Thursday 26 January 2017

Maternity Wardrobe Essentials: Part Three

Maternity Wardrobe Essentials: Part Three

Shirts
Many would suggest a white shirt as maternity wardrobe essential, but I'm not really a white shirt kind of a person.  I do have one hanging in my wardrobe, but when did I last wear it? Who knows?? So I am not going to include a white shirt here, but if the white shirt works for you, then of course there are many maternity options out there for you.  Me; I prefer a denim shirt and the beauty is these don't even have to be maternity and you will probably already have one or two in your wardrobe.  

Here's me with my oldest, both of us rocking the denim shirt (the youngest is only 10 weeks so he has yet to try his first denim shirt!  This is my favourite one, which was all over Instagram a while back.  It's from H&M with little jewelled bugs all over the front, which sadly you can't really see from this picture.  I wore this loads during my last pregnancy, I wore it early on as the fit is quite loose, and then as my bump got bigger I wore it open with a camisole underneath.  Perfect amount of sparkle for a night out, not that there were many of those during pregnancy, and hence why I didn't want to spend/waste money on unnecessary items when I have a wardrobe full of things I could just style a little differently than usual.

As I am quite a munchkin, I find that maternity shirts just swamp me and I end up looking much bigger than I actually am and somewhat like a weeble, which as lovely as weebles are, in all honesty it's not a good look.  So I tend to style the maternity shirt by simply throwing it on over whatever I have on underneath, vest, t-shirt, dress - anything goes.  If you don't happen to have a denim shirt in your wardrobe, here's a few you could try...

The classic blue denim




Or  this one reduced in the sale




Leather Leggings
You might think I am going crazy suggesting this, but they honestly work.  In my case as I may have gained a little weight on the bum and hips (who doesn't), I have styled them slightly differently than pre-pregnancy, but with a slouchy jumper, top and blazer or an open shirt (see above) these can look great during pregnancy.  I would suggest faux leather as it's cheaper and can look pretty near the real thing if you choose right, and you don't really want to be spending hundreds of pounds on something you may only wear for a short while.  It's tricky to recommend a particular brand as I think you need to try these on, but I have always liked H&M as for what you are spending the quality and finish is pretty good. 

H&M actually do a maternity version, with an over the bump band.

 H&M Mama Leggings £24.99

But I actually wore a non-maternity pair that I had bought prior to pregnancy which had a stretchy top band (find similar here).  I would just suggest trying them on and seeing which are the most comfortable (whilst I am a lover of fashion, when pregnant comfort is super important).


Thank you for reading.  I would love to hear your comments. 

Wednesday 25 January 2017

Spot the Difference

Spot the Difference

I am loving the Missoma jewellery, such beautiful pieces in silver, yellow gold and rose gold.  One of those pieces which I have had my eye on and that is constantly popping up on Instagram is the gold horn necklace. 

 


Which also comes in silver if you prefer, which was £129, but is reduced to £90 in the sale


But for those of you looking for a bargain, I spied the following dupe on the H&M website for less than a fiver, which comes in both gold and silver.

Thank you for reading.  I would love to hear your comments.

Tuesday 24 January 2017

Maternity Wardrobe Essentials: Part Two

Maternity Wardrobe Essentials: Part Two

Vests
As your bump gets bigger its worth in'vest'ing (sorry!!) in some maternity vests as you will get loads of wear out of these, and I have always worn mine post baby too as they are handy while you till have your mum tum and also great for breastfeeding.  Whatever season you are pregnant in, these are essential, and you can wear them in a number of ways, either layering up under jumpers to keep you warm in the winter, under a shirt in the spring and on their own in the summer.  There are loads out there and they really aren't expensive, but my favourite ones are from Gap (plain) and Topshop (ribbed).  They come in a range of colours, are really soft, wash well and are pretty cheap - so what's not to like.  I would invest in three or four different colours which fit with your wardrobe colour palette.  In my case I went for black, white, grey and navy.


These are proper maternity ones, with the ruching (?spelling but hopefully you know what I mean) at the sides, so they grow to fit around your bump.  However, I am still currently wearing these post baby and you would never know the difference.  Gap are also doing free delivery with any maternity purchase, so grab them while the offer is still on.  They also sometimes come up with a three for two deal so it's worth getting them when they are on offer if you've missed the free postage deal.


These are great really soft and stretchy and there is also a two for £10 offer on these.  They come in a range of colours so you have plenty to chose from.  These don't look like maternity wear, as they don't have the ruching at the sides, so perfect for wearing post baby.
 

Breton 
Now on to my favourite subject, the stripe or the breton.  I have lost count of the number of these I have in my wardrobe, but I wear them all the time so I can justify it.  Pregnancy is no different, you might think avoid stripes they will make me look wider but you couldn't be more wrong, in fact a tight fitting breton over your bump I think actually has the opposite effect.

So the holy grail of the maternity breton is the Isabella Oliver one, great quality and an amazing fit.  If you are someone who lives in breton then it's probably worth the investment.  You can always sell it on ebay afterwards, to recycle and make some money back to buy some post baby clothes.

If you are looking for a more budget friendly option, I would suggest Topshop or H&M.  Topshop currently have this beauty for a third of the price of the Isabella Oliver one.  It's more of a slouchy fit, and a slightly different stripe (so you could always get both!).

 
H&M have quite a few online at the moment and I am really loving the basic breton short sleeve t-shirt for less than a tenner.  The long sleeve version is slightly more expensive, but I'm not so keen on the wide stripes personally (although they do have different colours in the stripe and also a leopard print).


Or for a little more money there is this one nursing top, which you could wear when pregnant and also when breastfeeding.


Or this one, which has a cute frill detail, and if your tuned in to Instagram you will see that frills are everywhere.


 
Thank you for reading.  I would love to hear your comments. 

    Thursday 19 January 2017

    Maternity Wardrobe Essentials

    Maternity Wardrobe Essentials

    So given I didn't get to share my maternity wardrobe finds with you when I was pregnant I thought that I would start off with a maternity post, and share some of my tips for what you might need and the most frugal way to do it.  I am also not buying too many clothes at the moment as I still have a little baby weight to lose before I am back to my normal size, so I don't really have any new purchases to share, although I do have a wish list as long as my arm, but I'll come on to that later!

     One of the very few pics of me in maternity wear!

    Now I like most of us love buying clothes, but maternity wear is a tricky one as you really are only going to wear it for a few months, so you don't really want to be spending loads.  There are however a few things that you will definitely need and there are also ways to keep your spending down or spend more wisely on items that you can use post baby, or sell on.  

    So here are my three top tips for keeping that credit card bill down (trust me you will need the money post baby, not just because babies are so expensive, but because you will be so over your maternity wardrobe, that you will want to burn it all and will be desperate to make new non-maternity purchases):

    1. Review your current wardrobe
    What do you have in your current wardrobe that might work as maternity wear?  Drawstring trousers, loose tops, shirts, cardigans, baggy jumpers the list goes on.  I actually wore quite a lot more of non-maternity wear this time around, maybe because I had a preference for looser fitting clothing after my first child (unless you partake in regular exercise, or are extremely lucky I am not sure you ever get back that flat stomach!).
    2. Borrow from friends and family
    Most of us will know someone who is or has been pregnant and so one of my top tips is to share your maternity wardrobe.  This works particularly well if you have an extremely stylish friend who is the same size as you (big shout out the the gorgeous Mrs Squibb who let me share her maternity wardrobe and some other items of clothing, one of which may still be hanging in my wardrobe - oops!).

    3. Identify the gaps
    Once you've worked out what you have, think about what else you might need and plan plan plan, but don't go crazy you may only need a couple of pieces to work your current wardrobe.   Make sure you evaluate what your wardrobe needs are going to be over the coming months and buy accordingly.  Are you someone who lives in jeans, bretons and jumpers (i.e. me!) or do you require a smarter work wardrobe?  Do you have any special events to attend (weddings, christenings, parties etc).  Have a think about what your needs are and buy accordingly.  I made this mistake the first time around where I bought lots of maternity wear that I liked or thought I might need and then really didn't get that much wear out of it in the end.  When identifying the gaps make sure you don't just look at maternity wear, but also consider more roomy styles (I have a fab navy Cos dress that is not maternity wear, but has been worn on many an occasion both when pregnant and not).

    So over the next few weeks I shall be sharing with you some of my recommendations for a capsule maternity wardrobe starting with Jeans.

    Maternity Jeans
    Now with jeans you do really have to look at maternity wear, you may manage in your regular jeans for a few weeks or months if you are lucky, especially if you size up, go loose or go for treggings, but eventually that bump will get so big it isn't fitting in any normal jean no matter whether you have bump bands or elastic bands to extend them. Maternity jeans can be either below or over the bump depending on the season or your comfort preference.  I actually prefer the below the bump ones as I find them more comfortable, but in the winter months I have opted for the over the bump ones to give me an extra layer of warmth.  I have found the Topshop maternity jeans good in the early stages but not so good when you get bigger, whereas the H&M ones seem to last the whole distance and are pretty cheap (especially when they go on sale which they often do). They also come in a range of colours which is handy.  With most maternity clothes I would say buy your usual (pre-pregnancy) size but with these I would suggest sizing up (I am usually a size 10 but found I needed a 12 in these).




    H&M Skinny Maternity Jeans £29.99

    Thank you for reading.  I would love to hear your comments. 

     

    Hello stranger!

    Hello Stranger!

    So I've been a little awol, apologies, in my defence I have two very good excuses

    Number One: A house move


    Yes we finally made the leap and moved out of London to the sticks.  Well not really the sticks, we can still get into London in under half an hour, and whilst it's a village it a lot lot bigger than the Dorset villages that I grew up in.  It's such a beautiful house and we are so lucky, but it has needed a considerable amount of work, which has kept us rather busy and meant I have had less time to blog.  I am a little gutted about this as there are loads of lively house finds that I have wanted to share along the way and haven't manged to do so unless they've made it on to my Instagram.  But I am sure there will be many more home improvements and shopping opportunities that I will be able to share with you in the future.


    Number Two: A baby
     

    This is probably the main reason I became so lazy and stopped blogging, in the early days of pregnancy I was just so so tired with working full time, a two hour commute each day and a busy three year old.  Once the tiredness had subsided a little, I was a little nervous about blogging about the pregnancy having had a miscarriage and a stillbirth the previous year, but I'm pleased to say all was well this time and we welcomed another baby boy in November.


    Whilst pregnant my shopping was limited to maternity wear, but again I made some great finds which I should've shared with you.  So in the spirit of the new year and starting afresh (and getting past the demanding newborn stage) I am hoping that I can start blogging again, but please bear with me, whilst I am on maternity leave and so do not have the demands of my full time work, I have a newborn and a four year old to keep me rather busy!

    Just one more pic, I couldn't resist the baby spam...




    Looking forward to sharing some fab choo and goo finds with you soon
    S x