As I am entering "countdown phase" - only a week until me due date - I thought it would be fun to share my capsule wardrobe during pregnancy with you. Note that I only have 16 pieces of clothing and three pairs of shoes. For more variation, I added jewelry. Depending on the occasion, I would use some nice and elegant pieces or bold statement / costume jewelry.
First things first, you will notice that there is no first trimester capsule wardrobe over here. That is because I really did not need any other clothes during the first trimester. My fall / winter 2014/15 capsule was working just fine. If you want to see how that wardrobe looked like, click here.
As for the second trimester, I first wore a lot of clothes handed down to me from a friend. The only new items I bought were the two cardigans you can see in the upper picture, the dusty pink blazer and the short black dress. Eventually I grew out of most of her hand me downs while at the same time the weather was getting warmer so I decided to stock up. This was half-way through my second trimester.
Before hitting the shops, I took a minute to think about what I wanted to buy and how I could make the most of what I already had combined with a few new items. These are the points I took into consideration and they yielded me a very versatile capsule wardrobe from which I can mix and match endlessly.
Consider:
- the color scheme:
I really liked blue and green for my capsule summer wardrobe... even before knowing that I was pregnant. See the original post here. So I also stuck with blue and green / aqua tones for the capsule. I added grey and black as neutrals. The grey was light enough for summer and the few black pieces came in handy when I had to dress a bit smarter.
- the dress code:
You will also see that I went with lots of cotton and stretchy, comfy materials. I wanted to feel comfortable and give baby room to roll around and kick and be happy. For my job this capsule was smart enough but if you wanted to look more business-like, just exchange the T-shirts for tunics or blouses and the grey pencil skirt for a fancier option.
- the preggo body:
As it got warmer, my feet started to swell. Sorry if this is TMY, but hey, lots of pregnant women have issues with water retention. Its not all glowy skin and happiness ;) So I invested in two pairs of cheap ballerina flats which were nice to walk in and can be wrecked by my ever-expanding elephant feet. Once I gave birth, I will just throw them away. Not that I went with a neutral beige pair and a coral one for a pop of color whenever the rest of the outfit was rather monochrome. Right now, as we are in the middle of summer and I am on maternity leave, the sandals I bought on holiday in Greece last year are my absolute favourite... and the shoes that still fit me the best.
- the budget:
I did not want to invest in a lot of high-priced items. For me this did not make sense as I am planning to get back to my old clothes asap and hanging on to maternity wear which so nicely stretches just makes getting back in shape more difficult. So I was very picky with "investment pieces". At the same time, there are key pieces that just have to fit well. Like short black maternity dress, the maternity trousers and the tunic. These I bought from maternity shops while the rest of the pieces were either from the "bigger sizes" section or just regular clothes with a nice amount of stretch in them. The T-shirts especially were a nice find for 5 euros each and they hold up perfectly. Just like the grey dress (I actually have the breton stripe version of this dress but could not find it online anymore). That dress is standard H&M, cost me 20 euros and is my absolute favourite even now in the last phase of pregnancy.
So buy wisely. Just because maternity fashion exists, you need not buy all your clothes from there. Look around, a lot of regular clothes do the trick just as well.
To end this post with, I want to give you a quick glance at some of the outfits I was able to throw together with a 19 item wardrobe. Here are 6 options for work and 6 options for more casual wear but by just swopping out the cardigans or the tops you can end up with way more.
Enjoy!
The office outifts:
The casual outfits:
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