my week in black

The very stylish Andrea over at Fox in Flats has been running a series of style dares to get Mums out of the Mum uniform rut. Her first dare was to wear red lipstick from morning til bedtime, Andrea describes her inspiration here:

Am totally stealing the idea from a cool book I’ve just started to read called Anonymumsabout a few mothers who, bored with the perceived monotony of their lives, give each other dares to spice things up a little.

Made me think about how it is easy to fall into a fashion rut once we become mums, and we acquiesce into the sartorial monotony of our ‘mummy uniforms‘.

So, at Fox in Flats we’re instigating a ‘Dare of the Week‘ where each week we’ll challenge ourselves to trying something that might just be out of our style comfort-zone, but might just spice things up a little too.

I have been a long time lurker in the bloggy world and have only just started getting my confidence to participate in this beautiful community, so this is my first go at one of the Fox in Flats style dares. Those of you who know me will know that I am an absolute colour girl, so this was a massive challenge for me to do...

Day 1 - In a favourite outfit, I'm well within my comfort zone. 

Day 2 - Realised that I would have to be strategic for the week to manage my washing timing with having a suitable outfit for the day's activities. It was 35º+ today and I rode my bike to work. A fitted lined dress was not the greatest choice, but there were multiple moments when I gave myself mental high fives for the modesty leggings as my dress rode up to my upper thigh. Especially when I was riding through the construction site that used to be Victoria Park!! Another negative for this outfit was the ballet flats have a very slippery leather sole that is most unpredictable for cycling in. The MASSIVE plus was all the lovely compliments I received!

Day 3 - Today's outfit rocked! The girls at work noticed that I'd been doing something a little different, so I filled them in on the style dare. But more excitingly, I'd actually forgotten that I owned these shorts! I'm looking forward to more warm days to get more use out of them this Summer (now that I know they exist again!!) And the heels and shorts combo was so much easier to ride in than the flats and LBD from day 2!

Day 4 - I love this outfit. It was completely perfect for my day. Comfy ride to work. Stylish enough for work (I am in a creative industry, so no need for corporate attire), then perfect for helping out at basketball training after school. And suited the 30º+ temperature perfectly. All in all an excellent outfit.

Day 5 - I love this top! It is my most awesome always feel happy and confident wearing it top. I love it with this necklace. I saved it for Friday because it was the first P&F meeting of the year and I am president, so had to chair the meeting. That might make me sound like a person who is full of confidence and who knows what she is doing. But I am not. I needed a little superficial something to help me out and this outfit was it. I felt good and we had a pretty good meeting. I always feel nervous that no one will turn up. It feels like I am 15 again. I feel so relieved as I see the room starting to fill. We had lots of positive people and lots of new mums, so it is great to know that the P&F will have the strength to continue.

Day 5 (part 2) - I had planned on adding heels and extra make-up for Friday night dinner with the girls, but after getting stuck into my declutter inspired by Sarah at A Beach Cottage I was way too festy to not get changed. After taking the old clothes to the Salvos and our bottles to the recycling depot (where I also discovered that the Magill Recycling Depot take old clothes that aren't good enough for the Salvos) I had 45min to kill before school pick up. So I took myself off to Kmart and invested $29 in this cute new dress. I styled it up with my favourite brooch and beads plus a belt and was rewarded with lots of compliments from the girls. (My girl told me that she loved my outfit and thought I looked like a fashion coach, I just needed to be wearing converse high tops. I love her so much and don't want her to turn into a teenager who hates me!!) I had the most awesome dinner with a group of girls who I love and adore and who are an absolute inspiration to me.

Day 6 - I had to organise a babysitter for Friday night because Mr G had a pre-season soccer game (argh!!!!) Mr G's brother and sister-in-law stepped up and Miss M had a great night with her cousins. We had little sleep in, then picked her up from her cousin's tennis. We got to see our nephew play a terrific game of tennis. (Proud Aunty moment!) I was possibly a little hot in long pants, but was pleased that the scarf both hid my bed head, and made it look like I had made an effort! I felt super stylish doing the Saturday chores (Note all the black on the clothes line!)

Day 7 - There was a potential point of weakness on today, the final day. My sister and I run on a Sunday morning, then follow it up with a lovely coffee and a chat at Taylor Blend. I do not own a summer black running top. I could have worn a regular black singlet. But I think when you are getting close to 40 and are wearing Skins on the bottom, it's important to wear something baggy on top! Plus when you plan to run for an hour, there is no room for taking chances on clothes that could chafe.

My Skins are black and I borrowed Mr G's black Man Utd cap and decided that was close enough. I think I made it up tonight though with my black top and shorts combo with yellow accessories for dinner at the Italian Club with our cycling group.

Five lessons from my week in black:
1. A theme makes it fast and easy to get dressed in the morning (maybe the minimalists are on to something!)
2. Wearing black is like being a human vacuum cleaner (a clothes brush is your friend)
3. Having a theme makes you search your wardrobe and find things you forgot you owned.
4. There are lots of different ways you can incorporate colour into simple outfits and restyle old clothes.
5. I love leggings.