Upgrading Your Mommy Style

In my quest to help myself, and other mommies, come back from the brink of frump-ness, I've developed a list of easy, instant wardrobe upgrades that can take your look from strictly sweats to seriously stylish.

1. Mix Up Your Warm Ups: Wearing a head to toe warm-up suit can look dated and predictable. Mix it up by pairing your hoodie with a tunic length tee and skinny jeans, or pair your pants with a chic printed tee in one of the new blousey styles. I love to wear cute, snug hoodies with tunic-length nursing camis and leggings. This hoodie is actually super-chic:
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2. Replace your hoodies with cardigans: Layer a cute cardigan over a tee and a pair of cords for a chick, comfy winter look. I'm obssessed wtih cardigans from Blumarine, Anthropologie and J. Crew. This one is gorgeous and versatile: link

3. Dress to Impress: Look for easy, comfy dresses in jersey and cotton. They're as comfy as your PJs, but infinitely cuter. Shorter dresses and long tunics look fabulous with a pair of leggings. This one can be dressed up or down:
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4. Replace sneakers and flip flops with cute flats: Ballet flats are just as comfortable as sneakers, and they're so much cuter and more versatile. Repettos are superstylish and comfy. link

5. Add a shot of color. Mix brights with brights for a mood-brightening look, and don't be afraid to mix it up. An orange cashmere sweater gets new life when paired with magenta cords and metallic flats. Pairing color with color is so much cooler than mixing brights with black. Take inspiration from this look: link

Like Mother, Like Daughter

In my latest issue of Cookie, I saw an article called "Separated at Birth," which featured mother-daughter dresses in matching hues and styles. I was thrilled to see this featured in a style-conscious magazine, because I've always thought that matching my babies, my own guilty pleasure, was a major fashion faux pas. Not that it's stopped me from doing it. I know, I know. Most of the time, cookie cutter outfits are beyond cheesy, and I've had quite a few unsuccessful expirements myself. But I do believe, as evidenced in the Cookie article, that it's possible to do it tastefully. Here's my take on the pros and pitfalls of dressing like your daughter:

1. Don't Sacrifice Your Style: Wearing something that you'd never otherwise consider just to match your child is a mistake, as I learned in several, ill-fated Hanna Andersson expirements. On more than one occasion, I've chosen outfits solely based on the fact that they came sized for me and my babies, and never wanted to wear them. They made me feel like cheesy matchy-mom, not cool Euro-mom, as I'd expected.

2. Don't be too matchy-matchy: One of my the few times I've pulled off a mother/daughter look successfully was last Christmas, when the whole family donned Burberry. Lola wore an adorable jumper, Eva a top and and bloomers, I wore a polo style dress with just a touch of the plaid on the button placket, and my husband wore a Burberry sweater that was striped and not plaid at all. We all looked good, and we all looked like ourselves, wearing clothes we actually liked. One year I found a strapless brown cotton gauze dress that was the same material as one of Lola's litle dresses, and it worked, because I loved my dress. Match colors, or patterns, or something, but not head to toe looks. Maybe you could both wear yellow tops, and your daughter could pair hers with a white skort while you wear white wide-leg pants.

3. Take a picture. If you do manage to pull off matching looks, document it. After all, she won't want to look just like mommy forever!



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