Friday, June 21, 2013

Dress for Success...and style too!!!


I am soooo excited to be a Sister Missionary in exactly 68 Days! Whew time is flying! Prepping for a mission takes a lot of work. I have been told that a Mission is physically and spiritually demanding but I did not know this would start before the Mission even began! Re-reading the book of Mormon and studying Preach my Gospel takes a lot of work but by far the hardest part of my preparation has been getting a "Sister Missionary" wardrobe. I know I am not the only sister out there battling with trying to be professional and cute! Well today I want to share some of my success and tips with all of the wonderful Sisters out there preparing for a mission!

(I will be serving my mission in Seattle Washington so some of my tips may not apply to Sisters going to warmer missions.)



 * One of the best tools I have found is other Sister Missionary blogs. See what other girls are wearing! Also take time to check out other girls pintrest pages ;) 
---http://theladylena.wordpress.com/2013/04/29/sister-missionary-style-hang-gliding-park/---
---http://kendragampe.blogspot.com/---
---http://sistermcmahon.wordpress.com/--- (This is my dear friend Erin who is currently serving in my hometown mission <3 )
We all have different styles and different opinions on what to wear for a mission, take the time to see what some Sisters are currently wearing in the field. 


* Invest in accessories. These will seriously save your life! We will be wearing the same clothes for the next year and a half we might as well have fun with it. I have grown quite the belt/scarves/cardigan/Blazer collection over the last four years while in college. This is great because they all  work perfect for my mission. The best part about my collection is that I only bought my cardigans brand new and I got each one on sale at Target for $5! All the rest of my belts/blazers/scarves have been thrifted! (If you are going somewhere warmer invest in belts, Summer scarves (Light weight scarves) and Jewlery.)
Pile of Colorful Thrifted Scarves!
Four Great Blazers : Cream, Eggplant, Grey and Black, and  Electric Blue
Seven Cardigans from Target! They go with everything- $5 each

More Great Thrift Store Finds! Always always always go through the belts they have!

* Shop smartly- Thrifting is the best thing you can do to buy mission clothes. I currently have 13 possible Mission skirts and 11 came from Thrift Stores! Yesterday I bought six skirts, three shirts, and a Mission bag for $30!!! How can you beat that? 



* Keep looking!!! There ARE modest clothes/cute shoes etc. out there! I am sure you sisters know exactly what I am talking about when I say this:  As I have prepared myself for my mission I have noticed something strange. Clothes and shoes I would never wear in my life before seem great now! They seem to trick me into thinking they are cute! They arn't! STAY AWAY!!! there are better options out there, I promise. 


*Speaking of Cute Sister Missionary clothes... 

Here are some great Sister Missionary Online Stores

 -ASOS (Everyone is raving about it. They hem your skirts for you which is great! (It's a little spendy for me but I'm a thrifter!)
http://us.asos.com/Women-Skirts/rsrkv/?cid=2639&via=top

 -Downeast (Great modest clothes for pretty great prices. I get my shade shirts there... see below)
http://downeastbasics.com/teesandcamis.aspx

 - Sis-Miss Clothing (Really cute clothes but again a little spendy for me)
http://www.sis-miss.com/

 -Shabby-Apple Clothing (Really cute stuff- a lot has a retro vibe for me <3 )
http://www.shabbyapple.com/

 -Jen Clothing (Nice Classy clothes/ Bridesmaids outfits?)
http://www.jenclothing.com/

 -MikaRose (Similar feel to Jen Clothing to me)
http://www.mikarose.com/

 -Sorella-Bella (Some super cute Skirts here)
http://www.sistermissionaryclothes.com/


 -Modest Pop ( I am a little Biased here so bear with me) Modest Pop has quickly become my favorite and CHEAPEST online mission clothing store... and they have a 20% coupon for Sister Missionaries! I have bought 8 things from there! And those eight items are the only things I have not purchased from a thrift store so far! I decided to get the Elle top in every color and I am not regretting it! I chose to get super colorful/patterned skirts so the Elle tops make it so easy to have a quick cute outfit! 
http://www.modestpop.com/
Coral Elle Top with Thrifted Skirt and Belt
Cream Elle Top with Trifted blazer, skirt, and belt
Black Elle top with Thrift Skirt and Target $5 cardigan
Go and Do statement Tee- Great p-day or exercise shirt!
Beautiful Sydney Dress from ModestPop
Elle Top comes in Five colors: Cream, Mint, Black, Coral, Lavender
Elle Top in Lavender with Thrifted Skirt and belt from a boutique
Elle Top in Mint With Modest Pop's Julia Skirt! So Cute!!!!


* If you are going to somewhere rainy (ahem... Seattle Washington) get waterproofing spray! It will save your life. Also Umbrellas are used mainly by tourists and they make your hands and arms get all wet! If you can get a cute rain coat with a hood and pockets. I am from Oregon so my rainy mission Ladies trust me on this! You will be wearing a coat most of the time anyways so you might as well make it rain proof and CUTE! 




Make sure it has a hood! ;)




























*Don't throw out the Idea of MAXI SKIRTS! I know that some Sisters will disagree with me right here but wait!!! Let me explain why I think Maxi skirts are great for missions. 1. Some missions allow them. If they allow them by all means Sisters wear them to the floor. 2. If you buy long enough maxi skirts they can be quite versatile! I have one Navy Maxi skirt that I can wear in three ways. 

          A. I can wear it long to the floor, (But not for my mission). 
          B. I can roll the waist band till It is ankle length pop on a belt and have a nice A- Line skirt
          C. (This may not work for more well endowed Sisters, I would not know so if it doesn't work I'm sorry) The Third way I wear my skirt is by pulling it up over my chest, and pop a cardigan and belt over top! (INSTANT DRESS) which is wonderful! I am limiting how many dresses I bring so I have more versatility with my clothes, but a Skirt then can be a dress? GOLDEN! 


Worn as a long skirt
Folded and belted to be an A-line Skirt
Worn as a dress!

* Buy some shade Shirts!!!! They make everything modest!!!
 I usually get mine at Downeast basics. If you know of cheaper ones let me know! I recommend getting at least one white, black, and cream. Other colors are great too depending on your outfits.




Finally I know you have already seen some of my outfits but I am going to post a few more for you to see how easy it is to dress something up. Now the trick is figuring out my suitcase space :)

Thrifted Skirt! This Skirt will be hemmed 4 inches


Thrifted outfit!!!


Thrifted skirt. This Skirt still needs hemmed about 6 inches


Thrifted Blazer and Skirt. Shirt from Tj Maxx


Skirt from Target, Shirt Thrifted


Skirt and Cardigan from Target, Shirt is thrifted


Thrifted Outfit
Thrifted Outfit


Great Comfortable shoes from Target!
Great Comfortable shoes from Target!
Well I hope this helps some Sisters out! I love you all and I am so glad to be able to share in this special time with you all! The Lord is Amazing Sisters! Let's do his work!!!
I will Go, I will Do!

-Sister Jennifer Franzen
Seattle washington Mission