Becoming pregnant can be sartorially daunting - maternity clothes tend to be unflattering, overpriced, and made of nasty fabrics. My entire maternity wardrobe consisted of:
- A very flattering white shirtdress that tied at the back (I still wear this, it is good for breastfeeding, and people are always surprised when I reveal it is 'maternity wear').
- An identical shirtdress in a navy pinstripe.
- A 100 per cent silk long-line top in a beautiful blue and white swirly print, which tied at the back to add some shape and definition (wore this with leggings, jeans, and a tight black pencil skirt). Here is a photo in the top - although it is not the top at its best, worn with jeans, rubber thongs and messy hair at the beach:
- A really brilliant Isabella Oliver wrap top. I bought this in black AND purple, and wore them both to death - with jeans, and the black one worn with a fitted black skirt and heels was an excellent substitute for a Little Black Dress. I wore the black one with lots of colourful Hermes, Pucci and Missoni scarves, and always felt well put-together. These tops were also brilliant in the first couple of months post-partum - they wrap to fit the body, so will fit perfectly no matter what state your midsection is in, and they are just so easy to breastfeed in. Here I am in the black wrap top, with a non-maternity stretchy tight skirt, at my godfather's 50th birthday:
- Maternity jeans - I bought two pairs (one straight leg, one skinny), both by Maternal America. These fitted so brilliantly, and were dead comfy. So many people commented, "wow I can't believe you're still in jeans!!" not realising that they were maternity jeans. Little comments like this are lovely to hear when you've gained 20kg!
- A loose, oversized t-shirt style jersey dress in blue and white stripes. It wasn't the most flattering piece in the wardrobe, but was so comfortable and fitted well from week 8 to the very end. I wore it with leggings.
- Speaking of which - I bought three pairs of good quality maternity leggings. Great decision, I don't think you can truly understand how bloody uncomfortable most clothes are until you are actually pregnant!
- I bought a lovely blue slinky jersey dress from Isabella Oliver for my baby shower. It made me feel pretty and toned and curvy and was worth every cent - I also wore it to a couple of weddings at the end of the pregnancy. Here I am with a friend at my baby shower. Sorry, you can only see the top of the dress, but trust me that it is lovely. I am 38 weeks pregnant here:
- I also bought a fairly unattractive red print dress. I don't know why - I was getting desperate for clothes I could wear to meetings (my clients were surely getting sick of seeing me in the same two shirtdresses!), and it seemed okay in the store. In reality, it made me feel fat and my arms look like giant sausages. I didn't wear it much!
I also picked up a couple of non-maternity pieces: some denim shorts, a nautical jersey t-shirt, a pretty crepe kaftan, a Ted Baker empire-line dress that I managed to squeeze into for the first few months. These items were useful, but I cannot overemphasise how important comfort becomes towards the end, and if nothing else, maternity clothing tends to be designed for comfort.
I didn't discover Isabella Oliver until more than half way through the pregnancy, which is a dreadful shame - I probably would have bought almost all of my maternity wardrobe from them if I had come across it earlier. If you know any pregnant women, please direct them to the their website!
Because I am tallish, clothes that fitted fairly close to the body were generally most flattering during pregnancy - anything vaguely voluminous made me look like a circus tent. More petite girls seem to get away with loose shift dresses and trapeze dresses over leggings.
I also bought lots of nice maternity underwear - mostly from Cake and Hot Milk. This is useful in avoiding feeling like a frumpy beached whale.
One of my most beloved maternity buys was, in fact, a non-maternity nightgown from Country Road. Over summer, it was all I wore around the house, and felt perfectly comfortable no matter how enormous I became. Here it is - I'm around 34 weeks here. You can see our decking, half-built, in the background. We had renovations (decking and wardrobes) going on almost until D Day. I do not recommend this. Doesn't it look like I have a full sized beach ball in there?! Tabitha was a regular sized baby, around 3.5kg. Which means I put on roughly 16.5kg of non-baby weight!
Sigh. Looking through these photos, I am looking forward to being pregnant again. Despite feeling mighty uncomfortable for most of the time, and dreadfully ill for the first few months, it was still, overall, a wonderful time. I was in complete awe over just what the female body is capable of.
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