Playgrounds & Lollipops - Friday's New Feature

Hi friends! Welcome to the preview of my new Friday feature here at Four Flights, which I'm naming Playgrounds & Lollipops. Each Friday I will highlight my favorite outfit of the week. The outfits for the most part will be perfect for mommy wear in that they are functional, comfortable, somewhat fashionable, and relatively inexpensive so that you won't mind having apple juice and ice cream spilled all over them.

I want to thank my friends Sarah and Miranda for encouraging me to do this, because I have had the idea for months now but was too chicken to try it. In talking to both of them, Miranda said "You do have a background in fashion, it's not like you're some random person." That was like a Ah-Ha moment for me that gave me the confidence to try this.

Until last year, I have spent the last 9 years of my life in the fashion industry (11 if you count working retail). I worked for the largest Women's RTW wholesale vendor for Saks, Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom. I got to play dress-up everyday and wear skirts and pretty dresses and heels, my favorite fashion accessory.

Now though my days are spent running preschool drop-off and pick-up, going to the playground or community garden, mommy and me classes, and occasionally my husband's office. Not a whole lot of opportunity to wear pretty dresses and heels.

I love the style blogs, my favorite being What I Wore featuring Jessica Schroeder. She is just too cute for words. Here, I want to take the same concept, but like I said, feature outfits that are a little more suited for a mom's life, especially a mom with a 2 year old and a 4 year old!

I hope you enjoy this little segment, and please take it with a grain of salt. I am not trying to tell anyone how to dress here. I do not profess to be on the cutting edge of fashion. Long gone are the days where I could look at a Vogue and depict which dress was which designer. I just like to be put together, and when I am put together I feel GREAT!

A couple of points to consider:

• ballet flats are my best friend
• aside from a couple of boutiques I frequent (Tullemoss, Denim Bar and Madison Bleu), most of my clothes are pieces I can grab quickly while on the go with the 2 kids, usually while I am already shopping for them, i.e., Gap, Nordstrom, Banana, Old Navy, Forever 21. I don't take leisurely shopping trips by myself is what I'm trying to say.
• I'm cheap as all get out! Usually the most I will spend on an item is $35/$40, but most of my items are in the $20 range. I do splurge on some purchases like boots, jeans and outerwear.
  

Oh, and I also think it would be fun to not just feature my outfits, but yours as well! I can easily name about 10 other mommy friends that have rocking style and would love to highlight here.

Have fun and I hope you appreciate the goofy pictures. This was my first time doing this and I felt like a complete DORK! Thanks Art for taking some great shots though.

Now on to the pictures...

When:
February 24th, 2010

Where:
Preschool pick-up and drop-off, Art's office, parent meeting at school

What:
Shirt: Gap
Sweater: Nordstrom, Brass Plum dept.
Jeans: Jo
Belt: So old I can't remember
Necklace: Vintage lucite chain thrifted for 50 cents! (thanks Rachel!)
Boots: Sam Edelman

Why:
I wanted to update this blouse I've had for a couple of years and I just loved the way the teal offset the plum colored flowers of the shirt. Whenever I'm feeling like my outfit looks a little sloppy though, I add a belt around the waist and it immediately transforms the look. These jeans are a bit big on me now, but I roll them up a couple of times and I've got an instant Boyfriend jean without having to go get a new pair. And the boots I just love! Got them on sale last year and wear them all the time. They came distressed so you can never tell if I've been walking through puddles, or have had applesauce spilled on them. Although if you look closely you can see some mud on them from my last visit to the garden.
*Oh, and please excuse the chipped polish. I was going for the fresh out of rehab Lindsay Lohan look!