Style Strategy 006: What I learnt about pregnancy dressing second time around

What I learnt during pregnancy dressing v2.0. (I got bored of what I wore the first time.)

I assumed I would approach pregnancy dressing the exact same way I did the first time round. I’m a stickler for consistency.

And yes, for the most part, I did: I avoided maternity clothes (except for a pair of $8 H&M maternity bike shorts), wore lots of black (a given, really), and tried to stretch my existing wardrobe — literally, and metaphorically.

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But, being pregnant in a different season made things trickier. For my first pregnancy (v1.0) there was novelty enough in being pregnant, so I revelled in wearing a uniform of black leggings and black skivvy daily and throwing on a coat. It was also winter, and I was living in Melbourne.

This time around I was in Sydney which experienced crazy volatile temperatures and had a spring baby, making knitwear and outerwear not a viable option.

And, honestly, I was getting bored of wearing the same thing.

So, what should you do?

Style Strategy 002: Know your style history

If you’ve followed my Style Strategy series, you’ll know it pays to reflect on what you’ve worn before — pregnant or not — to figure out what works for you.

Everything is data. Ask yourself:

• How did that outfit make you feel?

• Was it practical?

• Did you wear it without thinking about it again all day? (That’s always the goal — you don’t want to be adjusting things constantly.)

Introducing 'Style Strategy' - a series on how to define your taste and personal style

Use those insights to build on what worked, and imagine how you want to feel now. And remember: just because you’re dressing for a different body doesn’t mean you need to abandon your style.

You don’t have to default to knit dresses and oversized shirts — the stereotypical “pregnancy wardrobe.” I never felt great in knit dresses, so they didn’t feature much in my lineup.

Pregnancy is also a great time to experiment. Have fun with your wardrobe. Try buttoning or styling things differently. Bring new life to pieces you’d otherwise retire. A shifting body can free you to explore what your style means — without feeling locked into what pregnancy “should” look like.

Below, I’ve covered 10 tips I learnt from pregnancy dressing 2.0, including:

• Add vertical lines to create visual lengths

• More on lines: drapery

• Styling tips

• Look for structure (and I don’t mean just tailoring)

• Experiment!

And more.

While I love to shop, there is a lot of shopping out there, and I really want to give you the tools to navigate shopping and style through identity rather than instantly thinking you need to buy something to ‘fix’ yourself and your sense of identity through your personal style.

Shopping links — which are the bread-and-butter to make so many Substacks financially feasible, including mine — will be limited for this series. Because of this, it will be a series for paid subscribers only.

You can upgrade your subscription here.

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