In honor of Mother's day today, I will be dedicating this post to my lovely mom:
My mom isn't exactly a style icon, and she claims to not care about fashion or "stuff like that," but since I moved away to school a few years ago, I have realized that my mom has actually taught me a lot about personal style and clothing. Here are 5 things my mom has taught me:
1. Always, and I mean ALWAYS, pack a swimsuit:
This one isn't as much a personal style tip as much as it's a life-tip, but since it has to do with clothes, I thought I would include it. I remember this one time, my mom took the family skiing in Tahoe for the day, and on our way home we got stuck in a blizzard and ended up having to spend the night in a hotel on the side of the road-- a hotel with an indoor pool, that is!! Luckily, since my mom had packed us all swimsuits for
a day long ski trip in a blizzard, my sister and brother and I had a great time swimming all night, while my mom tried to figure out what the hell she was going to do about the blizzard. I wish I could say this was the only ridiculous situation where I randomly had a swimsuit when literally
no one else in the entire world would have packed one, but thanks to dear old mom, it was not.
2. Shop at thrift stores! Little known fact: thrift stores sell the best everything. My mom used to drag me along with her to get anything from bulletin boards, to old bikes, to clothes, to entire dish sets, to... anything you can think of. (The best part? Entire rooms filled with books.. What mom ISN'T going to by her 11-year-old daughter 67 books at 25 cents apiece? But I digress.) Now that I'm older and wiser, I've used my mom's thrifting talents to maintain a cute wardrobe while working for less than minimum wage.. thanks, mom!
3. Target has some cute clothes!
My mom is one of those hippy-turned-suburban working moms who isn't "materialistic" (her word, not mine) enough to care about fashion or rich enough to buy all of her clothes at Guess and Ralph Lauren, but is just professional (elementary school teacher) enough to need to look presentable on a daily basis. Enter Target. See, when I shop at Target, I mainly only buy socks, or cheap shoes, and never really venture into the "real clothing" section. Yet somehow, when I'm shopping in MC (mom's closet), suddenly all the dresses and blouses I had scoffed at earlier in the store jump out at me and they instantly look cuter. On her, they look even better.
Again:
even when she's not wearing them my mom makes Target clothes look cute... Whaaaaa?
4. Sometimes, style takes work:
A few years after my mom dragged me shopping all the time, my best friend Kate and I started dragging my mom shopping all the time. Prom dresses, jeans, back-to-school clothes,you name it, we made her come to the mall with us to get it. We would always squeeze the three of us (sometimes more if she had to bring my little sister or brother along.. those were fun days) into one changing room, and try everything on while she critiqued, re-hung clothes, grabbed different sizes, and complained about prices (poor, poor mom). Every so often she would pull one of these little gems of an expression, like "you look poured into those jeans," (meaning they were too tight). Regardless, even after being in the
same dressing room for 4+ hours, my mom was a pretty good sport, and helped me understand that, no matter how much I hate shopping, sometimes style takes work (especially when trying on swimsuits, ugh.)
5. Always be yourself:
My mom was so happy that I wore converse to my high school graduation, I swear to god she almost cried. "It's just so YOU!" she kept saying over and over and over...and over again. [Side note: a couple of years later when my mom was helping me move into a new apartment, she was apparently appalled by the number of shoes I had. At one point, I clearly remember her yelling "MY DAUGHTER, the daughter I RAISED, has
this many shoes??!" from the bottom of the 4 flights of stairs up which she was trying to lug my shoe collection. When I reminded her that probably 75% of them were sneakers, and only 2 pairs of them were heels, she still didn't seem too convinced of their value (although that may have had something to do with the fact that she was carrying them up stairs).] Even if it consists of mainly t-shirts and jeans, or target dresses and clogs, my mom has maintained her own personal style and always manages to call me on it when I'm wearing something that just isn't me. With the help of my mom, I've realized that my own style isn't as much about "fashion" or wearing whatever expensive designers are "in" right now, but more about wearing what I feel comfortable in, gives me confidence, and complements my best features.
So, Mom, happy Mother's Day, and thank you for teaching me about style!! I know you don't always agree with my fashion choices, and many times I just straight-up ignore your advice, but when it comes down to it, I respect your opinion, and will always keep these five things (and more!) in mind. I also know, that, come time for me to be shopping for a way-too-expensive white dress that I will only be wearing one time (a big no-no under my mom's rules), I will want you there with me in the dressing room for 5+ hours, and that I would never buy a wedding dress that you wouldn't approve of (although, I'm just gonna break the news now-- I will
not be walking down the aisle in Target. Sorry). There are also many other, way more important things that you have taught me, but I figured that, if I could write this much about what you've taught be about
style, probably no one would ever want to read the amount you have taught me about anything else. Love you, mom!
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| Mom and me like.. 3 or 4 years ago?? |
Happy Mother's Day to my mom, and all of the other moms out there!
I hope you all know that no matter how many times we roll our eyes at you, fight with you, ignore your advice, and possibly even make fun of your clogs, your daughters love you, respect you, and unintentionally dress kind of just like you. <3
