It has been a ride! I was very aware that I didn’t want to just wear anything that fits.. I wanted to keep my usual style throughout pregnancy and still feel like me, what I wear has always been a big part of my self confidence..and I believe if you look good.. You feel good. so I came up with a system which helped make things a little easier to get dressed in the morning, although there have still been many mornings where I stare at my wardrobe like..”What will fit today?”

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I've been through many stages.. First there was the.. Ok.. “I have a bit of a bump..(Not that anyone else could notice at this stage).. This isn’t going to be too bad”.. Whilst still fitting into most of my usual clothes and jeans.. 

Then came “the beer belly” stage of pregnancy where it was a little awkward because while maternity jeans etc didn't fit and wouldn't stay up my usual jeans wouldn't go up..

Then came the “she’s popped” stage where it was very obvious I had a bump.. It made me realise how much I rely on high waisted jeans to dress for my shape and also just ease of putting a “me” outfit together. 

 Luckily I am also a fan of floaty dresses and with it being summer I was still fitting into what felt like my some usual clothes so this saw me through a lot of it.. But there were days when I struggled because wearing a floaty dress… and particularly being a photographer and wearing a floaty dress just isn't always practical.

And now.. Now I'm just at the point where I can't quite fathom how I've gotten this far along so quickly and barely anything fits or feels comfortable apart from maternity joggers and an oversized hoodie.. Which I’m happy to wear at home but when I go out I want to at least look like I’ve tried. Haha.. or showered at most.  

 Things which helped me keep my style

Pinterest

I made a pregnancy style pinterest board. (click here to see the board if you are looking for some inspiration too). And tried to only save things which were similar to what I already had in my wardrobe or that I felt are my style and would be a good addition. This helped so much just for those mornings where I really wasn't sure what to put on. I could find something similar in my wardrobe and … zavoom.. I was ready. I had been saving pregnancy outfits on instagram too for quite a while in case the day came when I was pregnant so already had a saved folder on there which really helped remind me that bump styling can be cool as well and you don’t have to just wear frumpy clothes

Up sizing 

I didn’t want to buy too many maternity pieces as I like to get longevity out of my clothes, as those of you who follow me on instagram will know, a lot of what I wear seems to be “sorry its old but you could try and look on ebay” 

So although I had to buy a couple of pieces.. Apart from the jeans, I think most of it will work far beyond pregnancy too. 

 I found myself purchasing regular non- maternity clothing but just sizing up a size or two depending on what it was. 

Something which also surprised me is that although I’ve never been one for a body con dress…(apart from in my teens when I went to uni and decided to follow the crowd). I actually found that tighter fitting, knitted style, dresses made me feel a lot more confident in my new shape and overall were more flattering on me .  

I have also found that I need to size up maternity wear. At first I found this a bit disheartening, worrying if I was too big or growing too fast..but I think it's more of a comfort thing, clothes feel much more comfortable to be slightly bigger and at the end of the day during pregnancy its not only your tummy which gets a little bigger.

Keeping your wardrobe sorted: 

Another thing which I found so so helpful.. as soon as I started not to fit into a lot of my wardrobe I had a big clear out.. Tried everything on and anything which didn't fit at this point ( I think I was about 20-25 weeks when I did it) I packed away in storage bags and put them under the bed. 

This helped because 

1. I wasn't looking at things in my wardrobe which I wanted to wear but couldn’t. 

2 I knew everything which was currently in my wardrobe fitted me making it so much easier and quicker to find an outfit I was happy with. 

3. I figured that the first things not to fit will be the last things to fit again so no point in having them there postpartum and feeling pressure to fit back into them again. 

4. When I do get them back its going to feel like having a new wardrobe all over again! - very excited for this day. 

As I kept growing I kept on top of it, adding pieces to the storage under the bed (Obviously up until a certain point otherwise I would have nothing left in the actual wardrobe.)

What to look out for:

Stretchy waist bands, soft fabrics and things you can wear without a bra (if you can), As I grew I got to the point where I couldn't wear anything which even slightly irritated my skin. I found most bras feel pretty uncomfortable to wear no matter how big it was, it just felt too tight and when you have a baby foot in your ribs and a bra strap pushing into them let's just say.. It's not the most comfortable. 

Things you can wear over your bump, skirts with elastic waist bands which could be worn over the bump I found to be more flattering and also comfortable. 

I have popped a list of my current online faves here

Or here is a list of items which I have worn over and over again through out my pregnancy

Long fitted knitted black Dress

Wrap gingham dress ( similar item -great mat wear brand)

Printed skirt

Floaty black dress

Gingham dress (similar item)

Cream knit dress with tie waist

Super soft jumper dress

Slightly smarter than normal joggers

Cream wrap Cardi

Wide chunky sandals

Smock dress which looks great with 70 style boots

Some very very comfortable joggers

These NOO trousers have grown with me from pre preg and still fit now.. I used to wear them round the house alot but now I also just wear them out too

Style and restyle

When something fits, you feel good in it, and its comfortable. style it in as many ways possible!! This white skirt I got in the zara sale for £9… (i know!) and I just havn’t stopped wearing it.

Lessons learnt

Buy as and when or if you need, I got a couple of denim shorts in two sizes up when I found out I was pregnant which I thought would see me through the summer. They were great for a couple of weeks but super quickly grew out of them and personally I didn't find the ol’ hair tie through the button hole trick comfortable. 

Second hand and grand

Ask friends and family if they have any pregnancy clothing they don’t need anymore .. I got quite a lot of hand me downs from friends and its been great or if not have a look on ebay or depop. Particularly jeans. There seems to be a lot on there and most look in pretty good nick, probably because people don’t get that much wear out of them until they don’t need them anymore.

Bravado ballet bra  - When I did wear bras I wore these bravado bras, so comfortable and also suitable for breastfeeding although I can’t comment on that yet.. But yea. These are the only bras I can stand wearing for longer than 5 minutes at the moment. 

I have linked the Black one here and the pastel one here

Sizing up two sizes in pants - My pants very quickly became too tight. I got a couple of maternity pairs which go over the bump which are super comfortable but also made me really hot as it was like wearing a vest under everything!

 I mainly just wear two sizes up in these M&S pants which sit under the bump still had a bit of lace on them to avoid any unwanted VPL and also just look a bit nicer than big granny pants

Jeans - These jeans which I used to rave about pre pregnancy anyway were just fab. A sized up a couple of sizes and they lasted for ages and were really comfortable. 

Maternity jeans wise I found these three to be the most well fitting on me. 

The Isabella Oliver Black Jean

The Paige Denim Destroyed Hem Jean and these Paige ones also look like a really nice wash.

Being prepared:

This might be a little bit of an overkill on the whole “nesting” thing but basically this week I thought it would be a good idea to put a couple of nice comfortable outfits together for the weeks following birth. Basically just nice comfies, joggers, t-shirts and cardis/ jumpers which I can pop on when I know we have people coming over so I don’t even have to think about what to wear, if it's ironed, if it's clean or if it matches. Just one less thing to think about.

Thanks for taking the time to read, I hope it’s helped you if you are currently sporting a bump and struggling with what to wear. 

I've popped a round up post of my favourite pregnancy friendly clothing which I think would be great for autumn winter and would last post bump too. Check it out if you’re at the stage of needing some comfortable items 

Let me know how your bump styling is going! .. I think i'm actually going to miss it when its not there anymore!