I wore this outfit to play along with the #SNSColour challenge on instagram. The theme for the day was 'brights' so I decided to wear this bright bag and kimono together. I really liked the combination, and I've worn them together before (without a baby bump).
Nice casual outfit to do the daycare drop off / pickup, work from home and go to my OB appointment in the afternoon.
The style challenge was over when I wore this outfit, but I'd been thinking that the bright bag would work really nicely with the navy floral print kimono. I'd considered wearing this for the 'navy' theme of the challenge, but changed my mind and wore a navy maxi skirt that day instead.
Really liked the colour combination, so wore this on the weekend. It was a nice and comfortable outfit for grocery shopping and toddler T's swimming lesson. Laurenleft a comment a while back that this tank and kimono would look together and she was right, I liked the pairing.
Wore this to go shopping and take toddler T to rhyme time at the local library. The lady running it was telling us a little more about it, it seems to just be a Queensland government thing. Hopefully other states have something similar. It's really fun, I've been taking toddler T since he was a baby whenever we can. It's free, and you get to sing and dance and learn nursery rhymes and songs. Now that toddler T's bigger, he even has his favourite songs and I love seeing his excitement when he hears them!
As I'd be sitting around on the floor with a toddler, I figured a maxi skirt was a good idea. I haven't actually worn this maternity tank with a maxi skirt yet, was a nice easy outfit.
I picked a nice neutral outfit to wear to really make the 'rock lobster' colour of the Ukita bag pop. It looks great against black! Again, with a maxi skirt and maternity singlet combination.
Wore this to run errands in the morning and spend some time setting up the nursery for baby. The in-laws came over in the afternoon for dinner. The maxi skirt worked for all those scenarios. One of those items that will always be on my wardrobe must-haves list, pregnant or not!
While it's autumn in Australia, I'll be continuing to share more summer outfits. Because I'm a little behind with blogging and because Brisbane isn't showing any signs of reducing the 30+ degree temperatures we've had over summer.
More singlets and shortssummer outfits. It really is the best way to keep as cool as possible in the third trimester, if you don't count a bikini as acceptable clothing outside of the pool/beach! To vary things a little, one brighter outfit and one neutral outfit, both with different cross body bags.
Felt like it had been a while (4 months!) since I last wore this lace kimono so decided to get it out again. Had to take toddler T to a checkup at the doctors in the morning, then we had his gymboree class.
I've been wearing this gold necklace a lot recently - it seems to go with everything, and although the stone is turquoise I thought I'd give it a try with the green tank. Didn't mind the combination.
Another day, another maternity singlet and shorts combo, but this time with a different cross body bag. While the LV speedy bag I wore above is a nice neutral for a bright outfit, this time it was a bright bag and a neutral outfit.
In case you missed me sharing about it on twitter, I had a chat with Eileenabout handbags for Sugarmama.tv. I shared my must-have bags, as she's currently writing about capsule wardrobe planning. I said a cross body bag was a real essential for mums. Now that toddler T spends almost all his time outside of his stroller, cross body bags have been really helpful! I'm starting to think I might be wearing nothing but cross body bags by the time baby comes along. Just as well I have a few in my handbag collection to pick from!
Consistently, the Marc by Marc Jacobs Ukita bag is one of the most clicked items on my blog. Probably because the rock lobster colour is awesome and it brightens up a neutral outfit really well. It's the perfect size for taking to work too.
What I wore:
Necklace: thrifted pearl and heart charm long necklace
As it was a slightly cooler day, I figured I'd get some wear out of my maternity jeans and wear them to the office again like I did with my last pregnancy. I did want to wear a button up shirt to look a little more professional, but couldn't find one that actually buttoned over the baby bump, ha! it was too hot to consider a blazer too, so I just wore the bright tank by itself.
I'm surprised I haven't worn this tank and bag together before, the colours go really well together.
Fully embracing the casual side of business casual with a grey tee and a pencil skirt for another day in the office. I'm lucky that my workplace has such a relaxed dress code and I can get away with wearing tees in the middle of the week.
After my Melbourne trip and drooling over some scarves and twillies in Hermes, I decided to get my twilly out again. I really can't pull off the neck scarf look without looking like a flight attendant, but I like wearing it around my wrist. I've done so before, but silk is not the most practical fabric to wear around a toddler so it hasn't been worn much recently. Need to make more of an effort to wear it. It was a nice way to have some colour in my outfit even when I wasn't wearing the bright Ukita bag.
Why fund-raise?
One woman dies every 10 hours from ovarian cancer. There is no early detection test, so people are often diagnosed when it is too late and the cancer has spread.
What's the challenge?
There are 31 days in October, so for Frocktober I've decided to wear a dress each of those 31 days. To really challenge myself, I'm going to be wearing a different dress every day. #31Days31DifferentDresses. Makes it a little less boring and repetitive on the blog here too, and I'm hoping along the way to identify a few of my many dresses that no longer need to stay in my wardrobe.
How can I help?
I would love for you to donate - you can donate through my fundraising page here (I have a goal of reaching $200). It's not too late to get on board yourself either! What about a girls night in/out or a morning tea in your office, where everyone has to wear a frock and make a donation to the cause?
My first frock: this lovely Jeanswest printed one that I like wearing to the office. Paired with a blazer as it was a little chilly in the morning, and it's good to have my shoulders covered from the cold air conditioning at work. I've used this dress in the past to hide a second trimester baby bump in the office, and was pleased to find it hid the early second trimester bump this time around too.
I knew I hadn't worn this dress in a while, but didn't realise it had been over a year and a half! I am definitely keeping this in my wardrobe, but I need to get rid of some other dresses so this comes up in the rotation more frequently.
A more casual outfit for my second dress of Frocktober. This one again, hasn't been worn in a while. it's been a little over a year since I last wore it. It's cute and comfortable and really should be worn more! It was perfect for a hot spring day. Toddler T and I spent the morning visiting family on the coast and then had lunch with my mum.
I thought the denim jacket looked nice with this, although I took it off pretty quickly as the day heated up. This jacket only really seems to get worn in spring, so I'm making the most of it now before it's neglected in my wardrobe over summer!
While the winter weather hung around a little longer than expected to in Brisbane, I took the chance to enjoy getting layered up with some grey knits and printed scarves. It was easy to take the scarves off as it heated up in the middle of the day.
Wore this to work from home and do the day care drop off/pick up. Nice and comfy! I'd had the idea of wearing this grey jumper and skirt together, but when I put it on it seemed a bit dull. I decided on this scarf to try add some colour, and the bright bag too.
I really wish I could fold this scarf better. It's got a beautiful, colourful print in the centre but I always seem to show more of the cream border than anything when I wear it.
Since I'd liked the grey knit and printed maxi skirt combination above, I wore a similar version again to run some errands and go to the doctors.
I wasn't too sure about the beaded detail on the top and the print in the scarf, if it looked a bit too 'busy'. I changed my opinion back and forth a few times during the day, and I'm still undecided now looking at the photos. Probably not a combination I'd try again, even though I wouldn't call it a complete outfit fail.
As well as sharing my monthly purchases for April, two more of my Fox Pack Style Dare themed outfits, and my cute little red Marc by Marc Jacobs Ukita bag. I've been enjoying this daily outfit challenge on instagram. I'm being a lot more flexible with my interpretations and having fun with what I wear instead of trying to nail the prompt exactly.
The style challenge for the day was 'Parisian' so I went for a very stereotypical outfit. Black, stripes and a touch of red with the bag and scarf. This is the first time I've worn the scarf. I won it last year actually, in a goodie bag giveaway on Sam's blog. I had wanted to wear it with stripes so this was perfect.
I really like the cropped blazer too - it's a very cosy piece. The autumn weather is setting in now in Brisbane so a jacket is needed on the early morning commute to work.
The dress I love, a great wardrobe basic that's worked well before, during and afterpregnancy. This is the first time I've worn it without a belt though. I didn't want to add too much with the scarf and the zip detail on the blazer already.
Despite liking everything individually, when it's grouped together I just really don't like this outfit. I think the combination of the shorter jacket and the unbelted flared dress doesn't work....just not a very flattering outfit.
I am glad I bought this jacket. I had wanted it for a while, but waited for a sale and then waited too long and it was sold out in my size. When I found it in the Jeanswest outlet I knew I had to take it home! It is really similar to some boucle jackets from Zara I owned...so I got rid of the blue and red tweed blazers to make room in my wardrobe for this, and I don't regret it.
The only downside is that it has got a zipper detail on the sleeves that makes it impossible to type with at work, as the large zipper pulls hit on the desk and keyboard and make so much noise! I remembered this from the first wear though and put a pashmina in my bag for when I got cold at the office without the jacket, and it worked out much better. As autumn draws to a close I'll be wearing scarves more often so it won't matter so much that I have to take the jacket off when I'm at my desk. So although it's not a perfect purchase, as I bought it intending to wear it often to work, I'm happy with it and happy to 'work around' the distracting noise it makes!
Like every other mum, I've been using my cross body bags more and more often now that baby T is crawling around the place. I have a little hook on the stroller I use to clip my handbags to, but I'm finding it easier to have a bag I can just throw over my shoulder when we are out. I bought my Marc by Marc Jacobs Ukita bag while I was pregnant as a replacement for my Balenciaga Velo that I'd feel more comfortable wearing and using with a little baby in tow, and I've been enjoying wearing it lately.
Took advantage of a day I didn't have to go into the office by travelling into the city with baby to met hubby for a lunch date. It was a really warm day, so a simple dress seemed like the best option to wear. I've worn this dress and these sandalstogether before. It's a good combination for a hot day. I wasn't sure about the pink sandals and the red bag at first, but I think they were far enough apart that it worked okay. My little Ukita bag is 'rock lobster' which isn't really a true red, but not a true pink either, it's kind of in-between. It pretty much looks a different colour in every picture!
Wore this out for a girly day of shopping (with baby T). Last time I wore this cami I wore it with the same bag! I do like wearing this top with red. This outfit was something a little different from my usual. I've worn this skirt with voluminous tops before, although most times I do I wish I had worn a simpler top. I think it was a bit much volume with the ruffle on the cami. After wearing my bag with pink sandals the day before, I wanted to try pair it with something else I wouldn't normally, and thought this maxi skirt would be interesting. I actually liked this combination, I think the bright bag went well with the different red shades in the skirt.
We had a really productive day of shopping! I spent a couple of gift cards in the Jeanswest outlet. I'll have my usual monthly purchase video up at the end of the month, but if you can't wait you can see what I bought through LikeToKnow.It.
If you sign up to LikeToKnow.It once, you can get the details of the products I feature in my instagram posts right in your email inbox! You only have to sign up once, and then you can get an email for every picture you like from any blogger you follow that uses the #liketkit hashtag.
