Ain't No Mom Jeans

Mom Street Style - July 2009 Mom

Summer is two-thirds over.  Let me take stock:

Daily Ice Cream Cone?  Check.

Flip-flops covered in sand?  Check.

Bubbles blowed?  Check.

Made strawberry jam, gotten sick on Smores, lost bikini bottom playing in waves, built sandcastles, watched a parade?  All check.

But I haven't yet gone canoing, or waterskiing or had grilled peaches or counted the stars. Sigh.  There's only a month left - I better get busy.  

  The end of July always gives me reason to pause - summer is almost over.  I take August on like a job.  And perhaps because of the heat, perhaps because I find myself more focused on campfires, swimming, and fireflies....I ease up on things like makeup, washing my hair, or what I'm wearing.  I tend to wear the same 3 outfits in rotation, just adding a sweater for cooler nights, with my hair in a ponytail and an SPF lip balm.  August should be easy.  And our July mom is wearing a perfect outfit to take on August - one that looks much better than my usual August rotation but one that is just as easy.

Jennifer, our July mom of 3 boys (pictured above with her oldest son, Jack), is wearing a swingy, cotton, navy tshirt dress from Target.  She paired it with a colorful Vera Bradley bag, a simple silver Tiffany necklace and nude flip-flops (and you know I love how nude shoes elongate the legs!).

Can You Wear Dark Jeans in Summer?

Reader Question:

Hi,
Can you wear dark jeans in the summer?  I have been thinking about this for a while and was hoping you might be able to shed some light on the subject.

Answer:

Absolutely!  The super saturated color of dark jeans look fantastic with a bright white top, or any of summer's bright colors.  Dark wash jeans are flattering, and add polish.  Your outfit will always look a bit dressier with dark wash jeans. 

A few styling ideas...

Best Strapless Bras for Moms with Post-Nursing (aka Saggy) Boobs

Pregnancy is tough on a body.  One of the perks, however, are the boobs.  They are fantastic.  Large, perky, able to mesmerize men with just a hint of cleavage.  At around 6 months pregnant, my boobs literally rendered my husband speechless with joy.  Unfortunately for him, my boobs were also too sore to be touched, breathed on, glanced at, or thought about.  "Stop looking!  Stop thinking about looking!"

Nursing boobs reach even more epic proportions.  Immediately after giving birth, my boobs reached heights that would clearly save me from drowning.  But what goes up must eventually come down.  And whether you nursed or not, most moms I know are lamenting the fact that their girls are starting to migrate south.  This problem can often be solved with a fantastic push-up bra, but, as one of our readers, Esther, asked, "what can moms do when they need a strapless bra?"  Must we face up to the fact that our choices are either:  1.  use those horrible clear plastic bra straps (which fool no-one, BTW) or 2. reach a zen-like state where our sagging boobs are something to be proud of - we are MOTHERS, hear us roar, etc, etc.  Not that I'm anti-roaring.  But I don't like either of those choices.

So, we at Ain't No Mom Jeans went to the experts.  We asked two owners of very fabulous, drool-worthy lingerie stores - both known for amazing customer service and specializing in bra fittings - to weigh in on this problem. 

Best Beach Bags - Envirosax Bags

I'm a huge Envirosax bag fan. They are lightweight, durable, and come in the best patterns and colors (my current favorite, pictured left, is from their Planet Green line).  I always keep at least one in my diaper bag, lest I should ever find myself in Whole Foods without an environmentally friendly way to transport my groceries.  The Whole Foods cashiers are usually pretty understanding, but I still can't deal with the guilt.  I can only imagine what they would say after I left:

Checkout Girl1:  "OMG this TOTAL mess of a mom came in this morning!  Her kid was only wearing one shoe, had gross cereal bar smeared in his EYES and HAIR and was eating chocolate chips.  And the worst part.....she actually asked for a paper bag!
Checkout Girl2:  "OMG - NO!  She clearly doesn't love her son enough to want to leave him a cleaner planet."
Checkout Girl1:  "I know, right?  I feel sad for him.  Hey - have you tried the new vegan white chocolate blended latte?  Totally gluten free."

In addition to being a fabulous option when buying groceries, I use my Envirosax bags when shopping in the mall, at the Farmer's market, I use them to transport dirty or wet clothes/shoes/blankets/etc  and I've started using them at the pool or the beach.  As beach bags, they are genius.