#moms30for30 Recap Post {It was about more than just clothes}

• Of course I am constantly window-shopping even if I can’t buy ‘normal’ clothes right now. However, after seeing how versatile my wardrobe really can be it has totally reset my shopping priorities.
•  I know where my gaps are on what I have and don’t have.
•  I know where I want to spend my money (on things I will wear often, like boyfriend cardigans and leggings).
•  I know where I don’t want to invest (trendier items I wear for a season or two, everyday t-shirts I wear around the house).
•  I have made a new resolution to ‘only buy what I love’ if I am iffy in the dressing room, I won’t buy it.
•  Now I have just a handful of items I would like to add to my closet instead of feeling like I want to just burn it and start over.

• I tried to pay attention to the accessories and shoes I wore each day. Some days I would have to swap out shoes for snow boots or a necklace for a scarf, but I have respect for accessories and shoes. They finish an outfit, change the feel of any outfit and bring your persona into an outfit.
•  Though some are impractical with babies and toddlers, there are still ways to bring accessories into your day to day. They don’t have to be expensive either. 
•  Then, there are shoes. I have a fair amount of shoes and found them a great way to change an outfit.  My conclusion is that having a lot of shoes isn’t necessary, but…. no it actually is, you should always buy more shoes.

• The belly of my shirts are testimony to my messy cooking, then there are the stained shoulders from little cuddly hugs with dirty faces. Not to mention the constant draw to wear leggings or sweat pants, something I don’t have to tug and pull at all day. I’m a stay at home mom to two toddlers. Some days I don’t even leave my house and the only adult eyes to confirm my living presence are my husbands at the end of the night.
•  There are items in my wardrobe that aren’t practical on a daily basis and items I don’t want to get ruined in the day to day, but I keep them for weekends away, or trips out of town.  I have to learn to use these items in small doses in my day to day and make them a bit more flexible
•  Then there are practical items I wear daily that I need to learn how to style better so I can go from home to town with just a couple changes like a cardigan and scarf.

• I used to look at my clothes as sets of uniforms. ‘This shirt goes with these pants’, ‘I wear this skirt for this reason and with this top’. The first thirty days of the challenge I wore items together in a familiar way. It wasn’t until the last couple weeks I had to play around more with looks. This was the hardest part of the challenge but the best because it taught be that I do have a versatile wardrobe.
•  It also taught me I do have a uniform, a ‘look’ I like, but that it can be shifted by going beyond comfort and reaction to my clothes.

• I’m not sure what is dorkier, setting your self timer and running across the room to get a shot of you look uncomfortable in an outfit that really isn’t breaking any fashion boundaries – OR – putting said picture on the internet to be perused by everyone – OR – your husband coming across the photo outtakes of your failed attempts at pattern mixing and timer mishaps catching your face look like you just swallowed hotdog water.  Long story short, taking pictures showed me some outfits and items I don’t like. Also, if I tried a couple different accessories with the same outfit it helped me choose what to go with. I will totes Cher it up and snap some dorky outfit selfies more often.

• There were also a couple items I couldn’t really work with (I didn’t even end up wearing one of my 30 picks in the challenge) OR didn’t like the look of on my body OR I liked it but I didn’t want it to be ‘my look’.   I was holding on to these items because I thought they were ‘adorable’ (but made me look like a little girl), they were pricier when I bought them, or I thought I might wear them again. Doing this challenge has been the breaking point for these ‘iffy’ items that I hang onto but never wear. I can let them go and the guilt I feel every time I see them still in my closet going unworn or worn in only one way.

• I didn’t do the challenge to make a breakthrough on the fashion scene. I did it to find contentment with what I already have and make it work beyond my own imposed limits. I wanted to learn why I chose these items to be filing up my closet and finally take the time to ‘style’ them.
•  Getting in the habit of ‘admire, buy, store, repeat’ can become a routine in every woman’s life.  It is hard to get excited over a shirt you bought last summer – even if it looks great on you.  It is also hard to make yourself get rid of ‘things’ taking up physical, emotion and mental space in your life.
•  This challenge seemed shallow on the surface but it did provide a space for pause and reflection and practice on finding contentment, getting excited about what I do already have, finding new ways to use what I have rather than just buying more.  

Be THAT woman

• I’ve written about my own embarrassing style history and how it can reflect some of your heart’s own beliefs. I believe it’s important to find your personal style and dress how you love, without holding back. There were a few times I went out knowing I would be the most ‘dressy’, as I live in a very small casual town but I did it anyways. The uncomfortable feeling wore off because this is how I want to represent myself.
•  Getting dressed every day is one thing for your mindset, trying to look nice is another.  Stay at home moms usually get dressed out of dirty PJs into cleaner PJs, or sweats, or comfy clothes. And that is fine and has it’s place, but when that is the daily routine it becomes the new you. Even if you pick a couple days a week, it’s important to commit to getting dressed. 
•  It is worth putting the time in to yourself and your clothes to put looks together. Cause the fact is, it takes the same amount of time to put on jeans and a blouse than yoga pants and a stretchy tee.