You’ll never guess what I did.

After expressing my (at the very least) uncertainty about the mullet hem trend that is threatening to obliterate the traditional (and clearly passé) straight hemline, I went and bought a high-low dress.

Here’s how it went down:

Last Friday, on Ezra’s birthday, we had the following group (family) agenda:

1) Get breakfast from Donut Palace (we pass it every time we go to school in the morning, and Ezra mentions it often; apparently, he was fascinated with the concept of fresh, hot, greasy goodness in the morning, since he had never, in his 7 years, experienced this wondrous thing)

2) Go to the gym so I could teach my 7th (!!) class of the week (lots of instructors gone = lots of classes to cover)

3) Head to Walmart to spend a birthday gift card

4) Eat lunch at Chick-fil-a (his choice; I didn’t complain)

5) Deliver the boys and Della to Softa (my mom) to continue the birthday festivities while Shaun and I stole away for a rare movie date (the new Star Trek…it was entertaining).

Every bit of that went just like planned, which never happens when 7+ people—three of them in diapers—must get coordinated (I kept exclaiming: “Oh my goodness! Everything is timing out perfectly today! What is going on??!”).

My own personal goals for the morning…did not go so well.

They were:

1) Feed and dress babies. Make sure other children are clothed. (This happened with the help of my rock star husband)

2) Finish Feature Friday FREE-FOR-ALL blog post. (Negative).

3) Bring camera to record birthday joyousness. (Forgot it).

4) Pick out date outfit to change into after teaching class. (Ran out of time).

That last one was what irked me most, for some reason. Shaun and I so rarely go on dates these days that the thought of living it up (as much as one can when one has 3 hours of babysitting, and a 2 1/2 hour movie + previews to watch) on the arm of my showered, nicely dressed, generally hot hubby while wearing sweaty, smelly workout clothes was distinctly unappealing.

{I promise we’re getting close to the part where I bought a mullet dress}

As we were checking out at Walmart, I had a sudden fit of, “Not gonna do it!”, said, “I’ll be right back!” to Shaun, and made a beeline for the clothes. I found a rack of maxi dresses and only one in my size stood out to me, so I grabbed it and then headed for the shoes, where I snapped up the first pair of sandals I thought would match and sprinted back to the front.

Shaun was laughing at me as I checked out, but I still think he appreciated the results more than my stinky exercise clothes.

Wanna see?

Well, I actually wore the dress twice—once that day and then again to church, so in honor of the high-low hem, I thought it might be fun to show you the two different ways I wore it:

mullet high3

mullet high

{Pardon the otherwordly green glow around my neck; that color + lots of sunlight = alien skin apparently}

mullet high2  

This was the church version. A big statement necklace, a somewhat fancy ponytail, and a pair of metallic heels. Comfy, but slightly elevated.

And then there was:

mullet low

The even comfier version, with another fun necklace, a jeans jacket, flat sandals, and tousled (code for: unfixed) curls.

mullet low2

One dress, two ways. And both of them crazy comfortable?

Now, that’s just about cause for busting a move, right?

mullet low3

So, why the sudden change of heart about the mullet hem?

One word: necessity. If it hadn’t been the only option that I liked in the 60 seconds I had to look, I probably wouldn’t have bought it. But I’m actually really glad I did.

P.S. It was obviously incredibly bright when we took these pictures, and I know it’s hard to see some of the details, so if you’re at all interested in the sandals (I couldn’t find the dress online), here’s the link, along with a clearer picture.

aztec sandals

{These are super-fun and quite comfortable}

So, now I really must know: have you ever bought an entire outfit on the fly? Did you end up liking it or wishing you’d stuck with what you were wearing?

What’s your stance on the mullet dress? Fan? Hater? In-between? I think I was okay with this one because the length difference wasn’t so very dramatic, and the color-blocking somehow made it more cohesive it (in my mind, anyway).

0 Comments

    1. Ha! Well, it’s not ideal, certainly. But it’s stretchy, so I just kind of wiggle one arm out at a time. It works, but it’s not super nursing friendly.

  1. I don’t care for the mullet dresses. Hopefully it will be a trend that will be gone soon. Who knows? Chevron is still with us much to my dismay. The trends I seem to dislike most stick around! ; )

  2. You look adorable in your mullet dress, and I have to say you are rocking that unfixed hair (I wish my hair looked that cute when it is tussled A.K.A. unfixed)!

  3. I’m still don’t like them, but I’ve never been particularly trendy. My husband also expresses his dislike every time he sees someone in one so I’m not gonna wear something he doesn’t like on me.

  4. Totally loved your story about how the high-low dress came to be…..and YAY! for date nights! Those are priceless! I am so impressed that you still get them in despite having 5 littles (or maybe you took the twins to the movies which I’m totally impressed about too). With us expecting #4, I am already imagining how hard it is going to be to get childcare for 4 kids 6 yo & under 🙁
    I am still on the fence about the high-low trend, but did like the dress you picked out. Something about the color-blocking just works 🙂 Both looks are very cute!
    And, I am so impressed that Ezra has never had a donut! Holy Wow! My hubby considers himself a “donut connoiseur” and never passes up an opportunity for a warm donut. So, as a result, my kids have ingested their fair share of sugary, carb-laiden goodness. So kudos to you and Happy Birthday to Ezra!
    Also, 7 exercises classes…..thats amazing! I guess with all that exercising it helped balance out the donut trip…..LOL!

  5. How funny! I always claimed to hate the high low style, but against my best intentions I ended up trying that exact same dress on and loved it! So now I’m in the same boat with you, joining the high-low crowd. It was surprisingly comfortable and I actually think I prefer it over maxi skirts because I’m rather short and it doesn’t feel as stuffy and overwhelming as a maxi. Of course, I’m still against the extreme high-low dresses…the over the knees in the front and down to the ankles in the back is still weird to me!

  6. I’ve never really liked the hi low dress but I like yours, especially the casual version. The only time I purchased something on the fly like that was when I went to stay in the city overnight and forgot a top to wear the next day 🙂

  7. I’m not generally a huge fan of the high-low, but I completely understand why you made that purchase. A huge part of me is saying I would’ve done the same thing. 😉 I like the “casual” version better, btw…
    Tricia R.

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