Ummmm…yeah. We love plaid. For the last month, we've done a weekly feature on the various ways to rock a plaid shirt. If you missed it, check out these articles:
How To Wear Plaid Part 1 – Holiday Style
How To Wear Plaid Part 2 – Girly Details Plus a Jacket
How To Wear Plaid Part 3 – Date Night
How To Wear Plaid Part 4 – With High-Waisted Denim
But we're not the only ones loving the plaid. To finish up this series, I found some great sources of inspiration from a few very talented fashion bloggers. Not only are their looks totally fresh and fun, but they are all mom-friendly.
First up (in no particular order) we have Annabel from Blushing Ambition, one of my very favs. I've featured Annabel before, in our Cool Backpacks as Diaper bags article.
What I love about this outfit:
She pairs her gingham shirt (plaid would work just a well here) with classy tailored shorts and an army jacket. It's a perfectly balanced combo of classy and casual.
Make It Mom-Friendly
On it's own, this is a perfectly mom-friendly outfit with a pair of flats. However, it is winter, so if you don't live in SoCal, and need to warm this look up, add thick tights (or leggings) and boots (tall, short, mocs, whatever). You could also swap out the army parka for a serious winter coat.
I'm now dying for a pair of black, tailored shorts. Anyway, moving on….
Next is Sydney, From The Daybook, one of my newly discovered favorites. Sydney is a crazy-adorable 20-something who is still in school. I actually think students and moms have a lot in common from a fashion perspective – we both walk a ton, and need clothes that are cute yet comfy. And this chick does it the best. You will love her.
What I love about this outfit:
At first glance, this is just a plaid-shirt-tucked-into-jeans outfit. But Sydney turns an old formula into something more interesting by adding in the plaid shoes (in a mis-matching plaid) and a brown belt. She's perfectly executed the whole perfectly-imperfect vibe I so love. Not matchy-matchy. Just totally adorable, and so very cool.
Please also note the rolled sleeves and jeans. Another fun styling trick.
Mom-Friendly?
Ummm…it is. Perfectly mom-friendly. Cold? Add socks.
Next is Kelly, aka the Glamouri. She's a part-time jewelry designer, part-time stylist, and part-time fashion blogger. And her outfits? Crazy drool-worthy. Totally inspiring. Mom friendly? Umm..not typically. However, I'm loving her very glam take on plaid:
What I love about this outfit:
I love that she's found a way to make the (often shapeless) plaid shirt-dress into something flattering and cool. And the lighter color boots is an inspired choice (black would've been much more boring).
Also note the long black sleeves peeking out, cool scarf and drool-worthy sunglasses.
Make it Mom-Friendly:
Kelly's wearing hers over a short mini skirt, but I think it would look just as good over shorts and tights, or even leggings. Swap out her heeled boots for some flat boots, and you are good to go!
I'm wondering….perhaps I could use my husband's shirts to re-create this look? The tailoring would be off…but if I rolled the sleeves, and tied it…hunh. I think I need to try this.
I'm also loving Rebecca's outfit from her amazing blog, Girl's Gone Child. Don't know Girl's Gone Child? You are in for a treat. Not only is she hysterical, but her poignant articles make me cry on a regular basis. Plus, she writes frequently about quinoa. What's not to love?
What I love about this outfit:
OK – FIRST of all, shorts!! Sorry gang, but you know I luuvs my shorts. However….[drum roll, please]…she is NOT wearing the super short-shorts I always tend to feature. This is a great style inspiration for a longer denim short.
I'm also loving the color combination. For some reason, I struggle with brown tights…but they are perfect here. I like that she keeps the color on the legs uniform…it's crazy-flattering. The dark belt further anchors the light-wash denim…and everything else is in perfect balance (dark cardi pulls in the dark tight/boot…shirt has both light and dark tones). And yet this outfit never comes across matchy-matchy. Love it.
Mom-Friendly?
Yup. Perfectly mom-friendly. You could even hit the park in this one.
Now I know some of you are much more comfortable in your straight-leg (or bootcut) denim…so I thought I'd feature a pic (from jessicaalba.net) of plaid with straight-leg denim.
What I love about this outfit:
Again, this is just your basic plaid shirt and jeans combo. In fact, the jeans are pretty casual and comfy looking. However…she makes this look work with gold ballet flats, a gorgeous, totally lux-looking scarf, and girly headband. A nice bag helps, too.
Mom-Friendly?
The mom-friendliest. If you need to warm it up a bit more…I'd actually add boots under the jeans, then roll the jeans up, boyfriend-style.
I'm also DYING to re-create Tieka's outfit from Selective Potential. This girl is a hard-core skirt/dress girl…and I have to give her credit for her inspired styling of skirts during a long Michigan winter. Besides, we spend a week in Grand Haven every summer, so I have a soft spot for any fashion blogger hailing from such a lovely little MI beach town. (umm..yes. I too hail from a lovely little MI beach town.)
What I love about this outfit:
I love that she's treating the plaid almost like a jacket…but then adding a hoodie so the plaid just peeks out. This is a great way to make both a plaid shirt and a hoodie more interesting (two is better than one?). AND I love the combination of patterns…plaid + sweater tights.
Make it Mom-Friendly:
It's pretty mom-friendly as-is, but if you must go pants, swap out the dress for cute jeans or pants. Just keep in mind that the dress lends this outfit a feminine element I'd suggest adding back in via chic boots or fun jewelry or a frilly scarf.
Lastly, and we've touched on this a bit above…to make your plaid shirt more interesting, pair it with 
another pattern. Sydney (The Daybook, above) paired hers with a contrasting plaid shoe, Tieka paired hers with fair-aisle, and Em (our fab typically-skirt-loving nanny) paired hers with stripes.
What I love about this outfit:
In addition to the mix of stripes and plaid, I also love how she added the over-the-knee boots for an extra bit of style, and how she found a cute plaid tunic in place of the traditional button-down.
Mom-friendly?
Check!
So, gang – how will you wear your plaid? Are you dying for any of these looks?
Also, I'd love to get some feedback on the series approach. Was it helpful to see so many different iterations on an item…or are you sick of the plaid by now? Let us know before we bore you with another series. 🙂
xo,
S
Thanks for the kind words! LOVE your site! Fantastic stuff here! Keep up the rad! Much love!
Girl, you rock. I am such a fan. Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment! So glad you like our site!!
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loving your page– I looove plaid, so thanks for all the tips.
I especially liked this post, with real people modeling their plaid, but I do think 5 posts might’ve been a little much. ‘Cause I was like, “More plaid?” when I began to read. You totally redeemed yourself, like I said, but maybe 4 would be better? 😉
Thanks for your research!
Oooo! Idea! I neeed some posts on belts! I am new to the whole idea and I need advice on color, width, doing that cool knot thing, etc. But I see them everywhere now and they look so cool!
Sage – thanks for the honest feedback!! The “more plaid” thought crossed my mind as I was writing the last article, to be honest!!
But yes – belts. You are not the only one. We’ve been talking about a belt article for some time…a series might be better – it starts looking like a dissertation otherwise!
A bad bush is better than the open field
One more thing – I need to know what to wear the belts WITH! I guess maybe it’s obvious (dresses, button down shirts,…um…), but some good examples would help me. Also, I will be postpartum come end of April/first of May, so I’ll be working with The Pooch. Ugh.
I love that you reply in the comments. Makes me feel “heard”. 🙂
Congrats, Sage! For now, belts under the bustline can look cute while preggo…but for postpartum….you'll probably need to wait a couple of months. I'm finding that I'm still a bit thick to pull belts off yet, and it's been 2 months. I know M swore by thick belts when she was postpartum, so I'll have to ask her when she started rocking them again.
But geez girl – in terms of responding….we just LOVE the feedback. Chatting with you gals is more than half the fun!!
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I thought I would have to wait, too, but I remembered you saying your friend swore by them (I did wonder how that could be). Oh well, I’ll wait a bit for a waist, I guess…
S-
i am here to make another suggestion that I cannot myself afford, much like the afore mentioned Hasbeens;)
first: super talented independent designer jenny gordy makes the most gorgeous and impeccably made plaid tops ever….check out her blog here- http://wikstenmade.com/home.html.
second: on her blog, jenny gordy links to effortlessly cool east coast fashion all the time and she just re-mentioned steven alan and the winter sale which features some fantastic tops and dresses at much reduced prices http://www.stevenalan.com/catalog/shirting-orderby0-p-all-c-1071.html
made me think of you right away. and….i am just catching up on your blog and keep thinking that i might have to find a way to rock the faux fur look around town tomorrow- super fun!
Sadly, the bird takes the jewel to the girl. It puts it into her hand. She is very happy to see it.