Perfect Holiday Outfits that Hide Your Gut

As we enter into the festive season, I figured I'd do a blog post on what to wear during the holidays. As I started pulling outfits for the post, I realized I'd better start planning my holiday outfits as well. Keeping in mind how much I end up eating during the holidays, I began searching for items that would hide my gut... Then I thought- maybe other people would be interested in this too, so, I decided to change the jist of my post to- "The Top 3 Holiday Outfits that will keep you looking chic, and Grandma won't think your preggers" post.

The Track Pant- 

Yes, as in sweatpants. First- super trendy pants. Second- elastic comfy waist. Third- what more can you ask for (I think I hear angels singing). Track pants come in an array of silhouettes, prints and fabrics like- faux leather, cotton knit, camouflage prints, relaxed fit, skinny, faux snakeskin and embellished. They compliment most figures and can easily be incorporated into any personal style. You can dress track pants down with an updated sweatshirt for a casual T-Day dinner or dress it up for a glamorous look. Take a pair of sparkly track pants, pair them with a classic merino wool sweater, fabulous heeled ankle boots and some bold accessories. Don't forget the diaper bag filled with movies, toys, games (of course diapers) and anything else to keep the kiddos occupied so you can enjoy your holiday meal to it's "fullest".

Thanksgiving Outfit- Track Pants by mk-344pm featuring a matte lipstick

The Over sized Sweater / Cape

Over sized sweater / cape- It's flowy, comfy, stylish and great for covering all the right areas. To avoid looking overwhelmed by the cape, pair it with slim fit pants or a pencil skirt. In the example below, I've paired a cape with waxed denim pants and bold accessories. The great thing about waxed denim is that it has the chic look of leather, without being leather, and it offers a bit of stretch since it's denim. There are also lots of stretch waxed denim styles available to give your added comfort. This outfit is perfect for a Holiday dinner with the family where you can eat to your hearts content and then kick off those heels and comfortably "roll around" and play with the kiddos.

Thanksgiving Outfit- Cape Sweater by mk-344pm featuring home wall decor

The A-Line Dress

If you're in the mood for a dress, an A-line dress is the way to go. Wrap dresses, dresses with ruching, or bold prints always help to deflect from the tummy area. Avoid tight belts around the waist or lots of pleats. Empire waist dresses are great, however, these dresses have a tendency to make you look bigger (going back to not wanting Grandma to thing your preggers) so be mindful of where the dress cuts at the waist, make sure it's not too high. Pair an a-line dress with tall boots and a faux fur shrug for an elegant look.

Thanksgiving- A Line Dress Outfit by mk-344pm featuring a distressed dining table

Wishing you and your family a very Happy, Safe and Relaxing Thanksgiving!!!!

(For information on the outfits featured above, please click on the picture)

Boot Up

The leaves are changing colors, the weather is getting cooler, fun holidays like Thanksgiving are coming up, and soon we’ll be ringing in a new year. The thing that gets me all warm and fuzzy about this “most wonderful time of the year” is that I get to wear (and buy) boots!!! Boots are a great accessory and can really pull an outfit together.

 Here are some tips on how to wear some of the top boot silhouettes.

 Ankle Boots

Ankle boots look best with skirts, skinny jeans, or a pair of boyfriend jeans with the cuff rolled up. The key with rolled up denim is that you want to expose the ankle, or wear socks so that the jean does not directly hit at the top of the boot, which is right at the ankle. This could give it an unflattering look.

Mid Calf Boots

I love mid-calf boots, but the problem with these boots is that they tend to make you look shorter because of where they cut at the leg. But, that doesn’t mean that anyone under 5ft 4” can’t wear these boots. Wear a skirt above the knee with tonal tights and pair this with mid-calf heel boots. This will help to elongate the leg and not make you look shorter.

Also, watch where the height of the boot hits your calf. If you have skinny calves its best that the boot hits just under your calf so the focus can be on the leg. If you have wider calves it’s best that the boot hits above your calf so that the boot doesn’t appear to be tight.

 Tall Boots

Almost anything goes with tall boots. Skinny jeans, boot cut jeans, skirts, you name it. If you are petite I’d recommend wearing a shorter / mid length skirt. If you’re long and lean, go for a pair of cowboy boots with a long and flowy skirt. The other great thing about knee boots is that they now come in a variety of calf widths making them accessible to all shapes and sizes. A tip on how to keep from having your jeans get untucked, first tuck your jeans in your socks, then wear the boot over them.

Wishing you all a happy boot wearing season!!

Fashionable Fanny Packs ie- Best Mama Bag ever!

No longer referred to as "fanny pack", but instead, the belt bag, hip pack, waist pack, waist pouch, etc., is now my new favorite accessory. I tried so hard to avoid the dreaded fanny pack that I totally overlooked the cool fanny pack alternatives. The belt bag (there are so many names, we'll just call it belt bag for now) is my fashionable bag savior (cue - Angels singing).

A little history so you can fully appreciate my joy for the belt bag. Pre-Mama I was running around town with my fashionable clutches, wristlets and totes, I was in the fashion industry after all... Fast forward to becoming a Mama, my bag of choice- ENORMOUS diaper bag, not very fashionable. Hop to the "potty trained daughter" stage- One day,in my desperation to go back to my fashionable purse days, I dug out my Coach wristlet and went to the park. I leaned in to catch my daughter as she came swooshing down the slide, and I bopped her on the head (not very hard of course) with my wristlet... After the 3rd time this happened, I decided it was time to put the wristlet back in my closet.... Giant step forward to "Mama of a kindergartner" stage- At this point I'm feeling good, because I'm starting to use my very fashionable cross body purse. I was out with my daughter, and she fell while riding her bike. I bent down to help her up and... yup, I bopped her with my cross body purse. The cross body purse went back to the closet.

Present Day- Walking around town, toting a bag that, lets say is not very suitable to house my sweet Prada wallet... and I see it- The Belt Bag!!! (This is when the angels started singing in my head). I immediately ran in the store and bought my Michael Kors Belt Bag (pictured below).

Michael kors- macys

MICHAEL Michael Kors Belt, Lock Charm Belt Bag- macys.com

Prepping to blog about my amazing find, I stopped to view the Tory Burch Spring 2014 show at New York Fashion Week (streaming live) and what do I see?? A BELT BAG!!! (pictured below). I shrieked, I danced and I dubbed myself the coolest, most fashionable Mama.

Tory Burch 2014

Tory Burch- Spring 2014 Fashion Show (NY Fashion Week)

I think belt bags are great for so many reasons- 1) Uber fashionable- I can wear it without having to lose my sense of style ; 2) You can wear the belt bag with anything!! A dress, a suit to work, jeans, anything! 3) Perfect for Mamas- Three words- Hands Free Bag ; 4) Perfect for non-Mamas- Three words- Hands Free Bag... However, wear your belt bag with caution. They are best used for small items like your license, a couple of credit cards, some cash and quite possibly your phone. Do not over stuff the belt bag, once you do, it won't look pretty... There are various sizes and price points available in belt bags. Find the one that best suites your needs and start parading around your cool "fanny pack". Oh, I've been eying this prAna one as well :)

Prana hip pack- zappos

Prana The Little Seed Hip Pack- zappos.com

The Best Father's Day Gift Idea

Father's Day is right around the corner and I always struggle with what to get. A tie? A shirt? A Book? A gift card? A "Best Daddy" T-Shirt?? I don't know...

Same old ideas for Father's Day Gifts

Well, last week I had an epiffany. One morning I woke up suffering from the worst allergies (I don't like Spring) and decided to call it a "sick day", and curled back in bed. I glanced over at my husband getting ready for work and noticed that he was wearing the SAME black suit, with the SAME white shirt, and BORING tie. Then, I glanced at the closet and noticed it was full of great shirts, ties and suits. I screamed, asked sweetly, "Why don't you ever wear that check shirt?" He huffed, lovingly said, "I don't have anything that matches it". I thought- yes and you do, you just don't know how to put the outfit together. And Viola!! My idea for the BEST FATHER'S DAY GIFT popped into my head. I'll mix and match his clothes for him so that I don't have to see him wear the same outfit over and over so that he can easily choose, and wear, a perfectly paired outfit. He left, I popped an antihistamine and decongestant, and sprung into action. I had 5 suits, 9 shirts and 16 ties to work with. I came up with 200+ outfits. My husband came home from work and exclaimed (he really did exclaim), "This is the Best Father's Day Gift!".

So, I pass this great gift idea on to you, my friends... Now, did it take some time to do? Yes... Are there things I could have done to make it go faster, or at least a little easier? Yes... Here are some tips on the "how tos" to create the "Best Father's Day Gift".

How to Create the "Clothing Catalog":

1) Let Technology be your friend!- Had I thought about this earlier I probably would have kept my husband's phone and downloaded one of the many apps out there. I've used StyleBook before and it's been easy to use. While I think it most likely would've taken the same amount of time to take the pictures, the difference would be that he now would have a digital catalog of all the items he owns, and can access the pictures anywhere, anytime and even add / delete pictures.

Use an App!

2) Make it a Family Affair- The more people there are to do the work, the faster it will go. It's a great kid-friendly Father's Day project. Depending on what is age appropriate for your little one, you can have them count the clothes, name the colors, sort the ties and shirts, work with you on matching colors and even be your little gopher by having to find and get "the green tie" or "blue shirt".

Get the kiddos involved!

"How To" Create the Outfits:

1) Pattern to Solid Ratio- If the man in your life is P.Diddy, Johnny Depp or an uber cool guy, having 3 patterns, meaning a pattern suit, pattern shirt and pattern tie, will work. Or, if he's comfortable with it, then go for it! But, if he's in the middle or even more conservative usually 0 to 2 patterns work fine. Feeling a bit conservative? Go for 3 solids. Want to step it up a bit? Go for 2 solids and a pattern. Taking it up, but not quite the P.Diddy level? Go for 1 solid and 2 patterns.

Solid Suit, Solid Tie, Pattern Shirt- 1 Pattern, 2 Solids

Pattern Pinstripe Suit, Pattern Tie, Solid Shirt-               2 Pattern, 1 Solid

2) Color / Pattern Match- I'll admit that putting together men's clothing can be a bit intimidating with all the various patterns, colors etc. Easiest thing is to find a common core color in both items and match those. For example, if you have a thin blue stripe shirt and a blue and pink stripe tie, the core color is blue and they match up with each other. But, also be careful with the pattern. You do not want to just stick two core colors together, think of the scale of the patterns and make sure they work together.

How not to color match

How NOT to color match- Even though there are blues here, the patterns do not match

How TO color match- Purple in each and the patterns compliment each other

Anyone have other ideas on how to mix and match suits? I'd love to hear them. Wishing all a Happy Father's Day!

This season's winner of the ugly shoe- Wedge Sneakers

They pop up here and there, always rearing their strange heads. You try and look the other way, but it won't escape you, and the next thing you know you are at the shoe store spending ridiculous amounts of money on the ugly, trendy shoe, you swore you would never buy... We've all been there, some more (ahem..) than others, but we all find ourselves purchasing either Uggs, Birkenstock sandals, Teva sandals, Five Finger Shoes, Crocs, etc etc. This season, the Wedge Sneaker slips into the #1 spot for the ugly trendy shoe we MUST have. We have to thank designer Isabel Marant for bringing this to the forefront. She showed her "Willow Leather and Suede Sneaker" at her Sp 13 show last year, and it sold out instantaneously, and I said "uh oh"... And there it was again, shown for F 13 and, yup, I said "uh oh" again...

Isabel Marant Willow Leather and Suede Sneaker. marantfanshop.com

But, like its predecessors, I went from "yuck!" to cozying up to the idea of wearing the ugly wedge sneaker. After all, with the wedge, concealed or not, it gives height as compared to a regular sneaker. For us petite people, that's worth it!!! So, I've decided to bring you to my dark side as well. If you're looking at the sneaker and saying "this trend is for juniors only" or "what the heck am I supposed to wear those with?" Well, I'm here to say, it's a trend for all ages and you really can wear them with ALMOST anything.

First and foremost, because of the bulkiness of wedge sneakers they should be worn with narrow bottoms, so stick to skinny jeans, leggings, narrow ankle pants or skimmers. Short to mid length skirts and shorts are good too. Here are some ideas-

Believe it or not, you can go "classic" with the wedge sneaker. Pair it with skinny jeans and a trench coat for an early spring look.

Madden Girl Shoes, Hickory Wedge Sneakers- macys.com ; 1969 Curvy Skinny Jeans- gap.com ; Merona Womens Trench Coat- target.com ; Stripe Scoopneck Tee- usa.tommy.com

Meeting friends for Sunday Brunch? Pair wedge sneakers with skimmer jeans and a fabulous tote for a casual summer look.

Wedge sneakers 3

Unlisted Shoes, Of-fence Wedge Sneakers- macys.com ; 1969 Legging Skimmer Jeans- gap.com ; Womens Drop Shoulder Jersey Top- oldnavy.com ; MICHAEL Michael Kors- Jet Set Signature tote- nordstrom.com

Want to embrace your edgy side? Pair wedge sneakers with black leggings or skinny leather pants, a rock and roll tee and a biker jacket.

Wedge sneakers 1

Target Shayenne High Top Grey- target.com ; 1969 Legging Jeans- gap.com ; “Rock” Graphic Cut Off tee- nordstrom.com ; Studded Faux Leather Biker Jacket- nordstrom.com

Do you yah! or nay! the wedge sneaker...