Returning to Myself | Styled, Off Script Ep. 2

Marge (00:02)
Okay, we are live, and we’re live on not just any day, we are live on the day that the first episode is out. We did it. We did it. ⁓ And admittedly, I thought that this episode was gonna come out right before Mother’s Day, but the person that sets the schedule, me, ⁓ wasn’t really thinking.

Liz (00:13)
Wooo!

Maloree (00:13)
Woohoo!

Marge (00:32)
So it’s actually gonna come out right after Mother’s Day because we’re doing this bi-weekly versus weekly. And so, at least to start? Yeah. So ⁓ while this is not coming out before Mother’s Day, it’s coming out just after Mother’s Day. And truly, every day is Mother’s Day. Every day. And I am joined by two mothers, mothers and mothers in every sense of the word.

Liz (00:39)
Just to start.

Maloree (00:52)
every day.

Liz (00:54)
That’s the way we do it.

Marge (01:01)
obviously my co-host Liz is a mother and and we’ll also turn my Maloree, producer Maloree, who we teased on last week’s episode, ⁓ teased her ⁓ attendance, not her like, didn’t tease you while you were here, Mal, don’t worry.

Liz (01:07)
Yes I am.

Maloree (01:16)
Ha

Liz (01:19)
We do tease Maloree a lot though.

Maloree (01:21)
I mean, I did listen to make sure, but good to know.

Marge (01:25)
That’s true, that’s true, but Maloree’s here and we’re excited to have you, Mal.

Liz (01:30)
Welcome Maloree!

Maloree (01:30)
Nice to be here.

So excited.

Marge (01:33)
Woohoo! Do you want to give the listeners? Because I know we have several.

Do you want to the listeners a little bio or intro to who you are?

Maloree (01:49)
Yeah, so I, my name is Maloree, obviously. I’ve been at Dia for eight years. I literally went back and looked last night to see when my start date was, and it’s been a while, a hot minute. I started as a stylist, a part-time stylist. When Liz came on, I was promoted to senior stylist and then moved to customer service.

Marge (01:56)
Wow.

Maloree (02:13)
And then last year was I moved over to Dia Shop and was on the marketplace operations side. And now I’m back with Dia Style and the marketing team with Marge and Liz. Back where I’m where I needed to be.

Liz (02:22)
Goodness.

Marge (02:24)
[airhorn sounds]

Liz (02:29)
Exactly. You’re home

Marge (02:31)
I love that for you. I love that for me. It’s, it’s been great. It’s actually funny because I, we never actually worked together. Like we were always on different teams and we, you would come to me for like CX things every so often. And like, we obviously knew of each other and got to know each other over the last couple of years, but it’s been really, really fun to

Liz (02:36)
Hmm.

Maloree (02:44)
it

Marge (03:01)
A, just have somebody on my team, but also the fact that it’s you is really awesome and I’m thrilled. I’m thrilled.

Maloree (03:06)
It’s been great.

Liz (03:09)
funny to talk about mothers on this episode where we introduce Maloree because sometimes I feel like you’re my child and watching you grow in your roles. We’ve been through so much together.

Marge (03:18)
Aww.

Maloree (03:21)
And I’m also the ba-

I’m just the baby of the group anyway, so…

Liz (03:24)
You are the baby of the group. I mean, let’s be real. No, I just I’m so proud of the way you I mean, we’ll talk about your role as a true mother, but goodness, you came back from your first maternity leave right after I started, I think and my how much you’ve been through personally and professionally since then.

Maloree (03:43)
Yeah, Gavin was only like a few weeks old when I came back. Which was crazy. Nuts.

Liz (03:52)
Yep. That’s crazy.

Marge (03:57)
And now he’s like a little he- like a human.

Maloree (04:00)
I know, he turns five next month. It makes me want to throw up.

Liz (04:05)
In a good way, in a good way.

Maloree (04:08)
Yeah.

Marge (04:10)
I love that. love that. I also know I’m going to tease a little something that is somewhat inside baseball. ⁓ I know that you and Liz are currently actively sharing a craft hobby that you enjoy, but not only is it a hobby, you’ve legit made it a business and I have dabbled in this craft, but not really recently. And I would love to give you a second or more to share a little bit about it.

Maloree (04:40)
Yeah, I actually Liz was a reason I started it. I had an idea. ⁓ It’s the company is called Little Ruth Studios. It’s a needle point design business. And I had an idea after I was scrolling one day and I saw somebody showing like the vintage little people birthstone necklaces that they found on eBay. And I was like, my gosh, it just brought back like a flood of memories. And I text Liz and I was like, I have an idea to turn these into little bag charm needlepoint canvases. What do you think? And she was like, yes. So and yeah.

Liz (05:18)
Brilliant.

Marge (05:20)
The fact that that’s vintage is jarring for me, personally.

Liz (05:25)
See, that makes me want to throw up, but let’s keep going.

Maloree (05:28)
Yeah.

Marge (05:31)
I love that for you though.

Maloree (05:31)
Yeah. And it has been absolutely, it blew up more than I thought that it ever would. So it’s been a blessing and it’s so much fun and just like healing in a lot of ways.

Marge (05:49)
I love that. It’s very fun. You both have inspired me to and like take a look at more crafts. I’m like, especially needlepoint, which I did a ton of as a kid and I’ve dabbled in throughout the years, but I’m a big, like I’ll pick up a craft or a project or hobby and I’m in it heads down for a couple of months and then and so I have sort of the ghosts of all of the hobbies left behind.

Maloree (06:18)
So I have buckets of yarn and like all kinds of things, but this is honestly the one thing that I’ve stuck with long term and that I don’t see myself ever putting back down. Like it doesn’t take a ton of brain power, which is what I love about it because I can turn off my brain and still be doing something productive that feels productive in my hands and it’s just, it’s very therapeutic and it sounds really silly until you do it and then you’re like, ⁓ I get it. And my sisters all teased me for like a year and then they finally tried it and they were like, ⁓ I get it now. And I said, see.

Liz (06:52)
Yep.
Yeah.

Marge (07:02)
And now you’re making money with it and they’re like, ⁓ okay.

Maloree (07:05)
Yeah,

Liz (07:07)
And not to like bring it all back to the mom connection, but I do think that there is one. Like for me, I am constantly trying to reprioritize like what I need to be doing. Should I be working? Should I be doing laundry? Should I be making dinner? Should I be, you know, going to a committee meeting? And first of all, I love that

Sometimes I can be needle pointing when I’m doing other things. Like I can take my needle point to a committee meeting or I can be attending a meeting at like a virtual meeting at work and needle pointing at the same time because I’m just listening or like sitting in an audience at my kids recital and needle pointing. I don’t know. ⁓

Maloree (07:50)
Thank you.

Liz (08:00)
But it’s also very much me time and that’s really, really important to me. I do, I don’t know, I feel like I am finally, my kids are older than Maloree’s kids, but it took me a really long time to truly understand that I do very little for myself. And this is something that I do for myself, but it’s important for me to carve out something that’s just for me and to be okay with that and to own that and. ⁓

I don’t know, I’m like proud of myself for doing that. I’m really proud of Maloree for like not only doing it for herself in an artistic way, but in a business minded way too. So kudos to you Maloree once again, my mama heart is proud of you.

Maloree (08:41)
Yeah.

Thank you.

Marge (08:49)
I would love to get into, and maybe that sort of ties in, think the making and sort of brain that you both use in that is like a very creative brain, which also makes no surprise that you work in fashion and style where that sort of creativity, colors, patterns, the like connective brain tissues are all sort of there as well.

I would love to hear a little bit about ⁓ your, Maloree, I’d to hear about your style in general, but I’m really curious. I’m not a mom, but I’m very curious how, how like style evolves, if anything, becoming a mom. I think there’s like that stereotype that it’s like, she’s dressed like a mom or she’s like, I’m gonna dress like my mother, whatever. I know both of you and I know your style and I am just really curious to hear how you talk through your style and how it’s evolved in all the ways.

Maloree (09:55)
Yeah, was last night as I was thinking about this episode and what kind of the outline was. I was thinking back and ever since I was a kid, fashion has always been very important to me. And I remember growing up when I was in elementary school, I used to have this Barbie color thing and it did like the impression. You would put the plates down and then you put the paper on and then you would color on top of it. And that was like my favorite thing I was like, I’m going to be a fashion designer. I remember. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. And I got a sewing machine one year. Did I just cut out? Okay.

Marge (10:38)
And you can layer them, right? Like you could choose like tops and bottoms. Wow.
Nope, you’re good.

Liz (10:53)
No, you’re good.

Maloree (10:55)
My screen went dark. I forgot to touch my mouse. But I got a sewing machine one year and was making clothes for my Barbie dolls. And that has just like always gone with me. And I used to be very, I just loved clothes and I loved the way that they can make people feel. But I had a really hard time with myself.

I was always the one that people came to for advice, but growing up, I was always the bigger girl. The things that I liked were never in my size. So I was dressing other people the way I wanted to dress and like helping my friends pick out things. But I was dressed like a 30 year old business casual going to the office in elementary school.

Marge (11:38)
Yeah.

Liz (11:49)
Hmmmm ⁓

Maloree (11:52)
So it was like, it was a very hard place to be because I didn’t see myself the way I wanted to in my clothes and how I presented myself. But as we’ve progressed in fashion and just having more options, ⁓ my like college years, end of high school, college, I felt like I was really, I found myself and I dressed how I wanted to dress because I had the options available. There were so many. And honestly, thanks to Dia, that’s when I became a Dia customer and then eventually a stylist. ⁓ it was like, it was crazy. Dia opened so many doors for me in so many ways, like as a customer, but then as a stylist and continuing on through my life.

Marge (12:32)
wow, yeah.

Maloree (12:49)
But when I got pregnant with my son, pregnancy was very hard on me and there are no plus size maternity clothes. Like they’re pretty much non-existent. Maternity clothes in general are not cute, but you add the plus size in and good luck.

Marge (13:00)
It’s insane. Yeah.

Liz (13:02)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Maloree (13:18)
So it was, I literally lived in big t-shirts and leggings and I feel like that’s what I’ve been in for through my pregnancy, through him, through my daughter. And the past few years have just been, I feel like survival mode for me. So that got put on the back burner and style and fashion wasn’t, it was more just like, I need to get dressed so I have clothes on my body, not I need to get dressed to make myself feel good.

And I’ve done, I mean, just gone through a lot just in my personal life through loss and through becoming a mom, having hard pregnancies, having a baby in the NICU, and doing a lot of work on myself this past year. I feel like I’m finally coming out of that survival mode and finding who I am again and being able to wear what I want to wear and express myself and just be me, which is crazy. Like motherhood really strips you down and then builds you back up in a way that you would never expect. And it is the most life-altering change.

Liz (14:17)
Mm.
Yeah.

Marge (14:29)
I love that.

If anybody’s betting on when Marge is gonna cry, here we are. I love that. I love that. I think I wanted to jump in at one point, but I was like, no, no, no, she’s got this. I think that anybody who was a plus size kid and couldn’t find outfits at the limited to or justice should be entitled to a financial compensation because

Maloree (14:34)
No.

Yes.

Marge (14:58)
Again, I was also dressed like I was a librarian or a bank teller or an accountant or a teacher in every school photo from kindergarten, from like maybe first, second grade to eighth grade. ⁓ And I had to shop at Talbot’s Women with my mom, who also bought her clothes there because that was all that was available. like sundresses with matching cardigans.

Liz (15:12)
Hmm.

Marge (15:26)
whether or not that was my vibe or like husky jeans and big clothes. And so the childhood, like not finding outfits and finding options is just like so, so, so real. But playing dress up, I think maybe it’s like the pipeline to not finding clothing that you loved yourself, but then repurposing that with like dolls. Like I was a big Barbie

Maloree (15:31)
Mm-hmm.

Marge (15:55)
big American girl doll, like I, and my favorite part was the dressing them up. Like I couldn’t care, besides like making them all kiss, because I think that’s what everybody does, but like, besides that, it was the outfits. It was like, who’s gonna wear what, where are we going, what are we doing? Like, what are we wearing there? And then whatever happens, I was like, okay, cool. Like, I don’t care. But I needed to have their like outfits in their rooms and I liked the design of it all. So I love.

Maloree (16:04)
Yeah.

Marge (16:25)
I love that that’s also something that you found. I think it was like a therapeutic way to like sort of express that. And then with friends, totally.

Maloree (16:33)
Mm-hmm. Yeah, for sure.

Liz (16:38)
I think it’s really interesting because I had a bit of a different experience growing up. I didn’t have trouble going into stores and finding things that fit. we talked about this a little bit on our last episode, just trying to use clothes as a way to fit in with other people was my challenge. wanting to use clothes as a way to match everybody else.

And after having kids, I remember, and again, my kids are a little bit older. I almost feel like that was a turning point for me in all of a sudden feeling like, I don’t know, I felt a kind of freedom after having kids where all of a sudden I didn’t care as much about what other people were doing. And I, in so many aspects of my life,

becoming a mom changed my focus. I think it just changed my focus away from me. And like, I just felt a different kind of freedom than I had felt before. And I felt an independence maybe and a sense of self that I hadn’t felt before.

⁓ And that translated to what I was wearing. Like all of a sudden I felt empowered to wear things that reflected myself in a different way. And I started to like feel more confident in my own style. And part of that I think was I was raising kids. My kids were babies at the time that like mommy blogging was becoming popular. And I saw all these women online who were like, I don’t know.

sort of taking this, empower, like we’re finding empowerment in how they showed up as themselves, you know, they were making a statement by what they were wearing and I found confidence in that too. And it was the first time in my life that I like realized that I could sort of be me and what I wore could be a reflection of that as well. ⁓

Marge (18:41)
What?

Liz (18:58)
Yeah, and sometimes that meant I was wearing like, know, with spit up on them and like, actually a lot of times that’s what it meant. But it also meant that like, I was sort of shopping in a different way and picking outfits, putting outfits together that I don’t know, were very different than what I was wearing before. All of a sudden I was definitely showing up differently and that was really.

Maloree (19:05)
I’m sorry.

Marge (19:26)
I think what’s so interesting about listening to both of you talk through that, think what stands out to me is the, you go through in sort of the nine months leading up to it and then the years later, so much of yourself is given to this young child and all the things and demands that are sort of put on you that you sort of put that,

Maloree (19:26)
Yeah.

Marge (19:55)
that’s like the last thing on the list. And I think that’s really relevant with a lot of people. And then you either find ways to like work with what you got. You’re like, it is what it is. And then maybe there’s like that moment where it’s like, actually I can, I can control, like I can actually use this as like ⁓ a point of like, I’m a new person now. I can reinvent that style. I can evolve and

And it’s less about like, instead of caring what other people think, it’s like, no, no, no, like, I literally made a human with my body. Like, I don’t have the mental energy to care about what anybody else thinks. I want to wear what I want to wear. And with loss or with like the really toughest moments of life, it really sort of puts that like, no, like I literally can’t, I don’t have the energy to care.

Liz (20:40)
Exactly.

Marge (20:53)
in the same way that I did before. That doesn’t mean that like, I don’t want to care. I just don’t have the capacity to do it. then when you like can start to take some of that back as an expression of self love or really like leaning into your style is like, owning it is really, really powerful.

Liz (21:11)
Yeah,

I was gonna say or like I actually do care and I care in a different way than I did before. Like, like I don’t care to fit in or to to sort of fold fall into a mold. I care to show them as myself and to like, you know, speak up a little bit more for myself.

Marge (21:16)
Yeah, exactly. Exactly.

Right.

Yeah.

And how powerful

is that that your kids then get to see that?

Liz (21:36)
Well,

Maloree (21:38)
Exactly. think that’s

Liz (21:38)
that’s exactly like, yeah, go ahead, Maloree, sorry.

Maloree (21:42)
I think that’s exactly it. It’s just like, like Liz said, becoming a mom changes your focus. used to, whether you realize it or not, focus a lot on yourself and because that’s all you have to worry about. It’s always just you. When you become a mom, that shifts and now you have these other little people that are depending on you. And it just shifts everything and it’s…

Like, I don’t care what somebody down the street thinks about. Like, all I care about is what my kids think. And that’s it. That’s it. I don’t care if somebody gets mad about a decision I made. I made it knowing that it was what was best for me and my family, and that’s all that matters. And that reflects in so many ways.

Liz (22:18)
Mm-hmm.

Exactly. And I think it’s so interesting what your kids take from that because my kids, I have two kids and they are so different. Ezra is 11. No, he’s 12. Oops. Sorry, Ezra. He’s 12 and he is, I mean, he takes it literally. He’s a mini fashionista. Like he…

Maloree (22:43)
Mm-hmm.

Liz (23:07)
It’s hilarious. We went on a walk the other night. We were walking the dog and he is talking to me about his plant. He’s starting junior high next year and he’s literally planning his wardrobe and what he wants to buy. He wants like wide leg jeans that are low slung. And he’s telling me how he wants these certain long sleeve crew neck shirts so that he can push up his sleeves a certain way with a flannel layered over. if

Marge (23:21)
love this.

Liz (23:33)
He’s really lucky, like a certain hoodie and then a denim jacket layered over it. I’m like, okay, like he has every detail plans to the extreme. And then my other child, Evie, who’s 15, has taken like the details of the fashion, but it’s like, it’s not fashion, it’s like creativity. So it’s the patterns and the texture and the pairing of things.

Maloree (23:33)
my god.

Marge (23:55)
Yeah.

Liz (24:01)
And that was from an extremely young age. We were looking at pictures last night because they’re getting ready to submit things. They’re graduating from junior high. And so they’re submitting pictures for like a retrospective. And we were going through pictures and from a super young age, they’re pairing like a captain’s hat and a cape and butterfly wings and a thrasher t-shirt.

Maloree (24:29)
⁓ gosh.

Marge (24:30)
Yes!

Liz (24:31)
This combination is Eevee to AT. And is that fashion? I don’t know, but it is Eevee. And like, I really feel like both of those things come from my influence. 100%. And they are the two different extremes of the spectrum. You know what I mean? Like they… Ezra has cultivated this into…

Marge (24:39)
Hell yeah.

Maloree (24:47)
Mm-hmm.

Marge (24:47)
Yeah!

Liz (25:00)
fashion and Eevee has cultivated this into creativity and it comes out in their artwork now and like how they think about the world and Ezra is in how he dresses himself and how he wants to craft a look but it is it’s sort of the same thing and it’s also totally different and I think it’s it all comes from sort of my influence on them and I think that that’s really cool.

Maloree (25:22)
Yeah. I think Grayson’s gonna Grayson’s gonna be like Evie cause she is a hundred percent in the, ⁓ she will put a multiple tutus on at once, but she wears one tutu as a, as a shirt and the other one as a skirt and will wear a shirt as a scarf. we’re, she’s very utilitarian.

Marge (25:23)
like safe space.

Liz (25:45)
Yes

Yes.

Marge (25:52)
I say I joined, Maloree and I had a meeting, was it this week or last week, where all I see is this glowing blue tulle sort of fluff through in a reflection behind Maloree. And I was like, quick question, is Grayson’s dress glowing? And she’s like, why yes, yep, that is her Elsa dress, and it lights up. I was like, okay, absolutely.

Liz (26:15)
I mean, I would expect nothing less.

Maloree (26:20)
And then she said, I so pretty.

Marge (26:23)
She did, yes, she was so pretty. It was awesome, it was awesome. The highlight of my work days is getting fun little kiddo cameos halfway through a meeting about metrics. I’m like, honestly, their style is way more important. It’s awesome. I wanna sort of cover a couple of the questions that ⁓ I had pulled together, but I wanted to know like,

Liz (26:23)
I miss those days.

Maloree (26:42)
you

Marge (26:53)
Are there, what does getting dressed look like for you today? Are there things that you love? Do you have go-to outfits? Do you have uniforms? Do you like wear the same thing every day or switch it up depending on where you’re going? And then any like things that you’re really loving or anything that you wanted like that you’ve let go of in sort of this new chapter.

Maloree (27:17)
Yeah, definitely my uniform is a pair of, say I’ve kind of let go of my skinny jeans. They’re a little bit more relaxed. I still have them. So if I change my mind, they’re there. ⁓ But a good pair of jeans, my favorite right now, we’re like the stovepipe style from Madewell and

Marge (27:30)
Yep. We can always go back.

Liz (27:32)
Keep them in that

closet. Keep them in that closet.

Maloree (27:45)
button-up shirt and I like half tuck it in and that’s the easiest like throw on and go and it’s easy it looks nice and it’s comfortable and I think that’s the biggest thing I need to be able to chase a child down so I I cannot wear something that’s going to fall apart show bits and pieces that shouldn’t be shown and just be ⁓

Marge (28:00)
Yeah, literally.

Maloree (28:13)
Comfort is like my biggest thing. So I want to look put together but still be comfortable and I think that’s where I really tried to blend and find things like a good jean that has some stretch in it or if it doesn’t have stretch in it at least it fits really well and I can still move in them and a shirt that’s not tight and restricting and

Liz (28:15)
Mm-hmm.

Maloree (28:42)
But my uniform is definitely a button up and a pair of jeans and a pair of comfortable sneakers that I can run in. Rothy’s and I hate to say it, but I have a pair of golden gooses that I wear on the daily because they are so freaking comfortable. ⁓ I love them. They are honestly worth the money because I’ve worn them every single day for years.

Liz (28:50)
Mmm. Yeah.

Just own it.

Cost per wear.

Maloree (29:15)
Yep, girl math. Girl math and it’s free now.

Marge (29:15)
Yeah, for sure.

Liz (29:17)
girl.

Marge (29:20)
I love that. Liz, how about you?

Liz (29:24)
I think it’s interesting, like my uniform has definitely evolved as my kids have gotten older. I mean, and it’s also, think sort of my kids have gotten older and my sort of role in life has changed too. When my kids were young, I was working more part-time. I wasn’t at a desk all day. I sort of went back and forth between my desk and trying to

do more mom duty stuff too. So I wore a lot more leggings and you know, stuff like that, I guess and skinny jeans, a lot of skinny jeans. I’m dating myself, I guess. ⁓ I also live in, I live on the West Coast. So I think that that dictates a lot of what I wear now too. I tend in the summer to wear a lot of dresses. So we talked about naff dresses last time. I’m just a big fan of

maxi dresses, nap dresses, ⁓ even sort of like just short sun dresses. I don’t know. I still ⁓ think of them as like baby doll dresses. I just, think they’re really comfortable. I always wear shorts underneath my dresses regardless of length because no matter what age your kids are and Marge, I don’t think you have to be a mom for this. I assume you’re wearing shorts under dresses too. Doesn’t everyone wear shorts under dresses at this point?

Marge (30:50)
For the most part, yeah. If it’s a long dress, no, but if it’s a short dress, you can’t walk up subway stairs. No. Well, that was short.

Maloree (30:51)
I mean, yeah.

Liz (30:51)
Okay, I would think so. Yeah.

I mean, I don’t know

if we’re talking brain, like if you haven’t discovered thigh society at this point, what are you doing? So I mean, I wear, my aunt sleeps in thigh society. I haven’t gotten that far yet, but like I basically always wear thigh society. So they’re so freaking comfortable. ⁓ So that is that, yeah. Do you want to sponsor?

Marge (31:07)
Well…

Maloree (31:08)
Uh-huh.

Marge (31:15)
my God.

Yeah, they want to sponsor the pod, feel free.

Maloree (31:24)
You

Liz (31:25)
So that’s basically what I’m always wearing. I think it’s extremely comfortable. And then I took a really long break from any kind of denim. We’ll just blame it on COVID.

Marge (31:37)
Yeah. Yeah.

Liz (31:40)
But I have rediscovered hard pants, I’m happy to say. And I really, I like denim. So you’ll often just find me in a loose baggy pair of denim and a t-shirt and I’m a happy girl.

Marge (31:54)
The whole I’m gonna put jeans on to work from home, brother.

Liz (31:58)
I know, but I’m

in them. I’m wearing jeans now, if you can imagine. Sitting at a desk in jeans. Yeah.

Marge (32:01)
Wow!

Maloree (32:02)
you

Marge (32:04)
That’s

why I mean, I will say there are times that I that I do, but it’s usually because our meetings always run over and I have to go somewhere after I came up too late before a meeting. But yeah. Well.

Liz (32:12)
You’re going somewhere afterwards?

Maloree (32:13)
Yeah.

Liz (32:18)
Yeah, I’m

sitting in jeans and I’m not leaving my house for hours and hours and hours and I chose to put these jeans on. They’re extremely comfortable and they’re, yeah, really happy. Yeah.

Marge (32:30)
I love that. I love that. Well, actually, you mentioned ⁓ working, I mean, we all work remote, but you mentioned working from home and wearing denim all day. And I actually pre-read the SOS for this week. Maloree, we have SOS. We have an SOS.

Liz (32:39)
Yes.

Maloree (32:51)
We need to come up with the sound for this.

Liz (32:52)
We need a bat signal or something. We need a sound. Producer Maloree, this is obviously a job for you.


Marge (32:54)
Yeah.

Marge (32:59)
I did look for sounds and then ADHD brain had choice paralysis and I gave up. Perfect, perfect. Okay, so the SOS of this week, if you’re new to the pod, SOS is a style emergency. We have a link in our description. It’ll take you to a form to fill out and we wanna know your style emergencies. What do you want special stylist help for? It could be event, could be…

Liz (33:06)
Yeah, yeah, Okay, well, it’s job for Maloree. Let’s assign it to her.

Marge (33:29)
you anything you’re looking for. And if you’re like the person that submitted the first SOS, their ⁓ SOS response, is that what they call it, is literally a themed box that you can buy now on dia.com, which is sort of genius. And I don’t know, I think that’s like a really good idea. And so I think it could be interesting depending on what.

Liz (33:45)
What’s that?

Yeah.

Marge (33:55)
what we do going forward, could be really cool to be like, ⁓ I also have that same style emergency helping out, and here you go, here’s a box that you can order. So today’s SOS comes from ⁓ someone who would like to remain anonymous, and they ⁓ just kept it really short and sweet, but they said they just got a new job, congrats, but it’s mostly remote, and it’s now a managerial position.

Maloree (34:02)
Mm-hmm.

Liz (34:22)
Hmm

Marge (34:24)
They are on video calls all the time where they have to show their face, which we have often, but not as much as we used to have. And they then say, what do I wear? I really need to up my game.

Liz (34:32)
Welcome to my life.

Ew.

Marge (34:44)
So we are well equipped for this.

Liz (34:47)
Yeah. Mal, you want to the first pass as our guest?

Maloree (34:47)
Yes.

Sure, ⁓ my go-to when I know that I have to be on camera, I really focus on tops. There’s no way that I’m trading to sit in jeans all day like Liz.

Liz (35:06)
It happens

every day, okay? I’m not like…

Maloree (35:11)
But I do, I will say in terms of pants, I have a pair of joggers, black joggers that I can dress up or down and they’re very comfortable. So I tend to wear those a lot when I know that I’m gonna be working, but also I need to leave ⁓ because I can dress them up with like a nicer top. But in terms of tops, again, I always go for comfort, but I like to blend the two. I like to do…

comfort, but it still looks nice. I, one of my go-tos is what I’m wearing today actually. And it’s a knit top, but it has structure to it. And it has these button details down the sleeve, ⁓ which I think is really cute. So I like to go for something that has a little bit of visual interest in terms of like,

Liz (35:54)
Mmm.

Marge (35:58)
Ooh.

Maloree (36:08)
the buttons or some ruching or something like that, but it’s still a knit and I can sit in it all day and not be uncomfortable or like fussing with it. I don’t want to be messing with something all day, especially when I’m like trying to get things done or if I’m on camera, I think sometimes I get a little bit uncomfortable when I’m not on with people that I know. Like if it’s a big company wide, I get a little bit more uncomfortable and I don’t want to be fidgety.

Liz (36:14)
Hmm.

smart.

Marge (36:37)
Yeah.

Maloree (36:38)
So

something that just feels nice. It’s soft. It has some structure to it so it doesn’t look slouchy. And it has a little bit of an elevation with some buttons or some ruching or I love a good ruffle. And that’s mine.

Liz (36:38)
you

Mm-hmm.

Love it.

Marge (37:02)
I love that Liz, how about you Eddie? Similar, different?

Liz (37:05)
Okay, I’ve got two,

I’ve got two tips. My first tip is to do something layered. So I like the idea of a collar, like ⁓ something with a collar and then a sweater. ⁓ Because I think that that just instantly adds like a professional. Yeah, like

Marge (37:13)
Yeah.

It feels business. Something about

like a crisp Oxford or like a button down shirt with a collar. I feel like I’m like, ⁓ business.

Liz (37:34)
Yeah, it just instantly

elevates, I think. I’m not suggesting a jacket of any kind. Like, I would actually say no jacket of any kind. But I think that any kind of layer, whether you’re wearing a vest over a t-shirt or a cardigan and a t-shirt or an Oxford and a sweater, that just instantly elevates a little bit and makes it look like there’s some effort. And then I would say

Marge (37:39)
That’s the right word to say it. Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Liz (38:04)
accessorize. I think whether you’re adding a statement necklace or a bold earring or like a scarf or bandana, just that or press on nails, am like, you know me in real life. I am I am an accessory including nail girl. So I just think ⁓ having a big accessory of some kind just

Marge (38:06)
Ooh, yeah.

or press on nails. yeah. ⁓

Yeah, me too.

Liz (38:32)
a headband per se, that just will bring a whole look together and make it look like you put some effort into your outfit. ⁓ You didn’t just roll out of bed to be there. And let’s be real, there are days when we are just rolling out of bed to get there. And so there are absolutely days when I am going to be in a crew neck sweatshirt, ⁓ even meeting with a team. ⁓ And I like whether it be I’m

talking to my leadership team or to the team that I lead, but by putting my hair in a slick back and putting bigger earrings on or putting a scarf around my neck and putting, I don’t know, a headband on, I do feel like that just elevates the look just enough to make it appear that I am putting some effort into things. So I think accessorize is key.

Maloree (39:28)
Definitely.

Marge (39:28)
I love that.

You have totally inspired my accessorizing. And there’s so many really great easy ways to do it with the like 14 karat like coated jewelry that exists now. Like I now have earrings in that I literally don’t take off, but I feel in rings that I wear every day that I feel totally put together and I didn’t have to try too hard to do it. So

Liz (39:32)
Aww.

Maloree (39:32)
⁓

Liz (39:43)
Exactly.

Exactly.

Marge (39:58)
Yeah, I love those suggestions. The only thing I would add is we talked about nap dresses. I love a dress. I love a very flowy, it sort of feels like I’m wearing a night count or a sweater dress or a nice utility dress that’s a button-up dress that is just really, really flowy. I’m a fidgeter all the time and so I like to take meetings either standing up or sitting down and I feel like

Liz (40:04)
Hmm, yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Thank you.

Marge (40:26)
a dress is one piece and I can’t really touch or do a whole lot with it that keeps things just like really easy. And I usually opt for like a little bit bigger, especially if I’m working from home because I know it’s going to be really flowy, but I’m still going to be look presentable if I need to sort of pull it together. So I love that. Okay, great. Well, we do have a couple of work where

Liz (40:30)
Thank you.

Mm-hmm.

Maloree (40:43)
Mm-hmm.

Liz (40:48)
Exactly.

Marge (40:52)
boxes for our themed boxes. We always have a ton of amazing work wear. And so if you’re looking for work wear, yeah, we definitely could do that. Yeah, I love that idea. love that idea. Casual joggers. I see it already. Okay, great. Well, ooh, I know if ⁓ if anybody doesn’t know Liz is like the mastermind between behind all of our amazing merchandise and

Liz (40:55)
on the phone.

Maybe we need to work from home box.

Yeah, we got some great ones coming in.

Maloree (41:09)
Mm-hmm.

Marge (41:23)
I am forever grateful for all of the options. ⁓ if you have any specials or like, if you have any like, hey, I wish we could have this, like drop it in the comments, let us know. We’re always looking out for more options. So love that. It is crazy to say that we are rounding up at the very end of this. And last week we talked about, Liz and I mentioned one outfit that we would wear every day for the rest of forever if we had to.

Liz (41:35)
just knew it.

Marge (41:52)
I’m gonna ask Maloree, close this out with one item or one outfit that you would wear every day for the rest of forever.

Maloree (42:03)
That’s gracious. Okay. I feel like I…

Okay, I have a dress and I think, I think me and Liz actually have the same dress. It’s an anthropology dress.

Marge (42:16)
I love you.

Liz (42:19)
⁓ yes!

Marge (42:19)
I think

you know, putting across all members of our team at random times without any planning is insane because we are never in the same place at the same time. Or some of us have never met in real life.

Maloree (42:32)
Yes, that that part and it was funny because I put so anyway, it’s an anthropology dress and it’s this really pretty blue color and it’s got like It’s almost like water color II look in But it’s like smocked on the top and then really flowy. So it’s so comfortable and it’s lightweight and I live in Texas. So that is Very important, especially during the summer, but I’ve worn it

Marge (42:35)
Yeah.

Mm-mm.

Maloree (43:00)
all year round. I’ve put a denim jacket over it and worn it during the winter time. I love it because it’s long. It’s a maxi dress. I wear it with sneakers often, but I have also worn it with heels and dressed it up even more. It’s just one of those pieces that I can dress up or down and it’s appropriate for any time of the year.

It’s my favorite piece, I think, in my closet. I will not be getting reticent. When the first time I wore it, I took a picture and Liz swiped up on my Instagram story and said, I think I have this dress.

Liz (43:31)
great piece.

Marge (43:33)
I love that.

Liz (43:41)
Cheers!

Marge (43:43)
I love that. I love that. Well, it has been a great time chit-chatting with you gals on a Friday. ⁓ Maloree, will hear, well, I guess you’ll probably be on most episodes with us, if not all of them going forward. And ⁓ I’m not totally sure what the next episode will be, but I’m sure we’ll have maybe another guest. So it’ll be four of us, which should be very fun.

Liz (43:44)
Great minds!

Maloree (43:46)
Yeah.

Marge (44:10)
⁓ Feel free to listen to our first episode if you haven’t already. You could learn more about the podcast, about Dia, about our theme boxes, about our SOS. You can submit an SOS at dia.com slash SOS. And we’ll see y’all later. Thank you.

Liz (44:29)
Bye everyone!