Being pregnant is tough, you’re exhausted, nauseous and your body goes through countless other changes (and that is an uncomplicated pregnancy)! The last thing you want to worry about is how to dress yourself. So before my baby brain erases it forever, I have the completely selfish desire to record it all down. After my first pregnancy I thought I had it sorted, but this time around I was surprised to discover so many new labels on the market which make dressing a pregnant body so much easier! You see it’s not all rock tees and rolled down jeans (as Pinterest would have you believe). It’s a daily struggle when your body already has better things to do, like growing a small human. Here’s my guide on how to make it look effortless.

First Trimester – Yay you’re pregnant! But you probably don’t want the whole world knowing until you’re a little further along. You will most likely be struggling to fit in your skinny jeans and gravitating towards styles that are looser and more comfortable than your usual style. Welcome to dressing for your first trimester! While you can still fit into most of your clothes go through your wardrobe and gather all the styles that fit and place them in a prominent position in your wardrobe. Anything that doesn’t fit, store out of sight, you don’t want to be looking longingly at them for the next 9 months, forget all about them.

I didn’t know I was pregnant here but started choosing looser styles almost by instinct…or I looked in the mirror and noticed I was getting fatter, who knows right?

Don’t go overboard with buying maternity clothes at this stage. The pieces that fit you now almost certainly won’t in 9 months time. Not to mention it will be a totally different season by then. If you are pregnant in Summer, go for dresses that will grow with you, extra points if you’ll be able to feed in them. Sandals you can slip on will be your go-to shoe, buckles require bending down, something you won’t be able to do for long!

If you’re lucky enough to be pregnant in the wintertime, like myself, invest in a quality pair of maternity jeans, making sure you have room to grow. I preferred ones with an over the bump band as all the others fell down on me.

You might want to think about getting a pair of maternity support leggings too. I bought mine WAY too late in the game and I so regretted it! These will be the last man standing when you’re waddling through those final third trimester days. Trust me you won’t fit into normal pants…you just won’t!

I also bought an inexpensive elastic jean extender and it honestly got me 3 extra months of wear out of my normal jeans. You could use a strong hair elastic twisted around your top button but I had a very unfortunate wardrobe malfunction doing this, so wouldn’t recommend it!

Long knit tops will be your best friend. Don’t be tempted to buy regular length tops as your bump will poke out the bottom once it gets some size! Avoid chunky knits as the name suggests you will look chunky, instead go for knits with a nice drape that skim your bump. You will probably have bigger boobs than normal (most definitely…get ready for it), so try tops and dresses with a round cut or v-neckline. I found long sleeve tops with a tighter cut around the sleeves to be the most flattering, as your arms look proportionately smaller as your bump gets bigger.

Second Trimester – Welcome to The Golden Age of Pregnancy! You may feel a little better by now and you probably aren’t waddling just yet, ENJOY IT! You now have my permission to buy some more maternity pieces but not without going through your wardrobe again and removing items that no longer fit. This will make the daily ‘what am i going to wear dilemma’ easier to manage.

If you’re still working at this stage, you’ve probably ditched your pencil skirt along with your ability to tolerate small talk. Now is the time to get a few key, work appropriate, pieces that you can style different in ways. Bonus points if you can wear/work/feed in them after baby comes. Think roomy shirts and dresses you can button up, stretch skirts with elasticised waistbands and maternity tailored pants. Choose neutral shades to get more wear out of less pieces and go for natural fibres that let your hot little body breathe!

Third Trimester – By now you’re probably filling out most of your remaining clothes, but that’s okay because this is the time to let that bump shine! Wearing form fitting stretch dresses and tops will stop you feeling like a blob and make you look like the curvy goddess you are! Keep in mind though this pregnancy won’t last forever (even though it absolutely feels that way!), so ask yourself ‘can I wear this after baby?’ if making any new purchases. You will most likely be spending more time at home in the final weeks of pregnancy and once baby arrives (I may have watched an entire season of GOT on my first day of maternity leave), so you will want to be comfortable. While I’m a huge fan of pyjamas there is a whole other maternity category that has sprung up since I had my first baby…leisure wear! Oh yes, some genius mamas have designed clothing that feels like pyjamas but you can actually answer the door in! Think drop crotch stretch pants, soft cotton feed tops and silky kimonos.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s not everyday that an entire beauty precinct opens up on your doorstep and one of your beauty idols is invited to host a beauty masterclass. So to say I had to make a concerted effort to keep my fangirl vibes to a minimum, would be slightly understating it. For those of you not yet aquatinted with rising beauty queen Eleanor Pendleton she is beauty editor royalty (descendent of Zoë Foster-Blake) and founder of go-to beauty website and online magazine Gritty Pretty, not to mention just a straight up, beautifully warm, no nonsense human who epitomes effortless style. If this girl had any advice to give, you can bet I was lined up early to hear it.

With her face glowing brighter than the push, pink velvet backdrop she was perched in front of and her understated elegance looking equally appropriate for a brunch in Bondi or fashion week in Paris, she opened up about her business, her work/life balance and of course how to achieve her signature minimalist make up look.

On Skincare she emphasised using your morning and evening routine as time to yourself. She is also a fan of meditation, getting enough sleep (although admits she doesn’t) and looking after yourself.

On how to achieve a Minimal Day Look her techniques and products are as follows.

Wear a Liquid Illuminator under your foundation but only apply on the high points of the face. Avoid matte foundations and powders that can make your skin look older.

For Foundation she recommends NARS Sheer Glow, applied with fingers to warm the product. I personally use this foundation also as its one of the only brands that have a colour light enough for my pale skin without making me look pasty!

Her top choice for Concealer is NARS Creamy Concealer applied over the top of your foundation. This is so you don’t end up wiping most of it away when applying your foundation.

She goes for NARS Laguna Bronzer (as a lot of beauty editors, make up artists and female humans do) and even applies to her eyelids as well as her cheeks.

When it comes to a Highlighter she tends to stick with Urban Decays’s powder highlighters, applied with a small brush so you don’t look like a light bulb. I’m suddenly realising how she looks so dewy and glowing for an early morning on a Saturday!

For Mascara she recommends curling your lashes with a slightly warmed curler and applying Stila Major Lash over the top.

Lastly for Lips Hourglass No.28 Lip Treatment Oil is her winter go-to, she’s a strong advocate for using oils as they are hydrating and don’t make your skin oily, country to popular belief.

So there you have it, a totally no nonsense approach to beauty and life. Fangirl status permanent.

 

 

 

How often do you look into your wardrobe and feel your heart sink? How often do you see something in a store and buy it on impulse, only to find it at the back of your cupboard months later with the tags still on? If you are anything like me the answer is many, many times! I used to be a serious impulse shopper who couldn’t resist a bargain. Working in fashion for over a decade, with easy access to discounts and warehouse sales, left my wardrobe overflowing with options. And yet everyday I would get up, stare into my wardrobe and feel like I had nothing to wear. I’d go about my day feeling like what I was wearing didn’t reflect my true style. I couldn’t understand it, I worked in fashion, I was creative and intelligent, why couldn’t I put a look together I was happy with?

This of course went to a whole new level when I got pregnant. If I thought I had nothing to wear before, you can only imagine how hard I found dressing for a season of body changes, breastfeeding and running after a mucus producing toddler! To be honest I totally gave up. Is it clean, is it comfortable, were the only criteria. If it wasn’t easy to throw on it went to the back of the closet. I soon realised that I needed to take back control of my wardrobe and get myself out of my style rut! But it had to be easy and sustainable over the long term, or I knew it wasn’t going to work. I never really had a lightbulb moment or life changing event that set me straight, but slowly over time I discovered ways to make dressing much easier and more fulfilling. My instinct to make my life easier lead to simplifying my style and ultimately making my dream wardrobe achievable. Today I have never felt more confident in what I wear and am so inspired to help others achieve the same.

So here are three ways to make dressing yourself easier:

 

Do a Wardrobe Cleanse! – When your wardrobe is cluttered it takes up space in your home, your mind and makes it almost impossible to make a quick decision. Get rid of anything that no longer reflects who you are now. If it doesn’t fit, don’t hold onto it until it does. You would be surprised how many times I’ve gone through a client’s wardrobe and found clothes that are too small, and about 10 years out of date! They swear blind ‘when they lose the weight’ etc they will wear it again. Well guess what? When you do lose the weight, that style won’t be current, it will smell musty and be eternally creased from being shoved at the back of your wardrobe! Do yourself a favour and buy something new and special. You totally deserve it! Which brings me to my next point.

Wear Luxe…Everyday  – Wear something everyday that makes you feel special. I achieve this by spending the bulk of my budget on quality, everyday pieces I love. This is by far the most effortless way to look luxe. I always choose the best quality pieces I can afford because not only do they last longer, are often more ethically made and environmentally friendly, they make me feel like the best version of myself…everyday. This means the handbag I carry, the coat I wear all winter long or the sheets I sleep in, anything I am in constant contact with, has to be something I love. Don’t blow all your money on something you’ll wear once, like a dress for an event. Buy quality everyday pieces and you’ll feel more confident, more often.

Plan your outfits – while it might sound like a lot of work, planning what you are going to wear saves you so much time in the long run. There are many easy (lazy and a bit cheaty) ways to do this, but my main ones are: a) Lay your outfit out the night before. I remember when I first started exercising regularly I found it so hard to get up in the morning. A friend suggested that I lay out my activewear the night before so the decision to workout was already made. I was shocked at how much easier it was to get out the door. Handy when you haven’t had coffee yet! b) When you are having a good outfit day, take a snap and save it to an album on your phone. If you are having a particularly good day try putting a few outfits together while you feel inspired. Then when that dreaded ‘I have nothing to wear’ feeling comes up, you will have an album of outfits ready to go. There some good apps that can help with this also. I personally use Stylebook as it’s super easy once set up and I can sit on the couch watching Netflix, create dozens of outfits from things I already have in my wardrobe, all without getting up. I can even add things straight from the internet and see what they will go with, before I buy them. It also comes in handy when out shopping, as you can quickly see if you already have something similar and don’t double up.

Hopefully these points help you on your way to an effortless wardrobe, that reflects your true style. Please feel free to ask questions below and if you think you need more help, I have wardrobe and styling packages available on my Services page.

 

Amelia

xx