Maternity clothes are great! ...when you're pregnant, but not so much when you're seven months postpartum. It's taken me those seven months to realize that the birth of a child doesn’t mean the death of style! Although I'm also realizing that style plus a mom pooch can easily equal discomfort, confusion, and discouragement. So I had to get back to the basics!
The Basics to Finding Your Style
Body Type
Find out your body type.
Balance
Once you know your body type, it's just a matter of pairing the right items to create balance for your shape.
Buy
NOW you can buy the perfect wardrobe, now that you’ve done your homework. (I spent years doing this process backwards.)
My Postpartum Wardrobe Journey
I hate having 20 million outfits to wash and put away and only actually liking 5 of them. The idea of a minimalist wardrobe consisting of 30 pieces sounds like a magical dream to me...but it's a huge work in progress.
Maybe one day I'll have the closet and wardrobe of my dreams, but for now I'm just slowly working towards that by trying to focus on getting clothes I actually like and will want to repeatedly wear. This got me really thinking about what clothes I had been BUYING and what clothes I had actually been WEARING.
So many times I would love a piece in the store, but I’d end up not wearing it very often...why was this? I was in the process of MAJORLY paring down my wardrobe when I took inventory on my "toss pile." It was full of clothes I thought would be great to cover my mom pooch (but didn't) or clothes that were 2 sizes bigger and STILL hugged my blobby parts tighter than high school volleyball spanks. Uuuuuuugggggg! I felt like I was doomed to look like a frumpy sack of potatoes forever.
So I started thinking about how to shop for a new and BETTER wardrobe. There are so many things that should go into shopping for a new wardrobe that I had never really taken the time to think about before. So I thought I'd share with you the things I learned on my wardrobe journey!
Body Types
Knowing and dressing for your body type is probably THE MOST IMPORTANT part of finding your personal style, and yet it's often the most overlooked aspect. Below is a quick look at the different body types. For a more detailed look into each body type see THIS POST.
Rectangle
Your upper body tends to be the same width as your lower body. Often referred to as “boxy.”
Pear or Triangle
Your smaller upper body (shoulders, chest, and stomach) and wider lower body (hips, thighs, and bottom) are divided by a defined waistline.
Inverted Triangle or Strawberry
Your upper body (shoulders, chest, and stomach) measure wider than your smaller lower body.
(Apple) Oval
Your middle section holds most of your weight (chest, upper arms, stomach, hips, and bottom). The Apple Shape is broken into two shapes: Oval and Diamond. Diamonds have a high stomach, while Ovals have a lower stomach.
Ovals tend to have fuller bottoms and thighs.
(Apple) Diamond
Your middle section holds most of your weight (chest, upper arms, stomach, hips, and bottom). The Apple Shape is broken into two shapes Diamond and Oval. Diamonds have a high stomach, while Ovals have a lower stomach.
As a Diamond, your waist tends to be the widest part of your frame.
Hourglass
Your upper body and lower body are similar in width and you have a well defined waistline. Often referred to as “curvy.”
Balance
Balance tends to be the subconscious reason behind all the clothes you love or hate. Aside from colors, patterns, and things of that nature, you will usually love or hate something based on the way you look it in. If you're not correctly balancing or dressing for your body type, chances are you're "hating" a lot of really lovable pieces because you haven't properly paired them or chosen them for your body. (This was my problem!) Below is how you can create the proper balance between your upper and lower half for your particular body type.
Rectangle
Creating curves and defining your waistline will balance your shape.
Pear or Triangle
Add definition to your upper body (waist and chest) to balance out your lower body.
Inverted Triangle or Strawberry
Add definition to your upper body and chest, while accentuating your lower body to create balance.
(Apple) Oval
Create balance by adding definition to your waist and hips. Look for ways to both lengthen your torso and create a more defined waistline.
(Apple) Diamond
Look for ways to downplay your midriff by adding definition to your upper body and chest to draw attention up to your shoulders and face.
Hourglass
Maintain your body’s natural shape by accentuating your slender waistline and curves.
For specific ways you can create the proper balance for your individual body type see my blog post HERE.
Buy
You've done your research, you’ve got a plan... Now it’s time to buy. But let’s talk about how you’ll buy……….
So many times we say we're going "shopping" but really we're going "buying." We have very little intention of "shopping around," typically we are going into a store with the intention of coming out of it with something in our hands. Something cute, something on sale, or just something new.
Things to keep in mind when buying
Budget
It might be a good idea to budget out how much you want to spend on a new wardrobe before you go into the store all willy-nilly and gung-ho. Decide what items you need to splurge on. Think about what items you will likely need or want to spend a little more on to insure better quality. I hate spending very much on tanks, but honestly they are something that gets worn the most so they are worth spending extra in order to get longer wear out of them.
You may also want to "budget out" (so to speak) how much space you have in your closet. If you're a Goodwill junkie like I used to be, you may not be wasting much money on clothes, but you can be wasting closet space on items just because they were cheap and not because you need them or even really like them.
Bargain
Think about what items you can go cheap on. If it's an item that is seasonal or won’t typically be worn or used as much then I say you might as well save some money!
Binge
Binge on the items you know are versatile. A great example would be plain tees and tanks, as they are very versatile. Getting 2 or 3 in different colors may turn out to be a great decision. If it's in a fabric and style that looks good on you it will likely be a better purchase than getting several different items and only really liking and wearing one of them.
I've created a FREE downloadable shopping guide with more tips on how to build a better wardrobe by shopping smarter. These are the exact tips I've been using to build my postpartum (i.e. mom pooch friendly) wardrobe that I love and feel good in! Download your free guide here!
What is the value of a new wardrobe?
Function
You need clothes that perform the way they are supposed to. Examples: joggers you can jog in, nursing tops and dresses, shoes to get you where you're going, etc. Sometimes you need new things to simply help you function better in day to day life.
Comfort
It's hard to function properly when you aren't comfortable in your clothes. If your joggers don't fit right, you won't be as apt to jog. If your tops and especially dresses aren't nursing friendly, you'll be stuck looking for restrooms and other undesirable places to hide out. If your shoes suck you'll be like that grumpy gal that sits next to Forrest Gump. (One of her only lines was "My feet hurt.")
Confidence
Ah, that elusive white whale. Confidence is a tricky thing, but being comfortable in your clothes is the first step in the right direction. Check out my in depth post on how to be more confident in your clothes.
---Related Blog Post: How to Dress with Confidence!
The Smart Shopper
As you may have noticed, shopping for a new wardrobe has very little to do with actual shopping. It has everything to do with your body type, creating the right balance for your body type, and buying the right things by shopping smarter. I hope that this post has given you a few tools to help you shop smarter while you're on your wardrobe journey!
I would love to hear what has helped you in the struggles and victories of creating a new wardrobe!
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