Fact #100: Laurel Schroeder - Young Mother

I had an audition today where I was playing the role of a Young Mother.

Oh, Young Mother. You are such a vague yet evocative character type. What do you wear? How do you style your hair? What is it that makes you Young Mother? (Oh, the baby. I see.)

I imagine if I had a kid right this second, I'd probably keep dressing pretty much the way I do now. You know. Just regular. I mean, there's not some kind of secret dress code for moms... or is there?

Whenever I get called in for Young Mother, I find myself pawing through all the clothes in my closet wondering, "Hmm, would I wear that if I was a young mother?"

Honestly, if any young mother spent as much time as I do trying to dress like a Young Mother, she would in fact be a terrible young mother. Her kids would probably be running around with scissors or lighting the couch on fire while she was rifling through her closet. And I happen to know a real mother who wore a shirt backwards for most of the day once because she was too busy being a mom to notice.

But Young Mother doesn't wear backwards shirts. And she doesn't wear cute girly tops. Young Mother wears nice shirts -- not too dressy, not too casual -- in solid colors that compliment her skin tone.

She wears clothes that say, "Hey, world. I'm a Young Mother with a very well behaved Young Child and I take things seriously but I'm also very warm and approachable. I'm a grownup with grownup issues like home repairs and paying a mortgage and after school programs, which I may give you some advice about in a second. And you'll probably want to take whatever advice I give you because a woman dressed like this obviously knows what she's talking about."

So... the blue top? The green top?


Til tomorrow!