Friday Question: Mama’s Boy Style?

{me and my mama}

This Sunday is Mother’s Day.

…

No, it’s fine, I’ll wait while you frantically order flowers and fedex a card.

Got it? Good.

When I think about the influence my mother has had on my style, I think about how she let me grow into my fashion sense all on my own.

Like in second grade, when all I wanted to wear was my brother’s old windpants over my gymnastics leotard? That was fine. When I twisted my hair into tiny buns all over my head freshman year of high school just like Gwen Stefani in No Doubt’s “Just a Girl” video, and wore it that way to the town carnival? So long as I was home by curfew, I was good. When I came home at Christmas sophomore year of college rocking huge gold hoop earrings and a t-shirt wrapped around my head like Julia Stiles in Save the Last Dance even though it made me look like a cancer patient? She just wanted to know how I’d done on finals.

{With my niece – clearly, interesting hair choices run in the family}

While I may wish my mother could have somehow warned me I’d regret a few of these fashion moments (the buns were particularly unfortunate), I love that she never put her foot down on my more curious style excursions. First, because I wouldn’t have listened anyway (and in fact probably would have tried more outrageous trends) and second, because all those missteps – and to toot my own horn, a few gems along the way too – I learned what my style truly was. If she’d been laying out my clothes for me til I was a teenager, or sending me up to my room to change every time I threw on something ridiculous, I may not have developed the sense of style I have today.

What did your mom teach you about your style? How are you celebrating her this Mother’s Day?