I've been making more of an effort to wear my cardigans lately. I've mentioned before that they didn't really get worn, just stuffed in my bag or in a drawer at work to be pulled out if the aircon was too cold. In autumn (when I took these pics) I've been loving them as a lighter layer to keep me warmer in cooler mornings, even if I don't wear them much the rest of the year.
This has to be one of my favourite cardigans. I love the colour and the drape. While the outfit felt a little monochrome with the black tee and the dark denim, I thought the cardigan added some nice colour and I liked the purple bag against it too.
A casual and comfortable outfit with Converse as I spent the morning walking around some local markets with the boys doing some shopping for toddler T's upcoming birthday. I loved everything about this outfit and felt happy and confident all day in it.
Another simple but comfortable outfit. Baby boy had his vaccinations in the morning and we had someone over in the evening. It was probably not a good idea to schedule both those things on the same day, as I had a very cranky baby to contend with! At least I was happy with my outfit.
Just like the outfit above, this made me feel good. I definitely seem to have hit on a uniform of sorts for the cooler weather - over summer it was shorts and kimonos, now it's cooler it's cardigans and jeans!
It's feeling like quite a cold winter here in Brisbane so I've been wearing my skinny jeans often. Probably wearing them more than my maxi skirts! A nice easy option for life with baby, and easy to layer up with scarves.
Wore this to run a crazy amount of errands! As it was a really cold morning and I had to be up early, I added the leather jacket to keep me cosy. Thought the scarf added more nice colour with the peach knit. I had lunch with DH, and it was easy to take the layers off in the afternoon as it heated up.
Leaving My Wardrobe: Black Leather Boots
This is the last wearing of these boots! I've been a lot more critical with my shoe wardrobe lately. I own these boots in black and in brown. I wear the brown ones much more often, and since I mostly pass over these ones and wear the brown instead it doesn't make sense to keep them in my wardrobe. I've been enjoying ankle boots a lot more lately anyway, I can wear them for more months in the year. I've picked up a new pair of black ankle boots recently that means these tall ones would get even less wear. They've been worn 18 times over the years, which isn't bad, but not as much as the brown ones. Time for them to leave my wardrobe!
I love that last picture with Cooper in the background - it looks like he's fallen asleep sitting up! He was just having a good scratch.
In contrast to the outfit above, this was worn on a much more relaxed day. Met up with a friend for a morning coffee at a baby friendly cafe. It was a lovely way to start the day, and our babies had fun together. We had a bit of a walk to warm us up so I even took the scarf off for a while as we sat outside in the sun.
As it's the second time I've worn this cardigan since I purchased it, my purchase review:
I'm trying to wear everything I buy twice in a month after buying it, and that's come so easily with this cardigan! I couldn't resist the great sale price in the last Jeanswest sale, even though I already have a purple cardigan. This is a kimono/cocoon style instead of the drape style of my other one, and a different shade. I felt it was different enough to justify the purchase, and I have been making more of an effort to wear my cardigans lately so I'm hopefully this will get a lot more wear in my wardrobe.
I'm aware it's not a purchase I needed, just something I wanted, so I shouldn't really have bought it...but I'm happy with it and expect to wear it often.
Getting back into most of my regular wardrobe post baby means a lot of options for what to wear each day. I participated in the #WinterStyleFile style challenge for a few days to help give me some direction for what to wear. Style challenges can be great at helping you to wear more of your wardrobe, but they are also useful when you feel overwhelmed and aren't sure what to wear.
The style challenge for the day was 'sparkle and sass' and I felt these Sass and Bide metallic jeans met the prompt perfectly. I was just doing a little shopping with the boys, picking up a few things for toddler T's upcoming birthday. These jeans seem dressier than my normal denim so they aren't worn as often, it was good to have an excuse to wear them even if I did feel a little overdressed for chasing toddler T around Big W! At least baby boy was on his best behaviour and napped quietly in his stroller...
The style challenge for this day was 'denim diva' which meant another excuse to wear my jeans. With the blue wrap top and skinny jeans together, I thought the purple scarf and cardi were nice accessories. I loved the colour combination of this outfit, but this cardigan is a bit thin and the playgroup we went to was really cold, I wished I'd worn a different layer. This wrap top, while great for breastfeeding, is thin and short-sleeved so I was chilly most of the morning. A bit of an outfit fail. Not because I didn't like any part of my outfit, but because it needed to be warmer!
As it's the second time I've worn this scarf and I'm reviewing everything I buy after wearing it twice to see if I'm making smart purchases, my purchase review:
I really like this scarf. I know I have too many scarves but I've been wanting to add some more plain ones to my collection. While this has a print, it's subtle enough that it isn't the main focus and makes it really wearable. I'm pleased I bought this.
While it's still summer here in Brisbane, a few weeks back we were hit with some very un-seasonal weather. A sudden cold snap lead to the coldest February day in over 100 years! While most of my winter things are boxed away over summer, I managed to find pieces to make my cami tops more appropriate for the cold weather. I've been wanting to wear them more, before summer ends.
I didn't include this cardigan in the box of winter knits I pack away for summer, as I keep it out to wear in the office now and then. I was so glad I kept this as it was perfect for a chilly day. With the grey cardigan, grey skinny jeans and metallic silver flats and the neutral printed cami it all looked a bit boring, so the purple accessories were the perfect way to add a little bit of colour. It met the purple style challenge theme perfectly too!
I didn't expect to be pulling out my jeans so soon into the year, but I wasn't too upset at having a chance to wear these grey skinnies. They are the most recent addition to my denim collection after I got given them last year and a pair I'm sure will get a lot more wear over winter.
It was nice how easily this outfit came together. There was a break in the rain in the morning too, so we managed to get out and have our morning walk before having a quiet Saturday at home watching the rain fall outside.
A little bit of double denim. Again, I had the style challenge theme to dress to. This time the theme was 'indigo'. I'd planned a lovely navy dress to wear, but the weather made me change that pretty quickly to the denim jacket. With the black skinny jeans, it's an easy way to do double denim, and it kept me warm enough on a cold and rainy day. As did all the running around I had to do - after a week where things seemed to go from bad to worse, Friday was me trying to keep things together and get everything done to get to the weekend.
I'd picked this cami to wear as I've been trying to wear my camis more recently, and this one is one of my least worn. It's a cropped style, but being petite it's normal length on me. While I like this cami in the photos, I didn't feel very comfortable wearing it. The cropped length becomes more apparent when you've got your hands full with a wriggly toddler, and I found myself tugging the top back down a few times. While the ruffles are beautiful and the colours mean it goes with so much, it was just too fussy to wear. The back is cropped shorter than the front too and I found myself wishing I'd worn a normal length top many times when bending down to the boys, even though my jeans are mid-rise.
Looking at it, I'm thinking I should keep it, it's so pretty! But I know it's so annoying to wear it's not worth keeping around just for me to realise in a few months it hasn't been worn, to wear it again and feel the same frustrations. I have plenty other camis I enjoy wearing more, so this one is leaving my wardrobe. 5 wears in 3 years is pretty bad cost per wear, but it's time to let it go!
Camis can easily be layered up for cooler weather! They are the perfect summer option with denim shorts, so they work just as well with jeans, with an extra layer like a jacket or cardigan to keep you cosy if it's cold.
Two simple and casual stay-at-home mum style outfits! Scarves, skinny jeans and Converse with my favourite Rebecca Minkoff mini MAC bag. It is officially the first day of winter here in Australia, and the weather really started to cool towards the end of autumn, when I wore these outfits.
I've worn this scarf with red and with purple before, so thought that I would wear it with a neutral outfit to add some colour. Kept me cosy too. I caught up with a friend in the morning, and then baby T and I went op-shopping.
The style challenge for the day was 'red lippie'. I'd seen that prompt coming up and after seeing it come up on almost all the style challenges I've done, and after getting some feedback from you all about it, I decided to just take the plunge and get one. It's a lot brighter than my usual red tinted lip balm! A lovely sales assistant at the body shop helped me pick one. I've been wearing it for a few days now and I quite like the colour. I don't layer it on as much as she did - it was really bright when she put it on, I only do one layer, easing myself into it!
The Fox in Flats style challenge for the day was 'luxe layers'. The weather cooperated nicely, it was quite a cold and rainy day! Thankfully playgroup can be held inside on days like this, so we stayed dry. I wanted to wear the tee and the blazer as I was aware it was getting near the end of May and I still have that goal of wearing things twice in a month after I buy them. You can read a little more about my goals and reasons why here.
Since it's the second time I've worn both of these items, my purchase reviews:
Cobalt blue tee - I really like the gathered waist on this tee, the metallic thread detail and cut-outs around the neckline (similar to the black tank I have) and it fills the 'gap' in my wardrobe for a plain, bright coloured top. However just like my yellow tank, I found it tricky to wear it often this month. I think I just have too many tops in general, adding more probably wasn't a good idea. I'm still keeping it in my wardrobe, but I'm not going to be in a rush to add any more!
Zara blazer - this is the cream version of the black blazer that I love so much. I'm not as enthused with this one, probably as I've had to wash it so much since I got it. It was an ebay purchase and when I pulled it out the satchel it was really wet. After being in the mail for a few days and damp...it didn't smell very nice! So although it's dry clean only, I've had to wash it a few times. That's probably why it doesn't feel as comfortable and soft as my black blazer. I'm hoping it will soften up over time, as I like the colour.
This month I've added some nice things to my wardrobe, but not a lot of them have been 'must-wear' pieces. I am conscious that I'm doing a style challenge this month which dictates what I wear, and affects what I reach for in my wardrobe, but there has been a big contrast to me between the 'nice' purchases and the 'I am so in love with this' purchases. I think I need to be stricter with my 'do I love this more than a similar item already in my wardrobe' questioning when I'm buying things. No matter how good the price may be!
Two simple jeans outfits with a little burst of neon to add some colour. Probably the last short sleeved outfit for a while now too, since the winter weather has definitely arrived here in Brisbane.
A nice, easy outfit to go to playgroup with two under 2. I'd been looking at things in my wardrobe I hadn't worn for a while and decided to give this tee a wear. It's been a year and a half since it was last worn! It was hidden away right at the back of my wardrobe. It's fun to wear but I do tend to go the safe route with something so bright and just wear it with jeans.
Decided to contrast the bright orange tee with the purple bag. I've worn it like this before. Purple and orange is a fun colour combination I picked up from Sheila, I get all my best colour combination ideas from her. She inspires me to try be more adventurous with colours!
A little bit of neon with the pink skull scarf, a souvenir from a trip to Melbourne. I thought the pink scarf and purple mini MAB bag were nice colourful accessories against the neutrals.
Another casual outfit - caught up with a friend to swap stories about what the past couple of months has held for us. Admittedly, her stories and adventures were a lot more interesting than mine! I enjoyed the adult conversation for a change. While it's wonderful catching up with other mums and talking kids and everything that involves, it's good to talk about other things now and then.
Continuing to try think of ways to add some variety to what is feeling like a very uninspiring winter outfit rut, I decided to wear my cute purple mini MAB tote bag. It's a great pop of colour and while it looks great with a neutral outfit, I decided to add some more purple to my outfits too.
Wore this to spend the day with my mum. We went shopping and had morning tea with my mother in law. Sine I rediscovered this tank I've been wanting to wear it often.
I really like the blue and purple colour combination so I loved this outfit. Wouldn't change anything about it, it was easy to put on, easy to wear and kept me cosy on a rainy day.
I've mentioned before that I was finding these printed jeans tricky to wear with my printed scarves. I thought this neutral one with feather print would work nicely, but I was in a rush that morning and didn't realise until afterwards that I'd put it on back to front so you can't even see the feather print in the photos!
Although I was a little chilly in the morning with the shorter sleeves, I took the boys to the library for the books and rhymes session again so I was cosy and warm there. They have the heating cranked up for the tiny babies in winter, so nice on a cold morning!
Just like the outfit above, I really liked this outfit. Sometimes just changing little things like a bag can make you feel a little more inspired when picking what to wear.
