/skirts (unless I’m heavily pregnant) just because the length of it is always an issue when you are 5’2″. But Stitch Fix sent me this great maxi skirt by Loveappella. The light material is great for summer, the pattern is fun, and the length is absolutely perfect. I matched it with an old Gap nursing shirt similar to this, but more form fitting. Sammy is also chewing on her favorite Chewbeads. If you’ve never heard of Chewbeads and your baby is teething, these things are awesome!!! They look like any other fashion necklace out there, but these are made out of silicone. If I wear Sammy, I don’t have to bring a teething toy when I wear her because she loves the Chewbeads. I confess that I have worn my Chewbeads out sans baby as well just cause they look really nice. And my shoes are the Rainbow flip flops I live in when it’s summer time. It’s a great outfit to run errands in or for play dates on a warm summer day.
And in case you are wondering, that’s a Beach Front Baby Water Sling. It’s made out of a jersey mesh material that’s perfect for a hot summer day and for when you want to take your baby with you into water like a swimming pool, sprayground, or calm ocean water. It dries super quick and keeps Sammy cool, although I minimize the wearing just because we both get really sweaty and hot in the summer.
So my previous fashion post was probably not the most practical for any mom who’s breastfeeding a baby 8-12 times a day. The t-shirt is nice, but quite annoying if you have to lift up your top that many times and you don’t want to ruin the collar by pulling it down. So here’s the realistic mother fashion post for a mom with an infant (even though she’s only breastfed 3-4 times a day, but I definitely still wore this during the early newborn days).
I’m wearing a Gilligan & O‘Malley nursing camisole from Target. I pretty much have one in every color. I also love the henley cami version. Thankfully my stylist at Stitch Fix was also keenly aware at how much a staple a nursing cami is for a mom. She hooked me up with this 41Hawthorn knit cardigan for my first fix. I live in a cami and cardigan, and I love the 3/4 length sleeve for summer (because we all know that the a/c is on and it gets too cold to just be wearing a cami). To round off the outfit I’m wearing Lucky Brand denim Bermuda shorts.
This is what I wear pretty much every day around here. I try to make it more interesting by wearing fun bottoms, cool shoes, and interesting cardigans. But soon the breastfeeding days will pass and then I need to figure out another every day outfit.
So I joined Stitch Fix two months ago, and I have been surprisingly super pleased with the service. I’ve gotten two “fixes” (fixes are what they call it when they send you your box of clothes), and I have been super super happy with what has been chosen for me. I even made it very very clear that I am a breastfeeding mother, and they were able to find some tops that are ok to breastfeed in (obviously the camisoles are the easiest tops for breastfeeding, but I also don’t want to look too frumpy every day).
If you aren’t familiar with this new internet trend, Stitch Fix is a clothing subscription box (more or less). You fill out a questionnaire about what your fashion style is and you give them your measurements. The questionnaire includes different polyvore-type clothing boards that you rate so that your stylist can get a feel about what your style is and what should be included your box. You also then have a personal comment box you can write to your stylist about anything specific you are looking for, like a dress for a beach wedding or tops you can breastfeed in. Each fix comes with fives pieces of clothing and accessories your stylist thinks you’ll wear. The only catch is that each fix costs $20. However, the $20 will be applied to the pieces you want to purchase. So you want to buy 3 of the 5 things sent, they’ll take off $20 and you pay whatever is left. If you buy all 5 pieces, you get 25% off the entire fix. Whatever pieces you don’t want to keep you can send back in a prepaid mailing bag that you send through USPS. Super super easy!
It’s an awesome service, especially if you just hate shopping, don’t have time for shopping, and/or are fashion-hopeless. As a busy mom, I fall in the category of no time for shopping on the verge of fashion-hopeless. Haha. I’m also kind of sad that I didn’t try Stitch Fix earlier because now they have maternity pieces!!! Reasonably priced maternity clothing is absolutely bland. Who knows, maybe I’ll get pregnant again and look to them for help! 😉
Anyhoo, my very first fix I received these skinny jeans by Mavi Jeans. Ordinarily I wouldn’t even think to try colored jeans. I saw them and thought, “Well these are going back.” I tried them on, and I seriously wanted to hate them. But I was surprised I would like the bold color, the fit is great, and I love love love the tulip ankle. What was initially deemed returnable has now become a beloved staple. I am also wearing a printed t-shirt from Lucky Brand, flat gladiator-style sandals by Dolce Vita, and Ray Ban Wayfarer sunglasses (they didn’t come with the fix).
So far I’m really happy with Stitch Fix. Like most people who subscribe to the service, I have a real hard time returning items because they just end up being great. Hopefully I’ll keep posting more items I get as my personal journey towards fashionista mama instead of frumpy mama.
The Lax Mama 