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

Monday, 2 July 2018

30 Ways To Wear: A Cream Jersey Blazer #30wears

For this month's 30 ways to wear post, sharing a piece that it seems to have taken a while for me to reach 30 wears on, this cream jersey blazer from Zara. Last month it was a purple cardigan, so I hope you don't mind me picking another piece of outerwear this month! The winter weather in Brisbane has me thinking of layers!

30 Ways To Wear: Cream Jersey Blazer

30 ways to wear zara cream jersey blazer #30wears | away from the blue blog

I bought this jacket second hand back in 2015, so I've had it 3 years. An average of 10 wears a year isn't bad, especially considering for a year and a half in there I was on maternity leave and wasn't reaching for my blazers. An ebay find, it was $30.50 if you include the overpriced shipping the seller charged me. At 30 wears, it's just over a dollar a wear.

I bought this because I had the same blazer in black and was thrilled to find another colour of it. Whether you call it a jersey blazer or a knit blazer, it's so soft and comfortable to wear. As I tried it with more outfits in my wardrobe, I've realised that this cream / beige / oatmeal colour isn't ideal for me. I definitely haven't loved every outfit I've made with it. My sister likes it though, so I'm passing it onto her.

Jersey Blazer and Lace Pencil Skirt

5 outfit idas with blue lace pencil skirt and jersey blazer for the office | awayfromblue

This is definitely my most worn piece with this blazer. This blue lace pencil skirt is such a fun piece to wear to the office, and always gets a lot of compliments. The base material is a nude colour that's similar to the cream jersey of the blazer, so it's an easy pairing. It lets me add more colours to the rest of my outfit too, with bright accessories.

Beige Blazer and Burgundy Pants

wearing a cream knit blazer with burgundy pants | away from the blue

When I put these posts together I look back at all the ways I've worn things and try group them into sensible categories. It was obvious these burgundy pants would be a category of their own, I do love wearing this blazer with them! I like the neutral cream with the burgundy, a nice colour pairing.

Cream Blazer and Monochrome Outfits

4 outfit ideas: monochrome prints with neutral oatmeal knit blazer | awayfromtheblue

While the blue and burgundy above look great with this blazer, they aren't the only colour combinations I like to try. Being a beautiful neutral that goes with pretty much everything, I like to add this blazer as a layer to a monochrome or monochromatic outfit. From an orange dress, navy top and skirt or a peach two piece set, this blazer works wonderfully.

Beige Blazer and Printed Pieces

3 ways to wear neutral blazer with printed pieces | awayfromblue

Sometimes you just want to wear a fun printed piece without thinking too hard. That's when neutral pieces like this jersey blazer are perfect, as you know the cream shade won't clash with any printed pieces. While it's nice in the office with printed skirts, it works well with the fun statement leopard print jeans for SAHM style too.

Neutral Jersey Blazer and Print Mixing Outfits

ways to wear print mixing outfits with neutral jersey blazer | away from the blue

As I mentioned with the printed pieces above, this neutral blazer is a great companion to prints. Being a basic neutral colour and style, it allows you to be a little more adventurous with your outfit and try some print mixing too! In these three outfits, I kept it simple and cosy by using a printed scarf as a topper for the outfit and as another print.

Jersey Blazer In The Office - With Printed Dresses

5 ways to wear printed dresses with neutral cream jersey blazer for the office | away from blue

As you've seen in the previous outfits, this blazer gets pulled on over a lot of prints! For the office, it's a quick and simple addition to a printed dress. Being a jersey material, it's comfortable enough to wear all day at your desk when the aircon is running a little cold, and it helps tone down any print to make it look more professional.

Jersey Blazer In The Office - With Pencil Skirts

3 ways to wear a jersey blazer with pencil skirts for business casual office | away from blue

Pencil skirts are a staple workwear option for me, so of course this blazer has been worn with a few of them. Just like the outfits above, I've picked this blazer to wear on top of these outfits as they feature printed pieces, and it's such a good neutral. The blazer also works to make a casual sleeveless summer tank more office appropriate.

Blazer And Jeans

4 ways to wear a jersey blazer with jeans - SAHM Style | away from the blue

A blazer isn't just for the office though! The final way to wear this soft jersey blazer is with jeans. It helps to make you feel a little more pulled together than say a cardigan, but is still just as comfortable (and a little warmer as it's lined). The neutral colour works with any colour of jeans, and while I've mostly worn it with skinny jeans it looks great with a pair of flares too!

Similar Jersey Blazers Under $50:

30 Ways To Wear A Cream Blazer In Video Form:

Friday, 29 June 2018

What I Bought In June & How I've Worn It: Shopping Haul & Try On Video

Time for an overdue shopping haul video! The last item I ordered in May finally arrived so I thought I'd do a wrap up video with some of my May purchases and my June ones. I felt like I bought a lot, but it was only a handful of pieces - 3 to be exact! You can see my June purchases and the other pieces I bought in May in the video below. Plus, I included some bloopers at the end!

What I Bought:

Rebecca Minkoff chevron quilted small Love crossbody bag in pale coral

Thrifted SES fashion mustard marle knit

Thrifted navy stripe Coca-Cola logo tee

(Red and navy cardigans in the video bought last month)

A month of impulse buys, after last minute browsing of the Rebecca Minkoff sale and just popping into the opshop for a quick look both resulted in buying things.

While I'm a little annoyed that the handbag I bought didn't arrive the same month I bought it, and it wasn't the colour I expected, I absolutely adore it. It was a bargain too, at 50% off! I'll upload a proper review of it on my YouTube channel at some point, but for now I'll just say I love it and I've enjoyed every time I've worn it.

I had been looking at the new Jeanswest winter collection and admiring the yellow knits when I saw this one in the opshop and for just $1 I quickly forgot all about the Jeanswest ones I'd been looking at! While it would be too thin a knit for winter in most other places, it will be perfect for Brisbane. When it gets really cold, I plan to layer a long sleeve tee underneath, which I've done in the past with my open knits to make them more winter appropriate.

The Coca-Cola tee caught my eye to add to my collection of Coca-Cola things. I have so many glass bottles, as well as towels, balls, badges, toy cars, even a Coca-Cola cookbook! While I don't drink it so much now, I still smiled when I saw this tee and just had to snap it up for just $1. I also feel like I've seen something similar in stores lately, with the recent rise in logo tees it's perfectly on trend.

How I Wore It:

June purchases and ways to wear away from the blue blog

I had no troubles finding and thinking of different ways to wear the pieces I got this month - which is a sign that they will hopefully be good additions to my wardrobe. They seem to be so far.

Every month I set myself a goal of wearing everything I buy at least twice in the same month I buy it, to make sure I'm buying pieces I want to wear immediately and can easily think of different ways to wear. As you can see from the pics above, everything was happily worn twice or more.

I'm giving myself a little bit of grace with the Rebecca Minkoff Love bag, as it didn't arrive until a month after I ordered it. I did wear it 3 times in the month after it finally arrived though, so still counting it as meeting my goal.

Update on Yearly Budget:

June is usually a big spending month for me as it's a change of season and I want to stock up on all the fun winter pieces in store. I'm pleased I haven't done much of that and only bought a handful of pieces this year. I'm really focusing on rewearing more of what I already own.

I've definitely spent more in the first six months of 2018 than I did in 2017 though, only because I did 6 months without shopping in the first half of 2017. I'm still less than half way under my total spend from last year so I'm hoping I can stick to that and spend less overall this year than I did last year. Fingers crossed!

I'll be attempting #noBuyJuly18 (just like I've done in previous years) so there shouldn't be any purchases next month to report. Feel free to join me if you want to forgo fashion spending for a month! My tips for surviving 6 months without shopping might come in helpful!

And finally, I was the Featured Fashionista over at Have Clothes, Will Travel so go check it out! You'll find out a little more about me and why I blog.

Linking up with Lizzie In Lace, Weekend Link Up, Shoe & Tell, Mix It Monday, On Mondays We Link Up.

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Friday, 1 June 2018

30 Ways To Wear A Purple Cardigan: #30wears Outfit Challenge

This 30 wears post has been a while coming, after I hit 30 wears on this cardigan in spring last year. It just didn't feel right to post about it over summer though. Now the weather is cooler and it's officially winter here in Brisbane, I'm happy to share some of the 30 ways I've worn this cardigan in the past. I even managed to find some of the ways I'd worn it before I had the blog so I could share that with you for something different.

30 Ways To Wear: Purple Cardigan

30 ways to wear a purple cardigan | Away From The Blue Blog pinnable pic

The past few times I've done a 30 wears post I've managed to calculate the cost per wear. Unfortunately, I bought this cardigan so long ago, I can't remember what I paid for it. I've only photographed my outfits consistently every day since I started this blog in 2012 so I'm not sure exactly how many times I've worn this. There have been over 33 times I've photographed it and I'm pleased with that. The earliest pic I could find was winter 2011, so it's at least 7 years old and still going strong.

How To Wear a Purple Cardigan Video:

Belting A Cardigan

3 ways to wear a cardigan belted | away from the blue

One of my early blog pics there in the middle! It's fun seeing how things have changed. I used to have to balance my camera on the BBQ and use the self timer, so often it wasn't aligned properly. I much prefer the other pics, taken with my camera remote and tripod.
No matter what the photos look like, I love each of these outfit ideas though. I really like the way this cardigan looks belted. It's something a bit different, and good in the middle of winter as it keeps you warm as the cardigan stays closed in place. It makes the draped pieces sit really flatteringly too and almost creates a peplum effect as you can see in the last photo.

Colourful Cardigan and Matching Bag

3 outift ideas purple cardigan and matching magenta Balenciaga day bag

Each season, Balenciaga come out with new colours for their bags. I always take a liking to the pinks, but the 2005 magenta is my favourite pink. As you can see in the photos above, my current magenta Balenciaga Day bag isn't the only magenta bag I've had, the old selfie in the middle is back when I had the same colour in the city style too.

With the touch of pink in this purple cardigan, and the touch of purple in the pink bag, the cardigan and bags are a nice combination. They aren't a perfect match, but the shade is close enough together that I like the almost matchy-matchyness.

Purple Cardigan With Blue Tops

It's not just similar colours I like wearing this purple cardigan with. Blue and purple is a combination I frequently wear, so I really like navy tops with this cardigan.
Of course that last outfit there is my favourite, it was Baby T's first outing after we got home from the hospital. Even though I'm exhausted, my postpartum tum is on display, and we were going to a clinic for breastfeeding help, it was still a comfortable outfit and my favourite photo of the post!

Purple Cardigan With Pink

Another frequently worn colour combination of mine is pink and purple. With the bright purple colour of this cardigan, it's easy to introduce just a little touch of colour through a small bag like this neon pink mini MAC I'm wearing in the last two photos. If you're feeling bolder or particularly colourful, you could wear it with a pink top too, like I've done with the ombre tank in the first outfit.

Purple Cardigan With Purple Accessories

4 outfit ideas to wear purple cardigan with purple bag | away from the blue

You'll know from reading my blog (or looking at some of the outfits I've already shared!) that I like my colourful handbags. They are fun accessories with an outfit. And while the deep plum purple of these Rebecca Minkoff bags in the outfits above doesn't match the pinky-purple shade of the cardigan, I think they compliment each other quite nicely!
Even if your accessories aren't a perfect match to a colourful cardigan, it's good to give the combination a try - as you can see I loved the little purple MAB tote bag with this cardigan so much I've worn it quite a few times!

Colourful Cardigan With Neutral Outfits

3 ways to add a purple cardigan to neutral outfits | awayfromtheblue

If you're completely stumped about what to wear with a colourful cardigan, throw it on over a neutral outfit. It can be something as simple as a grey tee like in the first picture, or a monochrome black outfit like the last photo. It also works well with cream and neutrals as you can see in the middle there. I'm also employing my previous tip above of wearing a purple bag with the cardigan in these last two photos, but you could easily stick with a neutral brown like the Chloe paddington bag in the first outfit.

Colourful Cardigan and Printed Tops

Purple cardigan with printed tanks 3 outfit ideas | awayfromblue

The fun thing with a bright, single colour cardigan like this purple one is that it's so easy to wear with printed pieces in your outfit. The lack of print on it means it will go with anything. Stripes is my favourite combo, as you can see here! But a plain cardigan will go with any print you want to wear.

Draped Cardigan and Maxi Skirts

3 ways to wear a purple cardigan with maxi skirts | away from blue

With a loose, drapey waterfall cardigan you'd usually follow the 'one fitted, one flowy' rule to balance your outfit. But I like the casual outfit created with a long maxi skirt and this long cardigan. It's a nice way to wear a maxi skirt outside of summer! And as you can see from the last picture, a cardigan is the perfect piece to wear when babywearing, soft for baby to cuddle up to when he's in the carrier.

Purple Cardigan and Dresses

4 ways to wear a purple cardigan with dresses | away from the blue

The last way that you can wear a purple cardigan is with dresses! I smiled when I put this picture together as it shows off some of the other things I'd mentioned above! A purple cardigan with purple accessories, a neutral black dress, with blue, and with prints. Just like it does with with maxi skirts, a cosy and colourful cardigan is a nice way to make a spring or summer dress work into autumn, especially when paired with ankle boots!

I really like the beautiful purple shade of this cardigan, and I find it so easy to wear. One of those purchases that's proved it's worth in my wardrobe. I have had to spend a little more than what I originally paid on it after I accidentally snagged it and got a hole in it. Thankfully my tailor repaired it very affordably, and this cardigan will continue to be worn and loved in my wardrobe for a long time still.

Hopefully these outfit ideas gave you some ways to wear a purple cardigan, or even just a colourful cardigan, that you own. If you don't have one, it is very versatile as you can see from the outfits above, so I've included some similar pieces below you can shop.