In general, I don’t post tons of pictures of myself on the blog anymore. Which…I doubt makes anybody too upset. I mean, I did write a few posts back last fall about holding myself accountable here for weekday outfits, but…I failed on that one pretty miserably. I did a better job of actually getting dressed in general, and I even documented it (most of the time), but I just never got around to posting about it, and then, I thought it would be pretty silly to show you a round up of what I wore…for the past 4 months.

So…there you go.

I have officially gotten too lazy to blog about outfits for the most part. If that’s your jam, I’m sorry. If it isn’t, you’re welcome.

ANYhoo, that longwinded intro is sort of a hybrid warning/preamble to the fact that you are about to be bombarded with pictures of me…wearing clothes (huge sigh of relief for that second part).

So, I have to ask: what do y’all think about the kimono trend? I mean, it’s been going for a while, but it always takes me a loooooooong time to warm up to the latest thing, and I honestly have always felt that kimonos–along with most drapey, flowy clothing–are best for super-slim, long-limbed girls. Now before you go scolding me about complaining about my weight, I’m not. I just don’t have a leggy, lithe physique. I have muscular arms, curvy hips, a long torso, and relatively short legs. And despite being almost 5’7″, I “read” shorter, so lots of loose-fitting things don’t drape well on me.

Cue: my reader-friend, Amanda, contacting me about trying out some LuLaRoe gear. I’ll be honest–at first, I was hesitant. I’d mostly heard about how great their leggings are. But I am firmly in the leggings are not pants camp (unless, of course, you’re wearing a tunic that covers both bum and thighs), and there’s only about 4 months per year of leggings-tolerable weather in East Texas anyway, so I passed on that option.

So, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that they have much more to offer. I especially liked the look of their jersey maxi skirts, but since LuLaRoe distributor’s inventory turns over rapidly, and even they are never sure which prints they’ll receive, I never managed to snag a particularly gorgeous large-scale floral print I had my eye on.

BUT when Amanda sent me pics of a few kimono options she had in stock, I was intrigued. As mentioned above, I didn’t really think I could pull off a kimono, but with Amanda being so gracious to let me try out an item of my choice, I figured, “Eh. How bad can it be? I’ll give it a whirl!”

Turns out, not bad at all. As in, I really like it!

{I especially like the fact that you could wear leggings or more close-fitting pants with it, since it thoroughly covers the rear-view}

I wore this little ditty to church on Sunday, and, while I’ll freely admit that, as of this week, it is officially too hot to wear this particular version of it until–oh–December again, I like the fact that I could easily throw it on with some frayed jean shorts, a white tank, and some wedges, and–voila!–easy (breezy!) date night outfit. I also spotted a pic somewhere of someone wearing a kimono over a white shift dress with strappy sandals, and it was so cute, I’m definitely going to have to give that one a shot too.

Oh, and, as always, I had plenty of helpers around for my oh-so-fancy photo shoot.

Yup, that would be my almost 18-month-old running around with no shoes and the snaps of his onesie undone. Classy. (Not pictured: the other 5 kids lurking just outside the shot).

One more thing I like about this kimono? It’s a little like wearing a twirly dress.

Regardless of how much it looks like I am escaping from a bee attack, I can assure you (since I was there) that I am, in fact, twirling. #graceful4ever

So, what’s the takeaway? Um, kimonos are rad? Oh! I know! Don’t be afraid (like me) to try things that you think you won’t like. You might just be proved pleasantly wrong.

If you’d like to chat with Amanda about her LuLaRoe selections, you can find her on her Facebook page or Instagram. She’s an absolute sweetheart and will work patiently with you to figure out exactly what works best for you!

P.S. Ezra takes pretty much all of my pics now. Man, I love having a 10-year-old.

P.P.S. My jeans in these shots are Blank NYC Denim, and I “splurged” on them with some Amazon gift card money I had squirreled away because I’d read raves about how great they are. I asked a trusted source about sizing, since they didn’t have my actual size in stock, and she said, when in doubt, size up. So I did (because they did have the size directly up from what I normally wear). But…I think they’re too big. Well, I don’t think. I know. They are quite loose through the waist and hips, but I would probably only wear them with longer shirts, so that might not matter. On the one hand, they’re insanely comfy. Soft and buttery and pliable without falling down. All good things. But! Considering that they are skinny jeans, methinks the bagging around my ankles (you can see it especially in the profile shot from above) is problematic. Thoughts?