By Kristin Hull
While perusing the latest catalog from Alloy, I found several tops that fit the “mom criteria” of inexpensive, stylish, versatile and figure-flattering so I thought I’d share them with you. Any of them will be a good investment because they can be worn either casually or dressed up and they’ll work year-round (except maybe for the sweater dress). Most have patterns as well. If you’re like me, your closet is full of solid colored pieces. Branch out a bit and invest in some patterns. They’ll amp up your wardrobe considerably.
Unfortunately, Alloy won’t let me use any of their photos so I can only provide links… Oh, enter code J1A1P3A at checkout until February 2, 2012 for 15% off your entire purchase. Also, Alloy is plus-size friendly so most of their tops go up to XXXL. Yippee!
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I love the long, loose Joanne top ($30). It’s sheer though so you’ll have to wear something under it (a basic tank is fine). Pair it with a long drapey brown or cream sweater, some skinny jeans and brown knee-high boots, booties or flats and you’re good to go.
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The Sadie blouse is a red sheer bow blouse ($37) with small white polka-dots that is on trend both color-wise and style-wise. It gathers at the waist which provides some shape and then is loose down from there so there are no worries about revealing the muffin top. Again, you’ll have to wear a tank under it.
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The Desarae Kimono top ($27) has all the advantages of the Sadie blouse above as well as a pretty, modern pattern of blues and browns.
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Whether the Megan Dolman Sweater Dress (reg. $40, now $30) should be a top or a dress is debatable but my guess is that most moms would prefer to wear it as a top. If you have a pear-shaped body it probably won’t work for you but should be fine for all the other body shapes. It is loose around the waist and tight at the hips. As a top, try it with leggings or skinny jeans and knee-high boots, booties, flats, etc. It comes in red too which would add a nice pop of color or, if you want add color while wearing the black one, try some brightly-colored shoes or skinny jeans (like in this post) It doesn’t have to be worn off the shoulder like they show in the picture either. If you can wear it as a dress (because you’re very short) pair it with some patterned tights (in a color if you really want to make a statement).
If you end up buying any of these and like them shoot me an email (themommystylist@mommystylistblog.com) and let me know.
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