Styling Boyfriend Pants 4 Ways

These pants were a happy mistake! 

I ordered them online from Old Navy for my husband, he's had previous pairs, but these were way too tight in the legs for his muscular thighs... like jeggings too tight, and that's not a good look for a man!

No free shipping or returns when you live in Australia!  So I kept them. 

I love the relaxed boyfriend style, the slight drop crotch (they are for a man!), the 36" inseam and the colour is perfection! 

For reasons unknown a woman can get away with wearing men's clothing but eyebrows sometimes raise if a man is wearing something made for a woman.  Obviously cut and fit is different for the genders, but if you find something you love & it fits you well it really doesn't matter if it's "male" or "female".

Enough about my thoughts on gender specific clothing... this post is about my new pants!

Just a proud Mama note: all of these shots were taken by my 3 year old daughter!  Forgive some of the creative angles!



I've offset the pants with a lace tee (from Big W, on sale for $1), leopard belt (made by me)
& some red heels (old Steve Madden)



She went for a bit of an action shot here, but you can see the detail of the lace &
leopard belt.
Still can't believe I got this top for $1!!!



More of a casual look with flats from Target and a tee from Mix Apparel
(on clearance at Coles) for $2! 
I've been on a roll with the bargain tops!

Being repeatedly told "Mama, you look so BOOOOtiful" does not get old.  Ever.



Another action shot!  My daughter was standing on a milk crate!

I'm trying out the half tuck.  Don't know how I feel about it. 
My head got cut off here, but hey, she's 3!

This pink gingham shirt (made by me) is the softest crinkly cotton, it's FAB! 



Then my photographer got distracted by a bird...



Wishing I'd cleaned my sneakers before photographing them... oh well, this is real life!

If you follow me on IG you'll have seen me wear this Lee Cooper shirt a LOT. 
I love it, it's old & really soft.  Paired it here with canvas sneakers from Target for an everyday casual look.

Photos c/o my wonderful & fabulously talented 3 year old daughter 
(typical overly proud Mama here!). 
Hubs may be out of a job!

Raid your husbands closet or when next shopping check out the men's department - you may just be surprised!

I Made It Monday - Pencil Skirt with Leopard Accent

On todays "I Made It Monday" I'm wearing a basic black pencil skirt that I made with a little leopard flare.

Top: Long Tall Sally / Skirt: Made By Me / Shoes: Diana Ferrari

I love leopard print but in my wardrobe I only have it in shoes, scarves, belts & bags.  I love leopard on other people in the form of skirts, dresses and jackets but just don't think it works for me.

So I've found a way to add a little more leopard print to my wardrobe.  For me this is a happy medium; it's still my basic black staple but it's a bit more fun and interesting with the addition of the leopard print.  Maybe this is me taking baby steps towards an actual piece of leopard print clothing!

This is an easy technique you can use to add some colour or pattern accents into your wardrobe if you're like me & too chicken conservative not ready to go all in!

Here's how to do it:

 

1. Take a pencil skirt pattern or existing pencil skirt like I did & trace to get front and back pieces.  (Take into consideration the amount of stretch your fabric has).  Add allowances for seams, waistband casing and hem.

2.  Deciding how wide you want your accent strip to be (e.g. 10cm) deduct 5 cm from each side on both front & back pieces.

3.  With right sides together sew the accent strip to front & back pieces.

4. Make a casing for your waistband elastic.  Thread elastic & close casing.

5. Hem your skirt to desired length.

Ta da!  You have a fabulous new skirt!



Photos c/o my wonderful Husband
Who loves an action shot!

 

Pleated Midi Skirt

Do you have a wardrobe piece that you wear a lot? 

And by "a lot" I mean so much that it could be your uniform?!  For me it's this navy pleated midi skirt.  I made it out of Ponte (for those who don't sew *yet* it's a nice heavy but not too stretchy knit fabric).  I decided to add an exposed red zipper and red button to give it some one-of-a-kind-ness (it's a word today). 

I inherited by Husbands' Nonna's sewing machine from the 1950's, tins of buttons, reclaimed zippers and other notions.  I try to add a special Nonna touch to all of the clothes I make my girls and occasionally some of my pieces.  Both the red zipper and button are compliments of Nonna, God bless her soul.



I love making midi skirts because they are easy and forgiving.  All you need to do is start with your waist band measurement (allowing seam allowance for adding the zip) and then add pleats as needed to the skirt pieces to make it fit your waist band. 

There are some great formulas on Pinterest for figuring out the number of pleats:waistband ratio, however my mathematically challenged brain prefers trial and error (not at all efficient, but works for me). I start with my centre box pleat and work my way out until the skirt piece matches up to the waist band.  Simple!

Here is a simple outline of how I made my skirt:

 

There is a great easy to follow tutorial on Elizabeth Ave  which is similar to my skirt.  The best part of making it yourself is that you can make the skirt as long as you want! 
Perfect for nice tall frames!
 
Do you have a wardrobe piece that you wear a lot and can dress up or down?  I'd love to hear about it!