What Mama Wears: Coral Lace

I love all the lace that's in stores lately. Though, admittedly, I have a hard time finding a way to wear lace without looking too much like a doily.
I mean, seriously. Cream coloured lace on me makes it look like I'm waiting for someone to put a bowl of pot-pourri down on me.

Then I found this sweet little coral lace dress at Dressbarn this past weekend and thought - well, that ain't your Grandma's doily!

What Mama Wears: Links and Stripes - Pin to Real LIfe #6 -

I love these two pieces separately, but was always concerned that putting them together looked a little... well..  HEEEEY Sailor! ;)

Y'know what I mean.

But after seeing these few pins like this one, this one, and especially this one with the big links necklace I was convinced to give it a try. I actually quite like how this outfit came out!

Sometimes Moms shout...

An Open Letter to the woman who shouted at me in the Michael's parking lot for shouting to admonish my 5 year old.

Hi there,

Thanks for shouting at me across the parking lot while I struggled to get my two boys out of the car and into the store this morning. It was especially helpful for you to berate and admonish me for shouting at my five year old after he quite literally slammed his door open into the fancy SUV we were parked beside. Especially since, just moments before, I said to him "Buddy, these parking spaces are small, make sure you open your door carefully, okay?"

Pin to Real LIfe: Breaking the rules

Another Pin to Real life instalment!

So, just recently I refashioned a skater style dress into a hi-low peplum top (here), and I was initially going to style it the way I usually style a peplum, according to my rule that something with fullness on top should go with something trim and sleek like a black pencil skirt or cropped pants... but then I saw this pin and then this one (which I absolutely LOVED) and I thought - forget it! Mama's breaking the rules!

I paired this newly refashioned top with a previously refashioned tablecloth into circle skirt and a white belt, shoes and funky pearl necklace.

Make it! Skater dress to Hi/Low Peplum refashion

This Mama LURVES peplums. We've talked about this before. If you're a curvy gal like me, a peplum can be your best dang friend I tell ya. I admit, when they first came about I wasn't hopping on the peplum train right away, but once I tried one on, my eyes were opened. I had a peplum conversion... a peplumversion if you will.

Another trend I wasn't about to jump on right away was the whole hi-low thing. A lot of the dresses and such that I see out there are super short (think 60s minis) in the front and practically train length in the back. Uh... no thanks. But recently I've seen a few much more subtle hi to low options and I thought I would try it out with this refashion.

What Mama Wears: Ikat stop thinking about this skirt

Ikat stop thinking about this skirt. See what I did there? Ha!
Okay, all joking aside. I got this skirt from Walmart for a whole $5. Yeah. Five. Bucks. Baby.
Sweet. It's the simplest skirt in the entire world given that it's basically a tube with a waistband, but hey - it was $5, you get what you pay for. But, it's actually a decent weight fabric, it's stretchy as all get-out, and it has the ever so popular Ikat/Tribal print on it without being, how do you say, obnoxious, as a lot of the coloured versions of this print are.

 

See? Kind of obnoxious.







Anywho - normally I would pair this skirt with a peplum type top or a tailored blouse or something of that nature, but I wanted a slightly more comfortable, almost boho feel for this outfit. I went with a blouse that I normally wear OVER other items, never alone, never buttoned up, and a skinny belt (to show that I still, in fact, have a waist under all that fabric). A lot of times I see a pencil skirt styled with a loose blousey top, but as a busty gal if I don't belt the waist I look like I'm walking around wearing the big top ifyaknowwhatImean....

What Mama Wears: A Shorts Story - Pin to Real Life Style Challenge #4

My goal is to do a round 10 posts of the P2RL style challenge issued by Sarah of Sarah's Real Life. So I'm almost half way there!

I got these sailboat print shorts at Old Navy last summer and they got a LOT of wear - I expect it'll be the same this summer. And I love them, and I love most print shorts I see... but here's the issue I have pinterest.
Why... WHY are all these women wearing HEELS with SHORTS?
I'm sorry - I tried, I mean, I put them on, I looked in the mirror, I walked around my house... and I felt... ridiculous. I mean, RI-DIC-U-LOUS.

I just can't do it. Shorts go with flats in my little world, and these super cute navy boat shoes that I got at Walmart for a whopping $9.00 sure do the trick.

I did love the sleeveless button down and printed short combination in this pin - and it inspired me to pair this high-low sleeveless button down I have in my wardrobe with these print shorts - instead of my go-to white tee-shirt.

 

Source

So here's my version:

What Mama Wears: Flowy Prints - Pin to Real Life #3

I got this beautiful skirt as a gift from my parents for my 29th birthday. I haven't worn it too often for a few reasons - 1) it's made of silk, which while making it super breathable and light and flowy, also makes it SILK - I'm so darned afraid of dropping some food or something on it and staining it beyond recognition... cause that HAPPENS...  2) it's a wrap skirt and I never feel like I've got it wrapped correctly, however, adding the belt seems to make a huge difference

I was inspired by this simple outfit that I saw while searching "street style" on pinterest.

 

She looks comfy and chic in her swingy flowy skirt and t-shirt. Adding a little cardi over top makes it totally wearable if you're going from indoor A/C to outdoor heat and back again. And while I don't have sandals that are quite as cute as hers, I'd be looking to add some to my shoe wardrobe sometime soon!

I've also added some accessories because... well, I love jewellery, what can I say.

What Mama Wears: Pinspired - Pin to Real Life #2

Another instalment of Pin to Real Life! I'm absolutely loving this challenge so far! I've actually started searching on pinterest using some of my wardrobe pieces as a search term and have come across some great outfits that I never would have come up with on my own. I have a tendency to just stick with the same outfit combinations over and over again... it's very easy to get stuck in a rut, putting the same pieces together over and over again just because we know that it works. This is a great way to get some new ideas of how to put together the pieces already in your wardrobe.

This time I was totally inspired by this look on Jessica Alba:

 

I love her combo of bright denim and a loose blousey button down in a print. She, of course, looks effortlessly put together, and fresh... I figured, at best, I could look dressed. I knew I already had these items in my wardrobe and they made a great, easy summer outfit. 

What Mama Wears: Pinspired! Pin to Real Life #1

I have blogged before about one of my fave fashion bloggers, Sarah from Sarah's Real Life. Recently she started a challenge called Pin to Real Life (click for details) and while I don't generally blog about an outfit every day, I thought I might jump on this one for a few installments of WMW since I often find myself pinspired when I'm getting dressed in the am.

*Click the "Pin to Real Life Style Challenge" label at the bottom of this post to see all the P2RL outfits - or click What Mama Wears to see all the Mama fashion posts!
Sarah is a total inspiration to me because she's uber fashionable while still having a very real life. She's not a Mama like me, but she lives a full, busy life and still manages to look put together on a regular basis. Talk about a real-life style icon!

For my first pin-spired outfit I was drawn to the colour combo of this outfit: http://pinterest.com/pin/149604018844642768/

And I liked the shaping of this outfit: http://pinterest.com/pin/149604018844642770/

With a few mama-ified  changes to make this work for my regular day of cleaning my house, baking a cake and prepping for a family birthday party I came up with this! (Try not to be blinded by the pasty whiteness of my arms and legs - what can I say, I'm Canadian and I'm a WASP, it is what it is. I don't tan, people.)

tank: Walmart / skirt: Old Navy / Wedges: Sears / Earrings: Designs...by Patricia / 

Bracelet and Necklace: gifts

Blue and yellow feel really bright and summery. I probably wouldn't have combined these two pieces on my own, but with my pinspiration I thought I couldn't go wrong!

What do you think? Are you ever pin-spired when getting ready?

Tea.