How to dress for Mother’s Day when you are a daughter in midlife can be a challenge. Read these tips on what to wear for Mother’s Day to not upset Mom, and to guarantee a pleasant day in every role.
- Mother’s Day Outfits Need Jewelry as Finishing Touch
- Best Outfits for Mother’s Day According to Your Role
- What to Wear When It’s Your Own Mother’s Day
- Take the Generation in Mind When dressing for Your Mom’s Mother’s Day
- A LBD Is a Great Mother’s Day Dinner or Concert Outfit
- Pastels, Friendly Colors and Prints Are Great
- Mother’s Day Background
- Wrapping Up How to Dress for Mother’s Day
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Mother’s Day outfits need jewelry as finishing touch
You may like or dislike Mother’s Day because of the commerce around it. However, the day is important for Mothers, not because of the presents. No, because they are in the center of the holiday. When I was a kid, whenever I asked my mom what she wanted for Mother’s Day, she always said “good children.” My siblings and I hated that answer. Especially, when we were teenagers. Once we moved out, it was so much easier to give her what she wanted for Mother’s Day. Just showing up on the day being well dressed and keeping your mouth shut (when you disagreed). You just pretended to pet the dog. Of course, being “well dressed” meant, not to dress against her fashion rules.
Tip: Follow your mom’s fashion rules when dressing for Mother’s Day.
Of course, we gave her a gift. Because she loved wearing necklaces and studs, you couldn’t go wrong with giving her a new addition to her jewelry box. AC Silver has beautiful vintage necklaces in the style she loved. Garnets and sapphires were her favorite gemstones. Sure, that we wore a necklace with our outfits. We also wore it her approved way. One at a time. Even tough layering necklaces is the modern way to go. Even for vintage pieces.
Thus, when your Mom has a strong style preference, make sure not to dress against it. Use the preference to find a great gift and/or outfit she will like.
Best Outfits for Mother’s Day According to Your Role
On Mother’s Day, women are in the center of the holiday. It can be you, your mother, her mother and her, or your mother-in-law – you get the picture. No matter what, Mother’s Day calls for a girlie to lady-like look. It’s all about dressing up. Here are six stylist tips to create awesome outfits. There are inspirations that suit everything from brunch to a family lunch or dinner including a family reunion in Mom’s honor.
The above look works in Germany. There leather is considered a luxury, i.e. dressed up. In the US and elsewhere in Europe, wear the look with a matching cashmere cardigan as a real or faux twinset.
What to Wear When It’s Your Own Mother’s Day
When it’s your own Mother’s Day, you are in the center of the celebration. This means you can wear what you want, in principle. You can dress according your own style rules, and create a feminine look. When you love mixing feminine prints or pattern by all means, it’s your day (see the two suggestions below).
However, when you are invited out somewhere, you have to dress up for the occasion as courtesy. It doesn’t matter whether it’s your kids who throw a party in your honor, or your mom, mother-in-law or even your grandmother, who planned a family reunion for all the moms in the family.
How to dress for Mother’s Day is all about playing dress-up. Go for it!
We loved to play dress-up when we were kids, why should we stop now when we are in midlife?
Take the Generation in Mind When Dressing for Your Mom’s Mother’s Day
When you are in your 50s or older, your mom is from the WWII or pre-war generation. In this generation, Sunday’s Best is a Must on Mother’s Day. Thus, dress up. Their idea of dressing up is wearing a dress and pearls. Thus, pants or separates are a No-no. When the celebration is at your mother’s house, a floral dress is a good choice. When you (expect to or will) help her in the kitchen, make sure you can wash the dress in case of a spill.
When the plan is to celebrate with the family at a brunch place or restaurant. You may stand in line for a while as there are many people who invite their Mom for lunch or dinner. Thus, a floral dress with ballet flats is appropriate. Add a small top handle bag. So feminine. Your best dressing option is a floral dress in the vibe of the dress code of the restaurant. Read more about how to dress for brunch.
Pay attention to the heel height. Everything above 3 inch (7.5 cm) may be too sexy – read risky. Try it out in the mirror. If it works for Girl’s Night out, swap into another pair.
A LBD Is a Great Mother’s Day Dinner and Concert Outfit
Did you, your Dad or siblings arrange a dinner at a fancy restaurant in town and a concert afterwards? Then you can’t go wrong with a LBD. Alternatively, a lace overlay dress can fit the bill. More on wearing a LBD.
Pastels, Friendly Colors and Prints Are Great
Outfits with fun feminine prints and cute cuts like fit-and-flare dress paired with a playful bag and fashion-forward accessories are always a winner. Blush or muted pink with brown is a nice and friendly color combination. When the weather is still cold – in Alaska we often still have snow here and there – an A-line light wool skirt with muted pink sweater looks feminine and polished (see look below). The shoe embellishment and floral belt buckle up the feminine vibe of the look.
A floral A-line or flare skirt with matching top and feminine kitten heel sandals also look nice. When you are more a tomboy or your style is gamine, red is a friendly color to try. A floral top with a straight skirt works well when you are not the girly-girl (see example below).
Anything classic, but not screaming work style works regarding patterns. Gingham is an eternal Romantic Style classic and a trend right now. It’s youthful and girly when in pastels, red-white or yellow-white. When you have a gingham dress, add kitten heel pumps, a nice pendant necklace or pearls in a modern way.
Voilà, you are ready for a visit at her house.
When you expect to celebrate in her yard, go for wedges to not ruin your shoes on the lawn. Moreover, they are much easier to walk in on a lawn. The look below works when it is you who throws the party and you are the mom to be honored. However, when you throw the party for both your Mom(-in-law) and you, the look in the photo below won’t work! Recall for the war-generation mixing prints was associated with being poor.
Stylist’s tip: When visiting older mom’s, remember that for their generation mixing prints and pattern was a No-No and associated with poverty. Thus, avoid doing it.
Polka dots are also a great eternal classic and a feminine print that fits the occasion. The same applies to wrap dresses. In both cases, when accessorizing make sure your look is feminine and clearly not an office outfit. In other words, skip the dress pumps go for a playful shoe or sandal or add a cute shoe clip to “dress the pumps” in the right vibe.
Feminine, romantic fabrics work well when going out for brunch or dinner. What about a modest lace dress in a pastel color? More on wearing lace in midlife in this guide.
Mother’s Day Outfit Ideas
Now some outfit ideas how to dress for Mother’s Day in case that the weather still hasn’t decided to warm up.
Mother’s Day Background
The origin goes back to women’s organizer Ann Reeves Jarvis who held workshops to improve sanitary conditions. One of her goals was to decrease infant mortality. During the U.S. Civil War (1861 to 1865), the groups she had organized, helped wounded soldiers from both the Union and Confederates. After the Civil War, these women and Jarvis held Mother’s Friendship Day picnics to mourn the fallen and to work for peace.
Three years after Ann Reeves Jarvis‘ death, her daughter Anna Jarvis incarnated Mother’s Day in the U.S. in 1908 to honor motherhood. In 1914, U.S. President Woodrow Wilson made Mother’s Day an official holiday in the U.S. to be observed on the second Sunday in May. The holiday quickly improved the economy – read Mother’s Day gifts and pretty clothes. Because of the economic benefits today, many countries observe Mother’s Day, some of them on a different date. Anna Jarvis didn’t jump the bandwagon of commercialization. Instead, she spent the rest of her life fighting it.
Wrapping Up How to Dress for Mother’s Day
To Dress for Success on Mother’s Day, here is the summary of how to dress for Mother’s Day as a woman in midlife.
- If you are the daughter, don’t dress against her fashion rules. You don’t want to offend her on her honor day Don't dress against your mom's fashion rules when you visit her on Mother's Day. #family #mothersday Click To Tweet
- If you are the mother, who is in the center of the party, avoid to dress like a matron
- Go for fun prints and cute cuts like fit-and-flare, dresses or blouses with Peter Pan collar
- Add a playful bag, feminine jewelry and fashion-forward accessories
- Pick friendly bright or pastel colors
- Stay away from anything trendy regarding your clothes as most likely photos will end up in a family album. You don’t want to be in the center of your (future) kids, nephews/nieces or grandkids amusement in future decades when they flip thru the folder of the event.
Happy Mother’s Day.
Photos: G. Kramm
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