Internet, in the same vein as Shorts for Girls Who Don’t Wear Shorts, allow me to tell you a tale of what my husband likes to call Man Repeller Outfits™. These are what can generally be categorized amongst women as She Looks So Cute!  but are frequently trends that make men scratch their heads. The romper/jumpsuit/overalls always fits into this category.   Let’s go ahead and just get one thing straight: if you’re over the age of 7, the word romper or playsuit in reference to what you’re wearing in public is the worst thing ever. (Am I the only one who conjures up images of teddies in the Victoria’s Secret catalog circa 1998?) However! Despite my Advanced Maternal Age of 36, I have now fallen in love with rompers and jumpsuits, but it’s got to tick my boxes of comfy, could be dressed up or down, and somewhat polished.

Alternate titles for today’s post:

• Rompers for women of a certain age who live in hot climates
• Rompers for people who don’t want to look like they’re headed to a nightclub
• Rompers for women of a certain age who have birthed human beings and want to still be stylish
• Rompers for women who appreciate trends but don’t want to be a slave to them
• Rompers for women who want to be taken seriously yet still feel like they’re a little bit cool

At Spring Break, I finally caved to the jumpsuit trend and found the cahhhutest navy blue v-neck jumpsuit from J.Crew which, I might add, is now sold out. I LURRRVED it and felt super cute & sassy in it, especially with my weight loss at that point. but the minute Simon saw me in it, the jokes began. “Oh, I didn’t know we were scrubbing in for surgery today.”  Me: ????  “Paging Dr Shingleton.”  Me: OMG THESE DO NOT LOOK LIKE SCRUBS.

And that pretty much continued for the next few months. Fast forward to a Weight Watchers meeting a few weeks ago, in which I was wearing my scrubs jumpsuit.  I came out of the bathroom and saw one of the regular attendees. Her face lights up. “Oh my! You’re the one always wearing cute dresses. But are you a nurse too?!”

Internet, in that moment I smiled and briefly considered lying through my teeth because clearly I look like a nurse and WHY ELSE WOULD I BE IN SCRUBS. But then I grinned and was like, “NOPE!” She looked momentarily confused. Sigh.

So what makes the cut, in my mind? It can’t feel like sleepwear, clubwear, loungewear, etc. nor can it be too flesh-revealing. In many ways, they’re a great foundation piece for layering with a lightweight cardigan or denim jacket.

Here’s my favorite picks —