My Styling Bliss: Old Navy Finds

Hello-Hello, Dear Readers!

I have FINALLY decided upon an official name for my “Mom Style” segment!  I started with the generic, “Mom Style”, as a temporary name, descriptive of the segment… I am a mom who is sharing my personal style and offering casual styling tips and inspiration to my fellow moms.  But it’s more personal than that.  I really looooove styling!  It is my hobby and bliss, and so “My Styling Bliss” is the new, official name of this segment!  And, I will add this disclaimer:  I am a career mom.  I am not a journalist, professional blogger, photographer or model.  All pics were taken by me, using my iphone and a selfie stick.  These posts are intended to give styling inspiration and reviews of clothing as worn by an average everyday person (not a model).  =o)

This week, I am sharing with you a few of my recent Old Navy purchases!  All items are currently available in stores and/or online at OldNavy.com.  Originally, I made a large online purchase.  I love shopping online because it’s convenient with my schedule and they usually have a larger selection than what I find in the stores and if something doesn’t fit, I can easily make the return or exchange at my local store.  But this year I learned something I hadn’t realized before, and that is that the pricing is often DIFFERENT online vs in store!  When I made my original purchase it was during a 40% flash sale that was only available online.  Two weeks later when I went to the store for my exchanges, the store was having the 40% off sale and a few of my items were even on clearance which cut my price to 50% of the 40% sale price I had already gotten (so I got two dresses at $10 each).

Old Navy has been very hit or miss for me, year to year, when it comes to style as well as quality.  Some years I love most of the styles offered, but other years I won’t find anything I like at all… and quite honestly it’s been a few years since I’ve bought more than a single sundress from Old Navy .  In terms of quality, I have some Old Navy items that have lasted several years to over a decade and still look great.  However, I have had more things that didn’t even last a full season before they considerably shrunk (I ALWAYS hand wash cold and line dry) or came apart at the seams.  This year, I found several pieces that I loooved and so far I’m crossing my fingers that there won’t be too much shrinkage because many things are made of rayon which carries the potential of being a nightmare to care for.

I fell in love with this dress the moment I saw it!  It is waaaay outside my usual style but it felt so girly with the flutter sleeves and guava color that I thought I would give it a try!  It also came in white, and while it is no longer available online, I have seen it in the stores in the clearance section.  This dress is the one I purchased two of.  I bought it online in a Medium for $20 (34.99 at 40% off).  It ended up being HUGE on me and Hubs and Rosemary vetoed it saying it looked like a hospital gown.  I was heartbroken because this was my FAVE dress, in theory.  In the store I tried on the Small and it was a perfect fit, plus it was only $10, so all in all I came out on top!  Until I got home, read the label (100% cotton, gauze like weave) then went online and read reviews I previously missed, saying the dress shrinks considerably!  Noooo!  So I went back to the store and re-purchased the Medium, with a plan in mind…  I will wear the Small as long as I can and if it shrinks in the wash, oh well.  I washed the Medium dress according the the label directions (machine wash cold and tumble dry low) which is NOT the way I would normally wash this (hand wash cold and hang dry) but I WANTED it to shrink and it did not disappoint.  It now fits beautifully, though the Small (not yet washed) still fits slightly better.  I love that I got two for the same price I had paid for my original and now I don’t have to worry about ruining the dress when I wash it!  The one pictured here is the Small…  Yes, it wrinkles.  It is cotton gauze, it is supposed to wrinkle (drives Hubs crazy).  It is very light weight and airy and it comes with an under sheath so it is not see through.

This next dress was another tricky one in terms of fit!  I originally purchased it in the store in a small.  It fit beautifully!  I was SO psyched to be wearing Smalls this year because I am rarely a Small at Old Navy!  I went home and saw the dress online and realized that it was not supposed to be a fitted shirt-dress but was supposed to have a looser fit to it.  I also saw that it is made of RAYON and therefore I should expect shrinking.  I exchanged it for the Medium.  It is a very loose fit, though the pics don’t really show that.

This denim swing dress is simple, cute and comfortable!  I was surprised that when I wore it to run errands last weekend, 3 people came up to me to tell me how cute it was and asked where I found it!  I love the neckline and the raw hems.  This dress will get a ton of wear!  It’s very hard to photograph, and I was struggling to find an angle that showed the actual dress length.  It hits right above my knee but all my pics made it look like a midi or maxi length.  (Short Leg Problems)

I loooove this super soft maxi shift!  It is fully lined and not see through, but it is breathable.  It fits true to size (Medium).  It is RAYON so I’m crossing my fingers that it won’t shrink, as this dress won’t have forgiving wiggle room if it does.

That’s all for this week!  I will share my other Summer buys in the weeks ahead!  I got to do a bit of (May) Birthday shopping and am super excited about this year’s summer wardrobe!

Cheers!