Gone Style: Family Jeans

One of my earliest childhood memories involves a puddle, purple rain boots and a pair of denim overalls with a flower on the front pocket. It was the first item of clothing I could put on myself, untwisting the straps and hooking them to the buttons before proudly standing before the mirror. There I was, a bonafide big kid ready to take on the balmy summer afternoon, pockets full of the plastic zoo animals I took with me everywhere.

Fast forward to now, twenty some odd summers later… I’ve outgrown the overalls by a mile but I’m still kicking around in denim and so, not surprisingly are my kids.

Archer brilliantly pairs his favorite grey jeans with yellow shades, coincidentally coordinating with the “Travel Town” balance beam. Well played.

Fable strikes a pose in her denim jacket, drop-waist dress and handmade bow.

In my favorite skinny dark-denim jeans and denim wedge shoes.

Vest belonged to my grandfather.

Shirt = thrifted.

I tend to (try to?) dress for comfort and style. Same goes for my kids who must at all times be comfortable for daily adventuring, collecting moments and playing games, running down sidewalks, digging in the sand… For us that means jeans, mixing and matching denim pieces with cotton dresses, tees and sandals for summer.

Archer’s at the age where he picks his own clothes but Fable, for the time being, is still my baby and I omgso completely enjoy picking her little outfits in the morning. Layering thrifted pieces with new items, hand-me-downs with homemade gifts.

I think a lot about Archer and Fable and what they will remember. And I wonder if, much like I can remember the feel of the suspender buttons on my flowered denim overalls, they will hold the same kinds of memories. Of the lovingly worn jeans with the hole in the knee…

…The denim jumper that started as an infant dress but over the months became a shirt:

… The jacket she wore to the family picnic on the fourth of July:

And if for whatever reason they don’t, I will.

And if I happen to forget, my mind cloudy with a chance time-blurred memories? I’ll have thousands (literally, thousands) of pictures to remind us all.

GGC

This post was sponsored by the lovely people at Gap. Thank you, Gap! (ED: All items of clothing, including denim pieces were purchased and styled by GGC and fam.) For more on Gap's new denim line including stylespiration for the whole fam, check out Gap's uber- fab 1969 style stream. Enjoy!

Gone Style: Fable's Homemade Dresses

*updated with winner, below*

Several months ago, my mom happened upon a local fabric store she hadn't any idea existed a few mere miles from her house.

"Bec! You will not BELIEVE this place! You must come with me next time you come down!"

So I did. Our next trip to my parent's house in Encinitas (Hal, kids and I go down to visit every month-ish) my mom and I went a shopping. For fabric. And whoa-eesh, had fun. Hours later we returned to the car with a giant bag of fabric including small scraps.

"These would make perfect pockets!"

"And this for the trim?"

"Oh, totally. High five!"

"High five!"

My mother taught me to sew when I was pregnant with Fable, desperate to nest in a house where nesting wasn't really in the cards so she sat me down with my sister's sewing machine and taught me.

I've been dying to sew ever since but haven't had the time nor the sewing-without-my-mom-nearby-skills (not to mention a sewing machine) to do so. My mother on the other hand... can pretty much do anything and do it well so I gave her my blessing to sew her brains out without me (so long as she promised to incorporate some of my fabric choices/ideas.)

And she did. And when she finished our dresses she went BACK to ANOTHER (even MORE amazing) fabric store and made five more. Behold:

Nine Dresses, Three Patterns

1. First three dresses made with the easiest of all patterns. You can find it here. (It's called "Shoulder Tie-topper." Be sure to scroll down.) Great pattern for beginners and so effing cute.

2. This next dress/pattern is adorable and so perfect for playing. It's a super easy on/off with no buttons or strings. You can find it, here. Also incredibly easy (or so says WWW.)

This green dress is my favorite. Fable's madly in love with birds and when this arrived in the mail Fable had a conniption of happy (these photos were taken on a very hot day at a very hot park, hence the not-so-stoked face.) She literally threw the dress in the air and fell backwards with glee.

3. My fave pattern is this one also available on Erica's. It's called "Macy Giggle Sundress" and you can find it here. (Once again, you'll have to scroll. I cannot link individual patterns unfortunately.)

Okay so I lied about the green bird dress being my favorite dress. THIS is my all-time favorite dress ever to have hanged in Fable's closet period the end:

(My mom made it out of curtain fabric)

I think it might be hers, too.

So! Because everyone has been so kind commenting on Fable's dresses both here and on flickr, my mother has offered you, my reader(s) one custom-made dress for your daughter/niece/future child? I'll be picking one winner at random next Tuesday PM. To win? Tell me about your favorite dress. (Mine is a little black number with ruffles on the chest.) Good luck and happy sewing!

GGC

*Congratulations to commenter #59, Emily! My mom is super stoked to make you a custom-made dress especially (and I quote her because she's sitting next to me as I type this) "because you live next to David!" (My brother ALSO lives in Somerville.) Email me ASAP and I'll hook you up with WWW to discuss size/fabric/pattern! To the rest of you, thank you all so much for participating! This was such a fun giveaway and my mom and I so appreciate all of your comments, stories, awesome.

Gone Style: Summer Beauty for Face and Head

*ED: Updated with winner, below*

Ugh. The heat. Am I right? Am I right? What's a girl to do with her sanity when it's 673893 degrees outside. Hair? Makeup? What the fuck, sun! What. The. Fuck. Sometimes the best way to fight fire? Is with fire, baby! Bomp-chicka-wow-wow...

...So let's talk summer must-haves and quick tips for staying hot hot (in-the) heat.

First. Bangs. Ugh, you guys. As someone who has had bangs for most of her twenty-nine years, I must tell you, bangs and summer? Not a great mix. Sticky bangs are not cute and it's sort of impossible to avoid their cement-sweat-yuck when it's 102 degrees. Or even 89.

So? Unless you plan on carrying dry shampoo on your person all day long...

Which brings me to summer must have #1: Dry Shampoo! I've written about dry shampoo before complete with before and after photos. I use Klorane, which came recommended via the lovely Liz and has since changed my life. I wash my hair, at most, twice a week but work out at least three times a week so dry shampoo is mas importante. Helps me control the grease monkeys that live in my locks.

I digress. Back to bangs. (That's what she said.)

I have bangs.

Hello, bangs.

But in the summer, they disappear:

Goodbye, bangs.

Bobby pins are my friend and I take advantage of their loyalty to my scalp by utilizing them on the daily. Headbands, too. Which brings me to my next summer must-have: #2. Bobby Pins. A three-dollar pack will last you all summer. Just pull bangs back and pin voila.

But not before you... #3. Flat Iron!

I was never a huge flat iron fan until I was recently introduced via Nancy O'Dell/Momversation who offered to send me the Rusk w8less flat iron + blow dryer a few months back. I am now obsessed and the flat iron (I blow dry my hair once in a blue never. Don't have the patience for it.) and have ordered everyone I know to snag themselves one. To be fair, before giving the Rusk a whirl I had only ever used to same straightener since high school, which could very well have been expired/broken. Regardless, this babe is solid. I totally recommend. (See above pics for post flat-ironed awesome.)

(For reference, this is what my hair looks like when I wake up after sleeping on it wet. Pardon my early-am, pre-coffee man-face.)

Poodle-riffic.

And speaking of faces that look less mannish with a bit of makeup...

Makeup in the summer is a subtle art. Waterproof mascara is disasterville - will break your eyelashes off within a week and for what? No one's looking at your eyes in the pool, anyway. They're looking at your boobs. In my case they're looking at my boobs and then promptly looking away. Two breast reductions and two babies have fucked my shit clear up but it doesn't really matter anyway because I'm married. April fools, Hal! Forever April fools!

Seriously, though. If I'm going anywhere near a pool or body of water, I stay away from eye-makeup completely and wear chap stick, tinted-SPF and bronzer. Mainly, for day to day, I go for light, barely-there makeup so people don't think I'm a dude.

BEFORE MAKEUP (ED: AND UTILIZING THE #2 BOBBY PINS!):

For summer, besides #4 - A Good Facial SPF. I carry Neutrogena's oil-free sunblock stick on me at all times. I use it on the kids, too.

The following are my summer everyday makeup must-haves:

#5. Concealer - for pimples, under-eyes et al. My two favorities are this one by MAC and this by Josie Maran Cosmetics.

#6. Bronzer - been obsessed with the "10" bronzer from Benefit for years now. It's pricey but will last you two years. (Apply with lighter shade up to define cheekbones.)

#7. Neapolitan (shades of) Eyeshadow - (ED: think strawberry, vanilla, chocolate when choosing your three summer shades and then applying them to your eyelids one shade after the other.) In the below photos I'm wearing Josie Maran's "pinkalicious" on inner corner, followed by "sand" and "pewter" on the ends.

#8. A good, light mascara: I'm currently experimenting with Maybelline's Lash Stiletto.

#9. Burts Bees lip shimmer in Watermelon. For pale complexions such as mine, this shade is tops but all Burts shades are awesome and will flatter any skin-tone. Fine one that works for you and buy ten of them. (If you're anything like me, you will lose one every few days.)

AFTER MAKEUP (ED: NEED AN EYEBROW WAX):

Yeah right. Like anyone can comfortably wear their hair down in the summer. Not me, anyway. My hair sticks to my neck and my skin starts itching and ew. Hair up, por favor.

Enter #9: The messy bun.

This is how I typically wear my hair in the summer. Unless I know I'm going to be spending the day in an air-conditioned space. Here also is a better view of eye-makeup in three shades.

Oh and sorry about the pimples. I don't know how to airbrush.

I wasn't thinking very far ahead when I took these pictures this morning. If there's any confusion with the makeup application, please let me know and I'll do a summer-makeup tutorial vid re-cap type situation.

In the meantime, here's a birds-eye view of the messy bun. An ideal nest for birds to rest their weary wings/comfortable and casual way to wear long hair in the summer.

Annnnnnnnnnd... now that you survived all that...

This week I have two majorly exciting giveaways:

1. Rusk W8les str8-iron + blow-dryer c/o Rusk (thanks, Rusk!)

2. Josie Maran Cosmetics summer makeup basket c/o Josie Maran Cosmetics (thanks Josie and Polly!) which includes tinted moisturizer w/ SPF, cream blush in "sunkissed," pressed powder, lipstick in Dyani + black mascara. (ED: Get 25% off at JM check-out using the code "dailycandy.")

To win? Tell me your summer beauty must-haves. Winner to be picked next Tuesday PM via random.org. Good luck!

GGC

*I'm super excited to announce that my friend Christopher Collins (you may remember him from this giveaway last year!) will be appearing on the new season of Project Runway, debuting next THURSDAY (July 29th) which is very exciting round these parts. (My cousin Erica is Christopher's business partner + my mom's entire wardrobe is CC. Exhibit A: my mom's white coat pictured at the bottom of this post.) Check him out here and here and follow Christopher Collins Collection on twitter! The dude is one of the nicest, most ambitious/talented/interesting humans in existence and I'm so SO proud of him (and Erica). So sososososo proud.

** Congratulations to #284 Edensky for your new Rusk hair products and #36, LC for your Josie Maran makeup basket! And thank you everyone for participating in the giveaway! Will be doing more amazing giveaways soon! You're awesome!

Gone Style: Swimsuit Yourself

uh, oh...

Last week I did an insane thing: I bought a bikini for the first time since High School. To be clear, I've never had an amazing body. I've always been insecure about the way I look in a bathingsuit, even as a teenager, especially as a teenager, actually. Size H breasts will do that to a person. So will being a size 8 in less-than-size-zeroland.

Since Archer was born I've worn a one-piece. A lovely retro polka-dotted one-piece but four years is a long time to rock the same bathingsuit, so I decided, last week, to treat myself to a new one.

I dared myself to try on a bikini. A triangle-top at that. Risky business considering I still have some pretty visible breast-reduction scars in the cleavage-area and along the sides.

After spending a ridiculous amount of time scrutinizing myself in front of the mirror I bought the bathing suit, with the intent to try it on at home, away from Target's mirrors-of-deceit, to see if I could pull it off.

ED: both top and bottoms (Zac Posen for Target) purchased in size *large.

*I'm typically a size 8/M/34C, 5'8 tall.*

top = $18

bottoms = $18

I told myself I could remove the tags so long as I promptly re-joined the gym. Something I have been meaning to do for the last nineteen-months. Something I finally did last week. Bikinis are motivational like that. So are posting photographs of oneself half-nakes on ye olde blog. (Important, me thinks to be real about these things.)

I get loads of emails requesting bathingsuit recommendations for real women with real bods, specifically those of us rocking some postpartum soft spots. I've written about swimsuits before, years ago, so thought an update was necessary.

Here are a few I recommend, both of the two-piece varieties and one, based on cuteness, flattery and cuteness.

Bikinis:

1. I'm OBSESSED with this suit. So Betty Draper:

Buy @ Retrodress = $65.00

Gotta love a sexy two-piece love covers up the belly in a non-granny retro-sexy way. Well played.

2. String bikinis are FAR more flattering than most bikini bottoms because we can make adjustments to the sides as not to flaunt our (ahem) roll-over minutes. Exhibit this:

(*This is why I always buy bottoms on the larger side - more material to work with. Nothing worse than a too-small swimsuit. Especially when strings are involved)

I love the print of the one I purchased (above/here) but I also love the mix-and-match. Victoria's Secret has some nice options if you're not easily distracted by otherworldly bodies. It's hard for me to envision myself in any of the suits when staring at bodies like this and this. And this:

Alas, its a cute pairing. Love the rainbow top and pink bottoms. And yes, you'll need a Brazillian for this one. And a size small vagina. After two kids, I'm afraid all the working out in the world won't affect my larg...ina. Sorry. That was kind of gross.

Buy @ Victoria's Secret

top = $15.50

bottoms = $14.50

3. I can't tell if I'm in love with this suit or the girl who's wearing it. The bottoms are also extremely flattering to those of us with childbearing hips. A little on the spendy side, however:

Buy @ Anthropolgie:

top = $98

bottoms = $98

4. Ditto on this hot little number, if you're (once again) looking to splurge:

Buy @ Anthropologie:

top = $78

bottoms = $78

5. And this, which would look especially hot on those with darker skin. I could never pull this off because I don't tan and the color would fetch every thigh dimple to come and play unsolicted:

Buy @ Anthropologie:

top = $98

bottoms = $98

One-pieces:

6, 7, 8. Esther Williams suits are SOLID. They also run a pinch small. Here are a few of my favorites:

buy @ Retrodress: $65

buy @ Retrodress = $65

Buy @ Retrodress = $65

9. Hi. This might be cutest bathing suit of all time. That is all:

And yes, it is ALSO from Anthropologie. No one can compete with their selection of bathingsuits and yes, I know they're pricey. (Anthropologie should sponsor this blog for the amount of times I link to them. So should Target. Hint, nudge.)

buy @ anthropologie = $198

10. I love this so, so much. It doesn't suit me (I don't think) but I wish it did. The belted style is so flattering and stripes are always sexy:

Buy @ Anthropologie: $128

11. I chose this for you skinny minnies with flaunt-worthy hips. My friend, Jasmine, for instance could easily pull this suit off, even after two kids. (Me? Hahahaha, no.)

buy @ American Apparel: $45

12. This is actually a two-piece. So flattering and so sexy. Ideal for those stacked with major cleav. The color is perfection:

buy @ target: $45

13. I call this? The perfect all-ages all-bodies suit. It's out of stock until next month when I plan to snatch one up for myself. A bikini's rad and all, but a one-piece is kind of mandatory for building sandcastles with the kids at the beach. Which I plan to do often this summer.

buy @ Anthropologie: $148

What about you? What will you be wearing this summer? Where do you typically purchase your swimwear? Any recommendations for lovely friends and strangers? Lend me your links, summer-lovers.

GGC