Great sweaterdress... but I don't know what boots or shoes to wear???

sportsmom

As this is my first post I'll start with a little about myself. I became a SAHM about 4 years ago when I was taken off work due to stress. Because of the breakdown and a pregnancy that left me with post partum depression I stayed in my house. I found myself not leaving the house for weeks at a time. Well now I am about to turn 30 and trying to get back into the world but seeing I don't have a "career" anymore and I moved so I don't know a lot of people I'm in a rut.

To make matters worse I'm 5' and my son's friends are now often taller then me, leaving me feeling sometimes without authority (doesn't help with my poor dress). So in trying to meet other parents and trying to change how I feel I asked everyone at Christmas to help get me a new wardrobe, obviously my money is rarely spent on me, especially seeing my son is in 3 sports! I'm very little, weighing only 100 lbs and at 5' I'm kind of easy to miss and often mistaken for a child so I'm looking for a more grown up look. But I find that it's hard to find clothes that fit well... Anyway I guess that's another topic.

So I got this sweaterdress that I love, I asked for the chocolate brown, but I'm thinking I should have gotten black as I can't find shoes or boots. I don't have a problem with heels, as I often look that way for height, but I find stilletoes often feel wrong at the pool or arenas (most of my life is spent there supporting my son and chasing my 2 year old). It has 3 quarter length sleeves, turtleneck and comes to mid calf (surprisingly I like the length) but being brown my black knee high boots seem to take away from it. What can I pair it with? It's cold where I live and in fact is snowing again right now, yes it's April. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

17 years ago

Dressing

12 replies

Latest reply was from Asha

Kari

Veteran

Hi sportsmom! Welcome!

I'm not a boot expert, but my instinct is towards a boot in lighter hue of brown than your dress so you don't look like you are trying to match the same shade. What style of boot/heel height do you like? There are quite a few boots marked down on Zappos and DSW's website. On Zappos.com you can search for Women's Boots in your size and narrow by heel height and shade to see what's available.

I'll let the more boot-savvy ladies step in to point you towards specifics.

17 years ago

Ariadne

Veteran

I like Kari's suggestion; another option would be a cream or light tan boot, especially if you have light hair.

Personally, I like black and chocolate brown together, especially if you also carry a black bag or wear a black necklace or something.

Any chance you could post a picture or a link to an image of the dress? That would help us a lot. I'm having trouble picturing the length, in particular.

17 years ago

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Welcome to our forum, sportsmom! We have lots of 5 footers around here who are stylish AND authoritative. I hope that Shiny, Violet and Asha chime in.

I’d love to help you with the sweater dress. Do you think you can send us a link or photo? That way we can also help you with other aspects of your style. Never forget that dynamite comes in small packages :0)

17 years ago

Tanya

Veteran

Hello Sportsmom, and welcome! As the ladies say, it would be really the best if you could post the photo of yourself in the dress, that way we can offer the best advice.

In general, I like to wear chestnut colored boots with brown, like here:

http://s300.photobucket.com/al.....CN4068.jpg

17 years ago

sportsmom

Member

I can't find a link anymore as it was from winter, so I will add a picture with the dress and my black boots, then you can understand what I am talking about.

Thank you for all the wonderful replies!

17 years ago

sportsmom

Member

http://www.facebook.com/album......a8223b259f

Sorry for the delay... here is the dress with some burgundy shoes and black boots. I was thinking maybe a pair of burgundy knee highs?

I really wanted to wear the dress tonight, but not sure if I can wear it with the shoes, seems to be an inbetween lenght???

Thank you for the help!

17 years ago

elpgal

Veteran

Sportsmom, No way you are easy to miss with that lovely figure! I can see a Doc Martens type rugged boot or a kitten heel with it. Perhaps throw in some long necklaces.

17 years ago

shiny

Veteran

Hey sportsmom! I'm another 5-footer too. I can relate to your post about the SAHM/postpartum depression/moving to a new town thing. BTDT. My kids are now teens and I've been back in the workforce for about 12 years, and I've made strong roots in my town which is no longer new. No repeat of the depression for a long time - so hang in there!!!

I also know what you mean about meeting other parents when you look like a kid. In my case, it was made even worse because I was one of the youngest parents - in our town for some reason the vast majority of parents waited until their 40s to start a family. I have even had parents say things to me like, "What, were you 13 when you got pregnant?" Rather rude, if you ask me. But clothes can definitely help here, so stick with us!

The dress: this is an awfully hard length for us shorties to wear. In your favor, it is streamlined and well fitted, so that's a plus. For shoes, my idea would be to go with something fun like this - worn with tights (patterned tights would be delightful):

http://www.zappos.com/n/p/dp/46198574/c/52294.html

.... this style of bootie is all the rage right now. This is a good color - would go nicely with your hair (which is auburn?). Note how it has a slit in the front - that's critical, so as to give you a lower vamp to elongate the leg. Yet it is a bootie, not a pump. I like the buckle and folded over part because those details add interest. This is just a fabulous bootie - I am drooling over it myself! Unfortunately for me, the heel height is pretty steep. I had been looking for a similar bootie with a lower heel all winter to no avail. But you get the picture.

I would also recommend a low-slung belt with this. I have this feeling that the dress would look awesome with such a belt, in white, to "spring" it up even if it's still snowing. And do you have a form-fitting jean jacket? One that would fit under your overcoat? A jean jacket like the one Angie is wearing in her blog post today would look quite lovely.

17 years ago

Anonymous

Wow Shiny, You have painted a beautiful picture. I can imagine how lovely Sportsmom would be in this dress with the accessories you have sugested. I like the sound of it all.
Sportsmom you have a lovely figure so I can't imagine you would me mistaken for a child ever. You have a great dress there and with the right accessories it will be over the top. Many of us here struggle with accessorizing and we help each other. Thankyou for posting pictures which are worth a thousand words. From your description of your self I had a totally different picture in my mind from what you actually look like.

17 years ago

chewyspaghetti

Veteran

I was going to suggest a belt, as well. I like the booties that Shiny suggested, and the chestnut color is perfect. I also agree with the denim jacket recomendation. I would actually shorten that dress- to just below the knee since you are rather petite. This would help you look longer. It's a great dress, though.

17 years ago

sportsmom

Member

Thanks everyone! After looking at the pictures that dress makes me look MUCH more curvy then most of the fleece/jeans I tend to wear, but hesitant as the hips looked much bigger, but that is probably more noticeable to me (as it's the lovely gift my beautiful daughter gave me so I'm still adjusting).

I have a dark blue jean jacket that is cut short I thought I could pair with it to dress it down and I bought a silver chain belt to wear with it (hangs on the lower waist/hips). I find I still have trouble adjusting to the larger coloured belts.

Thanks Shiny for letting me know I'm not alone, I too was young when I had my son, but not overly young and I too have received those comments! My son's preschool teacher wouldn't even talk to me back then and I still feel awkward at the school/sports sometimes, even though I am one of the most active "team/school moms". Oh well, I guess when we are 50 and still look young we will get the last laugh!

Oh and yes my hair is brown/auburn.

Thanks again for the motivation to do more then fleece and jeans!

17 years ago

Asha

Active Member

I must have missed this thread the first time around. Sportsmom, you have a lovely figure! I love Shiny's suggestions for your dress.
I'm 5'3", and I totally feel you on the looking younger thing...before I had children, I worked as a high school teacher and I've learned some things about looking "authoritative."
- I always got mistaken for one of the kids when I would take them to the gym - whenever I was wearing what Angie so aptly calls gear. This tripled my motivation to never ever wear "gear" as everyday clothing.
- Haircut/style is so important - style-less hair looks adolescent on petite women.
- I have always been sort of anti-makeup (for myself), but I've since realized that some make-up can help you look and feel polished. For me, having good eyebrows is big.
- This is the biggest thing, IMO. Own your look! Evolve your style. Because I love fashion I used to wonder if I looked too "trendy" and therefore too young. But I realized as long as I owned my look - I was confident and developed my signature style - wore what worked for me and wore what I really loved - I just looked like the best version of my now 30-year old self. That goes a LONG way towards the whole "authority" thing. Does that make sense?

17 years ago

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