Fire Drill Attire

A few weeks ago, my daughter races in my room a little before 7 and tells me her Dad has been trying to call me. I need to call him right away. I grab my phone and see the 12 missed calls and panic. I hope he’s ok, and where the heck did he go at 6:30 AM? After fussing at me to leave my ringer on, he tells me to grab a car and head to a gas station. The pipeline hijacking is going to leave all of us with no gas. We have to fill up NOW! I race out of bed half asleep and throw on workout shorts, a dressy sweatshirt over my pajama top. Not sure if I even wore shoes. Hair is in a messy, unbrushed bun. I was a sight to behold, and I’m sure that I would have ended up on the back of some magazine as an “outfit don’t” with a red X on the picture. I felt like I was in the midst of a fire drill. I couldn’t think, I could just do the basic muscle memory stuff … brush teeth, put on a bra, throw something else on top of that. Find car keys and wonder where all our important documents are?

So I got to thinking as I actually got dressed for the day and had the car filled up,  we all should probably have a fire drill outfit or two on the ready. No hidden pajama tops, shoes are required. We could have variations of the outfit but definitely a picture in our minds (or on the closet wall) of what we would throw on. When we are half asleep or not thinking clearly because perhaps it truly is an emergency and we need to act quickly and get the heck out of the house looking somewhat presentable. 

A white blouse, like this one from Frank and Eileen is definitely a go to for me.

I pair it with some ripped jeans like these from Frame:

And cute sneakers like these from P448:

Now, keep in mind a few things, as you are thinking about the costs of these items. You will wear them all the time. Cost per wear is low! Additionally, these can be guides for you as you are shopping for your own fire drill attire. But let me just add, Frank and Eileen and Frame have both nailed the basic white shirt and jean. Now that summer is approaching, you could swap out the jeans for some jean shorts too. 

Another cute grab and go outfit for running out the door is the sweatsuit set. There are probably 1 million variations of these out right now especially in tie dye. I got two from Target recently in spring colors and I love them. My oldest daughter does too and seems to be wearing them more than I do.

Then there is the throw on cotton dress. I have a zillion of them.  I prefer it just above the knee and a thick cotton that can hide any bumps/bulges. Sundays always has a few each season like this one,

or consider this one too,

Any shoe will work and a fun wedge could dress it up or give you a little lift if you need it. 

Now, what if you are late for a meeting? Try a white T shirt under a blazer with your jeans and sneaks or a cute sandal. You can still keep a messy bun but pull some pieces down on the sides or just slick it back in a low ponytail. Add dangling earrings. I also like to have a classic white pale pink linen blazer to throw on over a little sundress. JCrew always has one like this:

Oh by the Way, I’ll be sending out a new blog soon on summer Mom dresses shortly, but I’m going to include a few here for the purpose of this topic. Consider it one and done. No thinking involved. Rip off the pjs, throw over your head and add the shoe of your choice. You are out the door in five minutes or less. Best of all, when you have a couple of fire drill options set aside in your closet, you won’t look like you just rolled out of bed when you are called to the gas station or to the grocery store when there’s another toilet paper shortage.