she's got Style: Shana of ANMJ

Hey! I'm Shana of Ain't No Mom Jeans and this is my life in mod. "take-over".

my outfit:

This is my version of a mom uniform.  Cut-off denim (mine are my old maternity jeans, LOL), a slouchy, oversized top, and complicated shoes.  My shoes are almost always flats (or slight wedges), so to keep things interesting, I try to find flats with cool detail - usually straps and buckles. 

If you care, the shorts are Gap's maternity jeans that I hacked off, my sweater is from Stylemint, and my shoes are these ones.

bio:

I'm a mom who had big, BIG plans for life while pregnant with my first - and none of them involved staying-at-home or fashion blogging!  Happily, once Raines was born, I trusted my gut and have never been so at peace.  (Just to clarify:  I'm talking only about internal peace.  Not quiet, household peace.)  My husband Mike and I now have two little ones: in addition to Raines (who is now 4), we have little Pax, pictured above.  Two children couldn't be more different!  But they are crazy-fun, and we are now debating a third.  (Any advice?  We are driving ourselves crazy.  I'm THIS CLOSE to just putting it up for a vote.)

I've always loved fashion-as-self-expression (translation:  some of my younger outfits were bat-sh*t crazy)...and was more than happy to keep rocking my stilettos all through my first pregnancy.  Once Raines was born, however, I realized that my big-girl shoes were at direct odds with all of the new things I now loved to do:  babywearing, climbing the wrong way up a slide, splashing in mud puddles - so something needed to change.  But neither was I willing to run around in those big, ugly sneakers.  Sigh.  I attacked my fashion magazines with a new perspective and came up with....nothing.  Disgusted by the lack of inspiration for new mamas, I decided to start a blog.  Instead of just posting outfit shots (and we do that too) I wanted a low-pressure, low-expectations place for moms to come, get some realistic (aka functional) inspiration, some shopping lists, and ask fashion questions.  It took me a while to find my voice (I still worry about sounding preachy and annoying) but it's finally starting to come together.  I've been especially happy with our Shop Your Closet series, which is designed to help moms wear existing pieces in new ways (and I'm always looking for ideas, so feel free to email us!  aintnomomjeans@gmail.com). 

My background is in mathematics, and I've worked as an engineer for years (now on a very part-time basis).  In addition to the blog, I'm a stylist - my favorite was producing a mom-and-tot runway show to benefit Denver based Weecycle.  

Because I do see fashion as a form of self-expression, I hope that through the blog, I can inspire moms to retain their sense of self, without compromising the mom that they want to be. 

here's a tip: 

Before you buy anything new, figure out which outfit you wear the most, and think about ways to make it better. Get cooler shoes, maybe multiples of that tea, a better bag, whatever. Upgrading what you wear the most will prevent you from having a closet full, yet "nothing to wear".

-Shana