Continuing the feeling of being so behind with blogging, two more maxi dress outfits I wore before Christmas! I actually ended up wearing these both on the same day - one during the day for my local ABA Christmas party, and the other in the evening for my office Christmas party.
As you can tell, my office Christmas party had a theme, ha! I'd been looking forward to the party this year. Last December I was on maternity leave, and although my boss invited me to the Christmas party it was when I was in hospital with Baby Boy so I had to turn it down.
It was a bittersweet night. It was wonderful catching up with colleagues outside of work, especially those that have moved teams while was on leave and I no longer get to work closely with. I loved getting to have a good chat again! However it was so sad too as inevitably discussion turned to last year's party, which I missed because of the hospital stay. Made me really miss my boys, and I couldn't wait to get home to them.
There was one funny moment where a colleague said I should have come along to the party last year anyway, and I had to explain that as I was Baby Boy's food source (breastfeeding) I couldn't leave him. While this beautiful pink maxi dress is a nursing dress, we don't need that feature now. Worked perfectly with the floral lei to tie in with the party theme, and I even wore my frangipani necklace (and a few other ones).
This vintage Chanel bag is one of my treasured pieces, and the cross body strap came in handy to allow me to hold food and drinks. I even wore wedges for a bit of extra height (although I regretted it a little when I got home, so used to flats now!).
This was what I wore during the day - we had our local Australian Breastfeeding Association Christmas party, where we play a sneaky secret santa. Everyone brings a gift under $10, we all draw a number, then the person with number 1 unwraps a gift. The next person can pick another gift to unwrap, or steal the first one. Lots of people involved their toddlers and asked their opinion so they got in on the game too, so much fun. Toddler T had a great time! We enjoyed making the brownies with the kit we won too.
As expected though, all the time with toddlers and yummy morning tea and presents everywhere, my dress looked a little worse for wear so I was glad I'd planned a different dress to wear in the evening!
This was the perfect Christmas party outfit though, dressy but casual at the same time. Maxi dresses work for so many dress codes! Last year I went in shorts and tee, anything goes really. I did feel a little over dressed for my afternoon dentist appointment, with the embellished dress and bag strap, but my dentist ended up complimenting me on it so at least it made her smile! :)
Maxi dresses are a great option for a busy mum - they are grab and go outfits! You can accessorise them with layers of delicate necklaces, or stick with a practical teething necklace for time with toddlers. Quilted bags look great with them, and a cross body option allows you to go hands free. Maxi dresses work for many different dress codes as they can be as formal or casual as you want. Nice to wear in the summer heat too.
My blog friend Ruth does these 5x5 style challenges on Instagram. Another blog friend, Eileen and I started talking with her about it and thought it would be fun to participate. We decided to do an international style challenge a couple of weeks ago near the end of November.
The rules: 5 pieces of clothing to create 5 outfits over 5 days, with a black and burgundy colour scheme. Accessories like shoes, necklaces, scarves, handbags, outerwear, can be added as needed and don't count as one of the 5 pieces.
Who took part: Ruth @ruthyannie, Eileen @eileensed and myself, @awayfromblue. Ruth did this over autumn in the cold weather, and Eileen had to dress a growing baby bump too! I have so much admiration for them both!
This is going to be a bit of a long post as I share with you what we wore over 5 days! I hope you'll get a lot of outfit inspiration from it though, and discover some new ways you can rewear pieces you already own.
My Capsule Wardrobe
After a few last minute swaps and changes, these are the 5 pieces I came up with for the challenge.
black drawstring waist maxi skirt
black denim shorts
burgundy jersey dress
black, burgundy and cream shirt dress
burgundy slouchy tee
My choices were limited by the colour scheme which helped me make decisions about what to pick as my 5 pieces. The last time I did a capsule, it was my third trimester capsule wardrobe and the growing bump helped limit my options there too! I did have to go into the office for one day which made me pick the shirt dress, even if the print is more red than burgundy. I figured it was close enough!
The main worry I had was around structuring the pieces I wore to allow me to have them washed and ironed ready for the next wear With two messy toddlers it was highly unlikely I was going to be able to wear things twice in a row without washing them! In the end I came up with 6 outfit ideas so that if something wasn't ready in time, I'd have a fall back option.
For the first day of the challenge I went with a classic tee and maxi skirt combo. When I'd first started planning outfits and pieces for the challenge I'd went with a different burgundy tee, and changed my mind and swapped it for this tee instead. I didn't like the way this one sat with the maxi skirt though, I was a bit frustrated with it both tucked and untucked and wasn't as comfortable with this outfit as I could have been. Easy outfit for playgroup though.
This was as 'formal' as my outfits got during the challenge, the majority of them were casual outfits. I had to go into the office, so picked this shirt dress to fit in with the business casual dress code. I found myself fussing with this outfit too during the day though, the dress seemed to ride up a lot and I was constantly tugging it back down. I much prefer wearing this dress as a kimono, or layering it up with tights in winter.
I knew with the darker black and red print on the dress (it's a geometric print although it looks like polka dots in the pics!) that this Marc Jacobs bag would work perfectly with it. This bag doesn't get worn as often as it did when I first got it, but it's still a nice choice for work. It's been tagged in 62 posts on the blog and most of the time it featured in both outfits of the posts, so you can see it was worn a lot in the past! Such a unique colour too, a deep purple-y brown.
The simplest of all my challenge outfits, and also the most popular. I wore this to work from home and attend a specialist appointment with baby boy in the afternoon. With the burgundy star print dress, I added black through my accessories, with the same ankle boots I'd worn the day before and another little worn bag, my Mimco button bag.
This was actually my first expensive bag purchase, despite how little I wear it now I'm never going to let it go. I spent months thinking about it and saving for it and picking out the perfect colour combo I wanted and I still remember the excitement of going to the store to pick it up! Very treasured even if not frequently worn now. I think I bought it in 2007 at the height of the button bag trend, still looks great. Sadly it's discontinued, the closest thing is the Mimco Turnlock bag that's around $200 more expensive than the button bag was 10 or so years ago, or to go to ebay for the classic style.
An incredibly busy day called for a comfortable and casual outfit, and the first wearing of the last of my 5 pieces, my black denim shorts. Added the comfy slouchy burgundy tee and the printed dress was worn as a kimono. Converse were a practical choice for a busy day, and the mustard yellow bag was a fun touch of colour with the black and burgundy.
Baby boy had some more tests at the hospital in the morning, so I had the day off. With my mother in law available to watch the boys, as it was a day I normally work, I made the most of it and she looked after them both once the testing was done so I could gt a rare child free afternoon to go Christmas shopping. And I shopped up a storm, getting the majority of the things remaining on my Christmas present list!
For my fifth and final outfit with my 5 pieces, I wore my denim shorts again and the lovely burgundy dress as a top. I added turquoise accessories with the necklace and Rebecca Minkoff mini MAC bag for an extra touch of colour. I've won dresses as tops before, it's a nice way to wear something a little differently. The extra dress fabric wasn't too bulky although it was a bit of a pain tucking it in to the shorts every time I went to the bathroom! I had considered doubling up on the dresses and wearing the shift dress as a kimono over this again, but despite how little time I spent with the boys the day before it still got messy and had to have a wash. That was the hardest part of this challenge - making sure everything was washed and ironed in time to wear again!
This was a nice outfit to finish the challenge on, I ran around with the boys completing a few errands.
Hope you enjoyed seeing the different outfits we were able to create for the challenge. While it was a fun challenge for me, I was looking forward to getting back into my regular wardrobe at the end of it! Especially after buying lots of new pieces that month that I was eager to wear.
Thanks so much to Ruth and Eileen for inviting me to take part - if you don't already, you should follow them on Instagram!
Blue is my favourite colour. It always makes me feel confident and happy when I wear it, one of my 'power colours'. I try not to wear it every day (I really could...) but for a stressful work week it was the ideal outfit choice. I picked out two of my favourite blue printed dresses for a hectic and busy few days in the office.
I've never seen this dress as an office dress before, keeping it as part of my casual wardrobe. I kept seeing it and thinking it was overdue a wear, last worn back in May! While I know I have too many office clothes now I'm only working part time, I figured I'd try make this work for the office anyway. I added the blush pink blazer to make it a little more office appropriate. I really liked this outfit!
The only thing I didn't like was that I pulled the elasticated waist down so it didn't give the blouson effect of wearing it higher, but because I didn't belt it, the waistband kept riding up and I was tugging on this dress a few times during the day to try keep the hem down. If I wear this to the office again, I'll definitely add a belt to keep it in place! It was nice to wear this in my business casual office, this dress really does work for so many occasions, including pregnancy!
The colours in this outfit made me happy. I like blue and pink and purple together, they are lovely shades that work well combined and this outfit is a good example of that.
Another busy day, another favourite blue printed dress. Last time I wore this dress without a belt I wasn't too happy with the results. This time around though, with the longer statement necklace and grey jersey blazer, I liked the dress unbelted. It didn't ride up like the first dress through the day either.
While I was hunting for a particular necklace to wear (this one is nice but wasn't my first choice) I came across these jade and beaded bracelets I hadn't worn in a while, so added them to my bracelet stack.
Printed dresses are such easy office outfits, I'm always going to recommend them for working mums - just pull on and go without worrying about coordinating. If your office air con is cold, or you want to make your dress seem even more professional, just add a blazer! Pink works well with blue, but you can always go with a neutral grey if you're unsure about the colour combo.
One of the benefits of being a working mum is having the day in the office to wear pieces that wouldn't be a wise idea to wear at home with two toddlers. This Hermes silk twilly scarf is dry-clean only so not a good option for a stay at home mum day. Perfect for the office though, where the chances of a grown up smushing their banana into your outfit is a lot lower!
I wore this for Melbourne Cup day in the office. It's the 'race that stops Australia' and it means that at some point in the afternoon everyone stops work to watch the horse race. Victorians even have the day off for it! Up in Queensland, we settled for a free lunch, some office sweeps and a little distraction in the middle of the work day.
In the past there have been best dressed or best hat competitions in the office, but the celebrations this year were a lot more subdued. Lunch was drastically under catered (luckily I brought my own as a back up) and no prizes or awards. I did get into the spirit and wear my Hermes Twilly scarf as a headband though, a subtle nod to Race Day fashion! Every time I wear scarves in my hair like this I get so many compliments - I felt pretty good about this outfit all day.
I was a little late to work that morning because of the twilly though! The day before I'd thought of the twilly and gave it a try, tying it in a perfect bow on my head first go. So of course in the morning rushing to work I assumed it would be just as easy. It wasn't, and I got to work 15 minutes later than normal! Luckily I start 30 minutes early every day.
Another day in the office, another fit and flare dress. Had to get this one out again after loving wearing the black one above. Rather than wearing my twilly scarf in my hair again I wrapped it (a little sloppily) around my wrist. I like wearing my twillies like this, but I so rarely do as it's definitely not a good idea when you're around toddlers - would get much too dirty there. Still was nice to wear it like that for a day in the office.
Fit and flare dresses are such an easy option for work, and really don't need much accessorising. It's easy to throw on a statement necklace and go. If you want to add a little extra colour, you can try a brightly coloured bag like this purple Balenciaga work, or wrap a twilly scarf around your head or wrist for a fun pop against a neutral outfit.
