Saturday, March 3, 2012

Date Night! (what to wear)

I always find myself in somewhat of a conundrum when it comes to dressing up for date night.  Just as much as I used to find it back when I was single (sorry girls, it never ends!).  The reason I have such a hard time is because I know what my husband would like me to dress in.  For some reason the word “hooker” comes into mind.  I also know what I think is cute…yep, I said cute, that kind of kills it for date night, huh?

I’ve gone the “pleasing my husband” route and the “I think I look stylish and cute” route, but each time I went the extreme it just didn’t feel right.  On the one scenario I felt out of place and not like myself.  On the other I found myself making sure we didn’t go to a restaurant with t.v.’s because I’m pretty sure they would have gotten more attention than me from my husband;)

So I have finally come to find a happy medium.  A little bit of sex appeal mixed with my own quarky style.  To understand my breakdown I need to show you what I was working with.

First there is my style:
 (top: old navy, pants and belt:f21, earrings: downeast outfitters, shoes: gift)

As we talked about in my last post I am creating a more curvaceous feminine shape here (remember how I don’t have hips, I am creating some here with the pleated front on the pant, even a little over exaggerated which makes my waist look a lot smaller in comparison)  I love the black pleated front slacks with the stripe boat neck top, cinched in at the waist with the caramel colored belt.  This monochromatic look is then given a little more of a push with the contrasting pattern on the leopard shoe.  My hair is a little back from my face giving this look a more sophisticated edge.  Because my hair is back I have my good ol’ owl earrings to add some sparkle and give it a full vintage feel. 

So cute, right?  Just to give you an idea, when I came down the stairs in this my husband looked like he was bracing himself, physically, because he knew he would have to tell me how cute I looked even though he was disappointed that his date night was obviously going to be t.v.-less;)

Then there is what my husband would want me to wear:
 (cardi: gap, top: maurices, jeans: nine west, shoes: rue21, earrings: gift)

Keep in mind it is cold outside and as a general rule for myself I like to be more covered up.  All of these reasons made it really hard to put together a look that went more in the street walker direction so this is as close as I got (although each piece of clothing probably could have been pealed off of me, it was pretty tight).  I added some sparkle by my chest to emphasize my good…um….features.  I then paired this skin tight shirt with my skinniest jeans in a dark, formal wash.  The cardigan was just to cover my arms from the cold but also to bring out my turquoise dangly earrings (my husband loves a dangly earring on me but so does my daughter so you can see why they never last long on me;)  Now about my hair, I had it down, because that’s what my husband likes, gives it a more feminine look.  I have to add though that if my husband really had his way and I wasn’t working on a timeline I would have had my hair curly and big as well.  Now what would a proper woman of the night be without her 5’’ red heels?  It just wouldn’t have been complete with out themJ As I went to our room to change into the combination look my husband was begging me not to change a thing.;)

Finally we have the combination look:
 (top: oldnavy, jeans: nine west, earrings: downeast outfitters, shoes: shoebuy.com)

For the combination I took elements from each look and pulled them together, giving it a more sexy look while keeping to my own sense of style.  I kept the top half of my outfit.  I might have kept the earrings had they worked with the look of the boatkneck shirt but it wasn’t meant to be.  The shirt I have on is looser so I was comfortable pairing it with the skinny jean.  Then to add that pop of red at the heel that my husband likes I wore these 3.5’’ red satin heels (a bit more of a comfortable height for me) with the black to tie in the top. 

I am happy to report that we went to a restaurant with tv’s and they didn’t get any undue attention.  My husband loved the combination look and I felt comfortable and like myself throughout the night!

I am linking up for the very first time with Harper's Happenings for Stepp'n out Saturdays (I have been wanting to do this forever, but now I have a forum for it!:)


7 comments:

  1. Hahaha, Ashley, I love this! You are so freaking talented! And hilarious! Seriously, we have to talk about future posts cause I have lots of questions.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love it! You are FREAKING hilarious AND informative. What a fun and interesting read!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I happen to love all of the looks, and think that the one that you think of as "hoochie-mama" is quite all right (If BJ feels up to swatting off importunate males:) ..

    I think BJ just loves you in heels,(which also shows off one of your best features: your legs) and doesn't mind it if you look statuesque...A TRULY CONFIDENT male! You got a keeper;)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Ashley in your hot mama picture the one on the left totally looks like Stephanie! i seriously had to look at it again! That was crazy for me. Also i think all of them are great and knowing your husband your hot mama outfit is still VERY conservative! Can't wait to read what else you have in store for us!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Man, I am loving those pants in the first picture! You look awesome :)

    new follower, please stop on by:
    http://penelopeblue.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  6. You look great in every look! And you are hilarious!! No telling what our husbands would chose for us to wear if we let them, right?

    ReplyDelete
  7. you look great in every look. i tend to dress for myself most of the time and it just so happens that the husband likes what he sees.
    also... hookers are best kept in the bedroom ;)

    ReplyDelete