Posted by Mandy | Posted in life as mommy | Posted on 30-08-2012
I’m girly. I’m not the most girly, and I like a good video game as much as any guy, but I am very girly. I love shopping, I love clothes, I wear make-up and I do my hair when I have the time to. My journey to a fashion sense has been kind of peculiar. Growing up, I was fairly chubby and really didn’t care what I dressed like. Typically, it was either a jeans or a legging with some sort of t-shirt or pullover. My entire childhood long and way into my teenage years.
In fact, I probably didn’t care about dressing nicely until I shed the weight at around age 20. Then, though, I had catching up to do. All of a sudden I felt attractive and I wanted my outside to reflect that. I started taking care of my skin and my hair, I started figuring out a sensible make-up routine and I finally dressed my body appropriately. I was also in my early 20s, enjoying my exterior for the first time and wanted to have fun with pretty things. Sometimes pretty short things, and sometimes things that showed cleavage.
Now, though, I’m not that early-20s girl anymore. I had enough time to flaunt. I had a retail job in my mid-20s that required me to adhere to a pretty strict black-and-white dress code, so for a while the majority of my wardrobe was black and white and of course fairly demure. Then I got pregnant, and again my wardrobe needs changed. I wasn’t happy with my body during my pregnancy and subsequently didn’t much care about what I wore – or at least didn’t dress to express myself, rather to contain damages.
After I had Logan, I had a lot of weight to lose. It didn’t make sense to acquire a whole new wardrobe for my slightly chubbier self, so I just got a couple of jeans two sizes bigger and wore loose tops. Hiding, not expressing.
Now, though, I’m about 5lbs over my happy weight. I’m really not far off, and I’ve been starting to take a look at how my fashion sense has evolved and what I like now. Again, I’m putting a new wardrobe together that’s more fun than the retail code, but also more grown-up than me in my early 20s. I’m a mom now, I can look good and grown-up at the same time! I’m realizing that I love – and look really good in – sheath dresses, pencil skirts, grown-up shorts, blouses (tucked in! totally new to me), blazers and skinny jeans (those have been on my shopping list for years, though). I’ve been working on acquiring a few key pieces and want to really stock up my new style. I’m also realizing that accessories are a lot more important than I previously thought.
I was at a Banana Republic Factory store the other day and tried on their winter tweed sheath dress. However, that one is $100, and while I liked it very very much, I didn’t completely love it. I ended up putting it away and instead ended up getting a very soft, very classic pullover, a skinny belt, a golden scarf and black booties. Together those 4 items equaled the price tag of the dress. All together they make for a great outfit!
I also got this dress – the occasion was a funeral, but it’s very versatile. Don’t mind the deer-in-headlights shot, the webcam went off too soon. I am most definitely not a fashion blogger.
Perhaps, if I manage to find a good fall wardrobe, I’ll put some effort into photographing it. I certainly feel like I’ve found myself again, and that was something I missed during my pregnancy and the last 9 months.