Why I'm still skeptical.... My daughter is only four months old, there is a 99.9% chance she will puke or poop through her outfit within the first hour of the day,yet I can say with confidence that I dress her better than I dress myself right now. Four months later and 42 pounds lighter I have only bought myself two articles of clothing. (YES I lost that much weight but NO that does not mean I am completely happy with my image these days if I'm to be completely honest).
After nine months of pregnancy and 36 hours of delivery I had A LOT on my mind when we got back from the hospital, my wardrobe not being one of those things. I had been warned this would happen. In fact I began to panic when (with all the best intentions) my husband gifted me a pair of sweat pants and a Nike sweat top for Christmas. Just one day before my due date I was thinking purse...jewelry...new stilettos, ANYTHING would have been better than work out gear. But what did I know? I didn't realize how much my wardrobe would have to adapt to my new lifestyle. It took only two days at home with my baby to realize that my entire wardrobe was the opposite of baby friendly. When your kid pukes up breast milk three times in under twenty seconds all over your shirt that's a sure sign that silk is out of the question for the next little while.
So I spent that first week as a mom confined to a rocking chair in front of the television and enjoyed a wardrobe consisting of those damn sweat pants (my husband was right) and all his t-shirt collection. But when week two hit and I was ready to re-join society, I wanted to look like my old self again. The only problem is, looking cute and chic is exhausting when you are also taking care of a newborn. I didn't want to unravel completely and let myself go but; do I have to look like a MILF every-single-day?!?
I'm pretty sure my friends and society will forgive me if I happen to not dress in the latest fashions every single day. They will assume its just because perhaps I haven't done my own laundry in two weeks because the baby's laundry is more important. Not to mention it seems pretty ludicrous for me to wear my most expensive silks and cashmere's from my favorite designers when a little human is spewing their insides all over me 24 hours a day.It's super sweet and everything that society accepts mothers as cute fashionable functioning members of society, but it's unfair to think that every single day we have to dress like runway models. Just because we are still allowed to look good doesn't mean we have to. There I said it!!!
Personally I have much better things to do with my time, my beauty routine has streamlined to - shower - comb some of my hair - moisturize most of my body - conceal under eye bags- apply lipstick. And that's not just because my hair is falling out in clumps, its because I don't have the time to blow dry my hair so a topknot bun or a braid is fine for me . By all means if you roll out of bed looking like Gisele than power to you. But if you're more of a Peggy Bundy don't beat yourself up over it.
With that said I would like to introduce you to my new "Mom Uniform". Consisting of a hat because, as I just mentioned my hair is not my friend lately, affordable well fitting jeans because as you loose weight you'll want and need to purchase more pairs over the next few months, and most importantly comfortable shoes. My goal here was to embrace a few spring time trends while remaining comfortable when I'm out with my daughter.
Hat - AnthropologieEyelete Blouse - Joe FreshWhite Skinny Jeans - Joe FreshConverse x Missoni - Town Shoes So lets summarize...
These are some things I have learned about my self image since becoming a mom
1. Your baby dosent care if you're having a bad hair day, and neither should you
2. Other mothers STARE ... A LOT! Screw them! They are most likely dealing with their own insecurities and want to see if other moms are in the same boat.
3. Sneakers can be fashionable. Its ok to get excited about adding a new pair to your wardrobe. I wont lie to you and say that sweat pants can also be, but trust me you wont care after giving birth to your first child.
4. Unless you're a bikini model don't stress over your baby weight . Easier said than done yes, but just know that you have much more important matters to deal with. You are after all taking care of another human, that's kinda big deal.
Do you have a mom uniform? Or an opinion on how much we should be stressing over our image?
