Let’s Talk Clothes!

Fun fact- I was voted ”Best Dressed” in our Senior superlatives in high school. I truly don’t know how as the 2008-2011 fashion scene for teen girls was ROUGH!

And while that by no means makes me a style expert (haha), I have always loved staying on top of clothing “trends”, putting outfits together and finding cute, affordable clothing. I’ve gone through many phases of style and while I know a lot of this can be superficial I have realized how much what I wear and sense of style can affect how I feel about myself.

As a young mom I often felt like I was going to be judged or not respected due to my age. Because of this, I found myself straying away from my personal style into more of what I thought a mom was ”supposed to wear”. While I felt like I fit in a little more I didn’t feel my best during this time. As I‘ve gotten older and more comfortable in my own identity I have definitely been gettting back into my own style and having a lot more fun with clothes in the past few years. While at times this can hurt my wallet a bit, I love online shopping and creating new looks. I also try my best to shop sales and stores that are a bit nicer priced.

With all that, I thought it would be fun to share some of my favorite places to shop for diffferent occasions/settings!

For workwear/wedding guest/“special occasion” attire: Lulu’s

I found this cute jumpsuit, shoes and shirt for my sisters wedding reception all at Lulu’s! They have a huge selection of special occasion/business casual work styles. Their prices are usually not too high and they often have a huge sale selection. It is also a great spot for sweaters for the fall/winter. Quality is always really good and I have always found their sizing to be pretty accurate.

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For Basics/Blouses//spring dresses: Bohme

Most of my day to day wear, fun elastic waist paints, & tees are from Bohme. They are always solid quality and just good staple pieces to have in your closet. They also have the cutest summer/spring dresses!

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For swimsuits/tanks/athletic wear: Aerie

Aerie has been my go-to the last few years for swimsuits. I struggled so much for years not feeling comfortable in bikinis but not finding one-pieces that didn’t age me or fit my style. Aerie has so many one piece options that are flattering, fit perfectly, have several size options (including ”long”) and feel young! Aerie also is my go to for leggings, bike shorts and tanks. They often have good sales going on when you can get items on a discount.

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For jeans/jean shorts: Levi , Agolde, Petal & Pup, Abercrombie

Jeans on the left are Agolde and they are my absolute favorite jeans. Now I won’t count Agolde as affordable clothing because most of their jeans run 100+ dollars. This is not an amount I would normally spend, however I found myself always struggling to find jeans that fit well or maintained their fit/shape. I have had these jeans for 3+ years and I can say that the quality/fit has not changed or worn. I also have Levi’s that are pretty similar as far as quality/fit and a tiny bit kinder on the price. I will always recommend people to have at least 1 or 2 pairs of quality jeans! It can really make for an -easy to put together- outfit. The shorts below are from Petal and pup and are my go to shorts. Also great fit and quality, I love them so much I just bought the same one‘s in black!

Abercrombie is a store I rarely shopped at as a teen and never thought I would have shopped at as an adult, but someoone mentioned to me that their jeans/jean shorts were good quality and lots of good fit styles/options. The shorts on the left are from there and I love how they fit. I also got jeans from there and while they are very cute the fit is not as good as my Levi’s or Agolde jeans. I still would recommend but probably go and try on the different styles/sizes before purchasing.

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For quick needs/girls trips/infrequent use: Forever 21 & Amazon

Whenever I am going on a trip with the husband or friends and I know I will want a couple new/fun pieces I typically peek first at Forever 21 or Amazon. Prices are cheap and quality can be iffy, but if I know I will only wear & wash a few times I am okay with lesser quality. The jacket below is from Forever 21 and is actually decent quality! The romper on the right was an influenced Amazon purchase by someone on Instagram. Typically with Amazon I try to stick to pieces with good reviews or that have been recommended by someone.