Parenting Australia

My Night of Frocks and Shocks

When was the last time you had an opportunity to get girly and frock up? I’m talking dress, heels, makeup, hair, accessories... the whole diva deal. On Saturday I spoke at the Connect2Mums seminar during the day (you can read Johanna’s post about that here) and then attended the C2M Awards Night in the evening. As I was receiving an award myself I wanted to dress to impress, yet not be pretentious or uncomfortable. What to wear...?

I figured I couldn’t really google it, so I did what any tech savvy mama would do and asked the twitterverse for help! The tweets I received back @squigglemum were not what I expected. No one told me about what is hot right now in red carpet wear. No one told me which shoes are this season’s must have. No one mentioned my handbag, or my hair, or even my dress!
Catherine Oehlman and
Paula Kuhnemann

My wonderful community of online mums gave me much better advice than that. They reminded me firstly that I would look fabulous in anything, as long as I felt fabulous. I truly do believe that how you feel about yourself is reflected in how you look. A poor self image always shows through, no matter how much you’ve paid for your outfit.

Secondly my peeps gave me advice on wearing things that no one would ever see. They reminded me to wear good underwear, and splash on perfume. At first I laughed, but then I realised that these women were helping me to get my perspective right. Dressing up for a special occasion should be about dressing for yourself, not for anyone else.

Finally many mums reminded me that nothing was more important than wearing a smile. Not a pose for the camera smile, but a genuine, show-your-teeth, big and happy grin. A smile that says I feel good about who I am, where I am and what I am doing. Take my pic!

So, armed with this advice I chose my outfit and painted my toenails and straightened my hair. I packed underwear that I liked and perfume that made me smile. I chose accessories that reflected my personality, rather than trying to impress others with my bling. Oh, and I practised wearing my hottest heels around the house (much to the delight of my three year old daughter who has never seen Mummy in black patent peeptoes).

I’m so grateful for all the good advice I received. Not only did I win the award for Best Parenting Resource for my blog at squigglemum.com but I was completely shocked when they announced I was the Top AusMumpreneur for 2009!! Taking out the top award of the night means there are a whole lot of photos of me floating around online this week – and I’m smiling like a Cheshire cat in all of them.

What's your best advice for what to wear on a glam night? Share your tips with other Parenting Australia readers in the comment box below.

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Catherine Oehlman is a SAHM currently being raised by a terrific toddler and a curious crawler. Her background in primary education, love of the mothering journey and compulsion for writing collide on her SquiggleMum blog. Cath encourages other parents from all walks of life to maximise the time they spend with their children.

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