Getting dressed




I have been ruminating on this post idea for a little while and I thought it would be fun and possibly helpful to share part of my thought process when it comes to getting dressed each day. Finding my style as a mom has been an interesting journey! (Isn't all of parenthood?) I felt like learning how to dress my big ol’ pregnancy belly and expanding *ahem* areas with Coralee was a bit of a fuss but the real struggle (and surprise!) was the postpartum wardrobe. I think I’ll go into greater length on that topic in a future tutorial post but suffice it to say it surprisingly hadn’t crossed my mind what I would wear after my daughter was born! It quickly became clear that my pre-baby clothes weren’t going to fit any time soon and I couldn’t stand wearing my maternity clothes any longer. I started to rock some loose tops and stretchy pants for comfort (because that first month was all about SURVIVAL) but after the storm settled and life got a bit “easier” I found myself in sort of a fashion rut. I didn’t want to live in lounge clothes but was kind of torn on what to wear in those days! Side note, if athleisure is your thing, that is awesome and I see no problem in wearing what you love!! But getting dressed has always been something I’ve enjoyed so learning how to be feel my best and still be practical enough for the demands of staying home and taking care of Coralee around the clock was a process. I tried to be super low key in my style but it just wasn’t me. I think where I am at now is a healthy middle ground, I’m not accessorized head to toe haha but I still feel like Karina! Now to the main point of my post; Something that I have learned in my two years of being a mama is that when I get dressed for the day, like actually dressed not just clean sweatpants (although those are good too!) my day goes so much better! Its not a magical formula or anything, I still need my coffee and time with Jesus to be a functional human being, but wearing something clean and stylish brings my attitude to a new level. (Ok maybe I am kind of obsessed with clothes and I need an excuse to wear them all but hey there are worse things, wink) I usually grab the first two things I see, a top and cardigan that might be placed near each other in my closet or a pair of jeans poking out of my drawers. I call it intuition (maybe it's just laziness) but nonetheless it works! A couple months ago I tried laying out my clothes the night before, I've since abandoned that practice but maybe I will pick it up again because that was kind of fun! Definitely a time saver if you have somewhere important to be the next day. I’ve also found that my jeans seem to stay cleaner than black yoga pants anyways! Maybe it’s my imagination but I swear it’s true! For days that I am at home I love wearing F21 jeans because they are comfy because of the stretch and so cheap so I’m not stressed about getting anything on them, the dark wash skinny pair for like $10 is my jam! When I was working as a personal stylist I found that even though I was doing the majority of my work from home I felt more confident in my work knowing I was taking my own advice ;) I think this experience helped to “give me the freedom” to dress cute even if Keenan and Coralee were the only ones to see me that day, and hey they are pretty special so why not! ;) I guess my ultimate aim in sharing all of this is to encourage you to try it, getting ready for the day even if you don’t necessarily have anywhere to be! If that sounds miserable I totally understand and you gotta do you. Its just that I’ve found treating every day as a “special occasion” in a sense has helped me overcome what could at times feel overly routine and mundane. On a somewhat related note something I started trying to do a couple months ago was to do my best to stop and soak in the lovely and good moments as a mom. Like really stop and enjoy that baby giggle or relish a few moments of quiet while she peacefully sleeps. I started doing this because I found myself extremely stressed when something would go wrong, like a middle of the night wakeup with teething pain or I don’t know something frustrating like a bowl full of food getting pushed onto the floor. I’m sure there are better examples but my point here was to try and remind myself of all the good in life so that when things stink maybe I will realize it’s not so bad!  I love reminding myself of this simple quote “A bad day doesn’t mean a bad life” because my emotional personality (ENFP) can get things out of focus quick. Ultimately the truth is that God is good no matter what so I like to keep short truths in mind to keep that in view. Anyhow back to the main point about getting dressed, a bonus to getting into this practice, when I get ready for the day I don’t have to worry about who I might see (haha) and if something unexpectedly comes up, like a fun invite to the park, I’m already ready to go! I try to get out of the house at least once a day whether its a walk or coffee run. Pre-mom Karina would have found this hilarious that I had to try to get out of the house but the struggle can be so real, and I only have one child at the moment! Anyhow I think that is enough rambling for now, I hope you enjoyed this lengthy and more personal post, happy dressing to all you fabulous friends!




(As you can see from all of my pictures that wearing a hat is my secret weapon because although I love getting dressed I don't really enjoy styling my thick mop of hair! I could work on that, wink)

XOXO

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