Today we have uber stylish Mum, writer and forum member Laura reporting on how my original Mum-on-the-go outfits worked for her. Laura will do three posts on this topic and I’m excited to hear what she has to say.

As the working mother of two young sons, I have a true confession: As much as I love YLF, I was skeptical about Angie’s flop-proof outfits for “mom on the go.” (outfit 1, outfit 2, and outfit 3). The prospect of so much wardrobe change left me bewildered. Wear dresses during the day? Try skinny jeans and their warm-weather counterpart, clamdiggers? I hadn’t worn skinnies since the 80s! And casual skirts? Skirts were reserved for dressing up, in my world. My “mom” uniform consisted of boots, jeans (and yes, corduroys!) and sweaters. In warm weather, that was translated into sandals, lightweight cargo pants (often with pockets in the most unflattering locations) and t-shirts. No button-downs. No scarves. Other than wearing a cami under a sweater, I did no layering, period.

Since then, I’ve road tested a slew of Angie-recommended casual and smart casual outfits to see how they worked in real life. Moms are notoriously hard on their clothes (think toddlers smearing smashed banana on your premium denim) and notoriously discerning about their budgets. My sons’ need for new jeans usually trumps mine, since my jeans rarely get actual holes in the knees or become three inches too short overnight. As a writer, I work from home or from whatever cafe will have me (thank you, Starbucks!), so mom-on-the-go clothes are the bulk of my wardrobe. Sometimes I dress up to meet a client, but the majority of my clothes are smart-casual and casual. My clothes need to work hard, be comfortable, and fit into my family’s budget. The ensembles must be appropriate and stylish. A tall order!

Six months later, you can imagine that I am as surprised as anyone to admit that Angie’s flop-proof formulas covered my most demanding “momwear” requirements, and then some. Best of all, I feel better about myself in these ensembles than I did in my boots-jeans-sweater uniform. I’ve learned how to dress my outfits up or down a notch to fit whatever my day demands (one tip: if you want to make an outfit instantly more casual, add a pair of hoop earrings and/or a piece in denim, if you aren’t already wearing jeans). I am now a mom-on-the-go-flop-proof-outfit believer!

In the first of a three-part series, I’ll feature the best of the best. These are the outfits that have taken me from school parties, to coffee with friends, to working and running errands, and to the playground or play dates.

The most worn ensemble in my wardrobe for winter, hands down, has been this one: Tall boots + jeans (if jeans are skinnies, tucked into boots) + girly blouse or graphic t-shirt + cardigan or jacket + tote bag. Wearing boots over jeans is not for everyone and might not be for you, but it works well for me and was especially practical for our snowy Chicago winters.

This ensemble has taken me everywhere in my daily routine, with style, and feeling completely appropriate. And it’s an ideal transitional outfit, as boots are still practical here until at least mid-April, and I can easily pop a trenchcoat over the outfit, or leave off outerwear entirely, as we ease into the first days of spring.

Here’s how I’ll update the formula as Spring officially arrives and temperatures rise: Flats + jeans + girly blouse or graphic T-shirt or tank top + cardi + tote.

In summertime I’ll be swapping jeans for clamdiggers in dark or white denim, and trading my long-sleeved cardi for a short-sleeved, cropped version, or for a vest (check out this post from Angie on the graphic T + vest look).

Don’t worry if the colors in these ensembles aren’t your favorites, or the styles don’t suit you. Simply substitute items that fit your color preferences and body type. For more inspiration, check out some of the fashion-forward moms who post their outfits on the forum, like Patience, Dani, Shiny, and Nicole, or others who aren’t moms, but have the casual look nailed, like Tanya.

Let’s hear from all the stylish mamas out there. What are your favorite go-to ensembles? How can I improve my outfits?

There is a lot I’d like to see changed in the retail world of clothing, footwear and accessories. The area I feel most passionately about is footwear and in a blog entry last week I dreamed about an online shoe store that would achieve style AND comfort by providing shoes that were tailored specifically to my needs.

This generated a lot of great discussion, so I thought it would be interesting to brainstorm other ways that we could change retail. Here are some wild ideas to get us started:

• A chain store that specializes in tops to wear with skirts. That way we’d eliminate the “orphan skirt phenomenon”. I see closets full of beautiful orphan skirts and when I try to match them up with tops in store, it’s always hard to do. A destination “tops for skirts” shop would fly.
• A line of trendy and tasteful tops, bottoms and frocks designed to camouflage a thickening mid-section (muffin top). After fussy feet, getting items to drape stylishly over the mid-section is my next most common challenge with clients. We can’t layer and hide ourselves with tailored jackets all the time because it gets hot and uncomfortable. There has got to be a better design and fabric solution. Raising pant rises is a good, girdling start.
• The distribution of free fliers at cash registers explaining the concept of perfect pant lengths. It’s easily achievable and makes the world of difference to your look. I’d also have fewer apoplexies each day.

I could go on and on listing missed retail opportunities for petites, talls and plus sizes. But the ideas above cover the majority of what I deal with daily so they get priority.

In the spirit of brainstorming, there are no bad ideas! If your fairy godmother could wave her magic wand and make your retail dreams come true, how would you change retail today?

My look always feels instantly refreshed with the addition of a new handbag, necklace or pair of shoes, which is why the accessory and footwear departments are the first area I visit as the new retail season unfolds. I seldom come home with new footwear because finding fab shoes is a tall order, but I usually do come home with other accessories.

I was particularly excited last week when I purchased two pieces that were out of my comfort zone and new for my style and wardrobe.

• Bracelet: I have never, ever worn a bracelet before last week. I like the look of statement bracelets, cuffs and bangles on others, but steered away from the look myself because I thought that the chunky styles I preferred would be too heavy and wouldn’t work on my dainty wrists. I also worried that they would get in the way when I worked. I was wrong. Now that I’ve found the perfect bracelet, I can’t stop wearing it. I was instantly attracted to this style because it reminded me of a necklace that I love. My new Chanel-esque bracelet is as light as a feather, fits well and adds textural interest to my outfits. Love it.
• Wristlet: This style of bag never appealed to me because I didn’t want to dangle something from my sensitive wrists or clutch it in my hand. But the colours of this wristlet launched me into orbit and forced me to give it a bash. To my surprise, it worked. It helps that it’s roomy and that I keep the contents of my handbag to a minimum. At first I thought I’d sport a wristlet at night only, but it’s coming out on work days and I’ve been comfortable wearing it. It’s not cumbersome and my wrists feel fine, even with the bracelet.

It’s the same story ladies. You’ll never know whether something will work until you actually try it . You change and items change. Wristlets and chunky bracelets are by no means new, but they are completely new for me. I’m excited to give my flat totes and necklaces a break for a while in favour of these items. They have successfully popped my existing clothes into the next season. I feel fashionably recharged.

My new bracelet was cheap as chips. I found it on sale at Macys for $20 whilst shopping with a client who bought one too. The green snakeskin wristlet was on sale at Club Monaco with an additional 30% off for the day. Wins for both my style and my pocket.

Today’s entry is written by fabulously funky Antje, a good friend and long time member of the YLF community.

As some of you have already experienced, clothes swapping can be frugal and fun. JuliJuli, Marianne and I put this to the test last Saturday when we hosted the first Seattle YLF clothing swap. JuliJuli opened her beautiful house to eleven YLF blog readers and forum members who arrived with armfuls of clothes and plenty of hugs and smiles to greet old friends and make new connections. And of course everyone was fabulously dressed!

After setting up and enjoying a mimosa or a cup of tea, we started to look through the colorful array of clothes, shoes and accessories. In no time, we were busily slipping into skirts, blouses, dresses and jackets, crowding the mirror, and modeling outfits for each other.

Angie generously provided expert feedback on what worked and what didn’t, and nudged us to try things that we might have overlooked because they were out of our comfort zone – like bright colors for Marianne, who now owns a green cardigan, the cutest kelly green flats and a fiery red blouse.

Jane left the swap meet in her new military jacket over an Ann Taylor animal print shell, layered over her own white button down shirt. Laurel found a black and white tie neck top from Anthropologie. Daphne delighted in the orange and red scarf Angie had bought in Amsterdam years ago. And Amanda rocked the teal Boden coat that Marianne contributed to the swap because the fit wasn’t perfect on her.

These are just a few of the many successful swaps that took place. We also admired Sinead in her new red and white wrap dress, Nafisa in a “perfect fit” hounds tooth pencil skirt, JuliJuli in melon and pink tops, and Cheryl in a black and white Express cardigan.

As for me, I was thrilled to pick up a fabulous wrap dress in a black and white graphic print, which I can wear with jeans or on its own; a black stretch pencil skirt; a cheetah print top (can’t have enough animal print, right?); and best of all, a bright yellow Nanette Lepore jacket with short sleeves and interesting tie detailing at the neck. I can’t wait to wear these wonderful “new” pieces, and I’m so grateful to those who contributed them!

But I took as much pleasure in seeing how some of the clothes I added to the swap came to life on others. Amanda rocked two of the skirts I brought as well as a blue summer dress; her body shape was just different enough from mine that the items fit her perfectly. Jennifer looked super in a Banana Republic denim skirt that always looked too short on me, and Anya left with yet another skirt of mine that looked fun and edgy on her and perfectly complemented the rest of the outfit she came in. It’s a really good feeling to see iffy pieces from your wardrobe work well on other people: It validates your vague sense of “this just isn’t flattering on me” and you rejoice in others breathing new life into the items.

The swap was so successful that we’re already talking about an encore, maybe six months from now at the beginning of the fall season. Stay tuned, and tuck away things that don’t work for you. One woman’s discards may become another one’s treasures!

Angie was photographer for the day, but came out from behind the camera long enough for us to get these photos.