Monday, April 30, 2012

PostPartum Mommy Makeover: Dressing for the Fourth Trimester


the pearl you grew cell by cell over 40 long weeks has finally emerged 
Postpartum is puberty‘s cousin.  Both involve high doses of hormones, manic emotions, and awkward body fluctuations.

Amidst the sleep deprivation and oxytocin throes, remember this truth: you are a mother, and unequivocally a queen. Every scar on your body is an imprint of the life you have born. Wear each mark as a badge of honor.

Your pre-pregnancy trousers will not magically latch as you exit the hospital, but if you're lucky your baby will.  And that tiny body should be your focus.  Postpartum like pregnancy is a process, and one that can be relished, if given fair opportunity and appropriate costume.

THE FIRST 40 DAYS
Immediately after giving birth, I declare that all mothers have the the right to a 40 day spa like retreat with their newly born.  Yet even during your span of sanctuary, you have to get dressed in clean clothes, everyday. A floral chemise and lightweight robe, yoga leggings paired with a cozy hoodie, select your lounge-wear with care.  Well wishers are going to visit and you want to look presentable.

BEYOND 40 DAYS
Tops(how to nurse in normal clothes)
  • The beauty of a button-down lies in its adaptability.  Expose the serving saucers and enshroud the rest.  It need not buttondown to hip, a handful of buttons on a henley is plenty.  
  • A criss-cross wrap top not only leaves your core under the covers, it will also allow you to unveil a single teet at a time.  Or opt for a draped cowlneck, the extra fabric cloaks you and your sweet suckling's business.
  • A knit's neckline may scoop, dive, or lunge but make sure it stretches to accomodate milk appointments. And you may desire to pair it with a nursing tank. Open neck jersey knits are especially graceful when ruched or ruffled as they cloak retreating remains of pregnancy
  • Because a swing jacket is cut fuller and wider than your core, your center instantly looks smaller and flatter by comparison. A  fintgertip-length hoodie cut straight or banded below the bust (at the empire) rather than along the hipline avoids the puffy snowman homage in favor of a long, lean silhouette.

Skirts & Dresses:
  • Skirts are guileless creatures on the whole.  An A-Line cut will simultaneously pardon and offer sequestered sanctuary to a soft center, an inflated thigh, a swollen bottom.  Elastic waistbands are of particular use as they will unquestionably follow the expansion and contraction of your own figure.
  • Wrap dresses offer similar loyalties.  As you abandon inches they can be tightened across your frame; they also outfit you as a gracious and efficient milkmaid.
  • Babies are clumsy creatures and sleep deprived mothers are equally messy, wash and wear is thus a requirement to avoid dry cleaning dependencies.   Jersey dresses with veils of ruching, ruffles, and other embellishments will offer a vague yet vivacious outline.

Pants:
  • When given a soft, delicious center, the waistband of denim should corset in the widest width with a mid-rise.  If the waistband is too low, muffin tops results.  Too high and you'll resemble a kangaroo.
  • Drawstring trousers allow you to adjust sizes sans tailor.
Unders:
Accessories
  • A lightweight scarf can be tied to camouflage bust and belly simultaneously.
  • wide stretchy belt worn at your widest borders can corset in the remains of birth.  Just don't cinch it in too tight.
  • Just because you've had a baby, doesn't mean you are one.  Select a diaper bag with plenty of organization and sophistication.

Don't be shy to add your experience in the comments.  What's your favorite postpartum indulgence?


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Thursday, April 26, 2012

Top 10 Maternity Shops: How To Dress for the Third Trimester

Approximate size at 40 weeks
First, the third trimester checklist, containing a complete wardrobe to fashion you through weeks twenty-seven through forty:


Second, an elite listing of ten maternity merchandisers at which to procure said items.  After sifting through a deluge of poorly made, poorly designed maternity wear, these clothing offerings are an oasis in a quest to retain dignity during gestation. 

ASOS: Next thing you know, ladies will be padding their bellies to conform flat figures to these fashions.

Isabella Oliver:  Start swaddling your baby early in Isabella Oliver's, alluring yet elegant, luxury wrap dresses and tops

TopShop: Pregnancy just found it's edge.


A Pea in the Pod: Pretties you would want to wear even if you weren't pregnant.

Boden: Cozy jersey + cheerful prints.



Gilt : Premier online sample sale rotates limited collections of perfectly cut denim, butter soft jersey dresses, and more, up to 60% off.



Mommy Appelseed: Offers a blooming variety of my heart sung lilac matnerity line and more, yes much more.


eBay: Find exactly what you and womb want to wear for a fraction of the price.  Create saved searches for your favorite luxury brands.


Bellydance Maternity: A prodigious selection of maternity clothing including premium denim and baby bestie brands like Olian Maternity.


Hatch: Transitions extraordinarily well, liquid silk and flowing cottons drape at two months then glide at nine months and beyond.


Be sure to append your favorite pregnancy fashion providers in the comments.

Procure your own empire constitution. Your personalized fashion look book can include your own pregnant styling rules of conduct and much more.




Friday, April 20, 2012

Exemplary Pregnancy Fashion


Rockstar Diaries: pleated drawstring midi skirt with bust tucked blouse

bleubird; maxi dress

Its a Love Story: jersey knit wrap dress

Angela Hardison: extra long tunic, leggings (black beneath, bold above)

DayBook Blog long tunic, utilitarian jacket, stretchy straight skinnies

NieNie Dialogues: empire dress with cardigan

usthreebirds hip banded embellished knit with boyfriend jeans 

Thursday, April 19, 2012

How to Wear Regular Clothes During Pregnancy: The Second Trimester

her approximate size following 25 weeks of gestation

Should you choose, it is possible to fashion a maternity-wear-free pregnancy.  Here are some tips on how to do it.

ACQUISITION

First, let's be clear.  Just because you're not buying maternity clothes, doesn't mean you won't have to find new clothes.  New shapes and new sizes may be required.  But often, you can find traditional clothing choices better tailored to your style and budget.  

Next, try it on. Now more then ever it makes a difference how it drapes, where it hugs. You have far more curves to fill the garment than the angles of the hanger.

Finally, buy slowly.  Glutton yourself on the intoxication of well fitting pretties because as it turns out you two may only have fleeting weeks to enjoy each other. 

APPLICATION

Tops
  • Your expanding arched abdomen is a glorious line. And it is unmistakable physical evidence that you are very desirable to the  opposite sex. Don't be afraid to outline it with a knit wrap top.  But remember you are not a packaged sausage. If you can see any excessive details of your figure metamorphosis, it is not serving you. 
  • Boo-belly-the unfortunate blocking of the pregnant upper body as a single awkward blob.  Ensure you avoid this predicament with elastic and tie back empire bands, ensuring a clear definition of bust and belly
  • Peasant tops with hip banded waistbands ensure that baby never falls below the line of your blouse. Baby should never find herself exposed to the public before her birth debut.  Long tunics can accomplish the same objective.
  • Finish any top off with an open closure cardigan.  It accommodates the fickle fluctuations of your temperature, while lengthening the line of the figure.  You can also experiment with tying oxford shirts or other thin layers right above your belly.  

Skirts & Dresses:
  • As your waistline has at least temporarily migrated north your waistband should follow suit. Belt your dresses at skirts at the narrow empire valley.  Dresses in stretch ready knits can follow the fluctuations of your form to birth and beyond.
  • Don't be afraid to pull your skirt up and over your belly.  An elastic or drawstring waist midi and maxi skirts offers simultaneous ventilation and modesty.
  • Wrap or tent dresses serve opposite preferences.  Wraps will accentuate your sultry silhouette, while swingy tents offer flirty mystery. Both options usually work best when kept within a couple inches of the knee. 

Pants:
  • Leggings can be awful gossips.  And the content of your panties as well your upper thigh viscosity should be protected private information.  Keep these details undisclosed by wearing a thicker weave material.  It should be closer to a pant than a stocking.  
  • Dark, slim denim hides a number of confided secrets.  Somewhere between jeggings and trouser legs is a straight-leg mean. A slim fit in a low rise can button below the northern bulge and offer architectural balance.  
  • Foldover lounge pants are tender companions who welcome you into their rolled down support.


Seasonal:
  • Don't believe the nine month myth.  You are going to be pregnant for closer to 10 months, 8 weeks shy of a year.  Thus part of that pregnancy is going to be in full bloom in either the winter or the summer.  Be prepared.
  • Trenchcoats work because you can tie them, when buttons fail.
  • Constrained bladder + compromised balance =  possible one piece swimming fiasco.  Might I suggest a long torso two piece?
Accessories:
  • A mid to skinny belt doesn't need to be tight to create a definitive difference.
  • Fuller curves can carry bolder ornamentation.  Bright baubles divert attention and redress an entire look.
  • Flats extend far beyond flip flops.  Refuse athletic designed footwear in favor of riding boots, ballet slippers, fashion sandals, as the season demands.
While a strict non-maternity dress may not be appropriate for every figure, every figure can apply at least a handful of these maternity-free options.  And please supplement your experience in the comments.

Procure your own empire constitution. Your personalized fashion look book can include your own pregnant styling rules of conduct and much more.


Tuesday, April 10, 2012

How to Dress to Hide Your Baby Bump: The First Trimester

his approximate size at the conclusion of the first third

You don't want your pea-sized person and her plushly padded apartment to alert the public to her presence before you're prepared.  Following is a checklist to cloak your secret or simply slim what is not a surprise.

ACQUISITION

First, harvest from your existing wardrobe.  Buying new is a last resort.  Save your budget for the fuller blooms of gestation.  For now try all potential candidates on and create a mini closet from which you will recruit your ensembles.  As you swell your closet candidates will wane, so try to trim any insufficient talent from the cloth pool at the weekly anniversary of your pregnancy.

Next, borrow from a friend, about one size larger than yourself. And although your husband's side of the closet may look tempting, be extremely discriminating.  In order to succeed, he must share approximate borders with your own width, and you must cuff, tie, and/or thoughtfully pair each item for stylistic and architectural balance.

Finally, buy whatever key pieces you still lack.  Try to consider items which will also serve you post partum when you'll be nursing and/or retracting.

APPLICATION


Dainty Unders
  • You're going to need a new bra.  Before your tummy even promises protrusion, your lady eggs enlarge.  And in all likelihood, your pregnancy bra may not survive the swells and strains of gestation. It's dangerous to pay more for a nursing bra that could expire before your due date, and may not even latch once la leche lands.
  • Long Tanks will prevent the exposure of your own flesh filled doughnut and can serve you all the way to the delivery room and beyond. Now, raise your right hand and promise me you will not pull its hem beyond the hipline and across the decline of your derrière.   This enacts two tragedies, first it creates the illusion of two puppies fighting in a bag, as seen from the back, second it immediately widens your hips many inches.   
  • Another tool to combat tummy creep and secure trousers without squishing your unborn child is a transition band.  Pants plus band offers security sans a fastened button and zipper.  But should necessity arrive before your belly band does, feel free to employ an old fashioned rubber band.  Loop it around the button, through the hole, then back around the button.

Tops

Yeah:
  • Button-up blouses offer the right amount of structure and flexibility, effortlessly concealing the rising bun in your oven.  Liberally sprinkle your belly muffin with prints which keep the eye moving, veiling abdominal variations.
  • Ruffles, ruching, and other embellishments, including peplums, tastefully disguise organic undulations as folds of fabric.   
  • Straight up and down tunic blouses, which end generously below the bump line, feel architectural rather than suspicious.
  • Bright long sweaters and lightly hued boxy jackets layered over dark underpinnings enact a forcefield of mystery.  Longer is leaner, so stretch and flatten your torso with layers that extend to at least the hipline
Neigh:
  • Future wishing empire blouses create a prematurely plump present.
  • Tucking in encircles your insecurities with added emphasis. 
  • Stripes are visual measuring cues.  That means the wider breadths of your buxom bosom and burgeoning belly will be enlarged and optically calculated. 
  • It's not just your waistline that's blossoming.  Be sure if you wear a oxford blouse minus peek-a-boo buttons. If closures gap from any angle, employ a safety pin or keep it unbuttoned and wear a tank underneath 

Bottoms:  
There are multiple smart ways to skin this cat.  
  • First, buddy up with a friend one waist size larger than yourself.
  • Second, enlist afore mentioned belly band and/or rubber band to expand the waistband and usable life of your existing wardrobe.
  • If necessary invest in a minimalist lower body wardrobe with hopes of reusing in the "fourth trimester"
Skirts & Dresses:
  • Few silhouettes are more slimming than a uniform flow, shoulder to toe maxi dress.  Opt for some mystery near the waist: a print, ruching, pleats..
  • Straight sheath dresses skim the entire silhouette avoiding cling around any new developments
  • A-line skirts and dresses actually make your waist appear proportionately when compared with the resulting flounce and flare below.
Skirts & Dresses

Accessories:
  • A lightweight scarf can be tied to camouflage bust and belly simultaneously.
  • A wide stretchy belt worn at your widest borders can corset in the beginnings of birth.  Just don't cinch it in too tight.
  • Channel your inner celebrity-evading-paparazzi, by holding a statement purse in front of the baby-to-be as you stroll.
We'll continue to grow our pregnancy fashion knowledge throughout the week.  Add any first trimester tips in the comments.

Procure your own empire constitution. Your personalized fashion look book can include your own pregnant styling rules of conduct and much more.


Tuesday, April 3, 2012

How to Dress for Pregnancy

Tenley Clark-Pregnant Paperdolls

this week a catalog of tips for dressing from before to after.  

for now, send requests via comments

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