A study about soccer moms

This year my son started playing soccer. So I thought that I could take advantage of his weekly games to check out the style of the other soccer moms.

At the beginning I was a bit discouraged though, because I could not find them, the other moms. Most of the other kids were chaperoned by their dads or their nannies. At the first soccer game, the only mom I did find was the coach of the opposing team, whose head-to-toe Lululemon outfit I loved, especially the sweatshirt whose color was coordinated to that of her team.

Few games later, on one of the few warm summer days of this season, I found the most magnificent soccer mom. She came in a deep top, miniskirt, and high-heels, and was capable of superbly balance the cooler while holding her kids' hands.

But I'd say that the most fashionable one, in my view, was the understated beauty, who came to the game in a grey sheath dress, leather moccasins, and big shades.

And if you are wondering what I wore, well, my outfits were a bit constrained by my shoe choice. I wish I could have worn flats, but I had to stick to the one pair of sneakers that so far seem not to be hurting my injured foot. And, to go with the sneakers, what best than jeans and a t-shirt?

And you, are you a soccer mom, and what is your style?


Photo: Victoria Beckham at Minivan Stiletto.

GOOP goes to Facebook

I am a big fan of Gwyneth Paltrow's GOOP. It is a weekly newsletter that the mother-of-two actress started in the fall of 2008 to give tips and information about food, travel, shopping, beauty, and wellness. Up until recently, you could access the newsletter directly on the website, or directly in your mailbox upon registration.

Yet few days ago GOOP became accessible through Facebook and Twitter as well. I went to check out the Facebook page, because I was interested about the comments Gwyneth got to her latest issue on SS11 fashion. Overwhelmingly, although perhaps not surprisingly, most women deplored the high prices of the items that were pictured in the newsletter. Interestingly these women declared to be moms who:
* could not afford them without "re-mortgaging their house";
* would not want them with the fear their kids would ruin them.

Gwyneth answered to these comments by posting few price-conscious options from Zara, Topshop and Uniqlo. Regardless of the availability of some of these items outside the UK, I was a bit disappointed. These suggestions lacked a sense of "put-togetherness" that made the expensive ones so appealing, in my view. In addition, they were too much at the opposite side of the price continuum.

And you, do you follow GOOP? Any thoughts to share?

No more flats!

About a month ago, while attending a conference in Washington DC, I started having excruciating pain in my left foot. I originally blamed it on the pumps I had worn at one of the meetings (damn you, Jimmy Choo!), but I realized that this situation had been mounting since March.

If it had been a question of forgetting heels for a while I would have not been that upset -- as you know, I do not wear heels often. But what seems to trigger my foot pain were my beloved flats! In fact, I ended up having to buy a pair of sneakers to get through the rest of the trip, when my husband and son joined me for some sightseeing on the East Coast.

The physiotherapist I consulted sentenced that I actually should not wear flats anymore ever, because my feet are flat. I almost wanted to cry, thinking about all my ballerinas, and the money I spent over the past few year to buy them! Do you have any advice?

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to you all! I am particularly excited today because, for the first time in years, my mom will be here to celebrate with us. It is also one of the rare occasions where I get to dress up and the weather seems to have finally gotten milder so that I can actually put on one of my new spring purchases.

This morning I also had the time to catch up with some of my emails, that I had neglected in preparation for my parents' arrival from overseas. Shopbop had a really interesting feature with interviews to famous designers to find out how motherhood has changed their personal style. My favorite was the interview with Stacey Bendet (of Alice + Olivia), who said: "Every once in a while I wear 4-inches heels instead of 6-inches ones (like park days). " I have to say: kudos to Stacey! Since my son's arrival I live in skinny jeans and flats, I do not wear white for fear it would be ruined by dirty little hands, I have stored my evening dresses, and 3-inches heels have become my maximum height. So, what if I turn the question to you: how has motherhood changed your personal style?

Why has motherhood probably changed your style

We all know that there is at least a biological reason why motherhood has changed our personal style: giving birth changes your body, at least a little bit, even if you are like one of my two best friends who did not put up any baby weight after three pregnancies.

However, I think that there is an equally important socio-demographic reason. Nowadays women have children later in life, and they end up becoming mothers for the first time when they are closer to thirty than to twenty years old. These modern women, in general, have gone through higher education and have begun their working careers way before they have a stable partner or a child. in other words, they have developed their own sense of self, which often includes their own style, before motherhood.

This is also the reason why, I think, modern thirty-something new moms' attitude towards fashion end up falling along the lines of four possibilities:
1. I have less time to think about fashion and what to wear.
2. I have less money to afford fashionable clothes.
3. I have lost interest in what to wear, and I am more interested in how to dress my children.
4. All of the above.

I definitely recognize myself in options 1 and 2. How about you?

A terrible misunderstanding

I started this blog project as I would have approached any other research task in my own work: with a review of the existing evidence. And, let me tell you, the number of blogs and websites dedicated to moms is enourmous! So what do moms talk about on the web? Mainly, it seems to me they share parenting advice: how to breastfeed, how to deal with a child that is going through the "terrible twos", how to homeschool your children, how to entertain your children when you are home or on vacation. They share also resources about cooking, clothing, travelling. Finally, the may share advice about how to integrate their offsprings into a rewarding couple life with their partner.

As far as fashion is concerned, blogs and websites about fashionable choices for pregnant women abound, but not so much those about moms who want to be fashionable. I could not help but wonder: why is that? I think I finally found the answer in this hilarious post at eFashionmom:

"Who made up the rule that the minute you give birth, you must lose all sense of fashion and immediately start dressing like your own mother? Do you think Carrie Bradshaw would start shopping at Talbots just because she popped out a Baby Big! Between sweat suits, matching slacks and tops, and the ever present t-shirt (and I do not mean the cute fitted kind!), mothers tend to believe that they must lose some part of themselves on the delivery room floor in exchange for an attempt at the mother-of-the-year award. Are we to expect our men to only admire the loving way we change a blow-out diaper and not to notice the fact that we have been living in the same pair of khaki shorts for the past 3 days along with a cornucopia of tank tops, current one with the least amount of baby food, justified by the fact that the sports bra and athletic socks are fresh from the dryer? 

I am here to tell you that there has been a terrible misunderstanding. Having a child should only enhance who you are as a person, not take away your sense of style."