If you spend a lot of your days with busy little people and want to feel stylish and comfortable, these wardrobe must-haves are for you. We’ll discuss a few wardrobe tools and ideas to help feel pulled-together and ready to do the little kid hustle each day.
Recently on a warm Arizona September morning, my toddler and I went on our daily walk. I popped on a simple sundress and we set off.
Lately, Little Man has decided to kick his shoes off along stroller walks. As I bent down again to check that my shoe-kicking wonder hadn’t knocked off a shoe again, sweat trickled down my skin.
Suddenly, I imagined accidentally flashing someone
Immediately, I thought, “Thank goodness for bike shorts!”
With that totally unsexy thought, the idea for this post was born: wardrobe must-haves for moms of little kids.
You can live intentionally with passion and purpose as God’s beloved – even in your wardrobe!
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Ideally, your wardrobe supports your lifestyle without moving you into frumpy territory.
Believe it or not, I believe it’s possible to be stylish and functional as a mother of a small person.
I don’t think you have to commit to spending the majority of your days in leggings and t-shirts, because “there’s nothing else to wear.”
(If you enjoy wearing leggings and t-shirts, rock on. I’m referring to the stereotype of the “hot mess mom” who can’t dress purposefully because of “moming.”)
These wardrobe must-haves were chosen because they enable you to
Head’s up! If you’re looking for breast-feeding friendly wardrobe guidance, I won’t be discussing that here. #limitedexperience Sorry!
In no particular order, here we go!
Um… this is pretty obvious, right?
It should be, but sometimes it’s not.
Occasionally it requires adjusting your shirt for the fifth time in a row one day to realize, “This shirt isn’t going to work for kid time.”
Do you need to throw out all of your lower necklines, pencil skirts, etc.?
Heck no! If you can, set aside a special spot for the non-kid-friendly clothes to bust out for date night, kid coverage days, etc. Enjoy them!
Please take the 15 minutes (or less) to remove them from your day-to-day wardrobe. Doing this can help you in so many ways, including:
Not sure what might serve you? Here’s some fantastic resources that discuss developing a wardrobe for your every day life:
Many women swear that maxi dresses and skirts are ridiculously comfortable and stylish. They may be excellent options for you!
As for me, I just feel like dumpy in them and prefer a shorter length for my skirts and dresses.
Enter the bike shorts.
To be clear, I’m talking about wearing bike shorts under dresses or skirts so you don’t flash others and have more freedom to move.
These come particularly in handy when…
A few resources and options that help you are find such wardrobe must-haves are below:
How to Wear a Short Skirt Without Looking Overexposed
Bike shorts (Amazon) (my favorite so far)
Earlier in the not-sleeping-so-great days I found a utility vest that hit all the marks for me. It cinched in at the waist, was affordable, and had huge pockets.
This vest has served me well on not-painfully-hot days (i.e. unfortunately not during Arizona summers). Pockets come in handy for holding:
This is probably one of the most obvious wardrobe must-haves on the list, but get yourself some pockets!
I’m learning to search for pockets specifically when I look for pants, shorts, skirts, dresses, and jackets.
A few resources and options that help you are find such wardrobe must-haves are below:
With these items, I’m assuming that you’re spending a decent amount of time outdoors.
I’ve learned that taking your child outdoors is almost like magic – hot tempers cool down, curiosity wins for the day, and mamas can take a breather.
In fact, here’s some research about this topic. A few perks of going outside include:
Way cool!
If you’re hustling over to a kid who looks suspiciously like they’r going to try eating rocks, you want tobe as hands’ free as possible.
Enter the skin-protecting hat and UV protection sunglasses.
These tools can reduce the negative effects of the sun’s harsh rays, including cancer risks, premature aging of the skin, developing cataracts, etc.
In addition to protecting your skin, they can help keep you cool with some shade and and help you role model how to take care of yourself in a simple, easy way.
By the way, experts also encourage using sun protection (like sunscreen, hats and sunglasses) for your kids, too!
And… if you happen to be successful with getting your kid to actually wear their hat and sunglasses, hit me up. Seriously. We do the hat dance every. single. day.
If you’re “not a hat person,” I can’t guarantee that you’ll suddenly look spectacular in one. I do encourage you, though, to try on a bunch of hats (in store if you can! #covid-19-shopping-ain’t-pretty).
A few of the many options are sunhat (my favorite!), bucket hat, fedora, baseball cap, visor, etc.
By the way, I’ve learned that with sunhats you want a little extra weight to the hat to ensure it doesn’t blow of your head at the slightest breeze.
A few resources and options that help you are find such wardrobe must-haves are below:
If you like jewelry but don’t want to worry about poisoning your child, teething necklaces can be a great option.
Countless options are on the market. You can order one or even make on yourself! (Links below)
I chose my necklaces based on:
Warning: your child will probably quickly realize what this is for, so you may get a chest full of drool, too.
And… you wouldn’t let your child play with window blind drawstrings, right? Don’t leave them with the necklace alone or put it on them. #hazardous
A few resources and options that help you are find such wardrobe must-haves are below:
Lastly, sometimes little kid life is messy. Those little hands are figuring out life and sometimes that means massive explosions of food, liquids and whatever else they can get their hands on. #thisisnormal
So, with that in mind, determine how much effort you’ll realistically put into taking care of your clothes.
Will you hand wash clothing? Take it to the dry cleaners? If this is something you will do regularly, awesome. If not, perhaps consider looking for low-maintenance clothing, per what that looks like for you.
Personally, I’m not a huge fan of “buy something that can get messed on and thrown away.”
A) What a waste of your time and money! Seriously, you’re going to spend your precious time and money for something you decide to use as trash?
B) How often do you ACTUALLY do this? Research shows LINK that once you buy something, it increases in personal value to you. Once it moves in to your house, it’s harder to let go of it.
I really do believe that you CAN buy things you really enjoy, that are easy to take care of, and still look stylish. This is not unreasonable.
A few resources and options that help you are find such wardrobe must-haves are below:
As we’ve discussed, there are many wardrobe must-haves out there for moms of little kids. You’ll want to look for:
By maximizing any (or all!) of these options, you can have a wardrobe that helps you live your life in the season you’re in.
You can live intentionally with passion and purpose as God’s beloved – even with your wardrobe.
Now it’s your turn. What are your thoughts? What would you add to this list? Let me know in the comments!
P.S. Want some crazy simple steps to start living intentionally? Grab the Embrace Your Potential Playbook. It’ll help you zoom in on your God-gifted personality and give you practical tips to be more intentional, passionate, and purposeful as God’s beloved so you can become the best version of yourself.
I’m Cortney, a recovering over-achiever and God’s beloved who loves helping fellow Christian women like you embrace your God-given gifts so you have the confidence to live authentically.
I’m also a full-time mama to two sweet little boys, wife to my best friend, motivational speaker, and part-time Christian life coach. Chai lattes, strong coffee, podcasts, yoga, dance, and fairy tales nourish my soul and add sweetness to life.
Discovering the joy of embracing my God-given gifts and who He created me to be was a game-changer—a journey that brought freedom, unexpected delights, and relief from guilt. Finally, I felt free to be myself and ditch the pressure of being someone I wasn’t.
Incorporating those gifts into my day—from weekly planning to deciding on commitments, nurturing my marriage, and parenting—transformed everything. Now, I can’t imagine life without the perspective of fully embracing who God created me to be. I was missing so much without it!
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