I have a low-key obsession with mothers. Whenever I meet someone and find out that they have children, I need to know everything. "How old are they? What do they look like? How have they changed your life?" My list of questions goes on and on. I've found that the kindest people I've met in life have experienced motherhood, and the amount of admiration I have for that is next-level.
Mother's Day always sneaks up on me, but this year, I'm on top of it. I'm committed to finding a way to celebrate the mothers in my life and commemorating all of the life lessons that I've learned from them. I'm nosy, and since my co-workers have such great senses of style, I've asked them where they got it from. A lot of them credited their mothers for teaching them many style lessons along the way. Below, I have gathered the six best style lessons that my co-workers have shared with me that they learned from their moms.
"The style lesson that I learned from my mother that has served me the best over the years is to always focus on investing in wardrobe staples. Trends come and go, but high-quality investment pieces never grow old, and many that she's encouraged me to buy have stayed in my wardrobe for years." — Sierra Mayhew, Associate Editor
"My mom always taught me that the right accessories will make an outfit chicer and unique—and that you certainly don't have to spend a small fortune on them either. She's a big advocate of vintage and secondhand shopping for one-of-a-kind, quality pieces. I can't tell you how many times I've raided her closet for vintage belts, hats, brooches, and silky headscarves. Funnily enough, those unique accessories are always the pieces everyone asks me about the most when I wear them." — Judith Jones, Senior Market Editor
"One of my favorite style lessons I learned from my mom is a simple yet foolproof outfit combination: midi skirts with tall boots. The combination of a pretty skirt with tougher boots creates a delightful contrast, making the look a recipe for fashion success. Extra points if you throw on some chunky necklaces, too." — Kat Collings, Editor in Chief
"My mom is a cashmere obsessive, so one style lesson—or rather, shopping-specific one—I've learned from her is to prioritize 100% cashmere when looking for sweaters. Often, this means spending a tad more on knits, but ultimately, it's meant that I've been able to build a collection of long-lasting pieces that I've worn over and over for years. In fact, many of my sweaters are heirloom pieces that my mom bought in the '90s and passed down to me. The main thing I'm taking from it? That good quality equals good style." — Anna LaPlaca, Editor
"My mom, being 4'11'', spent a lot of time getting her clothes tailored, something that I, to this day, swear by. If your pieces don't fit correctly or just the way you want them to, you won't grab for them when you're in need of something to wear. You'll probably just end up getting rid of them. My mom still owns so many of the beautiful pieces I remember when I was 5, 10, 15 years old because she had them perfectly fitted for her body and therefore wears them on repeat. The same goes for shoes. She wears a tiny, hard-to-buy shoe size, so when she finds a pair of shoes that she loves and fits her well, she'll keep getting them resoled and fixed up at the cobbler. Invest in your closet and you'll keep its contents forever is the gist of it!" — Eliza Huber, Senior Fashion Editor
"I can't even begin to count the number of times I've heard my stepmom give her famous fashion advice: 'Clothes are meant to be worn.' I love this reminder because it's so easy to let special pieces collect dust in our closets. So instead, I try to incorporate even my most expensive or sentimental items into my regular outfit rotation rather than waiting for a special occasion to break them out. While that doesn't mean I'll show up in a gown to dinner, it does mean I'll throw on some fancy jewelry with a T-shirt just because." — Michaela Bushkin, Fashion Director
