I’m not as cool as I thought

I have had a few instances in the past month that have shaken my coolness to its core. A couple I am willing to share…

1) I had a huge bag of clothes I had culled from my closet.  Some  - the obligatory donations, but most of it was REALLY cute stuff I felt bad about sending to the crowded annals of a Goodwill.  I thought I would make the day of my cousin’s pre-teen daughter by passing it on to her.  I was sure I would hear endless thank yous and stories of how her friends were jealous over the awesome new threads she scored from her older, stylish cousin Rachel.  Yeah that didn’t happen…instead my cousin ended up donating it to someone because it “just wasn’t her daughter’s style”.  Translation – This shit is lame and I would not be caught dead wearing it in the halls of my supremely cool school.

It’s ok, I picked my ego up off the floor, dusted it off, and took another bag of goodies to Plato’s Closet – a store where young adults can buy gently used clothing sold to the store by people with awesome taste like me.  I think there were about 25 items in that bag.  You know how many they took from me? ONE! One item.  And why?  Most of the labels “were too mature” for their audience.  Translation – Lady, do yourself a favor and start shopping in Chico’s and Coldwater Creek where you belong.

2) While in the car with my awesome husband for an awesome date night – an old little ditty from our younger years came on the radio.  So as I was nostalgically and accurately reciting the words to the gem by the Notorious BIG, I told my husband I think I would have made a great hype girl.  I mean, I knew all the words, can keep a beat, have pretty good musicality and still have some moves.  He looked at me like I just said I knew how to cure cancer and gently pushed me back to reality by saying something along the lines of “Right, then after your concert you would come home to your white suburban family to finish the laundry and put your 3 yr old to bed.” Fine, dually noted.

So maybe young teeny boppers don’t want my clothes and I can’t hang with rap superstars, but I can still make sure my daughter doesn’t dress like a dud.

Anyone who knows me KNOWS that I gravitate toward dressing my daughter in “cool” vs “babyish”.  I will always choose a skull and cross bones before a cartoon character, a blinged out giant bow before barettes, a pair of skinny jeans before overalls.  I will choose Baby Gap, Old Navy and scouring the racks of stores like Marshalls and Nodstrom Rack for discount designer brands over Gymboree and Children’s Place any day of the week.  You should also know that I think Fall and winter introduce some of the best fashion you will see all year – for adults and kids alike!

Admittedly, it is a little more difficult to take full advantage of true fall fashion now living in a warmer climate, but it doesn’t mean we won’t try our best.

I was just in Old Navy and aside from the always reliable and basic staples like comfy drawstring pants and tees, they had some really cute stuff.  The Shawl neck sweaters are adorable and can spice up regular old leggings or jeans.

They also have little cable knit sweater dresses you can pair with tights and boots.

And your little boy can look like a mini gentleman in a precious argyle vest over a button down.

Another great Fall staple are tunics that you can also throw on with a pair of leggings, jeans or tights.  J Crew’s CrewCuts line has some cute ones this year.

And for your little men, they have great vintage looking button downs.

There are also some great finds on sites like Zulily.com

Some of their recent stuff includes simple but cute adult-inspired pieces like these

And with the holidays around the corner, some mommies are looking to kick it up a notch.  Rather than velvet and plaid, you’d be more likely to find my daughter in this winner from Macy’s.

And when the temperatures dip a little, nothing looks cuter on a little munchkin than a little peacoat.  Macy’s has them in a few colors too.

With Black Friday right around the corner, there will be ample opportunity to outfit your kiddies in some great new stuff.

What are some of your fall and winter favs???