Rebuilding My Wardrobe: Part 1

ByAbby Saylor Armbruster

Since getting pregnant and having my daughter, Clay, a few months ago, so many things are different, as becoming a mother has completely changed me from the inside out. I have different priorities, goals, desires and preferences, not to mention a new life, mind, body and soul too. I am different and I want my exterior appearance to reflect that.

Fashion is something I’ve been passionate about for as long as I can remember and I’ve always valued dressing in a way that makes me feel good. I’ve recently decided that a form of self-care in my motherhood journey is allowing myself the money, time and effort to ditch the sweats sometimes and embrace my fashionable self that often gets suppressed in my hectic schedule. Here on my blog, I want to take you guys along as I rebuild my wardrobe with pieces that feel like the new me and flow with my evolved lifestyle.

Here’s everything I’ve purchased and hope to buy soon! I hope this inspires you and helps you discover some items you like if you’re also working to rebuild your wardrobe.

SHOULDER BAG

Shoulder bags are so trendy right now and I’ve been wanting to get one for so long! I love this neutral one from Zara and think the crossbody fit of it is so cool too. The crossbody, close-to-the-chest fit is super convenient as a mom when you’re holding your baby and lugging around their gear too.

OVERSIZED WHITE BUTTON DOWN SHIRT

This is a staple I’ve been craving! I especially love the look of these with biker shorts, but because of its classic simplicity, it can be styled in countless ways. I ordered one from Nasty Gal a few weeks ago and hated the material, so I’m hoping I like this one better! I like that it will work for multiple facets of my life, whether I’m dressing up a bit for work or hanging out at home with Clay.

SNEAKERS

I love the look of pairing sneakers with pretty much anything. With the right sneaker, I think it can instantly elevate any outfit and make it look 100X more fashionable. I wanted something to be able to substitute my AirForce Ones, but with a bit of a different look. I usually always go for chunky sneakers, but I decided to try something new by getting these. I’ll let you guys know if I end up liking them!

MICRO CREW SOCKS

I’ve been meaning to jump on the taller sock trend for a while. I love these with dresses or shorts and sneakers, and I’ve been seeing people wear them with sandals lately… I’m not sure if that’s for me quite yet, but I’m excited to wear them nonetheless. These Aritzia ones have already arrived in the mail and I love the quality and fit.

PADDED SHOULDER TEE

I’ve seen variations of a padded shoulder t-shirt when shopping around online and I’m really into it! This one ended up being a bit more of a forest green color in person than it appears in the photo, but I didn’t mind. It’s the perfect cropped length and I can’t wait to style it!

BOYFRIEND SWEATSHORTS

These shorts are a 10/10. They are incredibly soft and I love the longer length with the high-waisted fit. I’d be happy to have them in every single color, but for now, I’m glad I got the white pair since they’ll match most of the things in my existing closet.

UNITARD ROMPER

I feel like you’re either going to love or hate this romper, but I think it’s such a cool piece! I love that you can wear a t-shirt over it for a biker shorts look, or you can dress it up with a shacket or blazer on top. I was a bit nervous how this was going to fit, especially since it was final sale and nonreturnable, but it fits like a glove!

BROWN, BROWN, BROWN

Brown is so in! I’m into warmer tones these days, so I’ve been preferring brown over black. Anyway, I purchased this leather jacket from Storets and this midi dress from Nasty Gal. Both are gorgeous chocolate shades and I like pairing them together for a monochromatic look. I wore this outfit this week with my AirForceOnes and LOVED it. I’m also picturing myself wearing this jacket with longer denim shorts this summer (I already have my eye on a pair from Storets).

GREEN

As a tall girl (5’10), drawstring dresses like this are life-changing. I always struggle with short dresses being WAY too short on me, so the drawstring feature allows me to make it as long as needed. For this reason, these dresses are super functional for short and tall people alike! I always like wearing green because it makes my green eyes pop, and this subtle tie-dye print is so cute.

ACCESSORIES

Chunky rings: I’m so into this trend! I loved the colors included in this set and the quality is pretty good too for an affordable price. I’m not sure what size these rings are, but they aren’t super big considering I have small fingers and they don’t fit on three of mine — so I’d look into that to make sure they’ll fit you before purchasing.

My wishlist:

  • Oversized cream blazer
  • Longer, looser “boyfriend” denim shorts
  • Baby tees
  • Baseball cap

That covers it for this first installment of Rebuilding My Wardrobe! I hope you enjoy this kind of content, as fashion posts have taken a major backseat since I got pregnant last year. I think it’s important to keep my passions alive throughout motherhood outside of mom things, and this is definitely one of them. If you’d like to see how I style these pieces, be sure you’re following me on Instagram (@abbysaylor). Thanks so much for reading and have a great weekend!