Fashion | Kelly Tirman

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Wardrobe Overhaul: Flatter Your Figure

October 17, 2011 kellytirman Fashion, Urban Living

Wanna Look professional and maybe even a little sexy? I know I do. With my maternity leave coming to an end and my return to the office imminent I have been inspired to dump my frump. As a result I am currently on a mission to overhaul my professional wardrobe.

As part of this overhaul I recently bought the following three items from Ann Taylor:

These pieces completely flatter my size 12 four months post pardon figure and make me feel fabulous. If they can do this for me (a woman who has recently given birth to baby #2 and has been mistaken for still being pregnant), think about what they could do for you!

Snake Print Cuffed Sleeveless Dress – Not only is this dress ultra-flattering as a result of being side-ruched it is also MACHINE WASHABLE.
Seamless Ponte Pencil Skirt – This skirt is made of some type of miracle fabric that makes you look thinner. Tip: try it on a size smaller than you normally buy.
Perfect Leather Pump – 3 1/4″ high heel makes your legs look amazing but thanks to the padded leather footbed they are actually comfortable.

Okay ladies, don’t hold out on me, what flatter any figure type items are in your closet?

About Kelly Tirman

Kelly Tirman is the mom behind kellytirman.com and serves as Sr. Manager of Operations for Walmart’s Global eCommerce User Experience, Insights & Analytics teams. Kelly’s blog focuses on sharing ideas on urban living; including general lifestyle, raising multilingual children and organic beauty.

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One comment Ann Taylor, Flatter Your Figure, Wardrobe Overhaul, what to wear

Wardrobe Overhaul: Finding Your Signature Style

October 15, 2011 kellytirman Fashion, Urban Living

Tired of looking frumpy? I know I am. I realized recently that the last time I purchased non-maternity work clothes was 2008. With my maternity leave coming to an end and my return to the office imminent my professional wardrobe really needed a total overhaul. I hope you find these next few fashion posts not only entertaining (you are laughing with me and not at me right?) but helpful.

The goals for this wardrobe overhaul are the following:

Remove all ragged clothes from my closet. Heading back to the office wearing stained worn out clothes is not an option.
As an urban professional with very little closet space I need a low maintenance, somewhat minimalist wardrobe consisting of several interchangeable items.
Look professional and dare I say a little sexy.

First item up to bat are shirts…When you find a shirt that you love, is it okay to buy it in every color?

I recently bought the above shirt from Ann Taylor in all four available colors (two in the store and two online). Yep, I admit this might sound wacky but I am kinda a “uniform” type of gal. For example, I had always admired Steve Jobs for wearing the same combination of jeans and a turtleneck. It seemed convenient and the style became his signature.

I am eager to hear what my fellow mom and fashion guru Audrey McClelland thinks about me picking four of the same tops for my new signature style. I am hoping it will come off minimalistic, low maintenance yet classy. Since stylistic tops like these change slightly from season to season I am thinking finding an updated yet different top each season shouldn’t be that difficult. What do you think?

I bought this shirt from Ann Taylor in all four available colors because:

It was easy. As the overbooked crazy person that I am; I had exactly 90 minutes to work with an Ann Taylor stylist to refresh my outdated wardrobe (BTW – Anna at the Stanford Shopping Center Ann Taylor is awesome).
They were reasonably priced and on sale.
I loved the cut and it looked good on my body.
The material felt good. I can’t stand itchy clothes!
Although they are not “nursing” tops, I feel comfortable that I will be able to pump in them without an issue.
These shirts are MACHINE WASHABLE! Which is great because I don’t have time to go the the dry cleaners and I am pretty sure they will have toddler grease or breast milk spilled on them on a regular basis.

Considering the goals for this wardrobe overhaul; what do you think about these shirts?

About Kelly Tirman

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6 comments Ann Taylor, Wardrobe Overhaul, what to wear

How Much Stuff Do You Schlepp Around?

August 3, 2011 kellytirman Fashion, Urban Living

Schlepp: To carry, to lug to tote. Isn’t that what we do with all our kids stuff whether we like it or not?

Diaper stuff, snack stuff, toy stuff, stuff for swim class, stuff for soccer. Bottom line our kids have a lot of stuff.

Well, I guess that is why Trumpette created these Schleppbags. If you are in the market for a BIG bag, these will carry all your kids stuff and anything else that life with children might throw in your way.

Question – At what age do you think kids should start schlepping their own stuff?

Discloser: Trumpette was kind enough to provide me with the 94115 bag. This allows me to pretend that I still live in Pacific Heights. A neighborhood that I haven’t actually lived in since I was single, kid free and didn’t carry that much stuff.

About Kelly Tirman

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Behind the Seams at TJ Maxx with Alison Deyette

June 5, 2010 kellytirman Fashion, Urban Living

I recently attended a “blogger junket” at TJ Maxx. Since the San Francisco TJ Maxx is less than a mile from my house I felt like it was kismet. It was held first thing in the morning (thankfully they served us coffee) and its goal was to show us why off-price retailers are a better way to shop.

The event was lead by style expert Alison Deyette who chatted up TJ Maxx’s buying power, savings, product quality, and in-season merchandise. Alison shared two pieces of advice that I found very helpful. First, shopping at TJ Maxx is all about the thrill of the hunt. Head into TJ Maxx searching for the perfect black dress and you will walk out disappointed. Instead, go looking for a cute dress and you will be thrilled. Secondly, she suggested shopping with a trusted girlfriend, one that will actually tell you the truth about your butt in those jeans.

My initial thoughts:

As a new mom I don’t have time to “hunt” for clothes. To be honest, I consider myself lucky when I find time to wash my hair.

And then…

I realized it might be time to retire my maternity clothes – it has been nine months since the baby was born after all.
The San Francisco TJ Maxx has a great parking lot which actually makes it more convenient than shopping in Union Square.
Since TJ Maxx supplied me with a ~~$150~~ $100 gift card for attending the junket the least I could do was spend their money.

The best part of the event? Hanging out with my Heather & Whitney from Rookie Moms. I only wish I had brought my copy of The Rookie Mom’s Handbook for Heather to sign.

BTW – Anyone up for a trip to TJ Maxx? I could use a shopping buddy and my gift card is burning a whole in my pocket.

About Kelly Tirman

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My Favorite Laptop Sleeve

May 13, 2010 kellytirman Fashion, Urban Living

Carry your laptop in style! SERIOUSLY, not a day goes by that I don’t get one or more (okay let’s call it average of 3) compliments on my laptop sleeve.

Usually, I just try to act cool, you know-smile and say, “thank you.” Try to pretend looking so fab comes naturally. Give them that shrug like, “yep, that’s how I roll.”

But really, I’m dying to strike up an lengthy conversation about how much I LOVE it, how much constant attention I get from it, and how FABULOUS I feel as I carry my laptop around in style.

What they would never believe, is that it only costs $27 bucks. Not bad considering it successfully protects my precious laptop that, let’s face it, contains pretty much my entire life.

So here’s the bottom line: This oilcloth laptop sleeve in Toile White (or any other color for that matter) is a high quality fashion item at a reasonable price.