A Stylish Mama

So, today is Mother's day - never my favorite day out of the year since losing my own mom to cancer 17 years ago. It has absolutely gotten easier to celebrate this day over the years and I have a lot of amazing women in my life to celebrate on this day.  Women who treat me like one of their own, mentor, and help to guide me along this crazy thing called life. It is a complex thing to celebrate this day but today I want to focus on something I love - style. I saw this adorable blog about what women have learned from their mom's about fashion and ModCloth's instagram and blog have been filled with "mom-inspired" outfits all week!

I love the idea of celebrating mom's style because most of the time a mom is going to be a big source of your fashion and style choices, even unconsciously. My own sweet mama was definitely my biggest style inspiration just by her own love of clothes, fashion, shoes, and all things accessories. Some of the biggest fashion lessons I learned from her were:

- If you've got it, flaunt it. (aka dress for your body, every one has something to flaunt! Play up your assets!)

- Always look put together, because how you look affects how you feel. My mom was often undergoing some sort of medical procedure or treatment for her cancer, but by god I dare you to find a hair out of place. She felt better if she looked put together.

- When in doubt, buy the shoes. She is the reason I inherited by Imelda Marcos level shoe hoarding habits. She had dozens and dozens of shoes, and she found a way to wear them all!

- And perhaps most importantly, be confident. Be OK with who you are and embrace yourself. It may have took some urging by her best friend (hey, we all have self-confidence issues now and then) but it was brave and amazing of her to bare her adorable little head during her chemo. She also had a blonde wig that she wore because, as she said, "Blondes have more fun".

So today, in order to honor her, I am wearing an outfit directly inspired by my mom. I have lots of 80's - 90's fashion inspiration photos to choose from, as you can see from above, but when I first decided to do this post I picked this one:

Just look how adorable she is! :) Stripes are totally on trend right now and I love red. I thought this would be the perfect outfit to try to emulate. So I tried. And I tried. And I hated the new top I bought (I am actually taking it back) and it just didn't feel right.

I went back to the photo album. I learned that my mom wore white jeans a lot. Like, she even had a pair of white overalls! I learned that she also wore pastels. a lot. I also learned she apparently had her photo taken in winter a lot, or she was just always cold, because I swear the woman is wearing a turtleneck or heavy knit in almost every photo! Then I started to re-think this whole post and thought that a photo album was making me a liar…

Then I took a minute and breathed.

 I decided to go simple. So, I  went back to some of my favorite photos, of some of my most cherished memories. I changed my mind and picked this one:

A snapshot from our last vacation together in Sedona, AZ. The time when my mom was being amazingly brave. A classic outfit - a floral top (even if it is a turtleneck (IN ARIZONA MOM - REALLY?)), jeans, and a long sweater. That I can do.

So here is my version. Updated print and silhouette and let's not talk about acid wash, but ultimately the same concept. Plus, I think she would've liked it.

Happy Mother's Day Mama.

Has your mom influenced you fashion sense? What's the best style advice your mom gave you?