There are a couple reasons for buying so much this month:
Doing Christmas shopping meant more exposure to stores and more temptation to shop
I love spring/summer clothing and it makes up the bulk of my wardrobe as I find ways to wear it year-round. And there have been some really nice new season pieces.
I've been decluttering and downsizing my wardrobe So I'm starting to feel there are 'gaps'.
Jeanswest had a 40% off sale and I still had unspent gift cards that I had been setting aside for after my 6 months without shopping challenge at the start of the year.
I have a rule that whenever I buy something I have to wear it twice in the month I bought it. I couldn't do that with all of my October purchases, as one arrived over a month after I ordered it, and some had to be taken to the tailor first. I had better luck this month though, as you can see below. The only thing I haven't worn twice are the earrings as I'm saving them for Christmas.
The idea behind wearing things twice in the month I buy them is that I have to come up with two ways to wear it immediately before I buy so I know it will be useful in my wardrobe. I no longer have things new with tags sitting unworn for years and I have to really love it to want to wear it so frequently right away. I've slowed my shopping and gotten more use from the pieces I've bought since I've implemented this rule so I'm keeping on with it.
I love wrap dresses. Perfect for breastfeeding in, I wore them on maternity leave and yet they work nicely for the office too. With a classic black and white print, it's easy to accessorise with colourful statement necklaces and a purple bag.
This floral wrap dress is one of my wardrobe oldies. I love how well it worked for two pregnanciesand afterwards, still going strong considering it's at least 10 years old. I added the purple singlet underneath for a little extra colour and more coverage for work. While the dress is floral print, I thought the statement necklace accompanied it nicely. The bright colours near my face and the blazer on top were a bit of a distraction too.
You thankfully can't really see it in the photos (unless you look too closely at my knee) but that morning I'd woken up covered in a rash having a reaction to something. Bright accessories to disguise that and I headed to work for a busy day with a bunch of meetings. I stopped off on my way into the office to get an antihistamine to try keep the reaction at bay. Unfortunately after the first meeting of the morning I realised that if I didn't take my bracelets off they were going to cut off circulation, I'd swollen up so much. Not fun. Off to the doctors and a shocking amount of medication later, I was restricted to working from home for a few days until everything died down. And it started to, and then we all caught gastro. It wasn't the best week!
A much better day health-wise when I wore this! Feeling better and back at work, again I went with the easy option of a black and white wrap dress. I stuck to a similar outfit formula, with the colourful statement necklace and the purple Balenciaga work bag.
Jersey wrap dresses like this are so comfortable, and the long sleeves and midi length skirt helped beat the slight chill when a storm rolled in that afternoon.
Wrap dresses are a classic wardrobe staple, especially in black and white! Floral print or zig zags, you can't go wrong pairing them with bright accessories. Perfect office wear, and easy to add a blazer.
Cyber Monday Sales!
The sales and discounts are still ongoing if you haven't finished all of your Christmas shopping yet!
Ever since impulse buying a tiered floral print maxi dress last year, I've been a fan of tiered dresses. If it's got an extra layer or ruffle I'm admiring it! With my 7 months without shopping at the start of the year I've been pretty good and not gone overboard with buying everything I see, but couldn't resist adding a couple more dresses to my collection now I'm shopping again!
Fell in love with this dress on Ruth's blog. Thought about it for a while and then Zaful had a free shipping sale so I went for it. After waiting 4 weeks it finally arrived.
As I've had experience with these kinds of store before, I knew what to expect. I checked the sizing carefully, and knew it would be a while before it arrived. As I'd seen real life photos on Ruth's blog I knew I'd get what I ordered, so didn't worry about that. Apart from being a little unsure it was worth the $30 I paid (after spending months not buying anything) and a lot of time cutting off loose threads, this dress really grew on me. It gets compliments everywhere you go and lets me try out a few trends at once with the tiers, ruffles, statement sleeves, floral print and victorian collar.
The statement sleeves are fun but of course got wet and caught in a door. Not the most practical choice for life with toddlers! I wore this for a day out where there was less food prep and cleaning at home to try avoid getting the sleeves dirty. I had a rare morning to myself shopping the 'fill a bag for $2' sale at the local opshop and then a parade through the city with the boys and lunch before a quiet afternoon at home, with the in-laws over for dinner in the evening.
I found this length okay for life with two toddlers, the swing style means it doesn't ride up as you walk which is good, and even babywearing didn't pull the dress up and make it feel too short. Was nice and light for a hot day too.
I'd planned this outfit for a work from home day, and as usual laid out the outfit the night before. However in the morning I realised as soon as I woke toddler T up he wasn't going to be able to go to daycare as he was unwell, so I called out of work and we had a quiet day together with a doctor's appointment for him in the morning and then Baby Boy's specialist appointment in the afternoon.
Wore this pink blazer as I wanted a little something to cover my shoulders in the cooler morning, although I didn't need it in the heat of the day. This is one of those outfits I've worn just because of seeing something on another blog. I was reading Lorena's blog and she was inspired by Gemma from Jacquard Flower to wear her pink blazer, which made me realise I needed to give mine a wear again, and so this outfit was the result. I definitely get a lot of outfit ideas and inspiration from blogs even if I don't recreate the outfit exactly (stripes, jeans and pink blazer was the original inspiration!).
Dresses are so easy to throw on for spring. Picking a dress with extra details like a fun print, tiers, ruffles, statement sleeves or even all of the above can make your simple dress outfit feel a little more special. Even with the same accessories, the details on each of these dresses are so different it seems like a completely new outfit even though it's exactly the same formula.
Best of the Black Friday Sales!
A few of my top picks from the Black Friday sales that are live right now.
I've been on a bit of a shorts buying binge this spring! I've been slowly swapping out some of my current shorts and selling or donating them to make room for some more of these cute relaxed fit soft shorts. I'm not really sure if they have a proper name, 'relaxed fit soft shorts' seems a bit long. I do know that they are insanely comfortable and perfect for Brisbane's heat though. They look great with this floral print kimono too.
Ordinarily I wouldn't wear voluminous pieces with a kimono, I don't always like the results, but I loved the relaxed vibe of both these outfits. Perfect for playgroup.
With the warmer weather, I have been so excited to wear these blue printed shorts again. I know from my personal stylist session that they aren't the best style for me, because post-babies my waist isn't the narrowest part of my body and these shorts highlight that. But I really don't care, I love them anyway. So much so that I went and bought a couple more in a similar style!
I'm surprised that these have only been worn 16 times so far, nowhere near 30 wears but I'm aiming to reach that goal with them this spring/summer!
I usually pair these shorts with stripes if I'm wearing another print, but decided to go with the neutral metallic tank and add the floral print kimono for something different. Partly also because I'm trying to hit 30 wears with this kimono this season. I really liked this combination, nice and comfortable for a warm day at playgroup with the boys. I've worn the tank and shorts together before too.
Back when we had our failed shopping trip that ended up with x-rays, I'd seen these shorts in Jeanswest and considered them but figured they were a little too expensive and I didn't love them enough to go try them on. I hadn't been able to get them out of my head since then though, and even tried going back in store to buy them. They didn't have my size and again something came up with the boys and I couldn't get to the store that did have my size.
So when I saw these shorts in the 40% off sale I had to get them! Was so pleased to discover them as it's been a while since I last saw them. While the shorts are already a relaxed fit, I thought of pairing them with this black tee right away. I really liked the combination, and the floral kimono added a little extra colour to the outfit. I was really inspired by loving the first outfit so much.
It's got a bit much going on, with the voluminous pieces together, and the mix of prints and embroidery, but I really liked this outfit. So insanely comfortable, and such an easy outfit after our big day out the day before.
How You Can Wear It: Relaxed fit, soft shorts are perfect for hot days. light and airy, and still great coverage when running around with two toddlers, without having to worry about things riding up. You don't have to stick to neutrals if you have a pair of printed shorts either, a kimono is a fun layer that doesn't make you overheat in the sun.
I've shared before about how easy it is to wear breastfeeding clothes after you've stopped breastfeeding. I bought a few wrap tops to help with breastfeeding, but they are still getting worn now. They are a really stylish option for work.
With warmer spring weather, I know there are going to be less opportunities to wear this longer sleeved wrap top. As I said last time I wore it too! It was good to take the chance to wear it again. I really liked how it looked with the blue lace pencil skirt, it made for a nice monochrome outfit.
An easy outfit was just what was needed after spending the past few days with a sick baby and a lot of waking up in the night. Throwing on my favourite colour (blue) to boost my mood, makeup to hide the bags under my eyes and I felt pulled together enough for a day in the office.
Debated for a few minutes in the morning trying to pick out a necklace to wear with this top. I settled on this silver heart pendant that hadn't been worn in a while, but I think a longer necklace might have worked better.
Another day at work, another sick boy! Toddler T had fallen ill the day before, so once again it was monochrome blue to try lift my mood and give me a bit of a boost to power through the work day. This time around I went with a longer turquoise beaded necklace with the wrap top, and I really liked this combination.
As the top is short sleeved, I added the cream jersey blazer to keep me warm in the office air-con, but I really didn't need to keep it on outside as it was such a warm spring day.
You can tell it's spring as the sun is rising earlier and my usual photo spot isn't in shade as much as usual! It's really tricky early in the mornings now trying to get a photo that's not in bright sunlight. Going to have to start changing up my photo spot.
Wrap tops aren't just perfect for breastfeeding - they work great in a professional setting too and are good office options. You can't go wrong pairing them with a pencil skirt and a blazer.
I love maxi dresses and I love kimonos, so it just makes sense to wear them together! I thought that these printed kimonos would be a nice touch with the plain maxi dresses, to add a little more fun to my outfits.
This is one of my most worn kimonos, but it's still not at 30 wears yet, this is only it's 26th wear! I'm hopeful I'll hit 30 wears on it by the end of the year, so you'll probably see it being worn a lot more often, just like I did with my purple cardigan when I was so close to 30 wears with it. Nice and comfortable outfit for a busy morning, taking Baby Boy for his weigh in session and getting my tax done and picking up groceries.
The only downside to this outfit was that it was a very windy day. I had so many issues trying to get a good photo, as the kimono kept getting caught in the wind!
I grabbed this maxi dress, my favourite, out of my wardrobe to try break a bit of an outfit slump I was in after our Sydney trip. It always makes me feel good when I wear it.
In an effort to try change this up a little, I decided to try belting a kimono over it. I've belted things over it in pregnancy before so I figured I'd try the look without the bump. While I liked this in the mirror, I think it looks a little off in the photo as the belt slipped down. Was a nice and colourful, comfortable outfit for playgroup though. I really liked the colours with the pink dress, purple bag and blue kimono together.
A printed kimono is a great layer with a plain maxi dress. It's perfect for spring or autumn, as kimonos are so lightweight. It's a nice way to add some extra colour or print to your outfit, and you can belt it to try something a little different too.
I love tank tops, they are essentials for our Brisbane weather. As the two outfit photos below show, they can be layered up for a cooler day, and worn on their own when it heats up. Perfect for spring with the fluctuating temperatures!
As I shared on instagram, this is the 30th wear of this cardigan. I bought it pre-blog so I know it's been worn more times than that, but I didn't have regular outfit photos then. I've been wearing it a lot lately as I was so eager to hit that 30 wear mark before proper spring weather arrived and it got too warm for this to be worn. It's the reason why I packed it to take to Sydney!
I've worn this tank and cardigan together before too. Since I loved this outfit pairing of the printed tank with purple skinny jeans, I've been recreating that with the purple cardigan! To try and make it a little different I picked grey jeans this time instead of the black jeans I wore last time. I had a much nicer day than I did last time I wore the tank and cardigan together!
We spent the day at my parents, decorating biscuits before lunch, which the boys loved as always! While all the purples are slightly different shades in this outfit, I loved wearing this and think it turned it really well. Comfortable for a day visiting my parents too.
A quick stop at the post office in the morning, then we headed to my local ABA mother's group. The discussion topic was 'managing a newborn and toddler'. While those days are behind me now and I have two toddlers (time flies so fast!) it was great to share the things that helped me and smile at the stories of things happening now and in the past that were so similar to my own experiences.
Unlike the rainy and cool spring day above, this was a much warmer day that allowed me to wear the sleeveless tank without any extra layers. I haven't worn this tank for a while, it's been sitting near the front of my wardrobe to remind me to wear it. The colour is incredible and it's one of those pieces it's so tempting to just 'save' for special occasions! I'm trying to get more wear from pieces in my wardrobe and enjoy what I own, so this top was definitely due another wear.
As I love pink and purple together, the purple accessories seemed like a good choice with this tank. I thought that the printed jeans would be a nice pairing with the pink tank too, to add a little more interest to my outfit.
How You Can Wear It:
A button up tank is a great stay at home mum staple! It can feel a little more pulled-together than a regular tank, but is just as easy to wear. Button up tanks are perfect for breastfeeding, without the need to buy anything special just for feeding and that have the added bonus of being able to be worn afterwards too! Linking up with Fashion Frenzy, Fashion Files, Fun Fashion, On The Edge, Friday Faves, Passion for Fashion.