Q&A: What can I get for a pregnant friend?

Q&A: What can I get for a pregnant friend to help her feel her best?

This is a great question that I've heard a few times and even asked myself. Most of us are pretty comfortable buying adorable gifts for the baby, but it's hard to figure out what to give our pregnant friends or, even harder, co-workers! We want to get them something to let them know how happy we are for them, but we're not sure what. I'm excited to interrupt our fashion fest to introduce you to a company that has some ideas for us: Baby Bump Bundle. I hope you enjoy their insights!

Plus, visit their blog today to see my favorite maternity picks for Fall featured on What to Wear Wednesdays!

 

 

What is Baby Bump Bundle?

A company that curates gift boxes, or as we call them “bundles,” for mom-to-be by trimester, baby, and nursing moms. Here are a few things we are featuring right now in our online shop where you can build your own bundle!

                                                                    1 , 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Any tips for maternity or motherhood fashion?

In regards to maternity fashion, have fun with it! People feel very differently about their body during pregnancy. Some love their bump and show it off with fitted clothing and others feel self conscious and can’t stand the weight gain. It is all about being confident in who you are though and staying true to your style before baby. Try to utilize what you already have so you don’t have to spend too much money but also have fun with shopping for go-to pieces like maternity jeans or leggings with flowy tops so you are comfortable but stylish. Jazz up sometimes boring maternity clothes with scarves and fun jewelry like sparkly earrings and you are sure to look and feel fabulous! (Start Close in Note: I love those scarves-you could even twist them together to wear both the leopard and the pink together!)

Why did you start the company?  What need did you want to fill?

Baby Bump Bundle was born when co-founder Mairead was pregnant in the spring of 2012. One of her friends put together the first Bundle without even realizing it! It was filled with ice cream, pickles, stretch mark cream and other assorted goodies for the pregnant woman. It was such a thoughtful idea and it occurred to Mairead that all pregnant women would love to receive a little something for themselves, and she shared her feelings with Michelle, who agreed how unique and special gifts for pregnant women could be.

Yes it is amazing when friends and family gift the necessities for baby like diapers and baby bottles at the shower, but what about mom-to-be when she is going through such an exciting yet emotional and challenging time of her life? And so Baby Bump Bundle came into being with a mission of creating Bundles for pampering pregnant women, with both fun and functional items. We have a Bundle for each trimester (available by subscription or just single boxes), a BabyBundle for when the baby arrives (in various sizes including small, regular, or large for twins), and for nursing mothers, a BreastfeedingBundle as well. And coming soon, a fitness focused box for health-conscious expecting women!

Any advice about starting a business?

Utilize free resources where you can! There are plenty of small business centers, blogs with a focus on providing tips for new entrepreneurs with free newsletters, and places like SCORE, that can help you to put together a business plan. Make sure you set realistic goals and map out how much money you need to make the business happen and another thing is to always expect that you will need to pay experts for something and that is OK- you don’t need to do it all or you might get too bogged down and overwhelmed. Whether it is for website design, accounting, or wherever, it is worth it to get aspects of your business you are not skilled in, done correctly and efficiently! 

Tell us a bit more about your products!

What we like to do provide the mom-to-be with a mix of items that cater to what she is going through during that trimester, but also make her feel special. Though most every bundle is unique, a first trimester BumpBundle may feature lozenges to ease nausea if she is dealing with morning sickness, cream to lather on her growing belly and body, to moisturize her skin, prevent itching, and stretch marks, and nail polish that is pregnancy safe. Then we do a fashion accessory that she can use well after pregnancy and a piece of clothing that she can wear throughout pregnancy and after birth, like a cami or other maternity fashion essentials.

Check them out here! Or on Pinterest. Thanks for the tips, BumpBundle!

<a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/10345203/?claim=qdktxk8v2g6">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>

Black and White: Updated for Fall 2013

Black and White: Updated for Fall 2013

Saying that black and white are "in" for fall is sort of like saying that pants are back in style. It's what my husband would describe as "Duh, Gee." Black and white are never going anywhere, which is why they're a great investment. But, if you want to wear your black and white staples and still keep up with the Fall 2013 trends, here's what I think are some great ways to do it.

Try a Black Victorian-Inspired Statement Necklace

I sort of hate the name "statement necklace" because it makes the trend sound new. We've long worn necklaces that are big and bold, so I'm not sure why these need to be defined as "statement." Regardless, they're here to stay for fall, but with a twist. I love the dark, broody Victorian twist jewelry is taking for the fall. Here is a big, bold necklace with a Victorian twist paired with what looks like a lace t-shirt but could easily be a regular cotton tee and a black blazer. Likely things you already own with a new necklace. Think of it like a gateway to the lockets and pocket watches of the Fall 2013 runway. I love it.

Black and White Lace

The Anthropologie dress on the left is to-die-for, right? And I love the weird necklace with it, by the way. Lace is here to stay for Fall 2013 so pull out any lace that you might have in your closet already. Instead of putting it with a colorful "statement" necklace, try it with a larger necklace in a metal. Or, if you're inspired to buy something new, you'll find a lot of similar dresses for a lot less. I got on ModCloth planning to show off dresses from other sites, too, but I really liked their selection and range of sizes. All of the dresses on today's post are from ModCloth.

Quirky, Modern Black and White 

I love Norwegian home decor for its simplicity, its stark white with contrasting black and warm wood...but not for my home. I love it for my closet! Most of us have a brown belt to use with black and white to re-create the blazer/dress look above, and Fall's leather looks amazing with summer's stripes. I've shown the glasses dress before, and I still love it. I would also love a black and white outfit paired with mint inspired by the room to the upper right.

Classic Black and White: Stripes and/or Dots

You likely have something striped or polka dotted, but if not, it's a strong trend that's also a classic staple-win win! The room is by Ikea, and I still love the clean lines when it comes to clothing, don't you? The Mad Men influence is still going strong for dresses, and the result is that they're really flattering, well-cut, cinched in around the waist, and lovely. I tend to think of stripes as being more nautical and better for summer, but the cut of these means that they're not too summery. For the strapless, just add a blazer and wear it into winter!

Get the links to these dresses and all my inspiration rooms on my Pinterest Boards.

ModCloth is a sponsor because they're awesome, but this isn't a sponsored post. I just like 'em!

How to do a Closet Cleanse: Part II

How to do a Closet Cleanse: Part II

I'm so excited to talk with you about how to organize your closet! I got to spend some time with the creative genius behind Love Always Hannah this weekend, and, as always, the world will never be the same. At least her closet won't be, that's for sure! Her closet started off like this:

(check out that Wear White After Labor Day outfit we created on Skype the other night for her hanging on the left!

And after about an hour of checking to be sure that only items that fit her and didn't need repairs were allowed back into the closet and of hanging outfits together on hangers and sorting sorting sorting...

We ended up with this-a color-coordinated, rainbow-hued, approachable closet with space to move hangers and to breathe. Phew!

I think she was pleased. This is our actual Gchat conversation about it:

Me: Thanks for taking closet pictures!

Hannah: Are you kidding me? You changed my life in a morning! Let me know if you want a quote or something.

I think that will do just fine!

Here are two tips:

• Use all one color (preferably white or those black fuzzy ones) hangers. It makes the closet look more cohesive, more like a store. Since we're trained to like the way clothes look in stores, it helps our brains to be more excited about our closets when they're organized. That means more fun in your closet!
• Organize your clothes in a way that works for you. I like rainbow because I wear too much black, and it helps me to realize how many other colors I do have. I put all of her black up top in her closet because it's an easy color to use and doesn't need to be highlighted. She knows it's there to grab if she wants it. Having colors coordinated helps you to dress effortlessly in monochrome as well as to mix colors and patterns in new ways.

If you'd like more tips, you'll have to have me over to your closet! We'll get you ready for fall fashion in no time!

P.S. I'm pretty intrigued by this company, Twice, that lets you Buy and Sell used clothing. Has anyone used it before?

True Life: You are already enough.

This week I shared with you how I'm helping support Hannah from Love Always Hannah in her mission to abstain from shopping for clothes for herself for six months. I wanted to talk a little bit today about some of the more emotional parts of shopping and fashion.

 Peppered throughout this post are some shots of me during this summer and last. Notice anything?

Start Close In Styling wants YOU!

 Start Close In Styling wants YOU!

Hi! This is how I showed up to meet a client friend at the mall to shop. She didn't have a ton of money to spend, but she needed to refresh her closet. It had been a long time since she'd gotten herself anything new, and she said that getting dresses in the morning felt "sad." By the end of the day, she felt "like her old self." I almost cried with joy.


So...I'm just going to come out and say this: I want to look in your closet. I want to go shopping with you. I want to Skype, Facetime, or Google Hangout with those of you outside the DC area and have you hold up clothes you love/hate/want to wear more/are sick of the way you're currently wearing/etc. 

A few months ago, I launched this site, and it has not yet become a business for which I am charging. Part of building up my styling portfolio means working with more people to refine my skills. Would you like to be one of those people? I sure hope so! I promise, it's not scary at all!

Here's what I have to offer:

I have a great eye. I am really good at seeing the potential in what you'd like to be dressing like. I'm excellent at looking over what clothes you have (in person or virtually) and chatting with you about how you might wear things in different combinations than you currently are. I'm also, thanks to my Mom, a great bargain shopper and can help you find (or find for you) any clothing items that you might want to fill in the gaps between what you currently own and what you'd like to be dressing like. At the end of our time together, I'd love for you to feel more comfortable in your own skin, more able to quickly get dressed in the morning, and more excited to be YOU.

If you're comfortable with it, I might take pictures of you to include her on my blog or I might just talk about our time together. Of course, I can also skip all of that.

So think about it. Think about if there's anything you'd like to change about how you feel getting dressed for your daily life or for an upcoming event. Then email me, and we'll set something up. It's startclosein at gmail.com

I can't wait.

UPDATE Shop Your Closet: How to Wear White After Labor Day

Shop Your Closet: How to Wear White After Labor Day

I have to admit, I never think of this "rule." It just doesn't occur to me-from winter white to patterned white, white is just like black in my mind: seasonless. But, I'm often reminded that folks do feel obligated to relegate their white clothes to the summer months. I'm here to change that.

Recently, Hannah from Love Always Hannah recruited me to help her meet her goal of no shopping for six months. We had a Virtual Closet Consultation over video the other night, and we made an important discovery together: she didn't feel confident wearing white after Labor Day. So, we've decided to pair up over the coming months to tackle that old feeling: "I have nothing to wear..." despite a full closet. Starting with bringing her whites into the fall/winter seasons is an easy way to shop less (or not at all!) but still feel excited to get dressed in the morning.

Looking at the white clothes in Hannah's closet in a different light means that she'll be less tempted to buy new clothes for the fall and winter, and she'll look gorgeous. Win for the No Shopping team! Here's what I suggested she do. Check out her plan not to shop for 6 months here. I'll update once Hannah posts the looks we created for her.

UPDATE! 

I'm beyond thrilled to share Hannah's "Shop Your Closet" looks. This, my friends, is how you not only wear but WORK white after Labor Day!Isn't she gorgeous?

Visit Hannah's site for more looks and a breakdown of how we created her new signature "Who me? Of course I wear white year-round" look.

Keep reading for more of my tips!

Body Party

Body Party

For many, many years, I thought of my body and myself as two separate entities. Isn't that weird? I freely thought about and talked (at least to myself) about my physical body in ways that I would never have talked about "myself." My body was weak, a failure, too much of one thing and not another. I would never have described myself as weak or a failure, but this body I was living in? I threw it under the bus on a regular basis, as though the two were not the same thing. I have since come to learn that the way that I think about my body reverberates throughout my life-I can't be proud of myself without being proud of the part of my self that is my physical body. It's impossible.

Part of loving to help style other people and create a closet space that reflects who they currently want to be-and are- is a celebration of our physical bodies. Part of separating this blog from my personal Cheddar N Grits blog is wanting to create that space for us to show off our physical bodies in a way that we don't often get to. I am blessed to have friends who look incredibly different from me, and I have so much fun dressing them (in my head or in real life!).

My best friends represent the variety and beauty of the female body, but so often our shapes are not the ones that are represented in magazines and even online. There is this strange uniformity to the type of female body we celebrate as feminine and beautiful, and it's typically a skinny, but busty, taller,but not "too tall," form. Today, I'd like to move away from that shape, and I'd like to celebrate that shift here over the weeks. 


Today I'd like to talk up my tall women. I'm not sure exactly what constitutes "tall;" different people and stores have their own measuring sticks, but I know that I'm not it. However, I tend to have at least a few good friends who are tall everywhere I live. I love tall women-they tend to be confident, thoughtful, and good fun to be around! Yes, those are stereotypes, but in my experience taller women have been through it with their bodies and what perfect strangers feel is appropriate to say to them, and they're often incredibly sensitive as a result. Here's to you, and those legs that go on for miles!

All photos today via

It's hard to find pictures of tall women without ending up with a lot of celebrity shots or women's torsos that may or may not belong to a tall woman. But, I know that you guys won't let me off the hook with just two pictures. You want to know where to shop!

One website that was new to me but seems like a keeper is Long Tall Sally. The name is a little weird, but the clothes look great (love that blue dress with the yellow necklace!), and they have free shipping over $100. 

Find these and other links for stores that are easy to find near you or online (look at you, JCPEnney, TopShop, and Gap with the stylish options in talls!) on my Pinterest Board.

Q&A: How to use a scarf to make your outfits more interesting

Q&A: How can I use a scarf to make my outfits more interesting?

I was asked this question during a client lunch the other day, and I think it's a great one! As you can see from my personal pictures above, I love a good scarf! In fact, I have somewhat of a scarf problem. I love the feel of them around my neck, I think they work in all situations below 70 degrees, and I can't say enough good things about them. 

What I have noticed is that women are sometimes confused about how and why to wear them. Here are some suggestions because once you start wearing scarves you may never stop.

Virtual Shopping: Maternity for Fall/Winter

Virtual Shopping: Maternity for Fall/Winter

This week, you heard from stylish a mother of two about her tips and tricks and then got some big-picture questions to ask from me to think through what your body might look like in the coming months, how to use what you already have, and how to dig through other people's closets. Now that you've taken stock of what you might need and what you have that already works, let's get down to what I would suggest you buy if you were my client in her second trimester now before fall/winter. That's right, it's virtual shopping trip time!

Let me start with a story. Last weekend, after my shopping trip with a client, I stopped by Old Navy and Destination Maternity to shop for my friend. Since she's just in her second trimester, I haven't said her name here. Well, I felt like a teenager who is experimenting and starts to talk to an adult, "I have this friend...who..." In this case, "who is pregnant, and she's not sure what to wear..." I don't think they believed me, and I know some of you don't either! Rest assured, Pregnant Friend exists, and it's not me. If it's you, too, here's what to buy.

Dresses

Dresses are going to allow for the drastic changes your body is about to make. Right now, you might still be covering up a little with a cardigan, but when you're ready, you can wear these with a belt tied over your belly. I love the un-fussy patterns and the sleeves. All from Target because you might not want to spend a lot right now until you get a better sense of your shape.

Q&A: What to Wear for A Stylish Pregnacny Part II

 Q&A: What to Wear for Maternity Part II

Yesterday, my best friend talked about what to wear during early maternity-and beyond-from a mother's perspective. I haven't ever been pregnant (and am not currently, just in case you were curious! Did you wonder?), but I have what might be an abnormal interest in maternity fashion. I just think that pregnant women can get away with things that the rest of us can't when it comes to clothes, and I love that! And there's nothing that says that you must wear clothes from a maternity store while you're pregnant. So darlin', here' are the five questions to ask yourself.

1. What can I expect to look like? 

I'm not sure how you can buy things or take stock of what you already have that might work if you're pregnant for the first time and unsure how your body will change. Of course everyone is different, but let's check out some general ideas!