Feeling Fine with Francie || Erstwilder South American Socialites

Yesterday was one of my good friends’ birthdays, and her favorite color is pink. This, coincidentally, worked out perfectly for what I wanted to wear yesterday: the CUTEST new brooch from Erstwilder’s new South American Socialites collection! Francie the Flamingo is one of 12 adorable South American wildlife brooches that will add a cheery vibe to any outfit! I love how bright and full of personality this collection is, so I wanted to match Francie’s bright pink plumage with my own in this 1950’s circle skirt with its bright fuchsia shade.

Brooch, c/o Erstwilder | top, thrifted (similar) | skirt, vintage (similar here, here, and here) | headscarf, vintage (lot here! or similar here and here) | earrings, vintage (similar here and here and here) | shoes, Amazon here

Erstwilder kindly sent me brooches of my personal choice for review! All opinions are honest and my own. 

I have long admired Erstwilder’s darling lines of brooches for their quirkiness, the retro vibes, and the work they put into their designs. Each collection has always been unique and fun, and I guarantee there will almost always be something to love from their site! I had one of their brooches previous to this (or rather, I still have it!) and I LOVE her, so I was very excited to review Francie! And when she arrived, she did not disappoint.

With her pretty pink plumage, glittery wings, and cute little crown, she is everything I expected and more. I love that Erstwilder creates brooches that feel very secure and sturdy; there’s no fragility to an Erstwilder brooch, so as a mom I don’t have to worry that a brooch might break if little fingers get hold of a brooch and drop or bump it against walls or play “crash the things against each other”. 

Evie is already very obsessed with Francie, so I suspect that if I ever find myself missing this pretty pink Flamingo, I’ll know exactly where to check. I might even let her wear it from time to time, being that if she has one of my brooches on she displays it very proudly and is very careful not to disturb it. For a 2-1/2 year old, she’s very good at preserving my jewelry.

Or stealing it and stashing in one of her many purses. 

As we come closer and closer to the baby being born (28 days till my due date, ah!) I am trying more and more to build a wardrobe full of easy-to-wear, stretchy, and breastfeeding friendly clothes, and this striped top is sure to be a regular post baby. I’m not a big fan of having to pull a shirt out of a skirt, so any top that will easily pull down at the neck instead is a win in my book. I’m considering purchasing a few more off-the-shoulder tops to pair with my plentiful collection of skirts. Summer seems to be just around the corner, and I know I will be dying for anything cool and comfortable. Especially having a warm little body attached to me most of the day. 

While this skirt is not exactly summer-friendly (it’s felt), I am still determined to wear it as often as I can! I stumbled across the skirt on Etsy while searching for circle skirts a while ago, and snagged it for $15! For a cute and true vintage 1950’s circle skirt, that’s a pretty good deal. I know these are far easier to find than, say, patio skirts, but it’s still rare to find them in anything over a 27″ waist. And believe you me, I haven’t had a 27″ waist for YEARS.  

But one of the many challenges of motherhood is adjusting to a new body nearly every time you give birth. After Asa I almost snapped back to my previous size and shape, but after Evie I retained quite a few pounds and sold off a large portion of my wardrobe that became too small. I have found that the key to adjusting and NOT feeling bad about a couple pounds gained or a new and unexpected body feature (hey, mom belly, how ya doin’?) is making sure that my closet is always full of clothes that fit me correctly, and getting rid of anything that doesn’t.

The only pieces I have retained from my pre-baby size are sentimental — the first dress my husband got me for our first Valentine’s day, the first piece of 1950’s vintage I ever thrifted, the dress from our first date — and anything else that doesn’t fit? Off it goes. Even if I do plan to lose baby weight, I refuse to keep things in my closet that make me feel bad about how my body is at any given moment in time.

And I have found that making sure I always have clothes that fit ensures that it’s also easy to get dressed in the morning — something I used to struggle with all the time! But of course, when you have a closet full of clothes that you don’t like for the little things — this one is too tight at the waist, that one isn’t quite full enough in the skirt, this one fits funny around the bodice — you’re not as excited to get dressed every day.

The freedom of having a whole closet that fits means I now reach for things like this skirt, which pairs perfectly with Francie, and makes for a pink-lover’s dream of an outfit as we waltz through spring!

Brooch, c/o Erstwilder | top, thrifted (similar) | skirt, vintage (similar here, here, and here) | headscarf, vintage (lot here! or similar here and here) | earrings, vintage (similar here and here and here) | shoes, Amazon here