Redefining Casual

Do you find yourself stuck in what seems like the yoga pants wearing mom cycle? You get up, throw on a pair of yoga pants and face yet another day of cleaning, cooking, laundry, diaper changing, nose wiping, and holding baby all day. Too many days of this and you soon turn into a Tweedy Bird mom. My brother-in-law, who happens to be Brooke’s husband, once explained to me that a Tweedy Bird mom is a mom who wears sweats and oversized tee shirts with cartoon characters on them. Shudder. Let’s avoid that.

I understand your need for comfort. When you are taking care of children and home, you are constantly moving and bending. So why would you wear a silk dress and stilettos? When you are home all day, every day, why would you wear anything other than yoga pants? I get it. However, from one stay at home to another, there is a way to dress comfortable and casual while still looking nice and in style.

For example, let’s consider laundry day. Pair a simple tee with distressed jeans rolled at the cuff and some basic white Keds. I am loving the raglan sleeve baseball tee look that’s all the rage right now. Add small diamond studs to finish the look and give it a little glam.

At my house, we have baking/food prep day where we bake and prepare food for the upcoming week. A sweatshirt with rolled distressed jeans and again, white Toms or Keds is the perfect baking day uniform. Choose a sweatshirt with a print to make it more fashion forward. This sweet floral print with matching flower earrings gives the outfit just the right amount of sweetness. No cartoon characters allowed on the sweatshirt. Sorry.

On the days you are going out of the house, even if it’s to the grocery store, dress a little nicer. I actually wore this outfit grocery shopping the other day.

The ponte pants are as comfortable as yoga pants, FYI. I am totally buying this shirt and wearing it on the days I volunteer at my kid’s school library.

(High class casual)

Let’s talk dresses. There is this phenomenon when you wear dresses where everyone asks you why you are dressed up, but you feel like you are wearing pajamas. Choose a no fuss dress that can be worn on its own without a slip, undershirt, etc. I love the Kate dress from Sonnet James. It needs to be in my closet like yesterday.

There are even brands that cater to a stylish casual lifestyle. Sonnet James makes adorable casual dresses made to get dirty. Lands’ End is your wrinkle free, stain resistant haven. You can find basic tees and cardigans, the mom uniform, at Old Navy and Target.

When you take better care of yourself on the outside, you will feel better on the inside. You will have more confidence and a better sense of who you are. Just because you are a mom doesn’t mean you have to forget yourself and it certainly doesn’t mean you have to dress like one.