There’s no such thing as being overdressed…or is it?

I took my children to the pumpkin patch last weekend. It was over 90 degrees outside but that’s typical early fall weather where we live. I was rushing because I decided to do a mini photo shoot of my children before we left the house, they were so cute in their matching Halloween shirts. It was time for me to get dressed and I was faced with my usual challenge of finding something to wear with easy access for nursing my littlest one. There’s not a wide selection of nursing clothes out there and nursing shirts aren’t quite as easy as advertised but I’ll get into that in another post. I wanted to be cute but comfortable and most importantly cool. Days before I decided that I wanted to wear my cowboy boots so I quickly through on a green floral wrap dress with a ruffle bottom that looked great with my boots!

We arrived at the pumpkin patch and as expected it was crowded. I parked in an unpaved, gravel and dusty parking lot. Pushing a double stroller through what my three-year-old calls muddy puddles, we arrived at the entrance. I’m always very observant of what other people are wearing. Our individual styles are just one way of how we uniquely identity. As I walked around the pumpkin patch, I saw people in high heels, some in sweaters and hoodies, others in career attire, club attire and others in designers from head to toe, I’m talking logo prints. Let me just say I’m not bothered at all by people who wear designer brands to a pumpkin patch. Most designer brands have a casual line and if your income supports a more lavish lifestyle that’s going be to be typical for you. What was troublesome is people excessively wiping down their designer shoes to cleanse them of the dirt, watching them become visually upset that their clothes were getting dirty, tip toeing around to try to stay clean. It was like they didn’t check the weather or had never been to a pumpkin patch.

For people who adore all things fashion sometimes we think getting dressed is a walk in the park but my time at the pumpkin patch was a reminder that getting dressed is a lot harder than it seems for the vast majority. Generally speaking people don’t know what looks good on them or do they? What I’ve found is that people will wear what looks good on them but at any cost. This is where we find ourselves saying “that outfit is cute, but they look hot,” “It looks like their feet hurts” or “I wouldn’t have worn that to the pumpkin patch.” Once an outfit is in a questionable state it’s a fail! No matter how fashionably great an outfit is if you are not dressed appropriately for the occasion it's not better to be over dressed then underdressed.

While the pumpkin patch is probably a lesser important event for such critique what I witnessed is a situation people often find themselves in for many occasions, like weddings, parties, interview and more. I want to help! Here a few tips out on how to avoid NOT being dressed for the occasion.

1. Don’t let a fashion challenge become a barrier. If you look at getting dressed from the mindset that you just can’t find something to wear you are going to feel defeated and most likely avoid putting any effort into finding the perfect outfit. There are ton of fashion blogs, stylist, virtual styling apps available to help you. It is okay to get help styling looks.

2. Pick an item you love and have been dying to wear, a dress, a suit, a pair of shoes, and ask yourself is it appropriate for the occasion. If the answer is yes, style your look or get help styling your look around that item. Chances are you will look great and you will be appropriately dressed for the occasion.

3. What’s the occasion? Most events like weddings have traditional dress codes. This can make it easier to style an outfit for an event because there is a standard code of dress that is traditionally accepted. While it’s been a steady trend to dress outside of such custom norms like mixing formal wear with athletic gear, something we will talk about later, I would suggest dressing more traditionally if you are unsure of how to dress for the occasion. Lots of fashion inspiration for traditional events can be found on Google, Pinterest or Instagram.

4. Look up the weather! If you don’t remember anything else from this post remember this. This will prevent you from being uncomfortable. Trust me when you’re comfortable you look uncomfortable and other people can see your uncomfortable which means you are losing best dressed points. Good Dressing is about confidence if your uncomfortable you’re not going to be confident.

5. If you’re going to a reoccurring event like Coachella or the Essence Festival look up the event and see what other people wore in the previous years. This will give you an idea of how subtle or flashy you should be.

6. Don’t over think it! Take this with a grain of salt. I said don’t over think it don’t NOT think about it. Loose the whatever attitude! Yes, dressing good takes effort but don’t get so worked up that you over dress for the occasion, remember that’s what we’re trying to avoid. Don’t try to be so sexy that you wear club attire to a pumpkin patch but don’t be so effortless that you wear leggings and a t-shirt to a birthday diner. If you get confused remember that the more appropriate you are for the occasion the better dressed you will be.