Holiday Dressing

Though the turkeys are not yet in the oven and the mercury hovers in the 50's, the holiday invites are beginning to collage the fridge and thus the season has arrived. For the first holiday season post-baby, I knew a closet overhaul (part 2) would be in order. The size 0 go-to LBD is no longer a good, dear friend, but rather an unflattering frenemy. Bridesmaids dresses lingering in the background are ready for their next home.

With a smaller budget than the usual holiday shopping spree would be allocated (Tucker is the proud owner of many new winter treats- Ralph Lauren classic cable sweater and overalls for thanksgiving, cashmere argyle vest with fine wale cords for Christmas) I have to re-imagine the party dress. I own a cream silk tank with black lace applique, that's probably even more on target now than last fall when I bought it at Scoop. That can pair with a fitted black silk tulip skirt that was a steal from Ann Taylor at $68 (reduced from $119)! Pants can do evening (love this skinny pair from Rachel Zoe at Intermix), if they have the right heels (a re-do of the classic black peep toe from Michael Kors) to support their night out. And an LBD doesn't have to be black at all-sapphire blue, grey and even red are good options (like this under $100 score from Loft).

The silver lining to the economic tumble is the steep discounts and routine promos you can count on each week, brand-wide. I haven't enjoyed such prices since my days as a buyer (which still make it difficult to fork over $150 for a J.Crew bauble bib necklace when the industry standard 75% IMU (mark up) lingers in my mind). I'm sure the black Friday deals will be epic, but I've never had the stomach for a buffet, let alone shopping in hoards (someone booked our nanny to be at their house at 4am to watch the little ones while they take to the malls. I'd rather wear polyester in the summer). Happy shopping!

Spillage

I shouldn't be surprised that it happened, given that 1) I was in a rush, 2) I was wearing dry-clean only Ralph Lauren light grey flannel trousers, 3) I had left all bibs and burp cloths in the kitchen and didn't pack any in Tucker's bag, and 4) I had an early meeting with a VIP. But nevertheless, one is still caught off guard by the projectile force with which pasty white Similac on its way back up catches the leg of a perfectly crafted wide-leg trouser pant.

With baby on hip, Marc Jacobs dangling from elbow, traveling coffee mug in left hand and key clenched between forefinger and mug, I lost another precious few seconds deciding how to react first. Baby can't be placed down on cement parking garage floor or roof of the car, so appendages had to go while baby was safely nestled into car seat. Luckily, I compulsively clean my car on weekends, so the backseat floor mat had to serve as both burp cloth and dry-clean device in a pinch. (Tucker of course found it all amusing, which helped buy my a few more minutes I really couldn't afford to begin with). Fellow parkers didn't miss the opportunity to stare (not offering a hand of course, we are not that far from the mean streets of Manhattan after all). The entire fiasco added 6 minutes to my clock, wear and tear to my pants, and perspiration to my face.

I won't say I learned my lesson when it comes to the pants- I own far too much cashmere, silk, wool and other washer-adverse material to forgo all such ensembles. But I won't be leaving the house without several burp cloths in the near future.