One of the biggest mistake I made while being pregnant is buying unnecessary pregnancy clothes instead of investing in maternity basics and essentials, I hope this article will convince you to start your motherhood journey as a sustainable mama !
I wouldn’t emphasise enough how your aspirations, thoughts, likes and state of mind will change when baby is here and your motherhood journey is a long one where your style will evolve and the only way to know what you will like as a new mother is to wait to be a new mother !
In the extraordinary period that is pregnancy, your natural glow is really enough and instead of investing in maternity clothes, we would chose to use fresh and light make up, to take care of your beautiful hair, your hands and feet, to focus on your spiritual and mental wellbeing instead of spending money on specialised maternity outfits which are rarely stylish and pretty !
Goal 1 – Be a Sustainable Mama
The clothing industry makes up 10% of humanity’s carbon emissions, it’s the 4th most polluting industry after energy, transport and agriculture and the 2nd biggest consumer of water.
As you are starting your journey to motherhood, let’s cut the unnecessary spending and protect our first mother, PLANET EARTH.
Why would you buy pregnancy clothes made by the largest polluting clothing brands such as H&M, ASOS, Mango, Primark that you would wear for only 9 months being very season-dependent?
The maternity clothing market is a giant cash machine as the whole maternity business and your first choice as a mother should be to invest in your long-lasting future as a mum, not only for your 9 months being pregnant.
Let’s not forget that children are high consumers of clothing especially in the first years as they will be changing size very often, and you wouldn’t want to add to that extra unnecessary buying with clothes restricted to your 9 months of pregnancy.
Goal 2 – Invest in Maternity basics
As you are pregnant, you will start asking yourself all these questions about birth, breastfeeding, recovery, your body changes.
We all know the unexpected aspect of birth and as you are diving into the unknown, you can only trust the basics for any expecting mother which are:
- Comfortable pairs of leggings (from Varley, BellyBandit or NatalActive)
- Comfortable bras (with a breastfeeding option or not), you really don’t need to spend so much on those as Marks & Spencer makes really nice ones
- Comfortable underwear (from Marks & Spencer) white, black, nude
- Home-wear (as you will spend so much time at home with your newborn in the first months)
- Breastfeeding tops (from TajineBanane even if breastfeeding won’t happen in the end you won’t regret the quality/style of these tops)
Goal 3 – Invest in long-lasting Motherhood pieces
Of course, you want to look good and comfortable as you are experiencing all the maternity changes in your body but let’s focus on the bigger journey to motherhood which is not only restricted to pregnancy itself.
As I was pregnant with my first child, I deeply thought that the biggest and most challenging part of the maternity journey was pregnancy and birth, I cannot emphasise enough how wrong these assumptions were.
Motherhood is a long-run game and you want to be prepared for all the steps of it and your look investments should reflect that maternity goes beyond pregnancy and birth recovery.
- Your maternity clothes best-friends will be easy-to-wear loose and comfortable dresses and skirts, that you can style adding an oversized blazer or a tight sweater.
- A couple of comfortable pair of trousers and jeans is non negotiable as a mother but don’t worry those won’t cost a lot. You will really want to wear comfortable trousers and jeans, not only for pregnancy or just after birth but for the first years of your children as you will be spending most of your time kneeling or sitting on the floor, feeding them, changing them, bathing them and more essentially playing with them.
- Comfortable and easy-to-wash tops are also very important as those will get so dirty if you chose to breastfeed or not. Ethical, sustainable, soft fabric for your baby is key, as he will spend so much time laying on you.
- Quality comfy underwear is one of the investments I didn’t make and that I would highly recommend as it will last for your pregnancy, birth and your first months as a mother. Leggings are also a must-have and so useful for layering up !
- Shoes are also something we tend to forget in the pregnancy looks and as our body will be carrying more weight, while pregnant and after birth, investing in comfortable high quality flat shoes is super necessary and will save your back and feet.
- I also quickly realised that my designer bags were really not convenient anymore during my pregnancy but especially after my baby was born as I was struggling to carry my diaper bag at the same time as pushing a pram or wearing my baby carrier. Very quickly, I opted for a stylish convenient small size crossbody bag where I could fit only my true essentials which are my phone, my wallet and my keys to keep my other two arms free for my baby !
Goal 4 – Alternatives to buying anything new beyond the basics
If you don’t want to spend any money besides the maternity basics listed above:
- The easiest and most sustainable way would be to borrow from friends and family in your area
- You could also use circular fashion apps such as ByRotation or Hurr Collective who often list pregnancy dresses for special events or occasions.
- You can also buy second-hand pregnancy clothes from Vinted, DressMyBumpPreloved or Pumpkin
- But I will admit that most of the time during my pregnancy and my first months as a new mum I was mostly borrowing from my man’s closet. His sweaters, tops, and cardigans really looked great on both of us !
- If you are pregnant in winter, classic tights that you will wear front-back to fit your belly are a really good tip
It’s interesting to note that the maternity clothing market has been recently booming with the rising number of pregnant women in the working population. But the same reasoning applies if you are a working expecting mother/new mother/breastfeeding mother you will only need to buy the basics and twist them with a man shirt or sweater, a large dress or a skirt that you would wear over the bump.
Goal 5 – Embrace & Own Your Motherhood Style
I would not emphasise enough how you will regret buying too many pregnancy clothes that will fill your closets and space when you need that extra space for your mind and your baby.
Maternity truly goes beyond pregnancy and your style will definitely evolve as your life is changing and I will invest in my new style as a mother more than anything else.
Think about mothers that inspire you around you and what are their key investment pieces, but don’t buy anything as you are pregnant as your mood swings may lead to wrong buying decisions.
Really avoid unnecessary spending but embrace all these amazing changes in your body ! One last thing I would strongly highlight is please do not buy anything for after baby is born while you are pregnant, this is just a terrible mistake !
And more importantly always have fun along the way in your motherhood journey !
