Category :85 Dresses

85 Dress Challenge : Review

From top left:  Amish Much ; Football ; Bucket ; Blaming the Dog ; Snow Hippie ; James Bond ; Robots ; Hazmat
From top left: Grandmother’s ; Tired ; Wet Feet ; Poo! ; Hiding Out ; Black&White ; Enough ; Babbling

So remember when I started this whole thing?  Well, it’s done!  And it only took me.  I must say it’s been a learning experience in style.  I’ve discovered things I like and things I don’t.  I’ve become more creative in my styling, at least I’d like to think so, and a little more savvy, I hope.

From top left: Copping Out ; Cool ; Gramma’s ; Stripes ; Handmade ; Dreaming ; Socks ; More Socks

From top left: Chocolate ; Layering ; Fooling ; Cosmopolitan ; Busy ; Grannies ; Stepford ; Whole Day

I learned I like red, playing a part, stripeslooking ‘cool’, and that black is always a good standby (here, here, and here).

From top left: Skin ; More ; Gem ; Full Of It ; Tight Budget ; Fake It ; Girly ; Be Merry

From top left: Puttering ; Sm-attention ; Question ; Frankly ; No One ; Coffee ; Star WarsSporty.
Appliques are fun, as are nerdy shirts and nerdy bags *a personal favorite*.  And belts can make or break an outfit.  Something I never would’ve thought before.

From top left: Madness ; Mommy ; St.Patty’s ; Miss ; Dots ; Laugh Track ; S&M ; Tushy
From top left: Yay ; Sick Child ; Rain ; Prepared ; Patterns ; Baby Humor ; Distracted ; Time and Space

I love a dress with a good pattern, or a fun ruffle, or a cool applique.  It’s the details, you know? I’ve also gotten braver with pairing things and mixing patterns.  Sometimes I miss, but sometimes I’m pleasantly surprised with the results.

From top left : Relax ; Bikes ; Nice Day ; Annoying ; Waves ; Lunacy ; Good Day ; Twirly-Whirly
From top left: Accessories ; Nearing Domestic ; Contradictions ; Thunder ; Back-up ; Nerdiness ; Hippy.

I love that a great dress can instantly change the way you feel.  And it can immediately add some glamour into an otherwise blah day.  Frankly, we can always use more glamour in our lives!

From top left: Guilty ; Pretty ; Oh My! ; Spots ; The End.

Looking over things, I’ve discovered I don’t have a “style.”  I’m not one particular type of dresser – classic, tough, girlie, etc. etc.   I just like what I like.
I like girlie, and nerdy, and tough…it all depends on my mood that day. 
One thing I like is polka dots.  Another is boots!  And of course, comfort.  I won’t suffer for fashion.

Dress 85: The End Of The Road

Cardi – thrifted; Dress – Ruche; Leggings & Belt – F21; Boots – Somewhere in NYC.

We’re done! We’re done! Done! Done! Done-dee-dee-done!  That’s officially the last dress in my challenge.  Phew!  It feels like that took forever.  And it’s kind of fitting that we’re done one day before my very first Mother’s Day!

I probably have just as many, as when I started.  Some were packed away and some were given away, but some were bought to replace them.  *oh well* It’s been great to challenge myself to wear some dresses.  I like how I’ve stretched my horizons just a little bit.

Don’t worry though, that’s not the end of dresses.  I’m just going to mix in some pants, shorts, and skirts now. 

Oh and guess what?  I’m shooting a music video tomorrow.  I’ll tell you all about it.

Dress 84: Seeing Spots

Jacket – ?; Sweater – thrfited; Dress – F21; Tights – from Poland; Boots – Aldo

I think this dress has to go.  I love it, it’s just waaay too short for me.  I guess I’ve grown since I wore it?  I really don’t remember the last time I wore it, so maybe?  I find that hard to believe, but it really is much too short to wear, even with tights.  So I think I”m going to store it for now.

On another note, Husband told me in my other post that I may offend some women because I group myself in the “rest of us” category even though I’m very slim.  And I feel he’s misreading what I wrote.  I’m not claiming that I’m not slim, just that I do have curves.  I’m not a stick straight, boyish shaped woman – that’s not my body type. I have hips, and just a bit more so since having Baby; so yes, despite being slim, I still have hip confidence issues. 

Dress 83: Chocolate, Shopping, Oh My!

Jacket – Old Navy; Sweater – thrifted; Belt – thrifted; Dress – Ruche.

First off, did you check me out here?  You should; I look hawt, if I do say so myself!

Secondly, Baby and I were restless today, or maybe it was just me, so we headed out for a walk around stores and cafes and people.  It was wonderful!  The sunshine was so warm and I got a triple chocolate cookie!

Baby got a rice cracker.

Yeah well, she has plenty of time to make bad eating choices.  I’m not going to do it for her.

P.S.  I failed miserably today…I bought something…I know.  But at least I’m honest.   That counts for something right?  No?  Oh stop shaking your heads.  You wouldn’t be able to resist either.

I’ll show you when it gets here.

Dress 82: Things That Make You Feel Pretty.

I love the movement of the dress.
Cardi – Smart Set; Dress – Ruche; Tights – Hue; Loafers – AE.

 Today I went to Walmart to get diapers *yes, I know I lead a tres glamorous life – hush you!*  and the girl at the check-out counter told me how much she liked my style.  It made me feel very pretty. 

Risking ‘too much information’, I’m going to tell you something.  I miss wearing pretty bras!  They have been packed away for about a year and a half, and I want them to come back to me.  It’s been maternity and nursing bras for such a long time, but the good news is that Baby is weaning herself.  That means the bras are about to make a come back!

True Story:  I was playing fetch with Drake the Dog using his favorite toy – squirrel.  It fell into the empty, shallow baby bath. He wouldn’t dare reach in with his muzzle to get it.  He just stood outside it and whined looking at his squirrel.  He hates baths that much. Baby reached in and took it out, and he immediately stole it from her and ran away.  Drake, you’re such a wimp and bully at the same time!

Dress 81: Wonderful Guilty Pleasure

So I wanted to show you the dress.

But the silliness of the above pose made me crack up.
Sweater – Tulle; Dress – Smart Set; Leggings – F21; Earrings – independent artisan.

You know what I miss since having a baby?  Other than sleep, time, clean clothes, etc, etc.  I really miss wearing my big earrings.  I love huge, honking earrings and I haven’t been able to wear them nearly as much as I used to.  So today, I wore these for all of one hour *that’s how long Baby slept for after I put these on*  It felt like a wonderful, guilty pleasure!

I miss having little pleasures like that.  I love Baby and wouldn’t trade her for the world, but sometimes I’d love to sleep in, wear something cute and have it stay clean all day.

Dress 80: Do You Like Getting Hippy?

Jacket – Old Navy; Scarf – thrifted; Dress – H&M; Boots – Ruche

This dress is one that I must say is difficult to wear.  The ruched sides and the horizontal stripes make anyone look a little ‘hippy’.  It’s great if you’re very slim, have a boyish figure, and want to add some curves!  But for the rest of us, it can be somewhat of a confidence test.  It’s also quite a fancy dress – something you’d wear out to a bar with the girls, but adding the denim jacket and relaxed booties *I’m loving these so much!* really dressed it down enough to be worn during the day.   

What did I do on Sunday?  Well, I’m glad you asked.  As I mentioned here, I shot an episode of Posthuman in Waterloo.  You can see some fun shots and read about everything here.

Thanks and see you all tomorrow!

Dress 79: Is My Nerdiness Showing?

Baby and I on our way back from hanging out with her boyfriends!
I’m loving this out of focus shot.
Jacket – Old Navy  ; Dress Ruche  ; Tights – Hue; Shoes – AE; Bag – F21  (patches sewn on by me)

Baby is an absolute pill ’cause she’s got a tooth coming in.  And since Husband has been working the past three days, and is working for the next two weeks straight, I get to be with her all by myself.  Oh the joys of being freelance! But at least we got to go out and hang out with her gal friend and her three boyfriends.  The four other Moms and I finally managed to co-ordinate our schedules to see each other.  And yes, there are three boys and one other girl in the group.  Baby used to have her pick of the boys, but the other young lass is maturing and starting to get in on the action!

I’m so pleased to say that the weather has improved today.  I’m not one to usually talk about the weather so much, but it has been absolutely horrendous here lately – severe thunderstorm warnings, wind warnings, cold, rain, etc.  Today at least it didn’t prevent us from venturing out.

As for the title of the post, well if you get it, you get it.
If you don’t, it’s probably better I don’t explain.
I’ll just look like more of a nerd.

Dress 78: The Necessity Of A Back-Up Outfit

Dress – Bershka (in Barcelona); Belt – F21

I have to say, I was a big fan of this dress but now I’ve sort of lost the love.  I don’t like that it’s sooo overly babydoll.  I think it makes me look a little shapeless and child-like. It might be a cute dress to throw on around the house in the summer.  I’m not really sure.  Maybe, I’ll sell it, or store it.  Thoughts?

But I was only in this dress until just after lunch.  It got cold, and Baby…well, Baby did what Baby does.  She got food and spit-up on it.  I’ve gotten used to the idea that as a Mom I have a nice outfit and a simple back-up for later.  This was the back-up:

Shirt – Buffalo; Jeans – Guess

Dress 77: Severe Thunderstorms In My Mind

Dress – Ruche or UrbanOg ; Belt & Leggings – F21.

I love wearing fancy stuff when it’s not fancy time!  This dress is meant for a more foraml occasion, but I love that I’m wearing it around the house to play with Baby, cook her food, etc.  It makes me feel more special.  It also makes me feel a lot prettier…and that’s always a good thing.  There’s a seveer thunderstorm warning for Toronto today, and maybe it’s the pressure system that’s affecting me, but I’m being totally harsh on myself about my *for lack of a better term* ‘looks’.  We all have those days.  I don’t care if you’re the most beautiful woman in the world, some days you just feel like the gum stuck to the bottom of someone’s shoe. So I wore the fancy dress to snap myself out of it.  And you know what?  It works.  After putting it on, I feel so much better.

So tell me, how do you snap yourself out of the body/image/looks blues?

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