Dressing for the {Everyday} Ordinary Days
Is meal planning a struggle? I'm so excited to announce... The CHK Seasonal Meal Planner is now available!!! Plan your meals with purpose and intention as you think through special days, holidays, and what each season uniquely offers. It will guide you, step-by-step, through planning each month allowing you to save time and money. Last fall as I was writing through my 31 days series, the most common theme that kept coming up over and over in the comments went something like this: I’d love to get dressed up, but I’m just at home all day with the kids. While I get that, let me throw down a challenge… how about dressing for the {everyday} ordinary days?
I feel like somehow our culture, myself included, have gotten (dare I say?) lazy when it comes to getting dressed.
Thinking back to my childhood, I can’t recall my mom regularly wearing yoga pants or pajamas. In fact I hardly ever saw her in her pajamas unless it was super early or around bed time. She was always dressed.
For those of us moms who do stay at home all day with the kids, cleaning up messes, eventually wearing those messes, I can totally relate to having the mindset of why even bother getting dressed. It’s just going to get ruined anyway, right?
Well that maybe so, those adorable little grubby hands most likely will leave a sticky mess of prints on your pants or smear their facial goop on your shirt while snuggling, but…
Don’t you think that you are worth it to get dressed?
Don’t you think that your kids and husband are worth it to get dressed for?
No other profession, except maybe for a fitness trainer, would ever consider wearing yoga pants all day every day. So why do we as stay at home mothers do that to ourselves all the time?
By not getting dressed we are basically not preparing ourselves for the day. We are keeping the mindset that we are only just trying to make it through the day, survival mode.
Since purging out my closets and actually loving all the pieces that I own, I have made a conscious choice most days to get dressed in something other than my yoga pants.
Even if it’s just something simple like jeans and a cute top with my pearl necklace, I am making the choice that I am ready to tackle my day, to get things done, to show my husband that I haven’t lost myself in motherhood. I’m showing my kids that I think it’s important to get dressed too. I have been more than guilty of trying to get my kids dressed while I am still in my pajamas.
I have said it before, there are definitely times and days where it is OK to wear those yoga pants. We just recently had the stomach flu roar its ugly head through our house (again!) and you can bet your bottom dollar I was sporting those yoga pants everyday for several days! Plus it’s been unbelievably cold here lately, leaving my warm clothing options very limited, but I’m finding myself falling back into some very old, bad habits… letting myself fall into the excuse of not needing to get dressed.
On the days when I do make an effort to wear something else besides the yoga pants and sweater, I am much more productive, chores actually get done, items get crossed off of my to-do list, and I just feel better about myself.
Now I’m not saying that you need to get dressed to actually feel good about yourself, time with God should ultimately fulfill that need, but think about it… Don’t you, at least, feel a bit more put together, ready to combat the day, when you are dressed?
I think it was through FlyLady where I read that actually putting on shoes everyday makes a big difference in our productivity. I’m going to go out on a limb here and add to that… by getting dressed in something other than lounge ware were are actually maximizing our motivation to get stuff done.
Maximized motivation = productivity… and who doesn’t love that? I do! 🙂
Remember those go-to outfits? Go back and update those to reflect (bitter) cold temperatures, and times when you are stuck in the house for several days in a row. I’m not talking about fancy clothing, just something that is going to make you feel great. For me it really is just a pair of good fitting jeans and a t-shirt layered under a cardigan.
Add a simple accessory like a scarf or necklace and… waa-laa… your dressed!
Oh, I can so relate. I feel so much better when I take the time to look nice, but I’ve gotten into bad habits lately too.
It’s so easy to fall into those habits, especially when it’s so cold outside! 🙂
Victoria, LOVED this “Dressing for the Ordinary Days” I am no longer a stay at home mom, since my divorce I am now back in the work force 40+ hours. But I have found that on the weekends I tended to just be lazy and not put any effort in to how I dressed. The last few weekends I’ve made a conscious decision to put more effort into what I put on, whether it’s adding a cute hat to jeans and a tee or wearing a cute skirt with tights and boots. Helps me feel more confident when I run to the store or go to the barn or visit my parents. Love the jeans and top you have pictured in your post! Cute top! Thank you!!! ~Marcy~
Thanks Marcy, glad you enjoyed this. Back when I was working I remember it seemed like such a chore to get dressed on the weekends. I do think that there are occasions where comfy clothing on the weekends are perfectly acceptable, but I’m with you on wanting to feel put together most of the time.
I don’t even own yoga pants. I wasn’t working for 4 months out of 2012, and I still got up and showered and put on jeans and makeup every day. I just felt unprepared and unable to tackle the day ahead – even if that “day ahead” was just watching Netflix – if I wasn’t “put together.”
That last time I went out in public in cotton pajama-style pants was 12 years ago. I was pregnant and often made late-night trips to Hastings to rent movies. That was the last time I felt it was acceptable to not put on “real” clothes.
I guess I’m preaching to the choir though, right? lol Found you through The Pin It Party.
Sorry that should say found you through the Weekend Block Party. Too many windows open at once lol
Thanks for stopping by Stephanie. I’m with you, it was when I was very pregnant, and postpartum, that I ever wore PJ type pants out of the house in public, but that is only because those where the only types that fit during that time! 🙂
You can tell where my mind is…I thought this would be about salad dressing! D’oh!
Finding motivation to get out of sweats and look put together is often a problem for me, too. It’s easy to grab the same type of outfit (comfy but drab). I like scarves and makeup for a dressier look that’s still comfy.
Nice post!
Oh Lydia that is hilarious! 🙂 Glad you stopped by, sorry I couldn’t provide any salad dressing tips for you 😉
Preach it, Sister!
This is one of the things I’m adamant about and encourage my readers to do all of the time. How we dress is a reflection of how we feel about ourselves but it is reciprocal, too. If we start dressing better–in clothes that make us feel good–then we will start feeling better about ourselves, too.
One other thought–I think aprons have fallen out of favor because clothes are so easy to wash nowadays but my apron is my friend–I’m not worried about ruining my clothes when cleaning because I have a layer of protection over them. Believe it or not, I was inspired to start wearing aprons by my husband who wears coveralls when he is working to protect his clothes. It was one of those “duh!” moments for me 🙂
Found your blog via the SITSSharefest!
Thanks for the reminder on wearing an apron. I always forget to put mine on but you are so right, it would definitely help shield my clothing during the day. So glad you stopped by 🙂
I definitely understand — I don’t have young children at home but I’m always cleaning and in the kitchen so I feel why put on something nice and get it stained while in the kitchen. It’s funny that I’m reading this today, I decided to get ‘dressed’ in something I would definitely go out in today, I don’t know what got into me . . . Maybe it was the sun shining today.
The sun is shinning here too and I am motivated to get out and enjoy this beautiful weather too.
I am very guilty of being lazy in my dressing habits on the “off” days and to a certain extent on my “on” days. The excuses I find myself throwing out all the time are the nasty, cold weather we’ve been having and the fact that I’m currently overweight. I can’t help the weather but the overweight thing is completely my fault and is not a valid excuse for wearing jeans and hoodies all the time.
Nicole I’m the same way, the cold weather has really been hard to motivate myself to get dressed.
Love it! Especially when you say we are conveying “I have not lost myself to motherhood,” because not get dressed can DEFINITELY look that way. The days I get showered, dressed and ready run infinitely more smoothly and feels like I am tackling the tasks ahead of me instead of reacting to whats thrown at me!
SO READY for that closet purge. Just another month or so and all the baby weight should be gone and I’ll be ready to feel and dress like a real person again, even thought I’m staying home with those messy-fingered crazies. It’s worth it!
I’ve been trying to upgrade my wardrobe lately, and while I don’t wear anything too nice when watching my grandsons for the day, I at least aim for presentable 🙂
Well said! It’s really an investment in your children and husband to show that you care enough about them to take care of yourself!
I was in my pajama pants this morning–and I was kind of glad, because I started cleaning something where I got really messy and I was glad I hadn’t changed yet. However, I wear sweatshirts and work out pants almost every day–but they are not my pajamas. I really need a whole new wardrobe.
Thanks for linking up with the Bloggers Brags Pinterest Party. I have pinned your post to the Bloggers Brags Pinterest Board!
Thanks Tammy!
I agree totally! When we feel as though we can handle anything life throws at us, we usually CAN! Getting dressed, right down to putting on shoes, is a huge signal that we are ready.
Victoria,
This is so true! We need to remember that we are professionals and our profession is motherhood. Now I agree we don’t need to look like June Cleaver but we also don’t necessarily need to look ready for some dumpster diving either…Great Post!
Kyle
Kyle the dumpster diving reference just made my whole afternoon! So great, thanks for sharing the humor of it all 🙂
I’m sorry, I don’t have a blog. I enjoy reading your very much. You can buy a cheaper version of the velvet hangers at Wal-Mart. The probably aren’t as sturdy but I have been using them and they work fine.
Great tip Cindy, I’ll have to look into those!
This is very motivating, and convicting! I am pretty intrigued to go back and read that series!
Getting dressed each day was one of my first steps to recovery when I was battle depression. Such a simple act and yet such a huge impact. I still feel much more ready to ta kle my day when I am properly dressed, though I must admit that I have, on more than one occasion, welcomes my husband home for lunch only to realize that I had forgotton to change out of my pajama shirt lol!
I’ve accidently left the house in my “house” flip flops on more than one occasion so I can related! Making myself get dressed has really helped me to get back into a routine over the last week so I am a firm believer in the power of getting dressed to help battle depression. Thanks for sharing Tessa.
One of the first things I like to do in the mornings is get dressed…it puts me in ACTION… just combing my hair and applying a bit of makeup also makes me feel presentable to my family…and ready to face the day! It gives me a little self esteem… lounging around in curlers & PJs makes me feel awkward and unprepared for unexpected guests or situations, etc.
This is so encouraging and something I believe in, but sometimes it can be so hard! I’m in a season where my tummy has expanded to the size of a hippo and none of my normal clothes fit, so I’m limited with my maternity wear. There have been moments when I have really struggled to feel good about myself. But my husband has encouraged me to buy some tops etc to help me, and it definitely does. That being said, nothing is more comfortable for me at the moment than yoga pants 😉 Lol. I’m so looking forward to meeting my baby, and being able to dress like me!
I remember those last few weeks of pregnancy, it seemed like I wore the exact same shirt and pants every day! 🙂 But soon it will be so worth it when you get to meet your little one, and your body will get back to normal again!
Definitely struggled with this as I find that I don’t have the extra money to spend on clothes and I worry that I am being selfish. So I tend to dress down, wear the same things over and over and simply not care.
I agree it’s hard to spend money on ourselves when there are other needs to be met. Maybe you can spend an afternoon picking out a few items of clothing you already own and creating some go-to outfits that make you feel great and are practical to wear too.
So true! It makes such a difference to wear something I actually love. I don’t have to cringe when someone comes to the door, either. 😉
LOL! I remember the maintenance man came earlier than expected and I still had my wet hair pinned up from the shower. I felt so silly! 🙂
I get dressed to stay at home as if I were dressing to go to the grocery store. Nothing fancy, but pulled together. And certainly not as if I were going to church or a fancy social function.
Most of my clothes come from an on-line (and also brick-and-mortar) store. I wait until the sales are best, and buy then; usually post-Christmas and just before back-to-school. In between, I keep a list of needed items.
Sounds like you have a great plan Karen! Thanks for sharing 🙂