It's called efficient.

I like to think of myself as an efficient dresser.  From the moment I open my eyes in the morning until the  moment I am ready to walk out the door is 15 minutes or less...unless of course I have to wash my hair and then I give myself and extra 10 minutes. Here is my idea of an outfit:

Jeans

A top

and my keens (which are usually worn with socks since it's been cold here). 

That worked in California. And in Colorado.
Not in Switzerland.

For as much as Europeans enjoy being nude (think spa and beach), they sure invest a lot of time (and money) into clothing themselves for basic day to day chores. For example, I have no problem wearing sweat pants and a pony tail to the park ... or the grocery store, or anywhere for that matter. I have come to the conclusion that the way I dress is how everyone seems to know that I am American, despite whether or not I even get a chance to try out my French. The moms I meet at the park are dressed looking like they just stepped off the runway of a fashion show. One of my good friends was still wearing high heals and elaborate outfits at 9 months pregnant. It really is amazing to me. So when I show up in jeans, sweater and keens with socks, everyone knows right away: she must be an American. If I had someone to buy and choose the outfits for me to wear, I would love to dress "European." But all by myself, I am not even creative enough to think up the amount of pieces that goes into one outfit.

This is one of the typical outfits I see people wearing.

Looks cute, right? Well I went shopping the other day to try to buy myself some European clothes. Since I'm not very fashionable I decided to pick a mannequin and just buy whatever they were wearing. After seeing the long list of items I changed my mind. Take a look at what goes into wearing an outfit like this:

Okay, so I would have to drop $200 for one outfit and then have to deal with 6 different items of clothing... plus a purse. It all seems overwhelming. I have to decide if spending all that time shopping and worrying about what I'm going to wear is worth it in the end. Or would I rather hop in the car and go have fun with my boy regardless of what I'm wearing?

I've decided to compromise. Well actually, I have to compromise. I have no warm clothes for this winter so I need to go shopping. I've decided that I will branch out and try to look more European. Here is my compromise:

It actually looks comfy. Boots, stretchy pants, long sleeve shirt and a muumuu (aka dress). So we'll see how it goes. If everything works well I may be really brave and try a purse...or a scarf.

And then, it will be Luke's turn *insert evil laugh*