clothing for night out without the kids?

[Anonymous]

I went out to dinner with DH the other night, wanted to dress up a little - and felt so frustrated by my options. While I have super-casual clothing and work clothing pretty well covered, I couldn't find anything that felt remotely hip/cool/sexy for that rare night out without the kids. (And I didn't want to wear a dress - that felt too dressy.) I wound up wearing black jeans and a silk button down shirt that I use for work. Looking for ideas/inspiration. . .

[Anonymous]

I totally hear ya!

FWIW, my DH loves the button front shirt + jeans look, especially with heels or boots. He also likes the blazer (over a tee or sweater) + jeans.

Casual dresses sometimes work. I have a pair of "leather" pants I've been wanting to wear for a date night, but we never go to a place where that would fit in (or we are walking a mile+ and they require the wrong shoes for that).

[Anonymous]

I had same dilemna...and I went with a new pencil skirt and 3/4 quart sleeve black silky top with buttons undone a bit and high heel pumps. Skirt had a funky pattern. I usually will do a dress or dressy jeans...but recently got my waist back and the skirt showed it off.

[Anonymous]

Polyvore. Look for new ways to combine your wardrobe

[Anonymous]

Bump. Anyone have suggestions for particular blogs or polyvore sets?

I am tried of feeling so frumpy! Thanks.

[Anonymous]

I like a dark wash skinny jean or the J Crew Pixie pants with high-heel ankle boots. I wear them with a cute tank top and open flowing cardigan, or a silk tunic top. It looks stylish enough for a mid-30's mom, I think, without being too teenybopper-ish.

[Anonymous]

PP - can you post a link to a nice flowing sweater or silk tunic top?

For the polyvore poster- I signed up for Polyvore but don't really understand how to use it. How can I find sets that will be appropriate? ANy suggested poster to follow?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP - can you post a link to a nice flowing sweater or silk tunic top?

For the polyvore poster- I signed up for Polyvore but don't really understand how to use it. How can I find sets that will be appropriate? ANy suggested poster to follow?

Ann Taylor has a few tunic tops that I like, such as this one (polyester, not real silk, but hey it's machine washable!)
http://www.anntaylor.com/roll-tab-popover/350136?colorExplode=false&skuId=17202596&catid=cata000010&productPageType=fullPriceProducts&defaultColor=8166

I have a matched set cami / open cardigan from there, but it's a couple years old and I don't see anything on their current website. Maybe try something like this one from Nordstrom, currently on sale:
http://shop.nordstrom.com/s/eileen-fisher-open-front-cardigan/3531530?origin=category-personalizedsort&contextualcategoryid=0&fashionColor=&resultback=1100&cm_sp=personalizedsort-_-browseresults-_-1_3_A

Pair with a tank or fitted tee, either off-white or in a print that coordinates with the sweater color. I also think this would look cute with an off-white fitted tee and a printed scarf that draws in some of the sweater color. A sweater like this also looks really cute over a sheath dress, if you want to dress it up a little more.

Talbots has a couple of lower-cost cardigans if the one above is too rich:
http://www.talbots.com/online/browse/product_details.jsp?id=prdi33428&N=4294966578+10501&No=24&selectedConcept=Misses&_=1418752490424&Nrpp=12&Nr=AND(product.siteId%3ATalbotsSite%2COR(product.catalogId%3Acatalog20002))
You could wear it over this, in Ivory:
http://www.talbots.com/online/browse/product_details.jsp?id=prdi33965&N=4294966578+10158&No=12&selectedConcept=Misses&_=1418752580157&Nrpp=12&Nr=AND(product.siteId%3ATalbotsSite%2COR(product.catalogId%3Acatalog20002))