A Style Challenge - "Mom" Jeans

Call me old school but I'm not a fan of the word "Mom." And don't even get me started on "gotten." I can move with the times when it comes to "reaching out" "see you later" (even though later could be in two weeks, so not really later at all) and "like". There are a lot of "likes" in our house. But gotten? Nope, not going there. Anyway, back to the point. Mom jeans.

A few weeks ago, House of Fraser asked me whether I would like to choose something to feature from their denim range. After going around the houses a little, I decided on a pair of  "Mom"* jeans. I've never done them before and nor have I seen many others in my age group wearing them (perhaps there's a reason for that!) I thought that I would give them a go - not expecting to like them in the least - but then again entering into the unknown and not being sure of what you're going to find is the point of the "Style Challenge."

Red Lips Tee from Becky at Bricks & Stitches (£25)

It's the "rear view" in Mom jeans which I've always found a bit troubling. With their high waist and generally small pockets, your butt can look as if it's as long as your legs. Whilst at the same time shortening your legs. Not necessarily what we strive for in life.

But then again their high waist can create a nice shape and give curves where there may not be any. And actually the tapered "carrot" leg is quite flattering. In fact I really like the shape of the legs on these Mom jeans. Tucking a top, such as this red lips tee from Bricks & Stitches (£25), in to the jeans is the best way to style Mom jeans. Wear a longer top at your peril! If you like this tee do get in touch with Becky at Bricks & Stitches quickly, as they sell like hot cakes.

KLAXON WARNING  - rear view shot! 

See what I mean? My bum does look quite deep but actually the pockets are placed quite high - so it's not as bad as it could be. Well at least I don't think that my butt cheeks look as if they're down near to the back of my knees. But I could be wrong and in fairness I think that other styles may be more flattering. Then again, in some ways the older I get, the less that type of thing concerns me. 

You may wonder why the label is still on the jeans. Well the thing is that I had decided to return the lovely Mom jeans gift because the waist is just that bit too tight. But actually since wearing them, they have given a little and it may be the case that they are OK. 

That is, depending on what you, my lovely readers, think about the Mom jeans. Shall we go there for a change, or just leave them to the young 'uns? Does my bum look deep and do my legs look short, or do the strategically placed pockets deal with that. And for heavens sake can we please come up with a better name for them? 

* I should say that this particular style of Mom jeans are not currently available at House of Fraser but I have linked to all other available styles above. Both the jeans and the tee were gifted to me. The shoes are from Next (£48)

How do we feel about these? Do they remind you of your student days?

They're like a brain worm that won't go away. Try as I might, I can't stop thinking about them. DM boots. Perhaps the cold weather has frozen my brain, perhaps it's a mid-life crisis. Or perhaps it's just because I genuinely really like them and I can see how they would work with my wardrobe.

1460 Pascal Virginia in Bubblegum (£125)

We all wore DM shoes at University. Come rain or shine, summer or winter, we all wore DM shoes which we bought from Sheffield market. The only variation was that in the summer we would wear them without socks and everyone over the age of 35 would ask whether they hurt. But they never did. The cost per wear of those shoes over the 3 years was peanuts - and they carried on long after the 3 years were up too. 

Dress Blues Virginia

Now it's not so much the DM shoes that I'm attracted to because "street" trainers have largely taken their place. No, it's the boots that I really like. Especially the pink, navy or silver. Well I'm nothing if not predictable in my unpredictability. True, they wouldn't go with everything but most skinny/straight/girlfriend/boyfriend jeans would work with them and maxi dresses and skirts too. 

Iced Metallic (£110)

So why now? Maybe it's because I'm looking for something different but which is still wearable. Having not worn DMs since I  hit about 20, they definitely tick that box. But they're still comfortable and practical too. That doesn't mean to say that I will be re-visiting my multi coloured polka dot ra-ra dress from Tammy Girl circa 1983, or my mini kilt, ruffle blouse and white tights combo circa 1985 - but then again I just might.

I'd like to do a post on brands which are hot on environmental and social responsibility issues. Luckily this is something that most new brands take seriously as part of their ethos.  Dr Martens have a really detailed Social Responsibility page on their site covering everything from child labour, to working hours, how they source their leather (they also do a vegan range here), the materials they use in their packaging and the charity work in which they engage. 

So my question is this. Can any of you imagine going down the DM route or are they a big fashion "no-no" as far as you're concerned? I would love to hear what you think. 

From the feedback that I have received, I know that many of you would like to see more outfits posts, so I will try and include a few outfit pictures at the end of each blog post (if the post itself doesn't constitute an outfit post.)

I wore this outfit to an event that I went to on Friday. I thought that people may appreciate the macarons (by the Crow Kitchen) and biscuits (by Juliet Sear) - if nothing else. I know that I did.

Same outfit - different shot. The trousers are from Mango. I wrote about them here, the trainers are from Air & Grace, the blouse is from Mercy Delta and the bag is from neon beach club

OK so this was me being brave in a skirt that I thought that I might return but which I decided to keep. It's from ASOS and is the floral pansy skirt. The trainers are as above and the jumper is an old one from Topshop.

Oooh it was chilly this day. I was lucky enough to be sent a fab sweatshirt from Hari and the gang (£42) which I layered under this Topshop coat and wore with Gap jeans, Topshop boots, an LK Bennett bag and frilly socks (all past season.)

So that's it for now. I'll see you anon and hope that you all have a fabulous week. xxx

My top eleven pleated skirts and some ideas on how to wear them

Pleated skirts are, much to my Mum's delight "Oh I DO love a pleated skirt", going from strength to strength. They are a trend that's not going away, which is funny in some ways because other than a brief spell that I remember as a child, they pretty much disappeared from the skirt scene with pencil, mini, skater and midi skirts being more popular. I think that it may have been the rise of the popularity in midi skirts a few years ago now though, that saw them come back in to favour. Most pleated skirts fall into the "midi" category, so they ticked the box of being a "variation on a (midi skirt)" theme.

Sophia pleated skirt Reiss (£155)

I featured this skirt on my insta stories when I took some of you for a virtual shop earlier in the week. It's absolutely beautiful. The pleats are razor sharp and edged in black for an even sharper look. 

I still believe that there's a pleated skirt for everyone, somewhere. Most crucially the issue is what kind of waistband is on the skirt and how the pleats fall from it. I've included lots of pictures below of me in various pleated skirt outfits and I'll try to explain what I mean when we get to them. 

Elsa pleated skirt Reiss (£155)

I haven't seen this skirt in real life but the shape is virtually the same, if not the same, as the one above. What I like about this skirt is that the darker colour over the tum area is really flattering. And it's just such a striking skirt - great if you're after something different and you're not really a floral/spots type girl. 

Printed pleated skirt Mango (£49.99)

But then again, if spots are exactly your thing, this skirt from Mango could be just the ticket. It's really lovely in real life and in the store they paired it with a pale blue jumper which looked gorgeous.  Spots feature hugely on the High Street at the moment so expect to see a lot more spotty pieces over the next few weeks. 

Printed pleated skirt Mango (£49.99)

This skirt ticks a lot of trend boxes in one go. The navy/yellow/white colour combo is a big trend this summer. Work in a go faster "athleisure" stripe along with a split and the pleats and oh boy you would so be nailing it. I really like the sporty vibe about this skirt - great if you're not someone who loves girlie floaty skirts - or if like me you do but you're also a bit of a chameleon and like sportier urban pieces (I totally made that phrase up - but I know what I mean!) too. 

Stripes pleated skirt Mango (£49.99)

Stripes! Again another huge trend this season on everything from tops, to skirts, trousers and accessories. I love the interesting colour combination of this skirt which is again from Mango. They are really doing pleated skirts so well this season and there are also some pleated dresses coming through too, which are an interesting addition to the dress scene.  

Leopard print skirt H&M (£34.99)

Yeah! Good old leopard print. This is a small print and not too "leopardy" if you know what I mean, making it a fairly easy leopard print to wear. I love leopard with anything red, denim, or neons too and as we know, leopard is the new neutral, so it's definitely one to have fun with. 

Satin pleated skirt Whistles (£99) which also comes in metallic gold, green and black. I've linked to them all here

A metallic pleated skirt always feels a bit glam without being too try hard. It really is a great one to dress up or down and it can take you to so many different places just by changing up your top and/or shoes. 

Batik Lily pleated skirt Whistles (£139)

I think that this skirt is a little bit marmite. It's definitely in the colour of the season but whether it's your cup of tea or not is a different matter. I think that a skirt like this works either if you're going to go the whole hog and dress it up for a wedding, or dress it right down with a slogan tee or denim. Anything in between might just not work. But I'm happy to be proven wrong!

Pleated skirt HUSH (£89) (lined and elasticated waist)

I haven't seen this skirt in the flesh as HUSH in our John Lewis don't have it but having said that, I'm really tempted to order it and see what it's like on. The blue and green combo are really striking but  in a very wearable way and without being too dressy.

Pleated skirt in watermelon Jigsaw (£120) it also comes in blossom blue

The above skirt from Jigsaw is a real gem. It's a great length, hangs well and the pleats are quite "flat" when they come out of the waistband, meaning that they fall in a really flattering way. It also comes in blossom blue (below) and gravel (below that). 

Pleated skirt in blossom blue Jigsaw 

When something is a little more on the expensive side (such as this skirt) as we all know, there are lots of things to consider for sure. It may be that it's perfect for a wedding, or an event, but something that you would also get a lot of mileage out of afterwards, bringing the cost per wear down. 

Pleated skirt in gravel Jigsaw (£120)

Or it may be that you're not sure whether a pleated skirt is going to be for you, in which case maybe start off with an inexpensive one and see where it takes you. Or maybe the inexpensive one is perfect and there's no need to look any further. Or perhaps you just fall in love with one like this, or it's an amazing fit. So many things to think about!

Stripe maxi skirt Ted Baker (£120)

For anyone who is super tall, or who likes their pleated skirts to be full length, this one from Ted Baker is a possibility but I think its "sheerness" might need to be checked. 

Contrast pleated panel maxi dress Ted Baker (£239)

And remember I mentioned earlier about pleated dresses? This one with its panel of pleats is so pretty. If anyone I know would like to get married, I'd be very happy to wear this to the occasion. 

So here are some outfits "that I prepared earlier" - in some cases a lot earlier! 

This gold M&S skirt is great for the winter. The velvet is lovely and shimmery. It has an elasticated waist band which is good because I can either wear it on my waist or drop it lower if I feel in need of a bit of extra length. The pleats aren't too small or knife like, which I think suits me slightly better. Heels and a leather jacket give this skirt more of a dressed up feel.

This skirt from Topshop again has fairly open pleats and as there aren't too many of them, there's not so much volume in the skirt.  I like the length of it and it's a really versatile skirt. The heels glam up this skirt and jumper outfit but with boots or trainers it would look completely different.

This is an H&M pleated skirt. I find it harder to wear - possibly because there are more pleats in it and the fabric is quite stiff, meaning that if I bend over the skirt sort of folds and digs in. Sounds weird huh?!

This is probably the least favourite of my pleated skirts. The waist band isn't elasticated and there are lots of pleats with lots of volume. As it's pleather, it's also a bulker fabric, so it's less flattering than the green Topshop one.

It's the Zara silver one again but this time with a fitted knit instead of a denim shirt. 

Topshop again with metallic boots and a star print shirt

Topshop again with a blouse and trainers

And finally the Jigsaw skirt which I've linked to above with some crazy green boots! 

I realise that pleated skirts won't be for everyone, but I hope that these outfits have provided some ideas on what to stick with your pleated skirt. I think the fact that they're not short, or clingy, that they have some volume (which is good if you like to take a big stride or don't have the teeny tiniest of hips) all help to make them super wearable for busy ladies who love a skirt but who don't want to feel restricted when it comes to bending over, loading the washing machine or striding out in force.