Blouse – c/o Ann Taylor (it's back in stock in the stores!)
Jeans – NYDJ
Shoes – Cole Haan
Necklace – Ann Taylor (similar)
Bracelets – Ann Taylor, Lauren by Ralph Lauren, from a clothing swap
Today half my team is out of the office – makes for a quiet yet productive day of work!
So if you follow me on Twitter you know I am on the hunt for new winter coats – last year's coats are far too big on me. I figured I could keep my Lands End parka for snow and such, but wanted a nicer coat for work that flattered this new figure. This morning I was digging in the much-ignored office closet for the box of gloves and scarves… and saw a wool coat in the back. This closet has all my father-in-law's coats that we inherited, my dress coat, my husband's Navy uniforms… and some clothes of mine from my past that I have held on to. And one is this wool peacoat from Calvin Klein! I bought this coat at TJ Maxx when I was in college – I remember putting it on layaway because even at TJ Maxx it was over $100. Well this baby fits again! It is missing a couple of buttons, but I figure I can purchase all new buttons so they are all the same. And on a day like today, I need a coat but I don't necessarily need to button it up. Score!
I know I have mentioned my photo shoot process to you all before – put Emerson in her carseat, then take about a dozen photos with my husband, he hands me the memory card and we dash off to the Metro to get me to work. Not until my lunch hour do I even see the pictures. Most are great… and some are a bit ridiculous:
This weekend should be pretty fun – tonight after work we're doing pumpkin carving with Emerson in the town center. Tomorrow we have swim lessons and there's a pumpkin walk in town – they take the carved pumpkins, light them and put them along a path through the woods. On Sunday is a relative's son's baptism and celebration after. Then my husband and I are going to see Battles at 9:30 Club! What are your plans for the weekend?
Allie you look so pretty in that Jean & blue blouse, I wonder if you choose your own outfit or is there someone else helping you?
I alway having so much problems with choosing my own outfit just because of my ugly round & chuby body shape, that making me feel uncomfortable, embarrassing, up sad & lack of confidence when I go shop for clothes, that why I have been completely stop go shopping since my body is out of shape.
Oh thanks for the heads up….I will keep my eyes pealed 🙂
i have attracted by necklace. However all are beautiful.
evening gowns
Thank you so much!
Isn’t it amazing how a properly-fitted bra can transform your figure and entire wardrobe so dramatically? 🙂
You look so beautiful in that colour, Alison 🙂
Love the jeans and LOVE the necklace, makes the outfit pop.
Slightly off topic but your smooth blouse made me think of it
I had a proper bra fitting in a specialty shop, turns out you can’t buy my size in dept stores (no wonder I hated my bras lol) anyway, I am out a fair bot of money but I look thinner and now gained back a ton of my winter sweaters and close knit tops that just didn’t ‘look good’
I have been thinking about it since I read your story on it weeks (months?) ago
nYDJ, I will have to hunt some down in toronto
The NYDJ jeans are a high rise which I like because they don’t droop during the day. In fact, they are wearable a 2nd or even 3rd time without washing! But the rise makes them jeans you can’t wear with shorter or tucked in styles. They go up PAST my bellt button! But they do hold in the postpartum tummy a tad so I feel a bit more comfortable, they keep their shape, they don’t all have obvious logos and weird details, and they hold up great. Don’t dry them, the lycra will break down, but I throw in the washer on cold with everything else, let them air dry and they last for YEARS – these I bought last fall, but the 12s I bought right after Emerson was born (go down a size) still look like new! Check sites like Gilt and Rue La La, they often have NYDJ on sale!
Oooh thanks for the tip Rosa! I was just going to do boring black buttons, but some vinage ones would really take it to the next level!
Enjoy your NYC vaca!
So sad about this weather – Emerson is finally at the age where she understands and is excited by Halloween – I hope she gets to do all the activities that she has been chatting about the past two weeks!
What a cool project to do with your sister! And yes, some days I wonder if he was even looking through the viewfinder when I see the results of the picture – why didn’t he notice my shirt buttons gaping open, or the fact that my hair is sticking up in the back? I guess they are blinded by love 😉
Oh that sounds so exciting, have a wonderful time! Better come back and tell me all about your journey!
I have similar issues – it really is about the silhouette and fabric to make a jacket work. Most jackets I purchase are of a stretchy or thin fabric, rarely lined so they fit more with my curves and don’t accentuate them that much. I also look with ones with a long v-neck, not a bunch of buttons. If I buttoned up this coat I would look like the Michelin Man 🙂
It does do that – my husband already jokes I have Cee Lo arms – I surely do in this post! 🙂
I believe I will… have started listing things on eBay already (I am alieblue15 on there) and will try to list coats next week!
Hey Allie! I’ve loved your site, stumbled upon a couple of weeks ago – have question about the jeans ( the first thing I said when I saw today was “dang, those are some excellent jeans!”): I see from the link that they’re sort of those magic jeans that slenderize you and are stretchy — last year I got some Hello Skinny! jeans – stretch bootcut jobbies, that I like the look of — but never wear because they descend, rapidly, from the place where they look best (hiding at first postpartum but now a year later definitely just my own belly pooch) to a place where they look both silly (baggy butt) and unflattering (just under aforementioned pooch, so I look like a beerbellied trucker. The stretch is just not doing me the favors it promised, unless I really cinch with a belt (not comfy) or went out and got some suspenders. So, what’s your experience with the NYDJ? That hiking up pic at the end looks familiar. I wouldn’t mind the occasional hike up, but my pair…it’s just constant and miserable-making.
lmao love the last photo! Have a fun Halloween weekend 🙂
Don’t you love it when you find hidden treasures in the back of your closet? There’s a store in Bethesda that sells vintage buttons, it’s called accessories of old, you might be able to find something fun there for your coat.
Love your simple, colorful look – and that necklace, oh my. Now I am hovering over the keyboard to buy the “similar”! Have a great weekend – I am in NYC, so it is guaranteed fun, snow or no-snow : >
You look great! The new hair is definitely behaving now!
We were right behind you guys at the pumpkin walk last year, and my then-almost-2-year-old cried and pulled my hair from the Ergo all the way round. I hope it goes better this year, assuming the weather even lets us go…
This post made me laugh. My husband takes a picture of me every morning so I can email it to my sister. Sometimes he takes the worst pictures and I’m glad someone else has the same problems. Why doesn’t he tell me my sweater has bunched up weird or my bra is showing?
Anyway… I love your necklace with the blue blouse! Also, I’ve been reading your blog for 6 months or so and I can definitely tell you are losing weight. Great job! I know how difficult it can be to eat right and stay active when you work full time with a family to take care of.
Tomorrow is our 2nd anniversary, so me and the hubs are beginning our road trip tomorrow morning. Week long, and I don’t know where we are going.
Gotta love finding just the right thing in your own closet – at just the right price 🙂
You really look nice in jeans & blazers (or this peacoat), by the way. I have a rather short neck and anything collared tends to make it look shorter, and my shoulders are also somewhat rounded so jackets tend to wrinkle around the middle of the back. I envy anyone who can wear a blazer successfully!
You look fabulous in this color – great outfit!!
Will you be selling your old coats – I loved them!!
You look lovely in the first picture — all of them, actually, even the last — but I’m amused by the way the puffy sleeve and the angle of your right arm are conspiring to create some very strange foreshortening. I love the color of the blouse and the necklace, and I don’t even like yellow metals.
Enjoy the Battles show!
Thank you!
Fabulous shape top, and a lovely colour!
Thank you! I love this blouse, and love that I can wash it! It may be silk, but in a lingerie bag on the gentle cycle, it comes out great!
I love this blue on you!!! It’s such a pretty shade on it’s own, but this is a great look all the way around.