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

Friday, 28 January 2022

30 Ways To Wear: Asos Grey Skater Dress

It's been a while since I've shared a dress for a 30 ways to wear post! Last dress I hit 30 wears with was a colourful floral maxi dress. This month's post features a much more neutral piece, a cute two tone grey skater dress I picked up on sale at Asos.

30 Ways To Wear: Asos Grey Skater Dress

30 ways to style grey skater dress 30 wears challenge | awayfromblue

It won't come as a surprise that this neutral grey block colour skater dress is a really versatile piece to have in my wardrobe! It has taken a little while to hit 30 wears with it though. I always seemed to pass it over for more "exciting" dresses in my wardrobe. The crew neck and the light grey are things I know don't work for me that well so it's not something I'd rebuy now. But I certainly made it work over the years and I'm glad I hit 30 wears with it!

Cost Per Wear

I picked up this dress on sale for $23.53 at Asos back in July 2014. After just over 7 years I've finally hit 30 wears on it. It is a really versatile dress you can easily dress up or dress down, and the neutral grey goes with everything, but I think the length of time it's taken it to hit 30 wears shows it hasn't really been a staple for my wardrobe. At 78 cents a wear though I've definitely gotten good value for money from this dress, and it's a piece I can easily pass on as it's still in perfect condition!

Skater Dress In The Office

3 ways to add a blazer to a casual skater dress for the office awayfromtheblue

Working in a business casual office environment (that's even more casual post-Covid) means I can easily take a knee length dress like this in a casual tee fabric and just add a blazer or tweed jacket on top to make it instantly office appropriate! I find adding a statement necklace and bold bag works well too, to easy layer up for a day at my desk.

Skater Dress and Boots

This is a dress that's light enough to wear on its own in summer, but also layers so beautifully for cooler weather. It's fantastic with ankle boots and bare legs in autumn, and with leggings and tights for winter. The grey lets you add a pop of colour with cosy winter scarves too as it goes with so many colours!

Grey Dress and Pink Accessories

pink accessories and grey skater dress outfit ideas awayfromblue

Grey and pink is a colour combination I wear a lot! I like carrying pink bags with this grey dress, they really pop. A pink scarf works just as well though, as you can see in the middle there. Any amount of pink works well with a grey dress.

Skater Dress and Statement Pieces

adding a statement piece to a neutral grye skater dress outfit 5 ideas awayfromblue

While there is a bit of colour blocking with this dress with the light grey top and darker grey skirt, it's still such a good neutral block grey piece. It means you can wear it with other statement pieces without worrying about it making your outfit "too much". I love a nice statement accessory like a bright printed scarf, necklace, or bag, of you could keep it really simple like I have there in the bottom left and just add a bright belt for a bit of a statement touch against the dress.

Grey Dress and Red Accessories

wearing red accessories with grey skater dress awayfromtheblue blog

As with the grey and pink above, grey and red is another combo I enjoy! Red scarves are a firm favourite with this dress, as you can see, but a red bag or red statement necklace work just as well! It's a great way to add colour to a neutral piece and make it work a bit better for me, as the pale grey isn't the best against my face on its own.

Grey Skater Dress And Winter Layers

5 ways to layer a grey skater dress for winter weather awayfromblue

I like getting wear from my dresses year round, and the great thing about this little grey skater dress is how easy it is to layer for cooler weather! The neutral grey goes with everything, allowing for bright scarves or even bright scarves and jackets to be layered on top. It works well with tights and leggings too.

Skater Dress and Kimonos

grey skater dress layered with kimonos 5 outfit ideas awayfromtheblue

A pretty printed kimono is my favourite cover up for an outfit, and just with the winter layers above, again the neutral colours of this dress come in really helpful here to allow you to try any combo of prints or colours on top! It works equally well with the neutral striped duster in the bottom right, or the more colourful floral duster in the middle there. Adding a kimono like this over a neutral skater dress is a great way to brighten up your outfit.

Similar Grey Skater Dresses Under $50:

Thursday, 6 January 2022

Wardrobe Additions And Yearly Fashion Spend For 2021! Fashion Resolutions for 2022

Since I had fun doing this post last year, I'm looking back on this year's fashion purchases too, seeing how I stuck to my 2021 budget, and setting some fashion goals / resolutions for the year ahead.

What I bought in 2021 annual fashion budget review and wardrobe additions awayfromblue blog

What I Bought & How Often I've Worn It

I was surprised to look back on what I bought in 2021 and see that I bought just 26 items, as I felt I shopped a lot! It does average out to nearly an item every 2 weeks so it's not such a low shopping year. I focused on accessories and more second hand shopping, and with continuing to work from home most of the time and dress casually, I added a lot of denim and tees to my wardrobe.

Opshop and Preloved Buys:

thrifted Marc by Marc Jacobs Dr Q Convertible clutch in electric violet - 4 wears
Rebecca Minkoff Love Too in deep teal croc embossed leather - 16 wears
Chloe small Ethel bag in light khaki (most expensive purchase of the year) 15 wears
Rebecca Minkoff quilted jumbo Love bag in cobalt - 7 wears
Chloe small Paddington in 2006 blanc - 6 wears
thrifted rust ruffle tiered skirt - 4 wears
Nobody Denim Piper vacation skirt in black distressed denim - 4 wears
thrifted Target black stretch denim skirt - 2 wears
Target navy and white striped shift dress with frill sleeves - 3 wears
thrifted Kmart short sleeve godet skirt linen blend dress fuchsia - 3 wears
thrifted Jeanswest black cropped butt lifter jeans - 0 wears, December purchase
vintage Haneli metallic gold knit jumper - 2 wears
thrifted blue Kmart stich detail knit - 0 wears, December purchase
thrifted Mix Apparel clover designer inspired necklace - 4 wears
thrifted gold large double circle necklace - 3 wears
thrifted orange bead statement necklace - 2 wears
thrifted purple wooden bead statement necklace - 3 wears
thrifted Eb&Ive turquoise wooden bead multi strand statement necklace - 1 wear
checked purple pashmina scarf - 0 wears, December purchase

Things Bought New:

Cotton On The One fitted v tee in washed red clay - 2 wears
Cotton On The one fitted v tee in eddy stripe white / red terracotta - 3 wears
Cotton On The One fitted v tee in washed summer mango - 4 wears
Cotton On The One fitted v tee in washed poolside blue - 4 wears
Nobody Denim Cult high rise skinny ankle jeans in charred grey - 2 wears
Kmart white chunky platform sneakers - 7 wears
Mimco D-Vine medium wallet in balsa - countless uses!

The most expensive buy was the Chloe small Ethel bag in light khaki, which was $120 preloved, and the cheapest item I bought was $1 - a lot of the thrifted things were just $1 each, even the jeans.

There were some surprises with what I bought this year in terms of how frequently (or infrequently!) things got worn. I was on track to have everything worn at least twice, as I have the "wear things twice in the month I buy them" rule I put in place to make sure I'm actually buying things that work for my wardrobe and life right now. But then I went to the opshops in December with my son to check out their special sale and picked up a couple of things, including winter pieces! There was no chance of me wearing everything before the end of the month. I figured for $1 each though I could break my wear twice when I buy it rule. As you can see above the winter pieces I bought in the middle of summer definitely have no wears, although after Christmas I did squeeze in some wears of the more summery pieces I thrifted in December.

Surprisingly the most expensive buy, the Chloe Ethel, is only the second most worn piece I bought this year, the Rebecca Minkoff Love Too bag was worn one time more for a total of 16 wears.

December Opshop Haul:

Fashion Spend For 2021 - Over Budget!

My spend in 2020 was the lowest it has ever been in the years I started tracking, $483.59. This year despite trying to spend as close to that figure as possible, I spent more than that. It means that for the first year since I've been tracking it, it's the first time I've increased my annual fashion spend on the year before. In 2021 I spent $580.36. That's $96.77 more than last year.

This total includes $235 of gift card spend. So $345.30 minus the gift card spend, but I always include gift card spend in my total each year.

Despite spending almost $100 more this year than last year, I bought fewer items. I think that the high number of bags I bought is the reason for that! While I bought less things, I spent a bit more on the bags I did buy.

Fashion Resolutions For 2022

Spend Less

Much like last year I'm a little unsure what to set my budget for in 2022. Again I'd like to have an under $1,000 fashion spend (which I achieved in 2021) but I'm not sure if I'd be able to spend less than the $580.36 I spent in 2021. It's a good goal to aim for though!

Shop Second Hand More

I really liked the sustainable fashion balance I had this year, with fewer things bought new in retail stores and more preloved finds from eBay and the opshops. I'd like to have a similar or even better balance in 2022, and continue to shop second hand more often. Second hand fashion is the most sustainable way to shop. It's also better for my budget goals, and for the environment!

Buy Less

In terms of items to add to my wardrobe wish list, I don't really have any! I think it will be a varied 2022 with what I buy, whenever I get lucky with preloved finds and make some impulse buys. I don't have a list of things my wardrobe really needs at the moment, so it will hopefully be another year of under $1,000 spending, and a year I buy less than 26 items. I haven't bought anything in the boxing day or January sales either, when I usually buy a lot, so starting off with no spending is a great way to start the year.

What was your spend like in 2021? Do you track your fashion spend and set fashion resolutions?

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Friday, 3 December 2021

30 Ways To Wear: Sass and Bide Chevron Print Playman Skinny Jeans

These Sass and Bide Playman skinny jeans have such a fun print! Sometimes the bold chevron can seem a little tricky to wear. While I don't quite love every one of the 32 outfits I've worn with them, I've really been reaching for them a lot more often this past year as I feel I'm finding the best ways to style them recently. It's great to be able to put this 30 ways to wear post together and share just how versatile printed jeans can be - you can definitely rewear them over and over!

30 Ways To Wear: Sass & Bide Chevron Print Skinny Jeans

30 ways to wear black and grey chevron print skinny jeans Sass Bide Playman skinnies | away from the blue blog

Cost Per Wear

I bought these in June 2016, a second hand buy on eBay. Just $28.50, including postage. Not a bad price for Sass and Bide jeans, and at 32 wears that's just 95 cents a wear so far. I think perhaps the original seller had a few of the same "what do I wear these with" struggles I did in the early years! I've tried print mixing now and then, but over time I've realised if I keep it simple and stick to basic block colour pieces with these jeans I really love them in my outfits.

It's taken me 5 years to get over 30 wears with these jeans. They are certainly not just "throw on and go" jeans, and do require a little more thought before I wear them. But they are so fun, and I still have so many outfit ideas for these. They are definitely keepers in my wardrobe even if it took me a couple years to recognise just how versatile they could be! Particularly this current year. I felt like they were on frequent repeat, as I stuck with the "pair solids with prints" rule to build outfits I loved.

Since I have such a range of outfits with these jeans I've tried to split up the outfits into go-to outfit formulas as well as some easy colour pairings, in case you have a similar pair of grey and black printed jeans you're trying to find outfit inspiration for.

Chevron Print Jeans With Blue and Green

blue and green outfit ideas with chevron print sass bide jeans | awayfromtheblue

Blue is my favourite colour and of course I think it goes with everything! I am slowly warming up to green and trying to wear more of it in my wardrobe. With the neutral black and grey chevron print of the jeans a bright blue, teal, or even mint top works well against the print.

Colourful Cardigans and Chevron Print Skinny Jeans

Colourful cardigans with black and grey printed skinny jeans outfit ideas | awayfromblue

Just like the colourful blue and green outfits above, these follow a similar outfit formula. This time, the bright block colour is the cardigan though! While I really like the bold combination of red with the black and grey, you'll see I wear quite a lot of pink and purple with these jeans too!

Neutral Layers With Black and Grey Chevron Jeans

neutral layers to chevron print skinny jeans outfits | awayfromtheblue

A failsafe "I'm not sure what to wear with a bold printed piece" choice is neutrals! And while I can never seem to nail a completely monochromatic outfit as I always add in a little extra colour - these jeans look so good with neutral blacks and greys, echoing the colours in the print.

Citrus Brights With Chevron Print Jeans

4 ways to wear chevron print skinny jeans with citrus brights yellow and orange | awayfromtheblue

Another much more colourful set of outfits! Similar to the blues and greens I first shared, I find different shades of citrus brights work well with these jeans - from a bright mustard yellow, a more pastel peach, a mango yellow or a bold bright orange, the colours really pop against the denim! I think that the grey chevron print on these jeans helps stop an orange and black combo from looking too Halloween-y as well.

Double Denim Outfits With Printed Jeans

double denim outfit ideas with sass bide printed skinny jeans | awayfromblue

My usual method for waring double denim is to keep it safe and stick to completely different shades - so blue denim jackets (and even my white one) work well with these printed jeans! It's good to stick a bright top in between too for even more contrast between the different shades of denim.

Bright Accessories With Chevron Print Jeans

outfit ideas for chevron print jeans with bright accessories | awayfromblue

Maybe bright tops and cardigans are a little too bold for you to try with some statement printed jeans like these. So why not introduce a smaller amount of colour with a scarf or bag? Or both - as I've done in the first and third outfits with the matchy-matchy scarf and bag. Of course if you're loving all the colour, you could try a bright cardigan and a bright scarf together like that outfit at the end there.

Leather Jackets With Black and White Printed Jeans

leather jackets and chevron print jeans winter outfit ideas | awayfromblue

These jeans are so easy to layer up in winter - printed jeans and a leather jacket is a staple outfit for a cold day! You don't have to stick to black jackets either - a colourful one like that cobalt blue works well too.

Pink And Purple Outfits With Chevron Print Jeans

pink and purple outfit ideas with chevron print playman skinny jeans awayfromblue

These outfits are really combinations of everything above! Bright accessories, tops or colourful cardigans, in pink or purple, or sometimes both. I love pink and purple with these jeans, and with the neutral colour scheme of the grey chevron on the black jeans means you can easily wear more than one colour with them. And pink and purple go together so well!