Today we welcome our newest contributor to The Creative Mama, please welcome Shawna Percival of StyleberryBLOG. We love her sense of style, creative life, and adorable DIYs. Check out her blog and say hello!
Oh, shoes. I love cute shoes. Especially cute shoes with heels. I wore them every day of my four year corporate career as a drug rep. I wore them the day before I delivered my caroline. & then…I became a mom.
I took a long break from all those heels. & a lot of the cute things that I always loved to wear, deeming them “unnecessary for mommyhood.” But I missed my wardrobe & wanted to get my old stylish self back. I lost the weight, but none of the clothes fit the same & I was in a rut. Even my shoes were too tight. Dry clean only was definitely not something designed for mothers. (At least not for the kind of mother I am!) I knew something had to change. & then one night about a year ago I stumbled upon this:
A prepared mother looks professional. No one would show up to the office for a busy day in her pajamas. And yet there’s a stereotype of mothers, particularly stay-at-home mothers, consisting of bathrobes & slippers until 11:00, combined with talk shows & soap operas all afternoon. No wonder motherhood isn’t valued in Western cultures. Our jobs as mothers have more long-lasting impact, even on future generations, than almost any business meeting could. By doing my job with intention, I help others redefine what motherhood can & should be. –Steady Days
What a concept! It was time. Time to get out of the spandex & into the cute stuff again. For me, for my daughter, for my husband…mama needed to rediscover her fashionable self! & it was then that I started to get creative with my closet. Comfortably creative. ‘Cause this mama is convinced that “fashionable” & “mommy” belong in the same sentence!
But where do I start? What stays & what goes? It was the battle of any new mom–especially any working woman turned stay-at-home mom. But the challenge was ON.
I found four categories:
- the suits, slacks, pencil skirts & tailored items that were just not appropriate for daily mommyhood
- the “kind of day clothes, kind of pajamas” that were just barely appropriate to wear out of the house
- the staples that could be dressed up or down
- the workout clothes
I went through my closet piece by piece & did some serious donating. The keepers were washable, comfortable & classic. The donated were the in-betweens: the probably should dry clean, probably a bit too tight, probably a bit too low cut, probably had since college, probably way too business-y for me to ever need again. If I had even one reason why I would probably not wear it, it was gone. & then I was able to start looking forward. I kept some of my tailored classics & purged almost everything in the “kind of pajamas” category. What was left was a collection of versatile basics that I’d be proud to wear out of the house.
Mommy clothes can be stylish. They can be expressive. They can also be inexpensive. It just takes a little effort.
So what do I wear right now? Currently (now that we’re well into summer here in South Texas) my favorite thing is the summer sun dress. Like this one or this one or this one. My all time favorite dresses are the BCBGMAXAZRIA line at Nordstrom Rack (or Marshalls, if you’re lucky!) I am loving the freedom of loose fitting clothing in the heat. I also love a good skirt. But truthfully, there is nothing more comfortable (or cooler) than a simple dress for the summer. If I’m not in a dress, odds are it’s a skirt. Short or long–pair it with a simple top, a few bracelets, big earrings & a cute pair of shoes & you are sure to look your professional mommy best. It really is that easy.
But back to the shoes…oh the shoes! I finally decided that it just wasn’t safe to be chasing a toddler in heels, so the next best thing was a wedge. One twisted ankle & those were out the window too. She is just. too. fast. I’ll get back to them one day, but right now my toddler-chasing passion is: the FLAT. Shiny. Sparkly. Leopard. Stripe. They are adorable! I am also still loving my winter style splurge. Inspired by the lovely & highly addictive: pinterest & thanks to this pin, I found the perfect flat boot. You heard that right. (& this is coming from an “I will NEVER wear FLAT boots” kind of gal) I adore these boots. I am head over heels. (and maybe a bit over heels all together!) I have found my new mommy shoe. It is definitely summer around here but they are still seeing the light of day. Gone are the days wearing jeans & leggings that tuck neatly inside, but here are the skirts, dresses & shorts that take you up a big notch on the fashion-meter when paired with a sassy boot. Just head into an Anthropologie…you’ll see what exactly what I mean!
My boots are also pretty fabulous for all those to-die-for fields of spring wildflowers we ‘photographer-moms’ trudge through with our babes. On this day, my caroline learned to hit the shutter button & found it positively delightful to run into the frame & stand there until the fast beep beep beep of the self timer went off! & then we did this over & over & over until we were both sweating & giggling like crazy. Cute & functional. As all mommy clothes should be!
Do you have a favorite go-to mommy wardrobe staple? Please share! I’d LOVE to know your secrets! I am always looking for something new!
Despite days full of washing diapers & messy fun, Shawna is determined to make mommyhood a stylish adventure. Married to the military & mother to one feisty girl, she is a passionate DIYer & loves sharing how to make the complicated simple. Shawna talks creativity, style, food, decorating, green-chic living & mommyhood at styleberryBLOG, a daily-ish dose of something fab.
To read all articles written by Shawna, click here.
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