Twinkle Toes?!

If there's one thing that I remember from being in college, and there's a lot I try to block out as well, it is my collection of shoes - around 130 pairs, if I'm remembering correctly. I was living for myself, I had no boyfriend, I was going to school debt-free and bill-free, and I had a job. I don't know how many times I overdrafted my bank account, but I do know that I lived for that paycheck. As soon as I got it, I would haul you-know-what to the mall and spend it. I felt like it was LITERALLY burning a hole in my pocket.

Fast forward to meeting my husband, confessing about my shoe collection before we got married, and then during marriage, sorting through my keep and giveaway piles. I was sad to have to get rid of so many shoes, but I knew it was time to let them go. We needed the closet space and frankly, because I could only afford to buy a lot of cheap shoes at a time - it was quantity over quality back then- a lot of them really just needed to go from wear and tear.

I learned to love shoes because, well, that was the one thing I could drool over and where my size never changed that I could actually purchase. I loved that not only could I actually afford a pair (or a dozen at a time), but my size in them was in the SINGLE digits and never fluctuated- win-win! A size 8 in one brand, was also a size 8 in another. It was my total go-to for self-comforting when I was needing something to fill a void.

Fast even more forward to having a family and not having very much money (because, hey, we have a mortgage and bills), my shoe collection is much, much smaller and I am looking more into quality than I am quantity. I want to fall head over heels (not literally, but pun intended) in love with several pairs of shoes that i can wear with a lot of different things. I have tried my best, because of, ya know, my shoe compulsion, to narrow this list down to a workable amount of shoes that do inspire me. This is the cream of the crop in my search for shoe inspiration. I hope you enjoy and please, don't drool on your keyboard.

I'm still figuring out how to tag these with links - stay tuned.

So, from this list - what appears to inspire me is BRIGHT colors, especially blue, lots of bows, some shiny bling, and camel/nude/cream/off-white colors. There seems to be a pretty good mix of heels (wedges included) and flats. I'm apparently still sticking with a vintage feel though. I really really like all of these shoes...

Dressing the Top Half

In the aforementioned article here, finding your personal style doesn't consist solely of what you think you would wear or currently wear, but it creates a safe space for what you're inspired by. I love that, because my body type could not and would not (Sam I am) fit into SO many of the styles I adore. My personal challenge, because plus-size clothes can be hard to find in the first place, is to find clothes that are inspired by, but are not exact replicas of, the clothes I'm inspired by on size -0 models. Then, just even having the pieces inspired by those clothes, to wear them in a way that doesn't exaggerate the parts of me that stick out much further than I would like them to. I might be just whining here, but I genuinely feel that trying to find fashionable and trendy plus-sized clothes is like trying to find a diamond in a rock quarry.

For years, I would just buy what I could fit into because I didn't know where to look for clothes that I could actually love on me. I think I did alright, but I was young and adventurous then. Now, I'm a Mom and I can't afford, in the literal sense as well as physucally, to just buy whatever I find. I just don't have the time or money to mess around with clothes that are throwaways, both in quality and in fashionabilty (yes, that's a word). I'm at a point in my life where I really want to buy a quality garment and put it to good use in many ways. I want to feel confident and proud of what I'm wearing and I want my clothes to speak for themselves. I want my clothes to say that I'm a person who has it together, is organized, is a good Mom, and loves and is confident in her body and the way it looks. I want to look in the mirror and be able to feel that I am making a great first impression, even when I'm pouring juice and making peanut-butter and jelly sandwiches or catching my daughter on the slide at the park.

Tops have always been a bane for me. I have a larger-sized chest and am forever having my shirts fall down to show way too much cleavage. But, having a large chest creates another problem for me as well, because the shirt is weighed down in the front, it comes up in the back. Ugh, this drives me nuts. I'm forever balancing our my shirt from front to back. I have learned to compensate for this by wearing tank tops under almost all of my shirts, but I'd love to find shirts where I don't have to constantly be playing a game with the people around me, "Which side of her will we see?"

As far as clothes go, my budget is very small, and I mean very miniscule. Above I mentioned "quality garments", and let me just say, that that is very hard on a small budget. I think that best way that I'm going to be able to achieve the look I want is by shopping at thrift stores or consignment stores. That might mean not buying something that is necessarily on-trend for the season, but it could mean finding quality pieces, that just have some wear. I think one of the goals I would like to achieve through this is to find those "classic" pieces I'm told every woman should have. Here is a great list of them (the formatting isn't that great, but I adhere to this list most closely to others I've found). The trick with the classic pieces is to find the version of them that fit and complement your body type.

So, for my post of tops, I have collected some images that inspire me and hopefully, when I am able to move into the purchasing phase of finding my personal style, I can combine these with the need for coverage in my front and back:

 

 

I think we can all agree that I like architectural clothes coupled with a hint of whimsy. Leather/denim, hedgehog/bright green. Seems I REALLY like black and white clothes, but with a pop of color. And almost all of these looks are on the dressy side, save for a few more dressed down tops. I think we're getting closer. Next, I'm going to talk about shoes. :-) One of my favorite topics.

What kind of style do you see emerging?

Staying Comfortable

The problem with comfort being the drive in what clothes you choose to wear is that the line of what is comfortable starts to blur based on how you feel and what comfort means in the moments when you are choosing from your closet. I think this is what has happened with me, I mean, besides low energy because of trying to keep up with my busy life. I use blue jeans as a mask/comfort - they're so easy to wear, they match  just about anything, you can wear them during all seasons, and with any type of shoe. So, this post is going to be about blue jeans alternative that inspire me. These aren't all available in plus-sizes, but they will serve as a look book for me.

LOVE the Aztec designs on these - you can could match a shirt of any color with them!

You can find these here.

These are so girly - love it - and I think they would be still be considered neutral.

You can find these here.

These would definitely not fit my pear shaped body, but I love the pattern of them.

You can find these here.

These look super comfy, and also are a neutral. Could be dressed up or down. Love the zippers!

You can find these here.

These would be a stretch for me color-wise, but I love the mixed patterns between the shirt and the polka dots. I could probably make them work, but I would be in my safety zone with them by matching a white tee, converse, and a jean jacket. Which would be sporty and cute, but not so much of a risk for me.

You can find these here.

Mommy Fashion Redo

I am a stay-at-home Mom of two beautiful and spirited girls. Some mornings I don't even have the energy to change out of my pajamas before 2:00pm. If I do find that energy, it's still a struggle to put together an outfit that fits me well, that I feel confident in, and that I am proud of.

Years ago, it feels like light years as I think of it now, but realistically around 10 years ago, I was considered the "fashionable" friend in my group and felt proud that I had the clothes, jewelry, shoes that friends often requested to borrow. Now, I feel like I've lost that spark and just can't seem to have any productive shopping trips where I find pieces that translate to how I want to be viewed, fit me well, are very versatile, or that I'm truly in love with. But mostly, to be honest, I'm unhappy with the way my body is different now and finding clothes that I feel comfortable in BECAUSE they fit well is just plain hard! Just to add another layer to this, I am also plus-sized. It is already difficult to find fashionable plus-sized clothes in my style, but then to further narrow that down to what

This blog is going to start off with what inspires me and I'm hoping that it can start to translate in to what I actually wear, with a safe Mommy feel. I want to be comfortable and learn to love my new body, but I also want to take risks and am hoping to find that I can fall back in love with fashion. We'll see where it goes.

I was inspired by this article and if you get a chance, go and read it and be inspired yourself!