Happy Valentine's Day! Sharing two un-Valentine's Day like outfits, although one does have a little pink in it!
With Brisbane's summer heart, shorts and a tank are a good way to dress. It's easy to add a little summer layer to them though for more colour, as I've done with each of the outfits below.
Wore this to go to an appointment in the morning. I wanted something easy to wear and it has been a while since I've worn these denim shorts. I was going to wear a different printed tank, but then I saw the kimono and realised that it would look great with stripes. Last time I wore this kimono I tried a little print mixing too. I liked this combination and felt that it looked good, but got a few side eyes when we went out for lunch so maybe it wasn't the best choice. I was happy in it though, and that's all that matters!
Was a really comfortable outfit, with a very practical bag. I had to juggle the baby bag, my handbag and the toddlers, so I appreciated the cross body strap on my Rebecca Minkoff MAM bag as well as the fact that it held everything I needed in it.
Another appointment, going to see the specialist for a checkup for Baby Boy. As I liked the outfit I'd worn above the day before, I wore a similar outfit the next day. A plain black tank this time, with longer bermuda denim shorts and instead of a kimono I added the pink vest. I'd been thinking about wearing my pink blazer again, after seeing Lorna wearing hers so well, but it was a bit warm for that so I went with this pink vest instead.
Again I wore my Rebecca Minkoff MAM bag, it's such a good bag with the boys as the cross body strap makes it so easy to wear. I added this fun wooden statement necklace I got for Christmas too, it looks nice against the plain black tank. As the specialist's office is full of toys I didn't have to worry about wearing a teething necklace to entertain the boys. It's nice to wear non-silicone necklaces sometimes!
Add some colour to a denim shorts and tank outfit in summer with an extra layer. Kimonos and lightweight vests don't overheat you, but add a fun touch to your outfit.
When people asked what to get me for Christmas, I suggested kimonos and necklaces, and was lucky to receive the beautiful ones I'm wearing here. Kimonos are the perfect layer with soft shorts for Brisbane's summer heat, especially when paired with the new necklaces that I got too!
When I unwrapped this Kindness Collective kimono, I thought of these olive shorts right away. A black tank, bag and Havaianas made sense with the black in the print too. I really loved this outfit! It gave me the chance to wear another new piece, this lovely red necklace I also got for Christmas.
My mother in law got me this kimono and was so excited to tell me about the good it does too. Every kindness kimono purchased donates a reusable sanitary kit to help keep girls at school and women at work, and the kimonos are made from remnant fabrics.
It was another day for hubby and I to get things done as we ran around fitting in some errands after a swim, while the boys spent some time with their grandparents. I managed to film some YouTube videos too, a very productive day. I have such a hard time trying to find a quiet time to film them when the boys are in the house, and it's so rare to be at home without the boys! I really want to try more videos this year, so recording a few was helpful.
This combination of printed shorts and kimono together I'm not too sure about though! I wanted to wear both with the new black tank I picked up in the Jeanswest sale with one of my Christmas gift cards. I'd debated them in front of the mirror as I was trying to pick which one to wear and thought that as they are such similar shades of blue, they might look okay in the same outfit. While hubby was unimpressed, I decided to give the combo a try anyway. I don't think I'll be rushing to repeat this print mix, but I'm pleased I tried something new.
Another day of trying to get things done, with another YouTube video filmed despite facing memory card and camera battery issues - it wasn't as productive a day as I'd hoped, ha! Included the video I filmed below. You'll recognise the outfit, although I took the kimono off at home.
Soft, relaxed fit shorts and loose voluminous kimonos are the perfect light layers for a hot summer day. You can keep things neutral with blacks and olives, or try something different and wear another print with your kimonos. Wondering how versatile a printed kimono could really be? 30 ways to wear a floral kimono!
This was supposed to be a quiet day at home with the boys, but ended up with us getting their grandparents to babysit at the last moment as I had to go into the city with hubby in the morning. I am so very thankful that we live nearby to our parents, they help us so much.
I took the chance to wear a proper necklace instead of a teething one for a change! The rose gold heart matches nicely to my rose gold bracelet stack. The first time I wore these shorts I paired them with a bright tank, but when I bought them I was thinking about wearing them with greys for a monochromatic kind of outfit. I've worn the shorts with grey tees before, but I really liked this fitted grey tank. Even if it took me a while to accept my post baby bulge in tight clothes at first!
First time I've worn this kimono, so I thought I'd share my thoughts on it. As mentioned above, it came free from Shein. It actually arrived super quickly via courier, which I wasn't expecting. It did however arrive completely crushed, as expected! Nothing a quick wash and couldn't sort out. This kimono is an air-dry only one, no ironing needed, which is a bonus. Threw it in the washing machine and left it to air dry.
In terms of quality, it had a couple of loose threads I had to cut before I wore it, but no more have appeared since, even after the wash. I like the crochet detail, it was quite popular on Instagram too. The pretty detail on the back is definitely the best thing about it, I don't have any kimonos like that. Even with the detail on the back and the crochet trim, it's so easy to wear as it's a neutral white that goes with everything. Great if you have printed shorts like these that might be tricky to pair with printed kimonos. Pleased to have added it to my summer wardrobe.
Squinting like crazy in these pics! I'd gotten excited when the sun was behind a cloud, setup the camera and tripod and then just as I went to take the pics the sun popped out again, ha!
As the previous day (above) hadn't gone according to plan, we fitted more Christmas fun into this day. We spend the morning in the pool as it was so hot, and then baked some Christmas tree brownies in the afternoon, before taking a walk around the local Christmas lights in the evening. It feels strange to be writing about Christmas so close to the end of January, but I've been so behind with blogging pics!
A kimono is a fun light layer to add to summer outfits, to get the benefits of a complete piece on your outfit without overheating. If you have a lot of printed pieces in your wardrobe, consider a block colour kimono in a neutral shade like this white one. It doesn't have to be boring though, even with a neutral colour you can get fun details like lace, crochet or tseels to add a little more interest to your kimono and outfit.
As I recently got two new foil print tees, I took the chance to wear it with them for a little bit of print mixing: floral with stripes and polka dots. It helped me hit 30 wears of the kimono too!
I've worn this floral kimono with stripes before - stripes are my go-to for print mixing as they really go with everything! When I got this striped tee in the Jeanswest sale I knew I'd wear it with this kimono, i think the grey of the kimono and the silver foil stripes go together nicely. With the busy print mixing on top, I stuck with a neutral pair of shorts on the bottom - another Jeanswest sale purchase! I continued on the grey and silver theme with the grey Rebecca Minkoff love bag with silver hardware. I really liked how this outfit came together, perfect for a quiet Saturday running a few errands.
Once again I'm realising I've worn this tee to my Australian Breastfeeding Association group - it gets worn there quite a lot, haha! I wore this to a topic I'd really been looking forward to - we had a first aid presentation from St John's ambulance. When Toddler T was little, I'd gone to a first aid course for babies and felt quite confident with everything baby first aid related. A few months ago, when Baby Boy fell ill, everything went out the window and I panicked. I barely remembered what to do and had to ask the 000 operator to tell me each step to do as my mind was blank. Instinct kicked in and I did a few things but couldn't remember what to do next, it was scary. It wasn't until we were out of the ambulance and in the hospital when we were asked if we had done a first aid course that it all came flooding back to me, and I started remembering what we'd been taught.
I asked the presenter to cover the topic again for me and it was nice to know I'd done the right thing calling the ambulance. I picked up some other useful tips and advice from her too, that I hope I'll never have to put into practice!
Outfit-wise, I thought the polka dots and floral print was something very different for me. I don't have a lot of polka dot pieces in my wardrobe. Really liked this combo though - I think the gold foil polka dots on the tee work just as well with the floral kimono as the silver stripes on the tee above. And the mustard yellow micro Regan bag is a nice combination with the yellow on the kimono as well as the navy tee. I've worn this tee and bag together before.
I usually do a purchase review after wearing everything I buy twice. The goal is to learn what works and doesn't in my wardrobe, so I make wiser purchasing decisions in the future.
I love these shorts (even if this is the fourth wear, I forgot to do the review earlier). I already had a couple pairs of black shorts, but I got rid of them as I was worried they were too short. These are still short shorts, but slightly longer than the ones I had before, and still just as comfortable (perhaps even more so!). A classic pair of black shorts is essential for Brisbane summers, I'm really pleased I bought these, and thankful for the Christmas gift card I used to buy them!
You don't have to stick with neutral basic pieces when wearing colourful printed kimonos. Stripes and polka dots are fun to try print mixing with. If you're unsure, picking similarly coloured pieces like the silver stripes and grey kimono is a good way to go, and keeping it simple with just two prints and having the rest of your outfit plain makes it easy. The benefit of having one of your pieces being a printed kimono is that if you are unsure when leaving the house and later change your mind, you can easily take that layer off! Linking up with Fabulous Friday, Fab Favourites, Trend Spin.
I hope that you have a very merry Christmas and enjoy spending time with your friends and family on Monday as we reflect on the greatest gift of all, God sending Jesus.
My blog friend Ruth does these 5x5 style challenges on Instagram. Another blog friend, Eileen and I started talking with her about it and thought it would be fun to participate. We decided to do an international style challenge a couple of weeks ago near the end of November.
The rules: 5 pieces of clothing to create 5 outfits over 5 days, with a black and burgundy colour scheme. Accessories like shoes, necklaces, scarves, handbags, outerwear, can be added as needed and don't count as one of the 5 pieces.
Who took part: Ruth @ruthyannie, Eileen @eileensed and myself, @awayfromblue. Ruth did this over autumn in the cold weather, and Eileen had to dress a growing baby bump too! I have so much admiration for them both!
This is going to be a bit of a long post as I share with you what we wore over 5 days! I hope you'll get a lot of outfit inspiration from it though, and discover some new ways you can rewear pieces you already own.
My Capsule Wardrobe
After a few last minute swaps and changes, these are the 5 pieces I came up with for the challenge.
black drawstring waist maxi skirt
black denim shorts
burgundy jersey dress
black, burgundy and cream shirt dress
burgundy slouchy tee
My choices were limited by the colour scheme which helped me make decisions about what to pick as my 5 pieces. The last time I did a capsule, it was my third trimester capsule wardrobe and the growing bump helped limit my options there too! I did have to go into the office for one day which made me pick the shirt dress, even if the print is more red than burgundy. I figured it was close enough!
The main worry I had was around structuring the pieces I wore to allow me to have them washed and ironed ready for the next wear With two messy toddlers it was highly unlikely I was going to be able to wear things twice in a row without washing them! In the end I came up with 6 outfit ideas so that if something wasn't ready in time, I'd have a fall back option.
For the first day of the challenge I went with a classic tee and maxi skirt combo. When I'd first started planning outfits and pieces for the challenge I'd went with a different burgundy tee, and changed my mind and swapped it for this tee instead. I didn't like the way this one sat with the maxi skirt though, I was a bit frustrated with it both tucked and untucked and wasn't as comfortable with this outfit as I could have been. Easy outfit for playgroup though.
This was as 'formal' as my outfits got during the challenge, the majority of them were casual outfits. I had to go into the office, so picked this shirt dress to fit in with the business casual dress code. I found myself fussing with this outfit too during the day though, the dress seemed to ride up a lot and I was constantly tugging it back down. I much prefer wearing this dress as a kimono, or layering it up with tights in winter.
I knew with the darker black and red print on the dress (it's a geometric print although it looks like polka dots in the pics!) that this Marc Jacobs bag would work perfectly with it. This bag doesn't get worn as often as it did when I first got it, but it's still a nice choice for work. It's been tagged in 62 posts on the blog and most of the time it featured in both outfits of the posts, so you can see it was worn a lot in the past! Such a unique colour too, a deep purple-y brown.
The simplest of all my challenge outfits, and also the most popular. I wore this to work from home and attend a specialist appointment with baby boy in the afternoon. With the burgundy star print dress, I added black through my accessories, with the same ankle boots I'd worn the day before and another little worn bag, my Mimco button bag.
This was actually my first expensive bag purchase, despite how little I wear it now I'm never going to let it go. I spent months thinking about it and saving for it and picking out the perfect colour combo I wanted and I still remember the excitement of going to the store to pick it up! Very treasured even if not frequently worn now. I think I bought it in 2007 at the height of the button bag trend, still looks great. Sadly it's discontinued, the closest thing is the Mimco Turnlock bag that's around $200 more expensive than the button bag was 10 or so years ago, or to go to ebay for the classic style.
An incredibly busy day called for a comfortable and casual outfit, and the first wearing of the last of my 5 pieces, my black denim shorts. Added the comfy slouchy burgundy tee and the printed dress was worn as a kimono. Converse were a practical choice for a busy day, and the mustard yellow bag was a fun touch of colour with the black and burgundy.
Baby boy had some more tests at the hospital in the morning, so I had the day off. With my mother in law available to watch the boys, as it was a day I normally work, I made the most of it and she looked after them both once the testing was done so I could gt a rare child free afternoon to go Christmas shopping. And I shopped up a storm, getting the majority of the things remaining on my Christmas present list!
For my fifth and final outfit with my 5 pieces, I wore my denim shorts again and the lovely burgundy dress as a top. I added turquoise accessories with the necklace and Rebecca Minkoff mini MAC bag for an extra touch of colour. I've won dresses as tops before, it's a nice way to wear something a little differently. The extra dress fabric wasn't too bulky although it was a bit of a pain tucking it in to the shorts every time I went to the bathroom! I had considered doubling up on the dresses and wearing the shift dress as a kimono over this again, but despite how little time I spent with the boys the day before it still got messy and had to have a wash. That was the hardest part of this challenge - making sure everything was washed and ironed in time to wear again!
This was a nice outfit to finish the challenge on, I ran around with the boys completing a few errands.
Hope you enjoyed seeing the different outfits we were able to create for the challenge. While it was a fun challenge for me, I was looking forward to getting back into my regular wardrobe at the end of it! Especially after buying lots of new pieces that month that I was eager to wear.
Thanks so much to Ruth and Eileen for inviting me to take part - if you don't already, you should follow them on Instagram!