I was just talking with another mom about how becoming a parent changes your style. Realistically, you’re spending more time on the floor in the early years, but as they grow a bit, you’re spending all hours of the day outside. The clothes you wear need to be resilient because they take a beating. They need to be easy to move in and they need to be able to get dirty.
Then there’s the physical change that comes with parenthood when you move geographically from city to suburb and you find a community to raise your children in. Integrating yourself into your children’s lives can sometimes take the funky-ness out of your style. The mom friend of mine, who sparked this thought about evolution of style in motherhood and womanhood, is a super cool musician from LA who honestly looks the part but is now a wild-school, homeschool mom of three boys. We were discussing how coming to the midwest can water down your looks. It can take the fun out of getting dressed because sometimes we need to play the part of midwest mom to “fit in,” in many different ways: with the other moms, and into our children’s lives rolling in the mud.
I think this is a greater representation for the metamorphosis that is motherhood in 2024. Watering ourselves down. Becoming smaller to fit into spaces. Don’t be too overbearing, but just bearing enough.
When I was in college, I studied feminism and I think the biggest pillar of that was Kate Chopin’s The Awakening. It changed my life. Now if you’ve read the novel and are now confused, you should be. I think what makes Edna Pontellier and I so alike is that I am challenging social norms in this day in age by being radical enough to leave the workplace. The choice to be with my children all day everyday rather than pursue a career. It’s that pendulum swing that I reference so much when I talk about getting dressed, the awakening now is listening to our intuition when it’s telling us to homeschool our children or leave a space that’s no longer serving us. It’s the same intuition you should listen to when meeting other moms or getting looks if you aren’t dressed the way they think you should be dressed.
To put this plainly, the opposite of watering down your looks would be just being unapologetically yourself. Obviously this isn’t just for moms, it’s for all of us! I think feeling drab can really make you feel like a drab person or a drab mother. It’s like that age old saying, dress for the job that you want and maybe in this case it’s funky mom who has good taste???
Settling into yourself, I think, means not letting the small town dress code effect how I get ready *all the time.* Wear what I want, be who I am, parent the way that works best for us. I’m not perfect, I still fall into an easy jeans and T-shirt flow and that’s okay too.
Here are a few wild picks that are easy to mom in but are also fun and showcase the fun person that you are.
Stripe cute pants that would be cool with a band tee and sandals.
A “hot mom” top because we aren’t regular moms, we’re cool moms.
I want to wear this dress with flip flops to pizza and beer or the arcade because WHY NOT.
This skirt is on its way to me because I feel like it will give good range of motion for library runs with my kids or music classes.
Thinking about these shorts to wear with a fancy top for a comedy show and I think it will be just confusing enough to onlookers.
As usual, you can find the link to my shop here if you want to browse more of the things I’m loving. I love you all and thank you for being here!
XOXO,
Megan
Beautiful pictures! Love, love, love the purple shorts! 💜 Those white shoes with the ties......super cute! Your so beautiful Megan 😘