posted by Teresa Morisco on
January 14, 2009
what to wear: pta meeting - rectangle
The next PTA meeting at your child’s school is coming up. You’ve noticed that all the moms come dressed in cute outfits and you too want to look your best. But you’re on a budget. You have a rectangle silhouette and need to find something fast. What to wear?
Rectangles look amazing in straight lines such as pencil skirts. Wear the skirt now with tights paired with some comfy Keds wedges that are perfect for busy moms. In the summer, you can switch to simple sandals.
Since most rectangles like to hide their tummies, wear a jersey top that flows over the trouble spots. And if you get it in a pretty blue or aqua, it looks great peeking out underneath a more structured, yet mom casual, black jacket.
Add some personal flair with a great stand-out necklace and a bright colored bag. This yellow satchel ($44.99) is big enough to hold all your important papers and you can wear it cross-body to keep your hands free.
- Roll-sleeve zip jacket
, $39.50
- Gathered jersey top in a pretty aqua, $6 (on sale)
- Denim pencil skirt in slate gray
, $29.50
- Silver fringe necklace
, $64
- Keds wedges
, $54.99


(10 votes, average: 4.70 out of 5)


Just last night I was in a school meeting. Other moms were coming in fresh from work & were still dressed nice. I was in a layered logo tee, blue jeans & tennis shoes. I need to get some nice mom style clothes!
Mom style is so important, although several moms proclaim, “I don’t believe in mommy clothes. I wear the same clothes for myself that I do as a mom”.
Question for the stylist: Are rectangles normally long waisted or can they be short waisted as well?
Kudos to wardrobe911 for finding such inexpensive pieces, great job. Moms are usually bargain shoppers.
LOL Sally! Some layering tees and stylish casual jackets can do wonders — make sure to check Old Navy and H&M — they don’t last long but if you’re running around with kids, they’ll get ruined anyways.
And, rectangles are not normally long-waisted. Your body type (rectangle, hourglass, etc) is different from your proportions (short, long) and I’d say about half of women have longer torsos and the rest are either short waisted or perfectly proportioned. That’s why every body is so different but we try and provide some general guidelines here and are glad it’s helpful!
Unfortunately Old Navy is sold out with the grey skirt. I especially liked the color combination. When I use a denim skirt. Do the shoes and bag still work? Do you have an alternative to the grey skirt?
wow — those skirts sold out fast! a dark-wash skirt would also work well and Banana Republic has it in all sizes.
I always wonder about the color of the tights. Do I chose the color depending on the shoe or the skirt?