Boston Mamas: One Time At Band Camp

Although motherhood typically results in style deterioration, the combination of making it past the 100%-cotton-spit-up-absorbent-baby-care-uniform-phase, and working at one of Boston’s esteemed, male-dominated, and decidedly fashion challenged universities made me even more committed to looking stylish and feminine. So while I’m far from an ideal wardrobe (due to spending guilt and pickiness), I have, since becoming a mommy, become obsessed with pretty details, great shoes, and color, even at the casual level. But if your mommy sweats are getting you down, don’t fret. Today, our friends at The Parent Bloggers Network are offering a fun opportunity to step up your schlumpy mom outfit with a fantastic Coach bag.

To celebrate Harper Collins’s launch of Nina Garcia’s The Little Black Book of Style (see our review), PBN is welcoming all bloggers to post about your style - or lack thereof - and include a picture of the item(s) in your closet that most desperately need to be donated. Check out the details here (entries must be received by midnight PST tonight Friday, Sept. 7); you could win a $250 Coach gift certificate!

As for me, despite now being a woman on the obsessed prowl for great finds, I do have a hideous beast in my closet that – thanks to Garcia’s wardrobe editing tips – will likely see the door this weekend. Why on earth has this marching band letter jacket followed me on over a dozen relocations up, down, and around North America over the last nearly 20 years (eek!)? I think it’s part nostalgia, part hey-I-could-use-this-for-Halloween-next-year, and part always having loved being associated with a team (one would think I’d have had enough of team work, having grown up with six siblings). Anyhow, I’m not getting matching family outfits or uniforms any time soon, but I think it’s time to let go of this relic and relish the little team that Jon, Laurel, and I have going.

If you write a link and send it to PBN, please also feel free to comment below and include your link; I’d love to see what’s lurking in our reader’s closets!