Scarf-tastic

It's no secret that I long to be French. I want to wear nothing but stripes and berets and eat crepes and visit art museums. That's pretty much all actual French people do, yes?

I've long been thinking that people in America don't wear scarves enough. They're so beautiful and functional, especially in New York. But my stumbling block, aside from not really owning any of the non-winter kind, is that I don't know how to tie them.

Enter brilliant scarf video! I need to watch it again and take notes because once is not enough

Post-pregnancy clothes

I'm pretty sure at least half the women I know are either pregnant or just had a baby. I have no idea what was so exciting about the end of last summer, but I clearly missed the memo. The crappy thing about post-baby body is not only are you going to be hanging on to some extra weight for a while - making it so that all of your old clothes don't fit - the weight isn't evenly distributed throughout your body. It's all in the middle, making dressing even more difficult.

And of course you don't want to spend a bunch of money buying new clothes that you will hopefully not need in six months, but you also can't fit into anything you currently own. It is this exact dilemma that I was reminded of when I received yet another random clothing catalog from another random company I've never heard of.

But when I flipped through the Body Central catalog all I could think was these clothes would be perfect for post-baby! They're really inexpensive, and they're all in the blousy style, perfect for hiding the middle. (Because of that, they would also be perfect for first-trimester body when you just look a little fat, and not adorably pregnant yet.)




* Body warning for all the first-time moms out there... Most of the time, even if you lose all the baby weight, half of your clothes STILL won't fit because your hips have expanded a little and everything has just shifted in an imperceptible way that only your clothes notice.

 Kimono Style Sublimation Top

$19.80

 Blossom Print Maxi Dress

$34.50

 Sublimation Smocked Top

$19.80

Brightly Embroidered Tube Dress

$24.80

 

Ballet T-Shirt

I love this ballet t-shirt tutorial on the blog I Still Love You. She also has a sister site called I Still Love Fashion, which is currently about all of the outfits during her pregnancy, none of which utilize maternity clothes, but many of which invlove ruching. I need to try it because her results are awesome.

Boston Proper

I ordered a one-shoulder, flutter sleeve, navy blue dress from Boston Proper this past fall for a wedding and ever since I've been getting their catalogs. It had been so long since I'd purchased a real item of clothing (not from Marshalls and not from a clearance rack) that I totally forgot that it can be kind of nice to get clothes catalogs in the mail to see what's doin in the world of all of those happy women standing on boat decks.

Here are a few things I'm loving in this latest catalog...

Ruched Kimono Sleeve Dress ($79)

Geo pop-print tunic dress ($159)

Lace Bandeau Bra ($29)

(To eliminate the need for both a bra and a tank top that can peek out of your shirt)

Brush Stroke Ponte Dress ($149)

Paris Fit Perfect Travel Pant ($59)

As someone who has three flights - two of which are cross country with a toddler - coming up in the next few months, I'm a wee bit obsessed with the genius of these. They feel like leggings, but thanks to the crop and the little flare, they look like cute pants. Might have to actually order these.

Fashion Love

Having much less muscle tone and a slightly different shape this summer than previous summers has made me rethink summer wardrobes, and this is what I think: dresses and skirts.  You look nicer than when you're in shorts and a top and they're almost always more comfortable.  HOW did I not figure this out until now??!

I've never even liked the shorts/top combo.  You perpetually look like you're either about to go on a hike or a walk on the beach.  And really, how often are you actually about to do that? Almost never.

In a bit of serendipity I was turned on to Down East Basics yesterday as I was zipping through the blog Design Mom.  The woman who runs the blog recently had a baby so she's been featuring birth stories from various moms which I have NO interest in reading.  I'm traumatized enough from my own horrendous birth story that I don't want to read about how yours was also bad (See!! Labor is a stupid and ridiculous process and we're all fucked!!) or about how it wasn't nearly as bad as your were anticipating and in the end it was a really moving experience (Shut up you hippie bitch, I hope you have a karmic bitch slap in your future).  So.  Uh... NO to the birth stories, but YES to pretty summer fashions for cheap prices.

All of the skirts over at Down East Basics are under $30 and all of the dresses are just a touch more than that.  The online sizing seems to be a bit limited - uh, XXS anyone? - so I ordered their catalog instead. 

So break out that razor that you put away last November and go make yourself pretty!

Design Love

Oh, Erin, I don't know you, but you are my new fashion icon. One day I will look this casually cool.

Christmas Cute

Thanks to gifts and a loaner dress that Feather Nester's papoose was too little to ever wear, our little lady has a whole host of outfits for her first Christmas. Thankfully she currently has four different holiday celebrations to attend, so every outfit will get it's rightful attention.

I, on the other hand, will be donning one of two sweaters that fit, combined with either the jeans that I was forced to buy or the pants that I button with hair ties so they'll close. Thanks baby weight ;)

Love it!

As I was flitting about the house this morning in a black tank top and black boy short underwear, B told me I looked like I was wearing a 1950s bathing suit. So I said "I WISH they made bathing suits like this - I love those!"

One Google search later and I bring you this! A one piece classic sheath 1950s bathing suit for $69 from My Baby Jojo. So classic.

Croc Convert

Since things around the AnderBerry household are a little too nutty to write about, I'm resorting to just recycling the events from last week. Here is a picture of a wonderful good-bye party my co-workers had for me and another girl who's leaving. I'm the one standing in her new red MaryJane Crocs.



I was pretty neutral on the whole Croc thing before. I totally understand the "they're so ugly they hurt my eyes and I'm embarrassed to be seen with you" camp, but I also get the "there is beauty in the comfort" camp. Here's the thing with me - if you turn anything into a MaryJane I will immediately fall in love and buy it.

Shoe Miracle

I experienced a shoe miracle this weekend. B and I went to DSW after dropping my brother off at the airport and I found these little babies in the clearance section. I've been calling them my Barbie Shoes. Regular readers will know how small my clothes closet is. They will also know that I have an inability to buy clothes for myself. So these were a first - a shoe purchase for no reason, and fancy shoes at that!

So I paraded around the store in them and couldn't think of a single outfit I could wear shiny pinkish purple Barbie shoes with and decided to buy them anyway. And then - this is where the miracle part comes in - Monday afternoon happened.

Monday morning we met with our DJ to finalize song choices. And since we'd be doing nothing but sitting in the car, I thought it was a good time to test out the shoes. I figured I may as well assess the degree to which they would destroy my back. But on the way home we decided to hit the outlets to look for a bridal shower dress and some jeans for B. Two things happened:

1) I found a dress for the bridal shower that happens to look awesome with the Barbie Shoes!
2) I walked around on those stilts for 2 1/2 hours at an outlet mall on Memorial Day and my back was FINE!

I can't even walk around the office in my sassy orthopedic shoes without my back hurting, so clearly I'm meant to wear high end stilettos at all times.