Maternity Dresses are Ugly

I had a really hard time finding a cute maternity dress for my baby shower my Mom and Sister in Law threw me in California.  In my opinion maternity dresses in general just aren't that cute or fashionable.  Luckily non maternity clothes can usually work because dresses and tops these days are loose and flowy.  But of course when you are looking for a dress, you can never find one.  I shopped for dresses for weeks and was pretty frustrated overall throughout the process.  In the end it came down to three contenders.

Dress That Launched 1000 Ships from Modcloth (in Storm):

This dress is really beautiful and the print is much better in person.  Its a non maternity dress, nice quality fabric and could definitely be worn again.  But it  just didn't look that great on me.  I have big hips and this dress floated over them and made me feel even bigger than I actually am.  I think part of it too is that my boobs have decided to grow along with the baby bump and they are just monsters these days.  Plus the dress was expensive ($150).  So back it went to Modcloth.

The Back View Dress from Anthropologie:

This dress is really vibrant and colorful.  I loved the back of this dress so much (its all braided).  Plus it has these butterfly sleeves which hid my arms that I am so self conscious of.  This was a serious contender for me for a while but my mom just didn't like it.  I'm not sure that it was all that flattering because I had this baby bump and then on top of it the butterfly sleeves made everything up top look sort of voluminous.  I think someone with really skinny legs could rock this dress with a baby bump though.  It is expensive at $168.

I also really debated wearing an Isabella Oliver dress but ultimately decided it might be too sexy for a baby shower with family and family friends everywhere. Tight, red, sexy and worn by Angelina Jolie I realized doesn't exactly scream baby shower and motherhood (not that you can't be a sexy Mom).

So, when I finally got this dress from asos I was thrilled.

I loved the color and I thought the fit could be flattering but I wasn't really all that sure about the fabric.  It wasn't that expensive ($69 at the time) and with free shipping I figured why not.  This dress ended up being the one that my mom and SIL liked the best.  I felt really comfortable in it and the fabric is this soft jersey that feels so soft.  Here are a few pictures of me and my fellow prego BFF from my baby shower.  I'm 26 weeks in the picture and she is 34 weeks. 

I guess the only dress that worked turned out to be a maternity dress so the title of my post is a little aggressive.  I've been pretty disappointed with maternity clothes shopping aside from the fact that you get to wear elastic waistband pants everywhere.  That seriously is a dream come true.  I wonder why they don't make more regular stylish clothes with elastic waistbands.  Where are your favorite places to shop for prego friendly clothing?

Maternity Dresses are Ugly

Weird Dreams and Random Thoughts

I'm all in a funk today because I had some weirdo dreams last night. I think most women who are TTC (trying to conceive) feel that the two weeks of wait for your period are agonizing. I start to freak out and think every little thing I feel could be a pregnancy symptom. Clearly pregnancyis on the brain (among other things) because last night I had a dream that I was pregnant and also that Anthony Bourdain and some woman were pregnant too. Oh and we were all hanging out at one of my nieces birthday parties. I think its because I was watching an episode of No Reservations where he goes to Syria that was particularly weird. Either way I need to get a life and get distracted fast because I'm driving myself bananas.

Image

On another note - did you see Clemence Poesy in Marie Claire? Its featured on Who What Wear's Blog and I love the styling and her hair is incredible.

Above three images via Who What Wear

Also, I wish I could make a fishtail braid like Minka Kelly and actually rock it without feeling like I was back in 5th grade. What? Didn't your mom do a fishtail braid that went all the way across your head too? Awesome.

Image via people.com

Weird Dreams and Random Thoughts

Giveaway winner and my color obsession

Congrats to Katie over at R&T for being my mascara giveaway winner! I'll email you to get your details :)

Also, just stumbled upon this picture and realized how much I'm in love with deep purple. It was one of my main wedding colors and I think the color is so flattering on most skin tones. I would absolutely love to have this sari for two of my newly engaged friend's weddings next year. Oh I'll take her body too.

Sorry for the lame post - work is crazy this week and next week and I think all my creative energy is just gone for now.

Giveaway winner and my color obsession

I am a Shopping Addict

I have a shopping obsession. No matter how many shoes and clothes I have, I am never satisfied.

I go through this cycle of wanting, buying, feeling immediate guilt, using my new stuff and feeling happy and then repeat. I forget that I felt guilty and that I *just* bought a bunch of stuff and instantly want more. I'm such a consumer whore. For example, we went to Paris in June and we spent a ton of money on travel, food and shopping. Before we went, I went crazy shopping to prepare for Paris. I swore to my husband that I wouldn't buy anything for two months and eventually caved in a month later and broke my promise.

I think I learned this constant shopping habit from my Mom who is the ultimate shopper. She will travel to remote places with my Dad and still manage to take him on a 12 hour shopping trip in a remote village. I can't blame her though and regardless I need to get myself under control. I get especially tempted in the blogging world where all the fashion bloggers are showing off their new wardrobes, putting up links and being annoyingly cute in their 4" platforms and miniskirts that would never be work appropriate for me.

Any suggestions on how to kick the shopping habit? I'm debating deleting all my shopping (gilt, hautelook, ruelala) emails, not visiting fashion blogs and leaving my credit cards at home when I shop.

I know this is a random post. I'm swamped at work but then I remembered that I promised a giveaway and I'm only 2 posts from 100. So close! So I will be posting more this week I promise.

I am a Shopping Addict

my new favorite shoes

I saw these shoes on Oh Joy! a long time ago and finally caved and got them from endless. They are SO cute - the stripes and the cute silvery flower thing make them so summery. They were only $24.99 and I think I threw a coupon code in there too so they were really cheap.

I can't wait to wear them. They're a little too casual for work but I'll wear them tonight when we go to see Inception (so excited to see it!).

my new favorite shoes

simple and yellow

I love the simplicity of this outfit and I am obsessed with those shoes!

via people

Fashion scares me sometimes and I feel like I could never pull off what people are wearing so its nice to see something I think I could actually wear and be comfortable in.

What do you lean towards with fashion - more or less?

simple and yellow

long and wavy

I just trimmed my hair and although its still pretty long, I'm lusting after mermaid like, looooong wavy locks like these. Oh and please excuse the excessive references to the city and the hills in this post.

Okay this first one isn't that long but I like her contrasting highlights and waves

via {this is glamorous}

Always love LC's hair...

And Oliva's too (even if she is a biatch). Loving her dark chestnut hair this season more than the blonde...

via sugarscape

But my favorite is Whitney's

link

via

I am loving both Whitney and Oliva's hair on The City this season. I know I should probably stop watching shows like The City and The Hills but sometimes I just need mindless entertainment.

via

I'm obsessed with that necklace too.

via

long and wavy

Glee Fashion Show

I am on the Glee bandwagon big time and love these photos I saw in Glamour when I was the airport last week. The dresses are incredible - especially Diana Agron's Dior dress (second picture).

Usually I'm not into musicals but for some reason I find this show so entertaining. I think its tapping into my life long dream of having a good voice and being able to sing without making people cringe. I sing anyway, just alone in my car with the music so loud I can't even hear myself.

Glee Fashion Show

leggy

I love this picture from Amanda Pratt. I've been drooling over how long this model's legs are and her adorable heart tights.
Borrowed with love from Twila's Vintage Blog. She has a wonderful fashion/design/vintage blog with a lot of eye candy. My favorite posts are her series "10 things that make my heart happy".

leggy

lovin these shoes

I saw these shoes on Piperlime earlier this week and bought them since they were only $40.

I got them yesterday and they are this beautiful metallic color (that doesn't come through in the pictures) AND they are actually really comfortable. You should seriously consider buying these if they have your size.

lovin these shoes

Fashion Cartoons

The Dream Dressing is a french blog has the cutest fashion illustrations. I don't understand french but the cartoons alone are worth visiting this blog.

Found from perusing Lucky Magazine on my last work trip.

Fashion Cartoons

ruffles AND a bow

Still in a funk but nothing like a cute new dress to cheer a girl up...

I love the top and the fact that it has sleeves. The bow isn't really a bow - its more of a belt that can be tied any way you like. Its a bit shiny on the bottom and short but I still think I can rock it at work with some tights.

Image via ModCloth

ruffles AND a bow

A diary of shoes!

Thanks to A Cup of Jo I just discovered Elle's shoe diary blog. It showcases what Elle employees wear to work everyday. I love that it mixes the very high end with H&M and Target.

All photos from Elle's Shoe Diary

A diary of shoes!

damn you piperlime

for having such cute shoes.

i bought these today (score for having lots of BR gift cards)...

these shoes were $35 only!

i hope they grey looks good in person

too bad i didn't see these first - i loooovvee the back of them

damn you piperlime

my dream winter boots

Cole Haan Phoenix Air Boots. Damn the $500 price tag! They are so dreamy....

my dream winter boots

Mad for Ruffles: Marc Jacobs Spring 2010

This dress is so ethereal and gorgeous.
I like the structured military jacket with all the ruffles. Also those shoes look amazing.

I could see myself wearing this top for a long long time.
I'm a sucker for these ruffles on this blazer. The pants would be bad news bears on me. Also, I think I need this quilted purse but in black.

I just think this outfit is interesting. It kind of looks like a salwar kameez with a dress shirt under it. Sheer legging/pants are everywhere in this collection which also reminds me of Indian clothes.
Via NY Mag

Mad for Ruffles: Marc Jacobs Spring 2010