Songful Style: Mama by Beth Hart

Welcome to August’s Songful Style post! Hosted by myself, Shelbee (Shelbee on the Edge) and Marsha (Marsha in the Middle) Songful Style is a collaboration featuring outfits inspired by songs. We’re also inviting anyone who would like to join us, to post their own outfits in the link-up below. It doesn’t matter from what angle the song inspires the outfit, it can be from the lyrics, the title, the tune itself, the album cover, music video, etc. Last month our song was When Doves Cry by Prince, chosen by me. This month, our Songful Style song was chosen by Shelbee and is Mama by Beth Hart.

But before we get on to our Songful Style post, I just wanted to say thank you for your patience with me this month. I decided to take a month-long break following the death of a loved one while we travelled to the UK for the funeral. And then, when we drove back to Portugal, my brother came with us to spend some quality time with me and our dad. We had a lovely time. It’s the longest period of time we’ve hung out together since we were in our teens! He returned home to his little family on Friday. And I sobbed all the way back from the airport. I miss him already, and wish we didn’t live so far apart. But fingers crossed we’ll see each other again soon.

So, I’ve had a month off and now I’m ready to dive back in to the blog, YouTube, Insta, TikTok, etc! I’ve inherited some beautiful items that I’m keen to share with you in the coming months. But I’ll talk about that another time. For now though, let’s talk about Mama by Beth Hart, and how I styled this look…

Lyrics — Mama by Beth Hart 
Mother may I, I would say
Yes sweet baby take it away
It won't be long, just remember that
Powerful is the woman in you
Stay true
And she'd come to me when fire & water was gone
To caress the empty with a song
Saying why cry for anger that bullets the sky
Just remember I'll remember & mama 
I'll get by...
I know my face seems crazed & wild
But I got her eyes
A mama's child am I
She's blessed with grace & is smooth as a line
And when I shade she helps me shine
And she comes to me when there's nothing I believe
And holds me so high yes I am free
Saying why hold the anger 
It won't let you fly
Just remember I'll remember & mama mama
I'll get by...
Confused by my own illusions
She said that it's only my pride
And even the simplest solutions
Still won't heal my mind
So I'll remember
I'll remember and I'll get by

Beth Hart’s Mama is a beautiful song and as soon as I saw the title, I knew I wanted to create an outfit that my own mum would have liked. Sadly, she died when I was only 13, so I don’t have that many memories of her, to be honest. I’ve been trying to remember her style, but I don’t think she’d developed her own unique sense of style by the time she died, in her very early 30s. I can recall some rather questionable items she had in her wardrobe though lol. But that’s just the faint memory of a child, right?! It was the late 80s, when fashion wasn’t exactly at its best, which probably didn’t help! Plus, we were living in Portugal by then, and clothes shopping here back then wasn’t easy. We had a couple of local boutiques that seemed to cater for much older ladies, and even the shops in the bigger towns didn’t stock anything much better. How things have changed in the past thirty odd years!

What I do remember of my mum was that she liked to wear patterns and prints. I seem to recall her being drawn to brighter colours too, if memory serves me correctly. So that’s what I decided to focus on for this challenge.

A couple of months ago, I bought the perfect pair of trousers from Zara that I can totally imagine my mum wearing, so they were my starting point. I wore them a couple of times whilst travelling to and from the UK recently and I just love them. The only thing I could do with changing is the length, as they’re a tad long for my little legs! Also, I’ve lost a little weight over the past month, so they’re a little big on the bum area lol.

I think my mum would have picked out colours from the trousers, for the rest of the outfit, so that’s what I did. Keeping it quite casual, I chose my favourite navy blue tee from H&M. I love the soft touch of the fabric as it hangs really well, and feels gorgeous against the skin. Adding touches of orange with the shoes (Calla) and in the jewellery, I also decided to wear the only item I own that belonged to my mum—this little silver watch.

I always feel quite sad that this is the only thing I have left of her. It’s not worth anything, other than the sentimental value it holds to me. Michael once tried to get it fixed without telling me, as a surprise. But nobody would do it. They just said it was pointless because it was worthless. But I’ll never part with it, whether it works or not.

So that’s it. An outfit I feel my mum would have happily worn—and perhaps styled herself—alongside the watch she owned when she passed away. It’s a simple look, but the loud print and brightly coloured trousers really make a statement, don’t you think? I’ve also worn them with a white vest, a navy blue vest, as well as a yellow tee. All of which complement the colours. But I like to think Mum would have chosen the navy tee for herself. But I guess I’ll never know. It was lovely using the song, and my own mother as inspiration though. Have you styled Mama by Beth Hart? I’d love to see your look…why not include it in the link-up, below? Scroll down to see an old pic of my mum!

If you’d like to join us next month. The song we’ll be using as a style prompt will be “Over the Rainbow” by Israel Kamakawiwo’ole, chosen by Marsha. I’m so excited for that one…it’s such a beautiful song!! See you soon!