About once per week, I meet up with another stay at home mom who lives down the street and we walk to the park with the little ones. It's so awesome to finally have another mom friend who lives nearby. We sit and chat about embarrassing public melt-downs, potty training adventures and the like.
I truly adore this lady and her hilarious, smart kids. We confide in each other that we bribe them with candy if they take a nap and although we do love taking them to the library, we totally let them veg out and watch too many cartoons sometimes.
So since we're doing lots of kid-related activities, I'm needing more "mom clothes". As much as I love some of my fab 40s dresses and such, I feel silly wearing them to the park while I climb the monkey bars and push the kids on the swing. I want to play and have fun and not worry about a rip or grass stain...or walking through a really deep puddle after a crazy storm. This was my mom clothes outfit for this week. All from Walmart, actually!
I haven't worn shorts since I was in 5th grade but I love these denim bermuda shorts. I'm not secure enough to wear anything thigh-bearing but these are really cute, comfy and I stay cool. The little peasant top is going to be a summer staple for me for sure. They didn't have a lot of cute vintagey looking prints but you can't go wrong with polka dots, right?
For park days, I do easy hair and minimal makeup, usually just some BB cream with sunblock, mascara, brows and slick on some tinted gloss. I've been loving the big hair lately so I teased 2nd day hair and pinned it up because it's been so hot in St Louis lately.
I'm totally wearing mom clothes today, lol. Maternity blue jean capris and a maternity tank. Sometimes you just need to wear something more practical. I think especially if you blog about vintage clothing and outfits, it can start to feel like a chore, as if you're committing some sort of sin if you go out without full makeup and vintage clothing and hair. I'm glad to know I'm not alone in wearing modern or vintage mom clothes and if there's anything I learned from my grandmothers it's that they didn't wear the same thing at home/in the garden/to play in the dirt as they did when they went to town or to a doctor appointment. Being practical is not a compromise in style necessarily. It's just plain common sense.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I love that even your mom clothes have a vintage vibe. The temptation for me is to stay in my pajamas all day, but then we can't really walk to anything where we live, so I've been known to play on the back porch or even the yard in pajama pants.
Rock on Mama!
Sarah
This is so cute! I'm going to the walmart site to look for shorts now too! The pair I made earlier this spring just don't fit comfortably enough for really hot and humid days.
ReplyDeleteI actually find many things at both Walmart and Target that are fairly retro-looking, that I wear on a regular basis! Also, since we were just IN St. Louis, I agree with you! It was wicked hot, and we shortened our planned visit to the zoo in order to go do something inside!
ReplyDeleteI've been making culottes (working out bugs in new pattern= more play clothes for me) so I can be kinda adult looking (gotta office job over the summer) and fearless (office job involves a lot of up and down and heavy lifting). No one wants to see the old lady's thighs.
ReplyDeletePolka dots are always cool. Particularily white on navy. Polka power to the parent people! (even gives me power over teens!)
Those mom clothes are so cute!
ReplyDeleteYeah...I totally bribe my kids with chocolate chips....
You look fantastic! Like yourself, I haven't worn shorts since I was a kid (or at least a young teenager), but I think I could possibly make peace with a similar style. I love capris that come past the knees and these are just like the slightly more daring version of those.
ReplyDelete♥ Jessica
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ReplyDeleteYou always look adorable. I understand the need for everyday wear but Walmart is evil. I know its nice to not have to sew up every outfit or worry about your vintage outfits tearing or staining. I avoid walmart why although cheap I refuse to support their politics. I would suggest trying second hand stores or consignment stores I have found some nice but inexpensive vintage inspired outfits there and I can sleep easier with the idea that I am supporting recycling clothes rather than unsound labor and other unsound business practices.
ReplyDeleteYou know, I totally understand why people have a problem with Walmart because my mother was a Sams Club employee full time supporting 3 kids on that income while I was in middle school and high school. Believe me, I know. However, not all of us can afford to not shop walmart and many of us have no other options. My mom now lives in the middle of nowhere and the only place to shop for clothes, groceries and housewares within a 45 minute drive is....Walmart! Its crappy and they're crappy but if I didn't shop at walmart for a lot of things, I wouldn't be able to afford to pay my bills as a stay at home mom. I do live in an area that has Target and Aldi...thank goodness for Aldi but when it comes to stuff like diapers, cleaning products, etc- its walmart for us because they're the most affordable on a lot of things. For a very long time, I did avoid walmart and even clipping coupons and shopping sales, we spent much more on necessities. When you're a stay at home mom raising kids on one income, you have to choose your battles. There are plenty of terrible companies whose policies piss me off and I really do believe that their CEOs are evil bastards but if I truly boycotted every single company that I didn't agree with because of their policies, I would probably starve! Buying cheap stuff lets me stay home with my babies and to me, that's more important than anything on the planet! I hope that the time comes some day that I never have to step foot in walmart again but I really don't see that happening any time soon!
Deletei was reading your comments and i wholeheartedly agree with you both. in this day and age it is hard to shovel out hundreds of dollars for only two pieces, where at walmart or even goodwill {and I HATE goodwill's politics and how they treat their employees} but with such a crappy economy it makes things harder and harder to pick and choose where you shop. believe me i too know! i'm unemployed living at home with my mom and sister and have try to save a buck whenever and wherever i can, even if that means i have to go to walmart or goodwill.
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