But without my sweatpants, what will I wear?

The first thing I had to do to become a retro-modern housewife was take pride in my appearance. When I was working at my children's clothing line, I would spend the day in sweatpants, t-shirts, and flip flops.

(this is actually Britney Spears, but you get the idea)

If I wanted to 'dress up' I would wear my 'good' pair of Juicy sweatpants instead of my Target knock-offs!


And I thought I looked really cute. I also added 20 pounds because I didn't have time to work out and didn't really realize how big I had gotten because of the elastic in my pants.

So when my company went under, I decided I had no excuse not to exercise and began to work out again. 8 months later I have lost 20 pounds and I can now fit back into all my cute clothing. To 'celebrate' I decided to get rid of all of my sweatpants. But I had to replace them with something! So I have been on a quest to find the perfect elegant casual outfit that I can wear around the house that is comfortable enough to lounge in, but not too revealing.

For now, I am sticking with cute pajama bottoms and nice tank tops due to the warm weather. I ONLY wear these around the house in the morning before my shower and in the evening after dinner. I don't even sleep in these pajamas because I don't like to have anything on my legs in bed. So these outfits are for lounging ONLY.

First I purchased some elegantly patterned bottoms with 'matching' robe from Anthropologie. (They are not technically a set, but I think they might as well be)



What I like about this outfit is I would NEVER be tempted to run errands in them because they are pajamas, so if I need to pop out of the house I am forced to put some clothing on, which makes for a much more glamorous life, no? At the same time, the ensemble isn't too revealing, so if someone stops by I wouldn't be uncomfortable making them a cup of tea and chatting. Plus I am sure whomever stopped by would be thrilled at my adorable get-up.

But as fun as this outfit is, I still needed at least one more lounge suit. So off to Victoria's Secret. Here I purchased a pair of wide silk lounge pants with a black tank top and black silk robe.


Notice how the black tank and robe matches the black stripe in the pants. Very elegant indeed. It reminded me of this:

Which is one of my all time favorite outfits.

So my first recommendation is to get rid of your sloppy, ripped jeans or sweatpants and substitute them with a casually elegant lounge set. Remember, the key to pulling off this look is to make sure the top matches the bottoms, or you will just end up looking as shlubby as you did before.