Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Style Challenge Update - Pregnancy Style

Wow it's been quite a while since I last posted about the $5 Style Challenge. What a fail on my behalf.

Here's the lowdown. I have failed the $5 Challenge. When we found out I was pregnant I bought clothes. Shirts, pants, bras, undies, dresses and shoes. I love a bargain so still tried to keep the prices down to a minimum but sometimes when buying specially labelled maternity clothes that can be tricky. We did dig out the clothes I wore last time I was pregnant so that helped challenge wise.

Here's a collection of some of what I've worn since July. On another note I definitely need to start making the bed before taking photos. Goes to show the wonderful housewife I am not.
Awesome t-shirts
I love t-shirts and will wear them with anything. We love shopping at Threadless which usually have sales on with each shirt averaging $10. 

The Jim Morrison t-shirt is actually a men's t-shirt from Jeans West (on sale for $10!). It fits so well and I love having Mr Mojo Rising so close to me. The swan note singlet was from Threadless for $5 so that fit in with the challenge nicely! Zombie at Tiffany's was on sale from Threadless for $10 but is now back up to $20. The stripe tee was from Big W's new Emerson range for something like $12. So comfy!
Skirts
I pulled a lot of skirts out of storage to wear during my pregnancy. They are all either wrap around or elastic waisted meaning I can wear them from start to finish and then after pregnancy. 

All these outfits were already in my wardrobe so no new purchases here! All skirts apart from the middle floral skirt are from Tree of Life. The middle skirt was from City Beach back in 2008. The shirts are from Big W, Threadless and Tree of Life.
Dresses
The easiest way to dress up or down is with dresses. I love maxi's, although the mister just informed me a few weeks ago that he HATES maxi's. Too bad for him as I love them!

The first dress was from Tree of Life for $5! Perfect for the challenge and such a comfy dress. The top dress was from Cotton On for $10 (discount thanks to my cousin). It no longer fits me at this stage during my pregnancy as it's too tight around the boobs. Not complaining! Middle dress is a wonderful wrap dress sent to me by Witjuti for a review for Kidspot. Bottom dress is an old dress from Cotton On that is definitely too short now!
Casual pants and shirts
As much as I love funky t-shirts, I love comfy funky pants even more! Harem pants are my type of pants and I live in them. 

The stripe pants were from the Southbank markets for $10. Maybe I should have made the challenge a $10 one as that would have been so much easier! Here I've paired them with a Supre singlet. Their basics are a must. Top photo is another Supre singlet, a vest I 'borrowed' from mum and black skinny maternity jeans from Target. They were definitely over the price allowed for the challenge but a necessity. Middle photo is a white Supre shirt, black Supre singlet and black Target maternity jeans. Both tops were already in my wardrobe. Bottom photo is my black harem pants and a light t-shirt from Tree of Life. The shirt was new at 2 for $30.
Dresses
More dresses! The red muumuu is an old purchase from the Valley markets and the tan shoes are from Sportsgirl that my MIL bought me. So both fit in the challenge. The bottom dress is an old dress from Tree of Life (damn I love that store!). The top dress, however, was on sale for $60 from Jeans West. It's comfy and such a good purchase though.
I'm not a runner/walker/exerciser of any sort BUT we did walk to the park one day so this is my exercise outfit. The top is from Bonds and so comfy. This is a size 14 (I'm usually a 8-10) and is tight. It was a lot more than $5 but worth it. The shorts are old as are the Nike runners which KILL my feet and I hate wearing them.
Casual
I'm a singlet and pants casual kind of girl. The first photo is a Supre tank, harems from the West End markets that I love! The pants were $20 so over my Challenge budget. I wear them everywhere though so they've definitely been worth it! Second photo was Christmas Day, a Kmart singlet for $5 (yay!) and pants I bought from City Beach years ago. That one made the challenge, yay! The third photo is a bamboo yoga singlet and pants from Witjuti that, again, were sent to me for a review. So comfy and highly recommended.

So I didn't completely fail the $5 challenge but I didn't exactly get an A either. After pregnancy, hopefully, I'll be back on track. I've, hopefully, got all the maternity/feeding bras I need so I shouldn't need to fork out that expense. I think I'll continue to take photos and be aware of the price I am paying for clothes but not beat myself up over buying new things.

Do you recommend any awesome shops or designers?
Sorry for the super long post. I was going to break it up into two but I'm so swamped with blog ideas that I just don't know when I would post the second half. Also, I bought all clothes myself (or the mister did) apart from the Witjuti clothes which I have stated I was sent for a review outside of this blog. No company has asked me to blog about their products. I just like to share my good finds.

31 comments:

  1. Totally funky mumma you! You are not along on the bed factor either

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    1. Why is it so hard to find motivation to make the bed!? It's not like it's a huge job to do. Oh well, it just gets messed up at the end of the day anyway :) Thank you!

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  2. I love Emerson's range at BigW! Its because the singlets/tops are about 2 inches longer than kmarts said version... they are nice and long and thats what I like!! Plus they are $8 for good quality material! Wearing a grey one right now that feels like Im wearing an expensive top not BigW :)

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    1. YES! Plus they don't shrink like Kmart's ranges do. You're so right about the quality too. In fact I think I need more...

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  3. I am not a fashion chick but glad i stopped to read this one as i had not heard of threadless - just checked it out and know where i will get at least 1 pressie for hubs birthday and father's day!

    (you know i am all good with your unmade bed!)

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    1. Threadless is awesome for gifts PLUS they do kid's sizes! Their new fit is awesome too. Enjoy shopping!

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  4. You've done pretty well. I dug out my old preggy clothes and lived in most of them too but had to buy a few new things because I was actually slimmer the second time round than the first (size 12 instead of 14). What I'd like to find now, since I'm breast feeding are some fashionable tops. I've been living in the same handful for months now and whilst they serve me well, I am starting to get a bit bored!

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    1. Nothing bad about being slimmer. I'm bigger this time around which is making it a bit hard to not rush out and buy clothes. Although, I really enjoy wearing clothes a bit too big when I'm pregnant.
      I get what you mean about breast-feeding tops. I just layered or wore singlets that could easily be pulled down and back up. The bras I think suck though.

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  5. Im not sure how out of the way the northside is for you now, but there are 3 shops in Redcliffe, Clontarf & Deception Bay called 'Renu' and they stock awesome brands like Sass & Bide, Country Road, Witchery etc and everything is like $5-$10. Its my best kept secret!

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    1. Oh really?! That is awesome! I'm more than keen to make the journey up there for stuff like that!
      Thank you xxx

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  6. OOooooOOOoo..I love all of your dresses! I was so sad to sell off all my maturnity wear :(

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    1. Thank you! I prefer to buy ones that I can wear when not pregnant as well. Unless my boobs stretch everything. Why can't the boobs stay?!

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  7. I am LOVING Emerson!! Not only do they make size 11 shoes, yay!, but great clothes for great prices! I just bought a new peacock-coloured dress today for $15 that I never would've looked at until recently with all the maxi-love going on. And some jeans for $9 that are a bit small but I figure will be a good thing to have in case I lose wait in Japan... which I'm planning on as I won't have access to my usual comfort foods! :P

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    1. I love Emerson too! Good quality too. Wow there are some awesome bargains you picked up. Well done!!

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  8. I love the idea of a five dollar challenge, and I'm pretty sure boatman would too!

    You arerockingthe harem pants; you can almost convince me to wear them! :)

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    1. It's a struggle but I need to spend more time hitting up op shops, that'd make it a hell of a lot easier!

      They are the comfiest pants ever!! Do it :)

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  9. You did awesome especially for pregnancy clothes. They cost an arm and a leg! I hardly ever buy new clothes so dont really have a fav :/ Maxi's are awesome :)

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    1. I've only really bought one pair of maternity jeans, some bras, belly belt pack and a belly wrap thingy so I've been able to keep the cost down. Maxis are awesome, comfy :)

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  10. You have such a diverse style... I am jealous! I'm actually finding it hard to find dresses around much at the moment, which is a shame because I LOVE them! I might give Tree of Life a shot though... they look great!

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    1. Oh thank you!
      Warning about Tree of Life dresses - some are see through, slips are cheap though (from Kmart, Big W, Target etc) and perfect to go under them :)

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  11. OMG How can you look so fabulous pregnant - jelaous much?? Yup I am!! Cause I totally looked like a teletubbie from start to finish and I could only wear my normal clothese for like 5 minutes after I saw the positive line on the test. Nothing at all to do with the Sarah lee cookies and cream icecream my body kept telling me I NEEDED. Seriously though - you rock the preggers look! ;) xx

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    1. Hahaha thank you but I don't feel that way AT ALL. I feel huge, I think it's the norm when pregnant.
      xxx

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  12. I am so a Target/Big W/KMart kind of gal. I've also found i'm starting to grow fond of a bit of Katies ( its a bit more " grown up ", like me.... hahaha! ) but its not often i'll actually fork out the higher dollars there....

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    1. OMG me too! The mister was disgusted and kept calling me old because I walked into Katies and found REALLY nice dresses.

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  13. You are looking amazing Ames! I am in love with the striped harem pants :)
    I have always been pretty tight with clothing purchases but some things really do justify the extra cost, particularly maternity jeans. I bought most of my maternity clothes from Kmart because I didn't want to fork out for stuff I wouldn't get a lot of wear out of. The only time I buy more expensive brands (Country Road etc) is when they are on sale - my motto for just about everything is never pay retail!

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    1. Oh thank you. They are so comfy too!
      I agree, I'm such a tight ass - $70 for a dress is extremely rare for me and a splurge. It'd be nice for that not to be the case but shopping wouldn't be as fun, I'm sure!

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  14. LOVING your outfits, Ames. Your dresses and tees rock.

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Just like everyone else I LOVE comments and they make me SMILE. I'll reply as soon as I can, but please know that I appreciate and read EVERY single comment. Thanks xxx

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