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Daily Mom Style 02.06.13

You guys. I discovered this article last week and I was totally inspired — No More Yoga Pants: How to Dress Like a Frenchwoman.

Okay, I know we don’t live in France, and my mailman really does not care if I answer the door in my pajamas. And yet. Why not just pull on jeans and a sweater instead?

Lately I’ve been digressing into the yoga pant habit again, justifying my laziness and worship of comfort by purchasing new cute tops to go with them. But as I read this, I realized that I’ve been putting so much pressure on myself to make my outfits interesting and different every day, that I’ve in effect, shot myself in the foot. Instead of getting dressed every day, which was the original point of this exercise, I’ve forced myself back into the yoga pant rut by making getting dressed too much of a challenge. I’ve become so stressed about making my outfits interesting and not repeating pieces that I don’t even want to bother some days.

“American women always like to point out that getting dressed is hard work, but really, we make it hard because we give ourselves too many options. French women have very small wardrobes, and they wear the same pieces — the same outfits, even — over and over . . . the American impulse is to look in the closet and say, “I can’t wear that, I just wore it on Tuesday!” French women, on the other hand, say, “That looked great on Tuesday — I think I’ll wear it again.” Find what works for you and repeat, repeat, repeat. There’s no reason to keep reinventing the wheel.”

So.

I’ve decided to focus less on variety and creativity, and more on just wearing my classic pieces that work. Because as the author points out, it really isn’t any more work (or less comfortable) to throw on a flattering sweater and pair of jeans than it is to throw on a fleece with yoga pants. This week you’ll see that I wore several tops twice.

(By the way, I found this article using Stumbleupon — my latest guilty pleasure . . . they’ve totally changed it up and the new format is really cool – much more visual than it used to be. I’m using it to find some great articles, and I hope you’ll follow me there!!)

That was quite a preamble, but let’s get started. This week’s looks are actually more fun than usual because I travelled to the Target HQ in Minneapolis for a press trip. The dress code was “business formal” which gave me a second of panic. NO JEANS! The horrors! But then I realized that this was just a great opportunity to wear one of my dresses that tend to get buried in the back of my closet.

day 1

I need your advice on this one. I bought this black velvet trim merino cardigan to throw on over dresses and blouses to carry them into winter. You’d think that would be a great, versatile wardrobe piece, right?? But it hasn’t been at all easy. I explained last week how I tried it on over some of my summer blouses and ended up reverting to one of my tank tops.

Well, this week, I really wanted to wear my new black-and-white dot print sleevless blouse with my red jeans to a press event so I decided to try the black cardigan again. I first tried to wear it unbuttoned, and that didn’t do much for my silhouette:

FAIL.

Then I buttoned it, which was more slimming, but the two necklines didn’t seem to work well together.

Another FAIL.

No matter what I try it with, this sweater just doesn’t seem to work over anything other than a basic tank. (If you look at the website, you’ll see that the top has some ruching at the neckline.) Maybe a V-neck cardigan or a blazer would work better over my blouses.

I finally ditched it and switched over to this tried-and-true gray cowl-neck sweater, which I got at Banana Republic eons ago. I felt good in this but I still really want to wear that black and white dot print blouse!! Bah humbug.

I broke away from my boots and wore these cute black knotted wedge pumps from Aldo, and of course I carried my trusty green satchel! Since we didn’t have to be outside much, I wore my leather jacket, but I was still verrrry cold. The price we women pay to look cute!!

day 2

This was the day I went to my kids’ school to talk to the 6th grade classes about blogging, and I went for an outfit that is tried and true. This purple Merino V-Neck is an easy piece to wear, and I like pairing it with these gray cords.

I was just going to wear the scarf to keep warm and take it off at school but I ended up keeping it on all day. I like the outfit both ways, although I always feel like scarves look like they’re choking me.

day 3

This was Saturday and I wanted to be comfortable for running errands during the day and hosting a church potluck in the evening so I wore a plum tank and black hooded drapey sweater. It’s not as flattering as my more close-fitted tops but it’s nice for a change. I added a scarf because my necklaces all felt too dressy for a Saturday. Plus. It was 14 degrees on Saturday. Thus, the UGGs.

And also? Those jeans went right in the wash after I saw these pictures. There’s nothing cute about baggy knees.

day 4

I wore this outfit to church on Sunday. I was trying it out for my Target event. I was hoping these ponte knit pants would look more like slacks than leggings but I’m not sure they do. Still, it was the best I could do without going shopping so I packed them and hoped for the best. I love this turquoise Halogen cashmere v-neck sweater. It’s just so soft and scrumptuous!

day 5

This was my travel day outfit. I wanted to be comfortable but still look presentable in the airport so I went back to my Merino V-Neck and paired it with skinny jeans and ballet flats — yes, ballet flats to go to Minneapolis in February. But I hate wearing boots at the airport because they’re such a pain to take off and on at the security checkpoint .

day 6

The first day at Target, I wore this shift dress with a fun geometric print. I figured it was a pretty safe bet for “business formalwear”.

I love these Kendra Scott earrings with this dress.

And you can’t see them well, but I layered 2 bracelets — an enamel bangle from Nordstrom and the Bardot Spiral Bangle from Stella & Dot . Layering bracelets is really on trend at the moment. I am trying to do more of that.

day 7

This is what I wore yesterday, for the 2nd day at Target and traveling home. I wasn’t wearing much makeup because we were going to get made over by Sonia Kashuk later in the morning!!

I did end up wearing the ponte knit pants, but I decided to go with boots instead of the wedge pumps. I fit in just fine, but it would have been better with a blazer. A cute blazer is the next item on my wardrobe bucket list. I can’t believe I don’t have one, and lately I’ve been feeling like it would help extend my wardrobe. The necklace is from Stella & Dot , but it’s currently sold out.

Clearly this week was a bit out of the ordinary for me! I’ll tell you more about my trip in another post, but for now, it’s back to life… back to reality!

For more outfit inspiration, check out these two blogs:

 

What I Wore Wednesday at The Pleated Poppy  Monday Mingle Fashion Carnival

Join The Conversation

28 Responses

  1. I have the same problem with cardis. They don’t look good unbuttoned on me and they look even worse buttoned. My problem is my belly…it pooches a bit and the cardi seems to accentuate that area = BIG TIME FAIL!

    While you do not have the problem of the belly pooch, I think your problem (and in my book it is NOT a problem!) is that you have a nice sized chest and then cardi doesn’t fall correctly around it.

    Perhaps you should have gone up a size? Or maybe a short blazer would have looked better?!

    I love the wedges. Think I need to get a pair!

  2. Love how you are doing the recap pics at the top of the Daily Mom Style posts!
    I have the same trouble with a cardigan if it has a rounded neckline. Bought a pink one I loved at the store, but it does not work well with anything. Sticking to V-neck cardis from now on. Those I tend to just button the top button and let the rest flyaway, seems to give a good visual, kind of hourglass shaped, KWIM?

    1. That looks like a fun book! It just seems like it is so trendy and fun to layer and stack jewelry and things, I think it’s a challenge to do that and keep it simple. Sometimes my simple outfits make me feel old. But on the other hand, I do need to get over my need to wear something different every day. That just gets too stressful. I’m going to try to find a handful of go-to outfits that I feel great in and then just repeat.

      1. That’s one thing she mentioned in the book. If the outfit works, it works! Wear it again and again. Americans have a hard time with that. It would take some getting used to but I think I need to try that as well. 🙂

  3. You are looking so thin and gorgeous lately, friend. Absolutely stunning. I discovered the whole French style philosophy (quality vs. quantity) in the fall and it was totally working for me but I’ve been sliding away from it – fleece is an evil temptress when temps dip well below freezing!. Thanks for the reminder! xxx

  4. I like all of those outfits! You look great in the ponte knit pants. I’m afraid those might look like hooker pants on me. 🙂

    Love all the V-necks you are wearing. I have so many cardigans but often find that they just don’t work…like you experienced with your black and white top. Maybe a belt on top of the sweater? Sometimes I try that.

  5. I really think your outfits look great. For outfit number one to work with the neckline I bet a fitted blazer or even a denim jacket wold work with brown boots. Just an idea.

  6. I love your outfits. As always. I also like the scarves you wore, especially the one with the purple sweater.

    I need to go read that entire Dress French article. I need it! And, I like the idea of wearing the same things over and over again. Makes life easier.
    ~FringeGirl

  7. I trust you’ll take this the right way b/c I think you’re pretty no matter what, but I think you look GREAT with minimal makeup in that last picture. I think it makes you look younger!

  8. Shoot! Wish I had known you were coming to my end of the world! I live less than 20 minutes from where you were — would have LOVED to meet up for coffee/lunch. (You’re prettymuch a celebrity to me 😉 ) Next time you get into the Twin Cities, drop me a line, will you? Great post … those French women have the right idea for sure.

  9. Totally going to check out that article about the no more yoga pants. I really love the idea of a smaller wardrobe and more mix n match items. Can’t wait to read up on that!! I love the geometric print dress, and that gray cowl with the red jeans was super! 🙂

  10. Looking good! Just love your clothes and how you wear them. For me, I just found my first pair of skinny jeans, and I cannot get rid of the baggy knees. When I put the boots on over them, the pants just bunch up there. How do you avoid it? You always look so put together!
    Oh, my husband is a mailman. He may not mind that you are in your pjs, as long as you’re covered up. He has stories about how some people answer their door. 🙂

    1. OH NO! I never thought of that as an occupational hazard. Oy.

      As far as the knees of your pants go, you probably need to buy a skinnier leg. It definitely doesn’t look very good to tuck jeans that are too baggy. 🙁

  11. The last outfit is super slimming on you! And I love that gray cowl-neck, always flattering. I’m looking for a blazer too. Finding a good fit at a good price could be tricky, I think.

  12. I actually really like the first outfit with the cardi undone the best of the whole week. The black, white & red look great together. I agree that you should get a blazer though – it definately can dress up a pair of jeans in an easy casual way.

  13. Where are the black ponte pants from? I’m having trouble finding black skinny pants that are comfy, don’t look like leggings, and don’t fade!

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