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

Two very different outfits for today's Weekday Wear link up! Taken just 3 weeks apart in March, the world changed so much in those weeks!

What I wore:

ruffle dress autumn office outfit with grey blazer and turquoise Balenciaga first bag | awayfromblue

Balenciaga first bag in 2006 Blue India | away from the blue

awayfromblue Instagram | grey jersey blazer with berry ruffle dress teal bag colourful autumn office outfit

Jacket: Jeanswest grey jersey blazer
Necklace: Colette marble and gold pendant drop long necklace
Dress: Jeanswest deep pink ruffle neckline dress
Shoes: Marc by Marc Jacobs logo plaque flats in camel
Bag: Balenciaga first bag in 2006 Blue India

Why I wore it:

This was my last office outfit before things started changing in Australia. At the end of the day I'd packed up my desk and said farewell to my colleagues, reminding them I'd not be in next week as I had a training course, but that I'd be in the next again week. During the week of training there were a lot of massive changes in Australia and at work, and I've not been back in the office since.

I've been working from home for a few weeks now and I'm missing outfits like this - the simplicity of a cute dress and a blazer to dress it up a little for a business environment. I really like this berry dress. Even though it looks red in every picture, it's such a fun dress to wear and I thought the turquoise Balenciaga first bag really popped with it. As the dress and bag were bold I went for neutral accessories with the grey blazer and the tan ballet flats.

Of course now my blazers are hanging unworn in my wardrobe (and I even have a recently purchased one that I've not been able to wear yet) while I work from home and only make trips out for the essentials.

Last worn: grey jersey blazer, berry ruffle dress, marble necklace, camel ballet flats, Balenciaga first bag.

Other ways to wear: grey jersey blazer and printed dress, berry ruffle dress and jacquard jacket, camel ballet flats and jeans, Balenciaga first bag and maxi dress.

Perfect for pregnancy: camel ballet flats in third trimester.

Balenciaga Bag Reveal: Turquoise First Bag

What I wore:

all about eve black white striped tee dress contrast sleeves sporty outfit with new balance and Balenciaga first | awayfromblue

black and white stripes with teal bag Balenciaga first bag in 2006 Blue India | away from the blue

awayfromblue Instagram casual sporty tee dress outfit sneakers balenciaga first bag all about eve stripes

Necklace: ZuriCollections blue polymer clay necklace
Dress: All About Eve striped black tee dress
Shoes: New Balance white and blue sneakers
Bag: Balenciaga first bag in 2006 Blue India

Why I wore it:

This is a much more casual dress outfit. Unlike the first outfit where I was trying to dress up a bit for the office, I dressed down for this outing to the grocery store. I'd picked this fun striped tee dress as it is an easy instant outfit, and easy to remove as soon as I got home, to avoid bringing germs into the house.

The New Balance sneakers actually went really well with this dress to create a sporty outfit! I'd been trying to ease back into normal shoes again but with being unable to travel to my physio safely my knee pain requires me to keep things simple and supportive, so it's back to these shoes. Having them as my outdoor shoe makes it easier to prevent germ spread on the shoe rack too, if I'm just wearing these! It's funny the things we think about now!

The Balenciaga first bag was a fun pop with the black and white dress, and I picked this bag to wear again as I'd worn it on a previous outing - again trying to minimise what items I take outside. I did notice that I kept going to play with this necklace as I walked around the nearly empty shelves at the supermarket, so I'm now doing a no necklace policy when I do venture out. 😂

It's probably a little overkill all of these changes, especially when I didn't even think about these things a few weeks ago back when I was still in the office, but I'm just doing what I can to keep us and the kids as safe as possible.

Last worn: striped tee dress, clay necklace, New Balance sneakers, Balenciaga turquoise first bag (above).

Other ways to wear: striped tee dress and purple bag, Balenciaga turquoise first bag and maxi skirt.

Similar Dresses Under $50:

How You Can Wear It:

A dress is a great outfit staple! You can dress them up for the office with a blazer, or dress them down with casual shoes for popping out to grab groceries.

Weekday Wear Linkup #65

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 Confident Twosday, Turning Heads, Fashion Frenzy, Red carpet Linkup, Style Six, Style on the Daily, Fashion Files, Chic and Stylish, Fancy Friday.

Follow Away From the Blue on:
Bloglovin : Twitter : Instagram : Youtube : Facebook : LikeToKnow.It

This tank is such a wardrobe staple! An extremely useful breastfeeding piece, it has hidden nursing access and is such a super soft bamboo that I wasn't ready to give it away with the rest of my maternity / breastfeeding pieces. I decided to keep it in my wardrobe as a great wardrobe basic, and it's been such a good piece to have. For something that I got when pregnant with my now 5 and a half year old, it's really stood the test of time!

30 Ways To Wear: Navy Breastfeeding Tank

Cost per wear is tricky to calculate for this tank as I didn't actually pay anything for it, it was something I got through a blog partnership back when I was pregnant with my now 5 and a half year old! The retail was around $70 if I remember correctly and I certainly think it's worth the investment. You can get it on sale for cheaper here or the long sleeved version here.

While I have worn it 30 times, only 10 of those wears have been after I stopped breastfeeding. It was a staple breastfeeding tank for me and on frequent repeat back in those days. It really shows that if you invest in the right maternity / breastfeeding pieces, you can get a lot of wear from them in the future too. In fact, both of the Mothers En Vogue pieces I got in pregnancy are the two pieces that have stayed in my post-pregnancy wardrobe. I've shared 30 wears with the pink breastfeeding dress, the other piece I got, before.

When shopping in pregnancy, stick with neutral colours, like this indigo shade, or colours you already have a lot of in your non-maternity wardrobe. I'm going to be still using and loving this tank in the years to come (or whenever I get to get out the house again!). I like the bubble gathered effect and the neutral navy colour goes with everything. I'll show you some outfit pieces and colour combinations you can wear a similar piece with in your wardrobe!

Colour Combinations With A Navy Tank:

Navy Tank In Monochrome Outfits

Blue is my favourite colour so I love a good monochrome outfit, easily done by pairing this navy tank with other navy or blue pieces in my wardrobe. To stop the outfit looking too plain you can try wearing different sades of blue together, or try a printed navy piece with the block colour tank.

Navy Tank With Green

Blue and green is a colour combination I've only been wearing for a few years but I am not sure why I avoided it for so long! With the neutral navy, it looks good with bright emerald greens like the necklace and skirt, or the floral duster kimono, as well as a more muted green with the olive shorts.

Navy Tank With Pink

Blue and pink look great together - and these three outfits showcase that so well with different sades and amounts of pink. With bright magenta jeans, a pink bag or a blush blazer, there is no shade of pink that doesn't look good with navy!

Navy Tank With Purple

Blue and purple is another go-to colour combo for me. Just as you saw in the pink outfit set above, different shades or purple and different amounts of purple work well with this tank. Purple skinny jeans, purple accessories, and a purple cardigan. Even a pink, blue and purple outfit like the last one there with the purple kimono over the tank and the magenta pink bag.

Navy Tank With Red

Red really pops with navy! Again, you can do this in different ways. A red bag is a fun burst of colour with a neutral tank like this, or you can go a little bigger and bolder like the outfit in the middle with the red skirt worn with the navy tank. Even if the skirt does look a little orange in these pics, taken back when Brisbane had a lot of orange haze from the smoke last year.

Navy Tank With Yellow

Yellow is such a cheerful colour to wear, but sometimes it can feel a little overpowering. A nice neutral basic outfit building block like this navy tank works well with yellow. It really lets even a little bit of yellow, like a yellow necklace, really pop.

Outfit Ideas With a Navy tank:

Navy Tank with Denim

It's no surprise that I've worn this top with a lot of denim! Jeans are such a mum staple and you've seen this top worn a lot with denim in this post. These 4 outfits show you how you can mix it up a little with the denim - trying different colours, or a denim jacket instead of jeans. They also show how much I loved that Nibbly Bits necklace when breastfeeding! 😂 I suspect that necklace is part of the reason why my kids love playing with my accessories so much...

Navy Tank with Prints

And the final way you can wear a plain navy tank like this is with something printed! It's such a fail-safe outfit formula, a plain block-colour piece like this top with something bold and printed. Stripes are a firm favourite of mine, but printed jeans or even a tie dye kimono, any print works!