While I'm still on leave, I haven't shared these outfits from before the Christmas break yet! Summer in the office is usually pretty relaxed, when the heat gets too much they often change our already business casual dress code to be even more casual. If I'm worried my outfit is a bit too casual though, even with relaxed dress codes, I add a blazer, just like I've done in both outfits below.
I'd just worn this blue tanka few days before, but wore it again to the office to squeeze in one more wear before the month ended, to meet my 'wear things twice in the month I buy them' goal. It's a great casual top, so I added the blazer to ensure it would work for the office as well. Although the turquoise tank and the navy skirt are very different blues, I thought they would look great together, and I couldn't resist adding this colourful yellow statement necklace for even more colour.
I really liked all the colours in this outfit together. The neutral black ballet flats and grey blazer were good accessories, and my Rebecca Minkoff navy MAB tote matched the jacquard pencil skirt well.
Wasn't quite so sure about all the colours in this outfit. I love yellow and blue together, and the green necklace is great with the yellow tank...but I think that something was off about this outfit, I didn't like it as much as the blue one above. Getting woken up far too early by baby boy and being too tired to consider my outfit properly that morning may have impacted how I felt about it, ha! I am always harsher with my outfits if I'm not having the best of days.
I was hoping for an easy day at work for being exhausted before my day even began, but when I realised it wasn't looking that way I popped out to Starbucks for a little morning tea treat between meetings.
Thankfully my day improved when I got home, it's impossible to have a bad day when you get excitedly greeted by 2 little boys and a very fluffy dog.
Your casual summer tanks can easily do double duty in the office when worn under a blazer and paired with a classic pencil skirt. If you're worried a bright tank may be too bold for your office, try picking neutral layers and accessories to wear with it. A blazer definitely isn't needed in the middle of a Brisbane summer, but you can easily take it off for the commute and slip it on to combat the cold aircon at your desk in the office. Such a simple layer to make any outfit feel more pulled together and office appropriate.
Everyone repeats clothes at some point (even celebrities who probably have more clothes than they could ever possibly wear). In my quest to try and get more use from my wardrobe, I try to wear things a little differently now and then. Instead of completely repeating an outfit piece by piece, I'll take elements I loved and use it to come up with an outfit formula to follow to wear the same thing slightly differently. Like everyone else though, sometimes you just have to repeat an entire outfit head-to-toe!
When I saw these olive embroidered shorts, I instantly thought of wearing them with stripes. I decided to wear them with my foil striped tee, and loved it so much the next time I wore them I picked another striped tee. Same formula, slightly different results.
I wore this back in December! I'm usually a little behind with sharing my outfit photos on the blog, but nothing makes me feel more disorganised than sharing December photos in January, with the new year making these last years photos 😂
Delayed posting aside, I really liked this outfit! I wore this for our playgroup Christmas party which I overly shared on Insta stories. I've been going to this playgroup since Toddler T was a baby, he had his first Christmas party there and I always go snap happy taking tons of photos of the boys enjoying the massive picnic spread. There were chocolate eclairs this time, and so of course I have a fair few chocolate face photos!
I thought the metallic foil stripes on the tee and the Christmas bow on my wrist were nice nods to the Christmas theme without getting too dressed up, as there would be a lot of sitting on the ground and running around with toddlers. I did dress the boys up in their novelty Christmas tees though!
I liked the first metallic stripe tee outfit so much that I planned this one, again with the same shoes, although a different Rebecca Minkoff bag. I liked this resulting outfit much I wore it twice! Wore it on Monday, for some errands and a specialist appointment and then again a couple days later on the Wednesday. There was a bit of a stressful day or so in between with an unexpected overnight hospital stay for the little one, and some frantic rescheduling of planned appointments and work for me so that Baby Boy was taken care of.
To make things easier on myself, I just pulled on Monday's outfit again. Another doctor's appointment but also the opportunity to work from home while my mother in law looked after baby boy. An outfit formula is a wonderful way to make getting dressed easy, but there is nothing easier than repeating an entire outfit when you're too stressed to think of anything else!
Crazy backstory aside, I did enjoy wearing this outfit. Nothing really matches, with the navy stripe tee, olive floral embroidered shortsand mustard bag, but I do love the way all of the colours work together.
Nothing wrong with repeating an outfit combination you love! But if you want to change things up a little, try using the pieces that you loved from the outfit to make up a formula to follow to recreate a similar one with different pieces. This also works if you're inspired by an outfit you see but don't have the exact pieces in your wardrobe - identify what you liked about the outfit and see if you could create something similar based on that formula. Outfit formulas work well when you're pushed for time in the mornings too. You can use an outfit you loved for inspiration for a quick outfit another day, just by following the formula you create.
Not too many purchases to share with you for December! I hope 2017 has been a good year for you, and 2018 is even better!
I did end up purchasing something off my wishlist from Rebecca Minkoff in the Cyber Monday sale, but as it didn't arrive until December I've included it in this monthly wrap up instead of November's purchases. With an extra 35% off and the items I wanted already reduced before the discount, I got a bargain! Both items together and shipping were still much less than the bag at full price. I love the Rebecca Minkoff sales!
It's easy to achieve my goal of wearing things twice in the month I buy them with accessories, they are frequently reworn. While I technically bought the bag and guitar strap in November, as they didn't arrive until December I count that as the month they arrive. Since I bought the tank in the post-Christmas sales at Jeanswest I didn't get a chance to wear it twice, but a good basic black tank like this is sure to get a lot of wear over the coming months.
In January I set myself the goal of 6 months without shopping. And I exceed that, managing 7 months without shopping in the end. I was curious how much more I'd save this year as a result. This year I spent $1,696.53. Only $127.58 less than last year.
Not the massive savings I'd expected, but I did excitedly splurge on an expensive bag that to be honest made up most of the total spend! I'm still pleased I managed to spend less this year, even with the splurge on the drool-worthy bag!
What I'm doing in 2018
I'm not doing another 6 months without shopping. I did have a lot of fun with it in the end. It was amazing that I could change my shopaholic ways and not only achieve but exceed the goal I set myself.
While I'm not setting myself another no-shop challenge, I am continuing with my #30wears goal. This means continuing to blog my daily outfits so I can look back and tally up how many times I've worn things, with the goal of sharing monthly something I've hit 30 wears on. The only way I can continue to do this with my clothes (I've hit it with so many of my shoes and bags already!) is to buy less.
So 2018 will be a buy less and rewear more year. You're likely to keep seeing the same few pieces on frequent rotation as I get closer to 30 wears of them. Also going to try to spend less in 2018 than I did in 2017, and continue the reduction in my spending.
Blogaversary
2018 also marks 6 years of blogging for me and 1165 posts, wow! Hope you're having as much fun reading as I am writing. I don't see myself stopping blogging any time soon, it's nice to have a little relaxing time to myself each day to browse blogs and write posts while the boys sleep.
Thank you all for your clicks, comments, shares and follows over the past few years. Have a happy new year!
I love printed pieces, especially stripes, and given the choice between a plain piece and a printed piece I'll usually go for the print! Over the past couple of years I've been really trying to focus more on adding basics to my wardrobe - nice plain pieces that go with anything in my wardrobe. Plain doesn't have to mean boring though, as you can see from these fun colourful tanks. Simple style and cut but bright and cheerful colours.
For their first wear, I wore these bright tanks with some relaxed and soft printed shorts. Easy summer SAHM dressing.
I was excited to wear these two new pieces together, I bought them both during separate shopping trips at the Jeanswest sale. I like that these shorts have pockets too. I was surprised to see how nicely the blue tank works with the aqua bag - I wouldn't change anything about this outfit! It was so comfortable and perfect for a hot summer day.
We took each of the boys shopping separately to let them pick out Christmas gifts for each other, then watched Santa's arrival parade at out local shopping centre. (I wore this earlier in December). To finish off a busy morning, we had swim lessons. It was a much more relaxing and quiet afternoon!
It was a quiet Sunday, just a couple of errands in the morning, but I loved how bright and colourful this outfit was. I'm looking forward to wearing this tank a lot more - perfect addition to my wardrobe.
An ideal wardrobe would have the perfect balance of plain pieces and printed pieces to allow for a lot of outfit options. Basic plain pieces don't have to be neutrals - add a little colour with bright basics that still pair just as nicely with printed pieces as neutrals do!
Boxing Day Sales!
Here are some of the best boxing day sales around:
Up to 50% off at The Iconic plus get an extra 20% off with code 'HOT20'! Same day or next day delivery available for New Year's Eve outfits! Order up to 29th December for NYE delivery.
As I recently got two new foil print tees, I took the chance to wear it with them for a little bit of print mixing: floral with stripes and polka dots. It helped me hit 30 wears of the kimono too!
I've worn this floral kimono with stripes before - stripes are my go-to for print mixing as they really go with everything! When I got this striped tee in the Jeanswest sale I knew I'd wear it with this kimono, i think the grey of the kimono and the silver foil stripes go together nicely. With the busy print mixing on top, I stuck with a neutral pair of shorts on the bottom - another Jeanswest sale purchase! I continued on the grey and silver theme with the grey Rebecca Minkoff love bag with silver hardware. I really liked how this outfit came together, perfect for a quiet Saturday running a few errands.
Once again I'm realising I've worn this tee to my Australian Breastfeeding Association group - it gets worn there quite a lot, haha! I wore this to a topic I'd really been looking forward to - we had a first aid presentation from St John's ambulance. When Toddler T was little, I'd gone to a first aid course for babies and felt quite confident with everything baby first aid related. A few months ago, when Baby Boy fell ill, everything went out the window and I panicked. I barely remembered what to do and had to ask the 000 operator to tell me each step to do as my mind was blank. Instinct kicked in and I did a few things but couldn't remember what to do next, it was scary. It wasn't until we were out of the ambulance and in the hospital when we were asked if we had done a first aid course that it all came flooding back to me, and I started remembering what we'd been taught.
I asked the presenter to cover the topic again for me and it was nice to know I'd done the right thing calling the ambulance. I picked up some other useful tips and advice from her too, that I hope I'll never have to put into practice!
Outfit-wise, I thought the polka dots and floral print was something very different for me. I don't have a lot of polka dot pieces in my wardrobe. Really liked this combo though - I think the gold foil polka dots on the tee work just as well with the floral kimono as the silver stripes on the tee above. And the mustard yellow micro Regan bag is a nice combination with the yellow on the kimono as well as the navy tee. I've worn this tee and bag together before.
I usually do a purchase review after wearing everything I buy twice. The goal is to learn what works and doesn't in my wardrobe, so I make wiser purchasing decisions in the future.
I love these shorts (even if this is the fourth wear, I forgot to do the review earlier). I already had a couple pairs of black shorts, but I got rid of them as I was worried they were too short. These are still short shorts, but slightly longer than the ones I had before, and still just as comfortable (perhaps even more so!). A classic pair of black shorts is essential for Brisbane summers, I'm really pleased I bought these, and thankful for the Christmas gift card I used to buy them!
You don't have to stick with neutral basic pieces when wearing colourful printed kimonos. Stripes and polka dots are fun to try print mixing with. If you're unsure, picking similarly coloured pieces like the silver stripes and grey kimono is a good way to go, and keeping it simple with just two prints and having the rest of your outfit plain makes it easy. The benefit of having one of your pieces being a printed kimono is that if you are unsure when leaving the house and later change your mind, you can easily take that layer off! Linking up with Fabulous Friday, Fab Favourites, Trend Spin.
I hope that you have a very merry Christmas and enjoy spending time with your friends and family on Monday as we reflect on the greatest gift of all, God sending Jesus.
It's no secret that I love maxi skirts and dresses. While I recently bought a lot of shorts for summer, you can't beat a classic maxi dress in December for all the Christmas related events. I almost always wear a maxi dress on Christmas day too, it's such a good choice. Comfortable for opening presents, running around with toddlers and nice and loose so you can indulge in all that yummy food!
The two jersey maxi dresses below are some of my fave wardrobe oldies. There's still plenty of time to order a maxi dress now and have it arrive before Christmas so you can wear it on Christmas day too!
What I wore:
Necklace: Uniquely Made with Love Sea Change necklace
I wore this a little while ago! We had our family Christmas photo, and as usual I went with the easy maxi dress option. I picked this one specifically as I'd bought the boys little blue poloshirts for the photo, and with hubby in a blue shirt too we were all perfectly themed but not too matchy matchy!
I had a bit of a giggle when we got to the photo area though - it was a blue background! We really coordinated! We usually go to Westfield for our photo, Chermside do pet Santa photos. Unfortunately they had cut their pet santa photos down to just 2 hours over the month and they were of course almost immediately booked out as a result. We ended up booking in with the RSPCA Santa Paws photos for the first time and while it was more expensive, the resulting photo was much better quality. Santa was very understanding too and they took the time to help and suggest things so we managed to get a good photo of us all despite our terrified toddler, who never got anywhere near as close to any other Santas we saw! I recommend them if you're looking for a photo with the whole family, we can't imagine our annual photo without Cooper!
Last Christmas delivery order date varies depending on your state but can be as late as early morning on the 22nd for same day delivery, or mid-morning on 21st December for next day delivery.
Another Christmas event, another maxi dress! It seemed the most obvious choice for a Christmas party with the boys. I like grey and yellow together, so when I saw one of the style challenges in Instagram for the day was 'bold hue', I knew I'd pick yellow accessories with this dress. I've worn the dress and bag together before, it's a nice combination. The little Christmas bow on my wrist was a fun addition for the party, and met yet another Instagram style challenge for 'tied'.
This was such a fun party for me to attend. Last year, we had been looking forward to it. I was in hospital with Baby Boy but we had been confident that we wouldn't be in there long, just a few days at most, which would mean we would be out for the party. Instead, we stayed there much longer than expected and the party marked day 6 in hospital as I continued to room in with Baby Boy. Toddler T's grandparents took him to the party solo instead. It was just a kid's party, but was quite emotional for me reflecting back on where we were last year. I didn't have time to dwell on it for long though, there was a lot to do and see and then we had to dash to swim lessons, and celebrate putting the Christmas tree up in the afternoon.
For me a maxi dress will always be a go-to over December. It's the perfect mum outfit as it's quick and easy to wear with minimal accessorising required, although you can add bright accessories if you want a bit of a pop. Maxi dresses are comfortable and casual enough for running around with toddlers but dressed up enough for parties and family Christmas photoshoots. There is still enough time to order a special dress in for Christmas too, with great options under $50 at ASOS, Amazon or The Iconic linked above. I love next day shipping at the Iconic for last minute gifts too.
My blog friend Ruth does these 5x5 style challenges on Instagram. Another blog friend, Eileen and I started talking with her about it and thought it would be fun to participate. We decided to do an international style challenge a couple of weeks ago near the end of November.
The rules: 5 pieces of clothing to create 5 outfits over 5 days, with a black and burgundy colour scheme. Accessories like shoes, necklaces, scarves, handbags, outerwear, can be added as needed and don't count as one of the 5 pieces.
Who took part: Ruth @ruthyannie, Eileen @eileensed and myself, @awayfromblue. Ruth did this over autumn in the cold weather, and Eileen had to dress a growing baby bump too! I have so much admiration for them both!
This is going to be a bit of a long post as I share with you what we wore over 5 days! I hope you'll get a lot of outfit inspiration from it though, and discover some new ways you can rewear pieces you already own.
My Capsule Wardrobe
After a few last minute swaps and changes, these are the 5 pieces I came up with for the challenge.
black drawstring waist maxi skirt
black denim shorts
burgundy jersey dress
black, burgundy and cream shirt dress
burgundy slouchy tee
My choices were limited by the colour scheme which helped me make decisions about what to pick as my 5 pieces. The last time I did a capsule, it was my third trimester capsule wardrobe and the growing bump helped limit my options there too! I did have to go into the office for one day which made me pick the shirt dress, even if the print is more red than burgundy. I figured it was close enough!
The main worry I had was around structuring the pieces I wore to allow me to have them washed and ironed ready for the next wear With two messy toddlers it was highly unlikely I was going to be able to wear things twice in a row without washing them! In the end I came up with 6 outfit ideas so that if something wasn't ready in time, I'd have a fall back option.
For the first day of the challenge I went with a classic tee and maxi skirt combo. When I'd first started planning outfits and pieces for the challenge I'd went with a different burgundy tee, and changed my mind and swapped it for this tee instead. I didn't like the way this one sat with the maxi skirt though, I was a bit frustrated with it both tucked and untucked and wasn't as comfortable with this outfit as I could have been. Easy outfit for playgroup though.
This was as 'formal' as my outfits got during the challenge, the majority of them were casual outfits. I had to go into the office, so picked this shirt dress to fit in with the business casual dress code. I found myself fussing with this outfit too during the day though, the dress seemed to ride up a lot and I was constantly tugging it back down. I much prefer wearing this dress as a kimono, or layering it up with tights in winter.
I knew with the darker black and red print on the dress (it's a geometric print although it looks like polka dots in the pics!) that this Marc Jacobs bag would work perfectly with it. This bag doesn't get worn as often as it did when I first got it, but it's still a nice choice for work. It's been tagged in 62 posts on the blog and most of the time it featured in both outfits of the posts, so you can see it was worn a lot in the past! Such a unique colour too, a deep purple-y brown.
The simplest of all my challenge outfits, and also the most popular. I wore this to work from home and attend a specialist appointment with baby boy in the afternoon. With the burgundy star print dress, I added black through my accessories, with the same ankle boots I'd worn the day before and another little worn bag, my Mimco button bag.
This was actually my first expensive bag purchase, despite how little I wear it now I'm never going to let it go. I spent months thinking about it and saving for it and picking out the perfect colour combo I wanted and I still remember the excitement of going to the store to pick it up! Very treasured even if not frequently worn now. I think I bought it in 2007 at the height of the button bag trend, still looks great. Sadly it's discontinued, the closest thing is the Mimco Turnlock bag that's around $200 more expensive than the button bag was 10 or so years ago, or to go to ebay for the classic style.
An incredibly busy day called for a comfortable and casual outfit, and the first wearing of the last of my 5 pieces, my black denim shorts. Added the comfy slouchy burgundy tee and the printed dress was worn as a kimono. Converse were a practical choice for a busy day, and the mustard yellow bag was a fun touch of colour with the black and burgundy.
Baby boy had some more tests at the hospital in the morning, so I had the day off. With my mother in law available to watch the boys, as it was a day I normally work, I made the most of it and she looked after them both once the testing was done so I could gt a rare child free afternoon to go Christmas shopping. And I shopped up a storm, getting the majority of the things remaining on my Christmas present list!
For my fifth and final outfit with my 5 pieces, I wore my denim shorts again and the lovely burgundy dress as a top. I added turquoise accessories with the necklace and Rebecca Minkoff mini MAC bag for an extra touch of colour. I've won dresses as tops before, it's a nice way to wear something a little differently. The extra dress fabric wasn't too bulky although it was a bit of a pain tucking it in to the shorts every time I went to the bathroom! I had considered doubling up on the dresses and wearing the shift dress as a kimono over this again, but despite how little time I spent with the boys the day before it still got messy and had to have a wash. That was the hardest part of this challenge - making sure everything was washed and ironed in time to wear again!
This was a nice outfit to finish the challenge on, I ran around with the boys completing a few errands.
Hope you enjoyed seeing the different outfits we were able to create for the challenge. While it was a fun challenge for me, I was looking forward to getting back into my regular wardrobe at the end of it! Especially after buying lots of new pieces that month that I was eager to wear.
Thanks so much to Ruth and Eileen for inviting me to take part - if you don't already, you should follow them on Instagram!
