The Decision
It was time to get out of my pandemic sweatpants.
I mean, they have been so comfortable and provided room for my expanding quarantine waistline, but last week when I left the house and tried to rock my new cute matching pink and grey star sweats that I bought for myself while Christmas shopping, my 16-year-old son and husband decided it was time for an intervention.
“Mom, you CAN NOT wear your pajamas to Publix… I mean S E R I O U S L Y.”
Apparently, they do not follow the same Instagram influencers I do!
The Plan
“Listen,” I explained, “You guys just don’t know, this look is cool. I’ll prove it to you by taking a poll on my Instastories.”
But when I asked my followers if they ever wore a matching sweatsuit in public 95% of them said NO. 🚫
The only yeses were from 2 of my daughters’ 14-year-old friends. 👭
I called a friend for support.
“I think I need to go shopping. I’m ready to venture out in the world and the light pink sweatsuit is just not cutting it. You in?”
“Sure!” she says. (I called Aubrie, the friend thankfully up for anything!)
“How about 2 on Monday?”
“No, I’ve got a Zoom meeting for work at that time…”
“9 on Wednesday?”
“Oops, I’ve got a Zoom”
“10:30, Thursday? “
“Zoom”
We finally found two hours on the calendar on Friday before school pick up and agreed, if we hurried, it would be plenty of time to create a fashionable spring wardrobe that our families would be proud of, or in the very least, not too embarrassed of if they were seen in public with their mothers.
The Mission
On Friday, Aubrie came to the car armed with two XL Yetis filled with iced coffee and I brought the April issue of InStyle Magazine. I had sticky noted the highlights and rattled off the list of spring fashion trends as we crossed US1 to the mall.
“According to my favorite magazine, we need
- Something beige
- Prints, with a 70s vibe: floral, stripes, and “spots”
- Gingham
- Chunky sweaters and chunky shoes
- High waist acid wash jeans with an 80’s feel
- Whimsical earrings
- A talisman statement ring
- Gloria Steinem sunglasses
- Zebra print
“We’ve got this,” Aubrie said with a nod. “Let’s go!”
InStyle is of course never wrong… The whole mall was awash with beige which was a little underwhelming for two ladies who believe this neutral color does not flatter their skin tones.
The Hunt
But we did find a beige button-down shirt with sequins to give it some flare. I added to it whimsical earrings, cool chunky shoes, and Gloria Steinem glasses.
Too many spring fashion trends in one look? Yep, we moved on!
Not every store allowed people in the fitting rooms due to pandemic precautions, so we found an empty rack and table at the back of a store to put together potential outfits
I find that dresses are the easiest thing to style, and we loved many we found in some fun prints of this season’s spring fashion trends.
We were successful with accessories too.
Floral Duster with cool Striped Necklace ✅
Statement Rings ✅
Zebra AND chunky shoes ✅
We did NOT find one pair of acid wash jeans in our dash through the mall, but I did find the perfect replacement for my pandemic sweats: HIGH WAIST DENIM JOGGERS, with a little stretch in all the right places
Success
Loaded down with bags filled with my new pants, chunky soled shoes, a statement ring and several tiny print dresses that will be easy to throw on for my next Zoom client meeting, Aubrie and I made it to the car with time to spare.
We zipped through the Starbucks drive-through and grabbed a cheese tray to share (because they only had one left in store, not because we weren’t starving for skipping lunch in lieu of shopping and could have easily handled two) and venti concoctions for our favorite 7th graders and made it to the front of the middle school pick-up line, sporting our new over-sized shades, as the bell rang.
Are leggings in fashion? Because I can’t seem to get out of mine. I do love those jean joggers though. Going to have to snatch a pair of those and hopefully my teenagers won’t think I’m “trying too hard!”
LEGGINGS are always in FASHION- don’t let anyone ever tell you differently! The denim joggers are awesome though, and would be a great change, but maybe just as comfortable? and I’m loving the “high waisted” lately.. kind-of holds everything in place!
Omg I’m glad my 7th grader isn’t the only 1 that thinks she can run my wardrobe. She will see me about to leave & will literally tell me “You’re wearing that?!?!?”. Maybe with some of these she will leave me alone.
I mean, come on you 7th grade girls, lol! They give us now credit.. but I do catch mine raiding my closet every once in a while! Ha! She must not think I’m that fashionably challenged.
Which store did you go to??? This article was so much fun. I loved it!
I’m so glad you loved it. We started and spent most of our time at the new space that houses a collection of local fashion boutiques (that same space where the Halloween costumes were, the old Gap I believe. I just scoured the internet and can not find the name of the showroom/space. It was awesome though!) Then we went to Abercrombie & Fitch and Express!
Meredith I want to be you when I grow up!!! I love this! You’re always fashionable too – don’t let those teens tell you otherwise. And if beige is the new black, I’m going to be a disaster this spring in my hot pink. C’est la vie!
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