A Year in Outfits

Now that we’re drawing so close to the end of the year, I thought I’d do something I don’t think I’ve done before – a whole year of outfits rounded up! Some of my favorite bloggers do this, and I always think “oh, this year I will!” and then forget at the end of the year. But I remembered, as you can see! So, join me for a little walk down fashion-memory-lane, see my favorite outfit each month, and my memories of what was going on this year! And, if you want to see more of an outfit, just click on it.

My favorite outfit in January happens to be the post when we announced that we were pregnant with Evie. I remember in January I wasn’t feeling too great — I had  a lot of sickness with her that lasted all day long and kept me on the couch a lot, so I didn’t share too much at the beginning of the year. But I absolutely love the above dress, with its mushrooms and butterflies and overall woodland theme, and I think this was really the beginning of my love for capes.

By February I was starting to feel better, although I still had a big gag reflex and some general mild nausea that would follow me into about 26 weeks with this pregnancy. We had moved in with my parents and lived in their unfinished 1970’s basement that boasted features like beams to house spiders, a pump that often failed and flooded the basement, and, later, an infestation of mice. Nothing against my parents, but it was not my favorite place to live. Because spiders and mice.

But! My favorite outfit was my favorite for what should be obvious reasons: polka dots, florals, vintage skirt. Basically, my go-to so far as outfits are concerned.

I also tried the No Shampoo method wherein you use baking soda and vinegar water on your hair, and never updated. So, if you’re still waiting for that here’s the rundown: my hair got super super dry even after many attempts to adjust things, and I ended up going for natural shampoos instead and only have to shampoo my hair about once a week now. It is now the healthiest it’s ever been! So, that’s good.

March brought in feeling so much better during pregnancy, getting settled into life at my parents’, and taking advantage of their beautiful property for photos. We were looking forward to finding out the gender of Evie at that point, and I was convinced it was a girl since I had this really weird gag reflex and still woke up queasy most mornings. But a discovery that Kombucha killed off that queasiness almost instantly made life so much better. I was so thankful to have my mom right there to help with Asa during these weeks of predictable morning nausea!

My favorite outfit was that amazing horse-and-foliage-print 1960’s dress that I had found at the thrift store; I still cannot get over just how awesome it is! It’s one of those pieces you dream of finding but never think you actually will, and a few small adjustments made it fit perfectly. It’s an item of clothing that fits just as well when I’m not pregnant as it does when I’m 8 months pregnant, and I’ll love it forever!

In April, I turned 27 and celebrated my first birthday without my grandma, on whose birthday I was born. It was bittersweet, and I still miss her so much. There were so many things I wish she could have known — our baby girl, Asa’s constant hilarity — and I always regret not picking up the phone the last time she called. I still have that message in my inbox waiting to be listened to. But I will see her in heaven one day, and I rejoice in that fact!

My favorite outfit this month, surprisingly, was black, and leggings. I don’t know why, but I felt especially sassy in this long striped button down. I think it was mainly the red lips, and the fact that my local farmer’s market lady told me I looked sassy. That shirt is still one of my favorites!

May brought forth the first outfit of Shaped by Style, a collaborative effort brought about by myself and a few wonderful ladies I’ve met through blogging. I was (and am) incredibly excited that so many great gals agreed to be part of this group; ever since I had seen the group The Delightful Dozen years and years ago, and then later, Flock Together, I had wanted to be a part of some sort of clothing-swap blogging group. But, as I am curvier than the average girl in either of those groups, I never thought it would happen until Hannah mentioned something in a post of hers that spurred me to ask her, Lyndsey, and Skye if they wanted to start our own group. Then Emily and Rebecca volunteered to be a part, and Shaped by Style was born! We’ve since added Justine, as Rebecca had to bow out due to a promotion (!!!) and general life-stuff, and who knows… next year we might see the addition of a few more amazing women!

I also wrote one of the most popular blog posts I’ve written, about my own perception of the word Plus Size and what it means for bloggers like me. I feel like it’s MOST important to discuss terminology with those you plan to label with that word, and whether or not that person feels comfortable being called as such.

My favorite outfit was hard to choose this month, but I settled on this Marvel skirt/peter-pan collar combo because this year has also been the year of my making quite a few skirts, including (as you’ll see later if you haven’t already seen it) a Star Wars one, and soon to be a Doctor Who skirt.

June was a pretty quiet month. I threw my hip out while walking, and couldn’t do much after that, plus I was nearing my third trimester of pregnancy, so the outfits started to get few and far between! Most notably, I wrote a book review (which I love doing!), and I found this eShakti dress at Goodwill for like $7. I couldn’t believe my luck there! My favorite outfit in June isn’t technically even an outfit. It’s a piece of fabric with safety pins in to keep it up! But I was able to do a maternity shoot the way I had wanted to with Asa, and I felt absolutely beautiful!

In July, we moved into our own house! While I love my parents and am so thankful we were able to live with them, it far trumps the musty basement (not their fault!) and being-remodeled upstairs, and I am incredibly thankful we’re able to live in our own little abode. Given, we have a much tighter budget and don’t get to do extra anything, but it’s worth it. We’re learning to spend our money well, and find ways to have fun that don’t require a lot of money (which means usually we do more interacting with each other, which is good!) Since this month was so busy and I was getting so pregnant, as you can see, I didn’t post very many outfits. I loved this tied-up shirt and skirt combo, though; it remains one of my favorite outfits of the year I think! The colors are perfect, my hair was so good, that little makeup clutch is awesome, and I love those shoes. I want to look like that all the time!

In August, I was about to pop and definitely feeling it! My husband joined me for an outfit post, as you can see, and I loved including him in my post! I can’t think of a lot that happened in August – being almost 9 months pregnant was basically enough for me! I did write about self love, and it sparked a few really interesting and thoughtful comments! I love hearing what others have to say about how they’ve learned to love the body they’ve been given.

In September, Evie was born! A whole ten days past her due date, and nearly 10 ounces bigger than her brother. Obviously, I took a pretty big break from my blog to enjoy her, and I loved having a bunch of my blogging friends do guest posts for me. In September, I felt the worst effects of postpartum depression, which I wrote about in her birth story. I still feel PPD from time to time, but it is far, far less intense and nowadays it’s just moments here and there rather than all-day feelings. My favorite post… well, has to be the birth announcement. Because… babies!

October felt like a lot of freedom had come back into my wardrobe as I began to be able to wear more of my clothes again. I was figuring out how to dress to easily nurse Evie, which made skirts or button-down dresses a must.

I had a lot of favorites in October! Most notably, my Cinderella costume for Halloween, which was so much fun to create! I found the dress at Goodwill, clipped out the original lace neckline, and the rest all came from my closet. I absolutely loved being a Princess, and it was super fun seeing little girls’ eyes light up as they stared and said “is that Cinderella?” to their parents when we trick-or-treated with Asa. I think I may just have to be a different Disney Princess every year!

I also absolutely loved making use of a 1940’s crushed velvet cape given to me, and a gorgeous black velvet jacket with foxtail shoulders. Having a standout vintage item like those makes every outfit feel so much more special!

In November, my favorite outfit is, surprisingly, both very modern and very fitted. I just felt really awesome in this floral skirt and sequinned shirt, and loved sharing that even if you don’t have a perfect body, you can still wear those things most fashion magazines might tell you to stay away from.

And that brings us to the end of the year! This month, my husband and I celebrated our three year anniversary, which seems impossible; I feel like we’ve only been married for a year, if that, until I remember we have two kids. Ha! It’s been a great three years so far, and I look forward to many more!

I also received some very interesting emails from someone who is masquerading as Nan Goldin and pretending that they coach fashion bloggers under that guise, for the possible reason of getting bloggers to wear more stiletto heels. It’s been confirmed by another blogger that this person is poking around suggesting Louboutins and generally creeping, and I’m so curious to know if anything will ever become of them!

It was hard to choose a favorite outfit from December because I actually have three, and all three involve skirts that I’ve made — the Christmas skirt, the Halloween skirt (that I made for Skye), and nerdiest of all, my Star Wars skirt. But since it’s close to Christmas, I’m going with that for my favorite. I’m so happy that I’ve made so much this year — I also made a gingham skirt earlier this year, which basically means this year was the year of perfecting my circle-skirt technique. I’m hoping next year I’ll move on to creating dresses, but that’s a bit more daunting!

Overall, this year was pretty quiet, with the most exciting things being the birth of Evie, the creation and evolution of Shaped by Style, and moving into our own house. And, I love that. I love the life I have, the family I have, being a mama, being a wife, and while I have a bucket list of places I want to travel, I’m okay with the home-bound stage we’re in right now.

Thank you for sticking through this post to relive my year via fashion! What outfits were your favorite this year? I hope you enjoyed taking a look back with me! I’ll be back later this week with my last post of the year — my goals for 2016.

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