For today's Weekday Wear Linkup I'm sharing two outfits I wore - both the Kmart short sleeve tiered jersey midi dresses. Like I do fairly frequently despite telling myself I really shouldn't, I have bought this dress in multiple colours. I now own the dress in amber and fuchsia, and I'm tempted by the navy... with the hot spring we have been having in Brisbane a light floaty dress like this is just perfect. I kept it simple, accessorising them with some Balenciaga bags each time I wore them, although one is a little dressier of an outfit than the other.

What I wore:

Kmart short sleeve tiered jersey midi dress in amber with black accessories balenciaga bag new balance running shoes | awayfromblue

orange dress with Balenciaga part time in black 2010 with SGH | away from the blue

awayfromtheblue Instagram | Kmart short sleeve tiered jersey midi dress in amber with black accessories balenciaga part time bag sneakers

Necklace: Tiffany & Co silver 5th Avenue notes heart pendant necklace
Dress: Kmart short sleeve tiered jersey midi dress in amber
Shoes: New Balance Coast women's running shoe in black (new purchase)
Bracelets: the usual plus old beaded black bracelet stack
Bag: Balenciaga part time in black 2010 with SGH

Why I wore it:

Wore this a couple of weeks ago, just a few days from Halloween. It was a cloudy and windy yet humid day as there were storms predicted so I knew this dress would be comfortable for the school run and working from home, as it was warm despite the breeze. And with the black accessories the amber dress worked well at being kind of themed for my son's special Halloween sporting class. The kids had the chance to earn lollies doing when practicing their sporting skills which they were very excited about!

My recently purchased black New Balance sneakers were comfortable and helped this outfit stay more casual, as well as matching with the black Balenciaga part time bag and black bracelet stack. This bag was definitely overdue a wear, last worn in March! It was good to get it out again. I did try wear a black necklace with this too but couldn't find the perfect one so went with my simple silver Tiffany heart in the end.

Thankfully the rain held off in the evening while we found our way to class after I managed to get us lost on the wrong side of town after picking up dinner first, but we made it there just on time. While the rain started during the class we didn't get too wet afterwards as I'd remembered to bring umbrellas!

Last worn: amber tiered midi dress, Tiffany silver heart necklace, black bracelet stack, Balenciaga black part time bag. First time I've shared the shoes on the blog as they are a recent purchase.

Other ways to wear: amber tiered midi dress worn 2 ways, Balenciaga black part time bag worn 30 ways.

Perfect for pregnancy: Balenciaga black part time bag in second trimester.

My Balenciaga Handbag Collection:

What I wore:

Kmart short sleeve tiered jersey dress in Fuchsia with statement necklace studded sandals and turqouise balenciaga first bag birthday party outfit | awayfromblue

Kmart short sleeve tiered jersey dress in Fuchsia with Balenciaga turquoise blue India first bag and bracelet stack | awayfromtheblue

awayfromblue Instagram | Kmart short sleeve tiered jersey dress in Fuchsia with turquoise Balenciaga first bag studded sandals

Necklace: thrifted Equip gold and marble station necklace
Dress: Kmart short sleeve tiered jersey dress in Fuchsia
Shoes: Wittner 'Jasmarie' studded sandals
Bracelets: the usual plus Roie Designs waxed leather cream howlite beaded wrap bracelet
Bag: Balenciaga first bag in 2006 Blue India

Why I wore it:

This dress was an impulse buy! When bike shopping for Christmas I'd seen this dress at Kmart and decided if I found the bike I'd treat myself, having some money left over from Christmas. Was so pleased to have found the bike and I felt the dress was a good reward, we had been looking a while with the shortage in Australia! Decided to wear it out a few days later to a kids birthday party. Although interestingly it also rained on the way back to the car on this day too as a storm blew in just before the end of the party! Storm season is truly underway.

Wore my strappy studded sandals and my pretty marble statement necklace to try dress this up a little for the party. The white howlite beads on this bracelet matched the white marble on the necklace well too!

As soon as I'd seen this dress I knew I wanted to wear this little turquoise Balenciaga first bag with it - it really pops against the fuchsia! One of my fave outfits.

Last worn: marble statement necklace, wrap bracelet, studded sandals, Balenciaga blue India first bag. First time I've worn the dress as it was a recent purchase.

Other ways to wear: studded sandals and printed shorts, Balenciaga blue India first bag with mustard.

Perfect for pregnancy: studded sandals in second trimester.

How You Can Wear It:

A bright, block colour midi dress is so easy to dress up or down. You can try pretty sandals or heels for dressing it up, or a casual pair of sneakers on a more relaxed day.

Weekday Wear Linkup #96

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!

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

Sharing what's in my bag for Share The Dignity #ItsInTheBag! I've done this the past couple of years in order to support local women. The Share the Dignity charity aims to ensure all women across Australia have access to sanitary products. Each Christmas they run the It's In The Bag campaign, where you fill a new or gently used handbag with some essential products and special gifts for a woman or teen in need.

This year, the same as last year, I've decided to do a mums and bubs bag. I've filled a nappy bag with a lot of essentials and a few special treats to let a mum to be or new mum in need know she is loved at Christmas time.

My decision to do a baby bag again this year was made thanks to a special gift with purchase Priceline had on. If you spent $39 or more on participating brands in store you got a baby bag filled with samples and full size baby care products. The perfect thing to start off my donation! The video shows how I fit everything inside and what I included:

As you can see in the video, the bag is a good size and I fit quite a lot into it! I made full use of all the pockets to ensure that as well as covering off the essentials for mum and baby, I included a few extra treats. It breaks my heart to think that there are mums across Australia who due to circumstances outside their control are facing a Christmas alone with their new baby. Maybe they are homeless, maybe they are in a domestic violence refuge, maybe they are living in poverty, maybe they have fled from extreme weather and have nothing left but the clothes on their back. I hope this bag brings a little bit of joy. There are many stories that Share the Dignity have on their site and socials to demonstrate how much of an impact this small gift can make.

How You Can Help:

There are so many ways to get involved:

This year, you can sponsor a bag if you don't have time to source all the products yourself. Your donation will be used to build a mum and bub bag, teen bag or woman's bag for Christmas.
You can put together your own bag of essentials - the list of required and optional extra items is on the Share the Dignity site. Pay special attention to the exclusions list if you are using the Priceline deal as part of your donation this year like I did - not everything in the bag is suitable to donate, and I had to remove some items. The deal is no longer available online but there are some bags still in stores.
If you're donating a bag, drop it off at your local Bunnings between 20th - 29th November. Following all local coronavirus precautions and restrictions of course.
If things are a little tight this Christmas, consider participating in the Share the Dignity sanitary products drive next year instead.
Share to raise awareness - you can follow Share the Dignity on Facebook, they have a lot of helpful tips and ideas for putting together a bag, and lots of info graphics to share. Like this one, which shows what to include in your bag:

With 2020 being a tough year for a lot of people, I really hope this bag makes a difference for one mum and bub and makes her feel special at Christmas time. If you have the ability, there are so many ways to give back this year - donate your time or money to your favourite charity, donate to It's In the Bag, or find an organisation in your country doing something similar - these are sometimes called Blessing Bags in other countries. You can see my woman's bag donation in 2018, and baby bag donation in 2019 for more ideas.

Have you participated in #ItsInTheBag or a similar donation drive before? What extra pieces did or would you include in your bag? I'll be doing this next year as well and I'm always open to new ideas for what to include!

Note: I was not paid for this post. As always all thoughts, opinions and images are my own.

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