Homeaker's Uniform: How to Add Casual Accessories

Dearest Empress,

For one who spends the majority of her days defending one's home from dirt and grime from within and without (namely, a homemaker) what should the uniform be?

Like you, I have 2 littles and from morning until dinner, we are typically home. I don't want to dress up -- I have thrown out countless shirts in the last month due to stains (grease, baby fingers, etc.) in an attempt not to hoard, and yet, loathe falling into the frumpy mom category.

Help!
Annie

Dear Annie,
Your question could not be more auspicious.  Please allow me to answer thoroughly in three dainty discourses.  Today: accessories. These add-ons wear at a leisurely languid pace unlike their more fragile body covering cousins.  

Denim bermudas and a t-shirt make a loveless marriage, but add a headscarf and earrings and heartbeats will race.  The same goes for hats, necklaces, colorful flats, and bracelets.  

Click here for a scarf tying education
or watch my favorite girls with glasses below

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Beauty-full Tuesday: Stephanie of Barefoot in the Kitchen

Nearly 8 years marks my introduction to Stephanie, yet I can't cease to marvel at her elegance: magic sewing skills, exceptional cooking prowess, enviable mothering commitment. And although she is one of the most efficient, capable women I know, she also has the sweetest, most approachable demeanor you're likely to cross.  Meet my darling new neighbor (yes we moved Saturday last) Stephanie of Barefoot in the Kitchen.  Did I mention I really, really look up to her and adore her, because I do.

I grew up comparing myself to my older sister. It was inevitable. She was taller, thinner, and so much more confident than I. She couldn't help it. That's just how she was made.

But I spent so much time focusing on what I wasn't, that I didn't notice what I was. Luckily, somewhere between my insecure adolescence and now, I stopped comparing. I found my worth in my role as a sister, a friend, a wife, a mother. My beauty does not lie in my appearance, but in my being. I can be happy with how I look because I recognize who I am; I am me and that is enough.

Knowing who we are is the secret to feeling beautiful, I think. And it is the only way to forget about our insecurities and carry on, becoming the women we were meant to be all along.

End of Season Clearance: Monthly Markdown Schedule

Bethink the serendipity of meeting the perfect pretty whats-it, for 50% off the original price, precisely when you needed it for that such and such thingy.

Well cease with the ritualistic discount drumming and throw away your mark down predicting tarot cards which you wield in a futile attempt to recreate favorable deal finding circumstances.  It's far easier to read the predictable retail markdown calendar. 

January	outerwear and winter accessories
February	fine jewelry, boots, and cashmere sweaters
March	linen suits and separates, handbags, and spring raincoats
April	silk separates, spring raincoats, and dresses
May	spring shoes, dresses, and suits
June	swimwear, casual shorts, t-shirts, and summer dresses
July	summer shoes, drastic reductions on swimwear
August	summer clearance and fall season sales
September	lined raincoats, wool blend blazers, handbags, and backpacks
October	leather jackets, fall suits, career, and casual sweaters
November	eveningwear, fall shoes, and boots
December	clearance coats, cashmere sweaters, and fine jewelry

Now you can choose to fashion happenstance whenever you choose. Simply catalog what you actually need, then plan the most parsimonious opportunity to acquire it. 

But that does require pre-shopping, a topic to discuss tomorrow.

Let Cardigan Empire search out the best seasonal discounts for you.  A complete Fashion Package: combines a theoretical look book & a practical virtual shopping session

End of Season Clearance: Swimsuits

I deem my Mister to be a capital classy gentleman...

Except when clad for aquatics.  He pinches his pennies particularly tight within the category of recreational raiment.  In common colloquy, the man needs some swim trunks.  I refuse him the liberty to don his pineapple hued, inappropriately printed monstrosities in one more of my vacation memories.  For the last decade, exotic beaches all over the world have been haunted by the image of tropical orchids collaged with silhouettes of mud flap girls (which he failed to notice when he fished this suit from the bottom of a clearance bin).  I must protect humanity.

Yes Those Ones

Serendipitously, Andrew's dire demand is aligned with retail's over abundant supply.  Portside of your favorite retail establishment is likely to be cozied with chunky pullovers and lush corduroys. But those who wish to stock closets without emptying wallets, need only journey to the aft of the store where the lonely summer swimmers have been cast overboard to be washed against an orphaned sales rack.

The end of the summer season has arrived, and it is time to acquire maximum caliber swim shorts at minimum coinage.  With all the money to be saved, we can shop for our own nautical needs, and engage in imaginary vacation planning. 

(*Although any proper imaginary vacation would feature both Mister and Missus and quite possibly Mini-ster and Mini-uss, all imaginary vacation planning will feature only Mrs. Reachel, for Mister Andrew would be mortified were I to publish his bare nipples for public viewing-even if they are hypothetically imaginary.)

Theoretical treading on the Amalfi Coast would look even dreamier in classic stripes

Swimwear by Quiksilver
One-Piece Swimwear by Siyu

Fantasy reposing in Costa Rica deserves equally exotic prints

One-Piece Swimwear by Juicy Couture
Swimwear by Original Penguin

Speculative sunning in Bali should start with properly saturated hues

One-Piece Swimwear at Piperlime
Swimwear by Old Navy

Swimwear by Volcom

Where would you like to take your swimsuit next?

1 hundred 98 cents = your own Swimmer Suit fashion look book cheat sheet.

Want a personalized refresher for Summer? Get your own Fashion Package, complete with a look book & virtual shopping session to compile a portfolio of uniquely customized ensembles.

Beauty-full Tuesday: Freckles in April

Who are you not to be beautiful?  Thank the liberation of Kayla of Freckles in April.

My figure is the opposite of hourglass. My nose is weird from a break when I was a kid. My skin is and has always been a battlefield. My nails are flimsy and sad looking. I have split ends.

But...eh.

The older I get the more difficult it is to summon up my old teenagery angst over my flaws. I've learned to dress for my shape. I've gotten over my nose. My skin still annoys the crap out of me but I doubt I'll still be breaking out at age 50 so at least that has an expiration date.

And at some point between the black self-esteem hole of high school and now, I've decided that it's ok to think that I'm beautiful.

For some reason I was always afraid to let myself think so highly of myself. What if I was wrong? What if other people disagreed?

As it turns out, other people are kind of busy with their own stuff so I gave myself permission to think that I'm pretty and awesome and superwoman and a hundred other good things. And, like so many things in life, you become what you think about. As soon as you let yourself think you're amazing you will be.

Just in case he's forgotten, I occasionally like to turn to my husband and say, "Aaron? I'm pretty."

And I am.

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”  Marianne Williamson

10 Things You Didn't Know About Anthropologie

10) Her headquartered hometown is Philadelphia

9) Momma company is Urban Outfitters 

8) Siblings are Free People, Terrain, and BHLDN

7) Born 1992 in Wayne Town Pennsylvania

6) That first store sold men's and women's clothing

5) Their clothes and styles are geared toward mature, sophisticated demographic (35 +)

4) She is feminine, down country, well traveled, educated

3) Each section of apparel is built around a personality, with its own name and story

2) The housewares are laid out like a home, the more social living room is up front while the more intimate apothecary bathroom and bedroom are towards the back.

1) After seven years of working for Anthropolgie, I've retired as a personal shopper

This last number is richly nostalgic and slightly melancholy. 

I remember when Anthropologie and I locked eyes in Newport Beach California, July of 2000.  Tears were cornering in my eyes, I loved her at first sight.  Together we identified an ochre gold cowgirl shirt with snap buttons and piped brick-red trim.  I still have our shirt; I wear it at the cabin, and I sit close to the fire so it will smell like roasted tree logs.  

Pologie and I entered a serious relationship when I accepted a position at the Kierland store in March of 2004.  The forty-five minute commute to work provided proper anticipation.  Every shift greeted me with the smell of the Capri Blue Volcano candle and sound of the First Lady of France (back when she was just a French pop star).   

I'm going to miss the smart, interesting employees, the sweet customers (even the crazy ones), folding the pretty clothes, and the discount.  

But I simply adore my new role as home making executive/directorial secretary of CoVi Industries (a vertical conglormerate corporation providing living essentials for Co-Partners Coco Noelle Bagley & Levi Sims Bagley).

And it frees up some of my time for other ventures.  Like speaking at conferences (HT!H and R&R), professorial teaching (my Wardrobe Strategies class starts this evening), editorial writing, and musing here with you.

And I still get to date my Anthropologie, who knows maybe we'll find a new cowgirl blouse together. 

What occupation floats in a frothy pink bubble above your head (or what is your dream job)?

Freshy Fall Trends for Less: Tribal Elegance

Fall is more of a theoretical season in Arizona.  And if I can't enjoy cooler weather, at least I should be able to enjoy autumnally appropriate clothes.

Get yourself a complete ensemble on the right for less than the price of one piece on the left.  Use the difference to add an extra gallon or two of gas for your air conditioned sedan safari.

Day Dresses by Anthropologie
Boots at Endless.com

Downeast Basics Any Which Way Dress

Scarves & Wraps by Lucky Brand

Let Cardigan Empire fashion you for Spring.  Freshen up with a complete Fashion Package: combining a theoretical look book & a practical virtual shopping session

Visit any DownEast Basics store in the Phoenix metro area from 8/29-9/12 & enter to win a fall fashion makeover! 1 lucky winner receives $250 shopping spree + DownEast will donate $250 to a local school of winner’s choice!

Freshy Fall Trends for Less: Mod Colorblocking

The juxtaposition of geometric houndstooth over curvy hips is divine.  And bold colors buffeting the surrounding vicinity ensures no inch of your chic is ignored.  

Get yourself a complete ensemble on the right for less than the price of one piece on the left.  Use the difference to add some more alluring curves to the skirt with an "I'm so frugal gelato".

Shortsleeve Tops by Asos
Flats at Need Supply Co.

Shortsleeve Tops by Asos

Let Cardigan Empire fashion you for Spring.  Freshen up with a complete Fashion Package: combining a theoretical look book & a practical virtual shopping session