Away From Blue | Aussie Mum Style, Away From The Blue Jeans Rut

Some casual weekday style for this week's Weekday Wear Linkup!

I extended my Christmas holidays from work into January. It gave me a lot more time at home with the boys, and we took advantage of the opportunity to try a different park to play at each day. I kept things simple for playground style: plain tees, denim shorts and fun kimonos for a little bit of sun coverage.

What I wore:

Target Karolina summer kimono in purple black floral with black tee bermuda denim shorts pink accessories | awayfromblue

Target Karolina summer kimono in purple black floral with rebecca minkoff darren small messenger bag peony pink | awayfromtheblue

awayfromtheblue Instagram | target karolina floral kimono with black tee bermuda denim shorts rebecca minnkoff darren messenger playground style

Jacket: gifted Target Karolina summer kimono in purple black floral
Necklace: Kmart pink multi-colour beaded necklace
Tee: Jeanswest black scoop neck tee
Shorts: Jeanswest Trinity Bermuda denim shorts
Shoes: Balenciaga studded sandals in sorbet RGGH
Bag: Rebecca Minkoff small Darren messenger bag in peony

Why I wore it:

Say hello to my new favourite kimono! This kimono was a Christmas gift from my mum, and one of those clothing pieces where you just pull it on and feel so happy with the outfit! Expect to see this popping up a lot more often on my blog. The pink beaded necklace added a little more colour to my outfit - it too was a Christmas gift from my mum. With the pink necklace, I added the pastel pink Rebecca Minkoff Darren bag as well as the studded Balenciaga sandals. I like pink and purple together and though none of these shades of pink matched I thought that they all worked nicely together and with the floral kimono.

I really enjoyed this outfit - nice and simple for a day at the park.

Last worn: black scoop neck tee, Bermuda denim shorts, studded Balenciaga sandals, Rebecca Minkoff Darren bag. First time I've worn the kimono as it was a Christmas gift.

Other ways to wear: black scoop neck tee and printed shorts, Bermuda denim shorts worn 30 ways, studded Balenciaga sandals and maxi dress, Rebecca Minkoff Darren bag in the office.

Perfect for pregnancy: studded Balenciaga sandals in second trimester.

What's In My Bag: Rebecca Minkoff Darren

What I wore:

Cotton On Leah kimono in Juddy floral cerise with white v neck tee black denim shorts rebecca minkoff darren bag | away from blue

magenta floral kimono with Rebecca Minkoff small Darren messenger bag in peony pink | away from the blue

awayfromblue intagram | Cotton On Leah kimono in Juddy floral cerise, Rebecca Minkoss pastel pink small darren messenger bag

Jacket: gifted Cotton On Leah kimono in Juddy floral cerise
Necklace: gifted Kmart navy and gold beaded tassel necklace
Tee: Atmos & Here white essential v-neck tee
Shorts: Jeanswest Sara distressed hot short
Shoes: Novo Tawny rose gold sandals
Bag: Rebecca Minkoff small Darren messenger bag in peony

Why I wore it:

After a few days in a row of spending time around all the local parks, I felt a needed a little more coverage from the sun so picked out another new floral kimono - this one also a Christmas gift from my mum. With the plain white tee and the black denim shorts it was a nice pop of colour. And with the blue in the floral print, I thought this necklace (also a new Christmas gift) was a nice finishing touch. I kept with the Rebecca Minkoff small Darren bag as it compliments the colours in the flowers nicely.

We went to a new-to-me park that the boys have been to before, it has a big racing track for bikes and scooters which they had a wonderful time running around. I was glad I had the kimono for physical sunblock for my arms as there wasn't a lot of shade around.

Just like the first outfit, I stuck with gold shoes even though the bag has silver hardware - I figured that the metals were far enough apart from each other that they worked.

Last worn: white tee, black denim shorts, gold sandals, Rebecca Minkoff Darren bag (above). First time I've worn the necklace and kimono as they were Christmas gifts.

Other ways to wear: white tee and pencil skirt, black denim shorts and scarf, rose gold sandals and maxi dress, Rebecca Minkoff Darren bag and striped dress.

Floral Kimonos Under $50:

How You Can Wear It:

Shorts and a tee is such a staple summer outfit, and so easy to change up a little when you add a bright printed kimono on top. These floral kimonos are lightweight so an ideal way to add an extra layer of interest and colour to your outfit without overheating you in the middle of summer! They work well as an extra bit of sun protection too.

Weekday Wear Linkup #05

Welcome to the Weekday Wear linkup! A linkup for you to share your weekday outfits - whether that is office wear or stay at home mum wear - if you wore it on a weekday, you can link it up!

Guidelines:
1. Please link to a specific outfit post, not your blog homepage.
2. Link back to this post so others can find the link up.
3. Follow your host Away From The Blue on Bloglovin, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook or YouTube.
4. Add up to two posts and be sure to visit and comment on as many other posts as possible to get some weekday outfit inspiration!
Optional: tweet the post you linked up with the hashtag #weekdayWearLinkUp so I can retweet!

Linking up with Start The Week Stylish, Trend Spin, Confident Twosday, Turning Heads, Fashion Frenzy, Style On The Daily, Fashion Files, Chic and Stylish.

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As I try to move away from blue jeans, I've embraced other colours of denim! This purple pair of skinny jeans is a firm favourite, and the first pair of colourful denim in my collection that I've hit 30 wears with.

30 Ways To Wear: Purple Skinny Jeans

Cost Per Wear

I bought these 'blackberry' purple jeans back in April 2013. I've only been tracking prices with items for the past couple of years, but luckily I wrote on the blog how much I paid for these - $30! At 30 wears, that works out to the '$1 per wear' that seems to be the goal when calculating cost per wear. I'm not bored of these jeans either, despite having them for 6 years, so they will be staying in my wardrobe a little longer!
30 wears over 6 years seems like quite a low amount, but these jeans don't have a lot of stretch so wearing them over my two pregnancies was definitely out of the question! 30 times over say 4 years when you discount the pregnancy and postpartum phases is a bit of a better figure.

30 Ways To Wear Purple Jeans: Video Style

Purple Jeans For A Matchy-Matchy Outfit

5 ways to wear purple jeans with other purple pieces in an outfit | away from blue

If you've been reading my blog a while you'll know I love a little bit of matchy-matchy in my outfits! Having a colourful pair of jeans is a great excuse to continue that colour int eh rest of your outfit - a purple kimono, bag, cardigan or scarf works nicely with the purple jeans. Even if the shades don't match exactly it's a simple way to complete an outfit.

Purple Jeans With Pink

Pink and purple is a go-to colour combination for me, so of course I've worn these purple skinny jeans with pink pieces! If there's a colour combo you love, try it with a pair of colourful jeans! You can do it in a small way with a pink scarf, or go bigger and pair a pink blazer with purple jeans.

Purple Skinny Jeans With Navy

5 different ways to wear navy with purple skinny jeans | awayfromblue

Blue and purple is another go-to colour combination. When I had my wardrobe detox a few years ago, the stylist was curious why I had so many purple pieces. Because they go so well with blue! A little navy like a printed tank, or a lot of navy like a navy tee or cardigan, any amount works well with purple jeans.

Purple Jeans With Turquoise

3 outfit ideas with turquoise and purple skinny jeans | awayfromtheblue

I could have called this out with the blue option above, but I wore these purple jeans with turquoise so many times it felt right to give it it's own category! I like the deeper purple paired with the bright turquoise, it really brightens up an outfit.

Purple Jeans With Neutrals

how to wear purple jeans 3 outfit ideas with neutrals | away from the blue

You've seen how well these jeans work with other colours, but of course they work perfectly with neutrals too. A bold colourful pair of jeans - or any bold piece in your wardrobe! - will so easily go with neutral pieces. Picking out a neutral piece to wear with something more colourful is a good go-to option when you're not sure what else to wear.

Purple Jeans With Prints

Just like the neutral top option above, a printed top is another fail-safe to wear with purple jeans. As you can see, I favour stripes a lot, but any print, or even a little print mixing, will work well with colourful jeans. Purple jeans make a simple outfit base you can add extra interest to with prints.

Purple Jeans In Winter

5 ways you can layer purple jeans for winter cosy SAHM style outfits | awayfromtheblue

While summer in Brisbane isn't the ideal jeans weather, I do wear them a lot in winter. These purple skinny jeans are such a fun way to add colour to a winter outfit, but still just as cosy and practical as normal jeans. You can see I'm using some of the outfit ideas above here too, with the navy, turquoise and printed pieces worn with these jeans.

Purple Jeans and Tee Outfits

changing jeans and a tee outfit with purple jeans instead of blue denim | awayfromblue

The forever classic outfit, jeans and a tee! Swapping our standard blue jeans for a fun colourful pair like these purple jeans adds a little extra interest to a jeans and tee outfit, while still being just as easy to wear as classic blue.