Happy Mother’s Day to all the mom’s out there!

To most of us our moms were our first fashion icons. The first glimpses we had into personal style and most often tried to emulate from an early age.  I remember thinking my mom’s jewelry box was a magical land filled with rainbows and unicorns and my grandmother’s shoe collection in her closet was like the doorway to NARNIA!

Growing up, I was always picky with my clothes.  My mom and I had some knock-down drag-out arguments in dressing rooms about what I should and shouldn’t be wearing.  Tears would flow (usually mine, sometimes hers) and one of us would emerge the victor.

Sound familiar?

No matter how far my personal style differed from hers- even in my high school years of Dr. Marten’s and as my mom called it “funeral attire”- her fashion tips always proved valuable and I still use them today.

So today in honor of Mother’s Day and my mom I’m going to share the 5 most valuable style tips she taught me.

1. Hydrogen Peroxide. As young girls we have all have a little “over-flow” from aunt flo or the occasional bloody nose.  My mom’s fail-safe tip for removing blood is to pour hydrogen peroxide on it.  It reacts with the blood like MAGIC foaming away any trace of it without damaging the fabric.  I use this trick on set all the time and don’t know what I would do without it!

2. You can wear designer on a budget.  My mom never paid full price for anything.  With three daughters she had to watch every penny but that didn’t mean sacrificing style.  Her theory has always been that quality pieces you can wear over and over are a better investment than fast fashion that will fall apart after one use.  She taught me the art of outlet shopping and how to head directly to the back of the store to look at the clearance racks before browsing the rest of the shop.  It’s all about the quality not the quantity of items.

3. You only have one face take care of it. Skin care is vital, from an early age my mom stressed the importance of a skin care regime.  I may have been the only 12 year old with an actual daily beauty routine.  Wash your face every morning AND night and remove ALL makeup before you go to bed.  Use a cleanser, moisturizer and toner and always always wear sunscreen.

4. Walk it off.  She taught me that if you aren’t sure about something walk around the store and browse for 10 minutes.  If after the 10 minutes you still want it then buy it.  If not put it back.  This is how for decades I have avoided buyers remorse.  So when you see me doing laps in a shop while clutching one item, now you know why.  I’m walking it off.

5. Respect your clothing.  My mother always taught me to take care of my clothing.  Keep it clean and neatly hung in the closet- NEVER waded on the ground, after-all you don’t deserve something nice if you don’t respect it.  I see my mom shaking her head in disgust every-time I’m on a shoot and I see a model take off a designer piece and carelessly toss it on the floor.  I was conditioned since childhood to re-hang, re-button and rezip clothing even in the dressing room of a store after I have tried it on.

Have some style tips your mom taught you?  I want to hear all about them!  Tell me, tell me!