Fashion Mom
Before I had children it would take me at least an hour or more to get fully dressed and out of the house. When I was pregnant with my son my friends with children advised me that I would need at least an extra hour in the morning to get myself dressed, get my baby dressed, and to nurse him before leaving home. The thought of getting up an hour earlier when you are already sleep deprived did not sound like fun! Once my son was born, I took some time to adjust and find my flow and quickly learned that spending an hour on myself to get dressed was no longer an option. Just as I thought I had my flow perfected I was pregnant again with baby number two. Getting myself dressed and two kids dressed during the week is a lot of work and takes a lot of time. So needless to say I have cut my dress time down even more in order to balance as much sleep as I can and to manage my time so that I arrive to my destinations on time. Weekends are much easier because I have the help of my husband! One thing that I have always told myself is "once I have kids I still want to be cute and that I still want to be sexy for my husband." Since having children I have quickly learned that spending time getting cute and being sexy is no longer my time. It is now whatever time I can squeeze in-between mommy and wife duties. I'm learning that you can maintain your cute and sexiness as a mother, but you have to do all of that in less time! Realizing that fact left me with questions; so I called on my friend Robin Ayers. I have known Robin Ayers for over 20 years. She is a wife, a mother of twin daughters, a business woman, and she's well versed in the fashion industry. Robin does all of this with style, grace, elegance, and she makes it look so easy!! I have two kids under two years old so my time is important and my sleep is important too! I wanted to pick Robin's brain on how she does it and to get any advice from her on how to "be cute" with little time to get dressed.
Here's what Robin had to say……
I’ll never forget how many compliments I would get on Sunday mornings at church. “Robin you look so good!” and “Robin, you are superwoman! How do you do all of this with twins?” Little did they all know that I would get up two hours ahead of everyone to get myself dressed, do my hair and makeup, iron my husband’s shirt, go to the kitchen and pack bottles, snacks, and diapers, then go wake my twins up to get them dressed. We would then all pack up in the car and drive an hour from home to church and an hour back. I was exhausted! In my mind, since I had been a Fashion Stylist for so many years, there was no way I could let my guard down. I had to make sure my twin babies, my husband and I looked amazing!
See, I was really doing myself a disservice with those past thoughts and behaviors. My actions were extremely unrealistic and I learned quickly that there had to be a better way.
I began keeping multiple pre-packed diaper bags in the trunk and in addition I decided to come up with ways to cut back on the amount of time I was working on myself. I started buying “throw on” items that didn’t take a lot of time getting dressed. Things such as maxi dresses, blazers, and cute embellished flats became my “go to” fashion. Since I had just had twins there were still areas that I didn’t want to emphasize so I wore a lot of oversized t-shirts and sweaters but I would accentuate my legs by wearing shorts. For my makeup, I went as natural as possible. Wearing mascara, highlighted cheeks and any bright colored lipstick that I could find. The bright lip also looked really good with the topknot bun that I started wearing. It was easy and very quick to do!
Maintaining my fashion was still a big part of me and I never wanted to lose that, probably like most women. If I had it my way, I would stand on top of a mountain and scream to every woman in the world that there is a better way! There’s hope in being a fashionable, productive, and wonderful mom! All while keeping your sexiness for your husband, of course! -- Robin Ayers
Who is Robin Ayers? After graduating with a degree in Fashion Merchandising, Robin Ayers began her career in the entertainment and fashion industries working in print, runway, and television and eventually opened a mobile fashion boutique. She has now turned her passion for people and entertainment into a career in journalism, launching www.ItsRobinAyers.com Robin is the mother of 7-year-old twins, Brooklyn and Madison and wife to her husband of 9 years, Robbie Ayers.
Twitter and IG: @RobinAyersFacebook.com/RobinBillionAyersItsRobinAyers.com