If there is one piece of advice I would give to someone expecting who is looking to expand their closet, I would say forget the exclusively-for-pregnancy clothes. Either buy maternity wear that can be worn during nursing (if you plan to), or buy regular items that are pregnancy/nursing friendly.
I bought this dress during my second trimester, when my bump was starting to pop. While this dress isn’t a maternity/nursing dress, it has definitely seen me through all the stages with aplomb, and is what I like to hold up as an example of economically adding to your wardrobe for all of life’s moments.
The dress is meant to be a relaxed, loose fit, so I bought my regular size. While it was straining a wee bit at the bosom during the third trimester (nothing a bit of fashion tape couldn’t fix), it accommodated my bump beautifully. I do wish I had taken photos to show, but ah well. Trying to look put together is already an effort in and of itself when expecting, never mind trying to document it. Or at least that’s my excuse!
Now that baby is here, it fits better overall, and the button-down style makes it very access-friendly for nursing!
Dress: The Fifth Label ‘Journey’ long sleeve dress in Sage (2017)
Shoes: Michael Kors ‘Olivia’ lasered peep-toe wedge in Luggage (2016)
Jewellery: Merci Maman ‘Duchess’ necklace (2018)
The shoes were bought during a trip to Vancouver last year. Unfortunately, I only wore them twice before getting home, where I then left them on a table so that I could clean them. My cat pushed it off the table, and then my puppy (who hadn’t been trained to not chew shoes yet) got his cute little jaws all over them. The insoles are all torn to bits, and the heel on the left shoe is cracked. There is also chew damage here and there. But I will wear these shoes because they were –though on sale– still a splurge, and by Jove, I’m going to get my cost-per-wear out of them!
I wore this outfit for a day by the pool, and even thought up a swimsuit hack (with my friend Amy’s help!) that I will share in another post.
I have been wearing this necklace pretty much every day since I got it as it makes me feel like I’m carrying my little family around with me. Since you can only really see the chain of my necklace in the above photo, here is a close-up:
I think the gold goes really well with sun-kissed skin and the sage green colour of this dress. Lately, I find that I want my hands to be free of jewellery because I am handling baby so much, and I hate the idea of accidentally scratching him with rings or bracelets. However, he seems to be quite well-behaved (so far!) in that he doesn’t try to snatch or pull at my necklaces, and if he does somehow manage to grip them, I only have to sweetly ask him to let them go while helping his little fingers along, and he obliges! I would be very sad if I had to stop accessorising, and I think the dear babe knows it…
Isn’t it the cutest personalised mommy necklace, though?
I found Merci Maman in 2011 when I was looking for the company that had made the Duchess of Cambridge’s charm bracelet with her initial engraved on it. Though I never found that company, I instead found Merci Maman’s boutique and fell in love with the sweet little pieces they make for life’s most cherished moments. I registered for an account and their emails, and waited for the day when I would get married and have children. Well, in the meantime, Kate ‘beat me to it’ when she was spotted in this necklace in 2013 after giving birth to Prince George. I don’t remember what this necklace was originally called, but it’s most likely been renamed as it is now known as “The Duchess”. The best part is that you’re not limited to having a necklace in this particular combination, if you have your eye on the many other charms and disc options that they offer.
Perhaps in future, if I have another baby (huge maybe!), I’ll see if I can’t send my disc back in and have my other child’s name engraved on the back.
Also Alex, if you’re reading this, please don’t freak out, haha. Purely hypothetical. And hypothetically, that other child would be a girl. *cough*
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What are some of your nursing wardrobe hacks?