Ain't No Mom Jeans

A Costume for the True Procrastinating Mom

My friend called the other day. Halloween was less than a week away, and she didn’t plan on getting a costume.  Until she found out the other Moms in her playgroup would be dressing up.  She wanted to know if wearing black and orange socks would be OK.  With an Old Navy Halloween themed tshirt.  No.  No, No, No.  Halloween themed Tshirts are one step away from the dreaded Christmas sweater.  My friend didn’t want to be in costume but wanted to look festive and be able to blend in with the other moms.  Here are a couple of ideas:

October 2008 Mom

Never underestimate the power of a good hoodie.  Our October mom, Jayme, understands this.  A cute hoodie is a great way to infuse a little personal style into the t-shirt-n-jeans combo.  Jayme’s hoodie, in addition to being a great color, has some cool embroidery which gives it an almost handmade, boho vibe.  For breastfeeding moms, hoodies can be thrown on over a nursing cami, and for babywearing moms, hoodies allow you to carry your babe around without worrying about the kid chewing off a button and choking.  And when your hoodie is as embellished as Jayme’s, no jewelry required.  So choose your hoodie wisely and express just how cool you are.

Cool Mom Halloween Costumes

Let me go out on a limb and say that most of us are going to leave the “naughty nurse” costumes in the back of the closet this year.  Which is really too bad for those of us who are breastfeeding...we certainly have the boobs to pull it off, if not the stomach, butt, or desire.  Ah, well.  Such is life.  However, for those of us cool moms who still want to get into Halloween festivities without resorting to wearing plastic Halloween-themed earrings (NO! NO!)...here’s two ideas based on items that are already in your closet.

Draculean Diva

Ok, so it’s no naughty nurse, but you can look...well, a little elegant and still be festive for Halloween.  Dress your little one up as an adorable bat, and you can go as a feminine version of Dracula.  Sweep your hair into a french twist, powder your face with too-light face powder, add some black eyeliner and red lips.  For the costume, simply pull on a black pencil skirt, black tights, black boots and a white button down shirt.  Add a cape.  Plastic fangs are optional.

   

Swackets

It’s a sweater!  No, it’s a jacket!  It’s a...swacket?  Ok, so I made up the term “swacket”.  Just now.  But the term is needed to describe something new that I’ve seen cropping up in the last year or two.  It’s part jacket, part sweater, completely cozy and totally stylish.  It has the look of a jacket but the feel of a sweater.   I love this concept.  In the fall, I’m not quite ready to bust out the serious winter coat, so when the temperature dips, I have a tendency to try and get through fall by layering anything I can.  I’ve thrown Adidas track jackets over my jeans, used my husband’s huge cashmere v-neck sweater, bulky puffer vests, ponchos, etc.  Anything to stave off the serious winter coat for a few more weeks.  But the new swackets are seriously tempting - and will keep me away from the bulky puffer vest (NOTE - breastfeeding moms with huge boobs should not wear bulky puffer vests).  Later, come winter, when temperature really drops, I can layer the swacket under a serious winter coat (like a sweater!).  It’s cute, it’s warm, it can be thrown on over anything else you are wearing, and has a cool name (swacket!) What else can you ask for? 

The Best of Breast Cancer Awareness Goods

If you’re a mom, chances are that “the girls” have been through a lot lately.  Even if you didn’t breastfeed, you still had to deal with watching them rise to horrific proportions when pregnant, leaking milk, soreness, and slapping your husband’s hand away when they became engorged.  If you did (or currently are) breastfeeding, add bad latching, letdown, teething and what my girlfriends refer to as the “tube sock effect” to the list.  Ugh.  The girls could use some TLC.  October is Breast Cancer Awareness month and a perfect time of year to focus on the girls.  So get in the shower, give yourself a breast exam, and treat yourself to some goodies whose proceeds benefit breast cancer research.  Oh yeah -- and once you’re nice and relaxed, schedule that mammogram.