What I Wore Sunday, Vol. 4: Never underestimate jeans and a tee!

Tee, Target; jeans, 7 For All Mankind; boots (not shown), Target, earrings, Old Navy
Erin (left) and Emily's pajamas, Okie Dokie

After working through the weekend (and doing a little shopping on Friday morning) I didn't have a ton of energy to put together a gorgeous outfit for this morning. I planned to accessorize a little more than this, but that just wasn't how the morning worked out. As it turned out, I spent half of Mass in the restroom cleaning up and changing poor Emily anyway, so it's probably a good thing I wasn't wearing anything else to get in the way! I decided to post this anyway, because I think it's easy to dismiss jeans and a tee as weekend wear, and they can very easily turn into a pulled-together ensemble! So as a bonus for What I Wore Sunday, here's how:

As far as tees go, I have learned that styling is everything. If you're going to pull off the jeans-and-tee look successfully, four things have to happen. First, the tee has to fit well. It's taken some looking, but I've found a few that fit without looking too workout-ish or too sausage-y. Yep, I'm making up words again, but I know you all know what I mean!

Second, it's rare to find a plain crew-neck tee that can stand on its own. Sure, you can wear a scarf over it or pair it with a cute sweater, but if you want to just wear the tee, it has to have something special. V-necks are great with a tank top underneath for contrast and coverage, and scoopneck tees (like the one I'm wearing here) can either be paired with a tank top or left on their own. I am wearing a tank top under this one, but the neck is high enough that you can't see it. As a bonus, the neck of this tee is gathered, so it looks even more put together, no pun intended!

Third, the jeans have to be a darker wash so they look a little dressier. Mine here are starting to fade out, at least in the part you see in the top picture, but overall they are still on the dark side. In jeans, that's a good thing!

Number four. It probably goes without saying, but if you're wanting to look pulled together, don't finish your outfit with running shoes! I love running shoes, don't get me wrong, and I definitely wear them with jeans, but not to church. Unless that's the look you're going for, try cute flats or boots with your jeans and tee. I was wearing my boots from last week's post today because it was cold - I even had red boot socks to match my tee - but I also have some flats that would have worked in warmer weather.

If you've followed these four rules, you can confidently wear jeans and a tee as an outfit! You can add some earrings (be bold - this is where those "statement" earrings come in handy!) or a scarf that complements the color of the tee, and you can definitely wear cute shoes, though very dressy shoes will look odd. You can also have fun with different hairstyles, since your outfit will be relatively simple. Above all, it's better to cover your body with clothing and get where you're going than to stay home because you're worried about how you look - especially when we're talking Sunday Mass!

Head on over to Fine Linen and Purple to see what the other ladies wore to church this week!

I had to add this one, since Emily finally decided to look at the camera!