The Master Mom Blog

"You can have anything you want in life if you dress for it."

-Edith Head

My clients not only believe in that quote, they live it! In an attempt to really hammer home the point to my dear readers that Moms need to take care of themselves on the outside to feel like them on the inside, this week I'm gathering my four most popular "Mom-centric" blogs into one place for your reference. 

We have the blog that started it all, the week Max was born. I followed that one up 5 months later with a blog telling my readers what to buy when they were still in between sizes, and then one on what to do with all of the clothes that didn't fit. A year post-baby, I gave you my 7 Lessons Learned in My First Year as a Mom.

In other news, I was thrilled to learn this week that Washingtonian Magazine is adding a Mom-focused magazine to its arsenal, edited by none other than Kate Bennett, the most fashionable mom/fashion editor in DC. A lot of people in DC, men and women, seem to need a reminder every once in a while that not only is it OK to look good, but it's OK to look REALLY GOOD. It's even OK to look REALLY GOOD on an everyday basis, not just special occasions!

For your entertainment I'll finish this up with a true fashion stylist confession, and then a really cute picture of Max to distract you from my confession. Are you ready? "I too drop my child off at daycare in the morning in my pajamas." But! I add a really cute coat on top like a brightly colored trench or my studded green Army jacket to pick things up a level. Now that it is summer and a cute coat doesn't work when it is 95 degrees, I'll just have to make my husband drop him off so I don't have to get dressed that early.

A Rebuttal from a Southern Girl

Stirring up fashion controversy is fun! The fashion topics which usually result in heated discussions are pleats in men's pants and whether or not you can wear black and navy together. I think we have found a new one! For those of you who did not yet read yesterday's blog post about what I perceive to be an inability to dress appropriately for the seasons in DC, click here or scroll down before you read the reaction of a true southern girl below. Maybe next week I'll talk about black and navy!

Jack Rogers Sandals 

Just had this conversation at lunch today. Clearly you did not think about what my response would be as a Southerner before reaching your conclusion. OF COURSE wearing summer white is not okay in March in the South. Where in the country is the no white before Memorial Day or after Labor Day rule most strictly adhered to? Where do sororities and the junior league still school the majority of college girls and young women on the importance of such rules? That would be in the South. Never in my hometown would someone ask the question I was asked today: "Why do we even have that rule about not wearing white in winter? Were there a bunch of old ladies sitting around with nothing better to do who wanted to be in control?" I mean really. My response was that I could only think of impolite responses and thus I really could not answer her. (Because anyone with any sense of style or propriety would not be caught dead wearing summer clothes in the winter! Because it just looks completely wrong and tasteless! Because you do not live in Miami! Because the fashion gods know better than you!)

The only concession I will make is that in the Deep South we do tend to use Easter as the marker for the day you can begin to wear white for the season instead of Memorial Day (traditionally that's the date by which you buy your white- ie, summer -church shoes for the year, to be worn with your new pastel Easter dress), and sometimes Easter can come in March. But rarely does it come on March 1st, and it certainly doesn't this year. Easter 2012 is April 8th. And in any event, no, DC is NOT the South. If it were we would not be having this discussion. The memorial Day rule clearly applies in this town. Thanks for letting me rant! I feel much better now. :)
 -Anna from Mississippi

Do you have Seasonal Confusion Disorder (SCD)?

What is Seasonal Confusion Disorder you ask? Allow me to explain... Growing up in Chicago and then living my adult life in New York City, two cities with very clear weather seasons, I never thought much about not wearing summer clothes in November or February. Then I started spending time in Washington, DC...Now I know that it can be 60 degrees here in February, or 70 degrees in March, as it is today. This is no excuse for what I saw a girl wearing on March 1st, light cotton white pants and gold Jack Rogers sandals. We may not all subscribe to the "No White Before Memorial Day" rule anymore, but seriously, Jack Rogers sandals? This is what you wear in Palm Beach in the winter, not DC on the first day of March.

Which brings me to the question I have been asking since I arrived in DC, why does this city have so much more SCD than others? I have a theory. DC is a city of "visitors," people who come from other places. A lot of those other places are south and west of here where seasons are not as defined as they are up north and in the midwest. If you've grown up in California, you might only own summer shoes, work pumps and a pair of Uggs. When the weekend rolls around and it is warm out, you grab the summer shoes like you are still in Orange County. Conversely, you could be from a city with a colder climate, think winter in DC is a joke (Snowmaggedon not included), and so you pull out your linen pants when it is 65 degrees in February. This is where we find out if my husband reads my blog. Yes, Michael, I am throwing you under the bus here!

Another theory is that I'm wrong, this IS the south and one CAN wear Jack Rogers sandals on March 1st.

Thoughts, dear reader?

I'm here to offer a compromise. Chic, transitional outfits that are perfectly appropriate year round, which is the type of wardrobe I design for my DC clients. Add a scarf or a jacket when it is a little cooler and you're good to go.

Transitional Outfit 1

Transitional Outfit 2

Transitional Outfit 3

Transitional Outfit 4

Transitional Outfit 5

Transitional Outfit 6