Maternity Wardrobe Essentials: Part Three

Maternity Wardrobe Essentials: Part Three

Shirts
Many would suggest a white shirt as maternity wardrobe essential, but I'm not really a white shirt kind of a person.  I do have one hanging in my wardrobe, but when did I last wear it? Who knows?? So I am not going to include a white shirt here, but if the white shirt works for you, then of course there are many maternity options out there for you.  Me; I prefer a denim shirt and the beauty is these don't even have to be maternity and you will probably already have one or two in your wardrobe.  

Here's me with my oldest, both of us rocking the denim shirt (the youngest is only 10 weeks so he has yet to try his first denim shirt!  This is my favourite one, which was all over Instagram a while back.  It's from H&M with little jewelled bugs all over the front, which sadly you can't really see from this picture.  I wore this loads during my last pregnancy, I wore it early on as the fit is quite loose, and then as my bump got bigger I wore it open with a camisole underneath.  Perfect amount of sparkle for a night out, not that there were many of those during pregnancy, and hence why I didn't want to spend/waste money on unnecessary items when I have a wardrobe full of things I could just style a little differently than usual.

As I am quite a munchkin, I find that maternity shirts just swamp me and I end up looking much bigger than I actually am and somewhat like a weeble, which as lovely as weebles are, in all honesty it's not a good look.  So I tend to style the maternity shirt by simply throwing it on over whatever I have on underneath, vest, t-shirt, dress - anything goes.  If you don't happen to have a denim shirt in your wardrobe, here's a few you could try...

The classic blue denim

Gap Denim Shirt £34.95

Or  this one reduced in the sale

 Gap Denim Shirt £19.99

Leather Leggings

You might think I am going crazy suggesting this, but they honestly work.  In my case as I may have gained a little weight on the bum and hips (who doesn't), I have styled them slightly differently than pre-pregnancy, but with a slouchy jumper, top and blazer or an open shirt (see above) these can look great during pregnancy.  I would suggest faux leather as it's cheaper and can look pretty near the real thing if you choose right, and you don't really want to be spending hundreds of pounds on something you may only wear for a short while.  It's tricky to recommend a particular brand as I think you need to try these on, but I have always liked H&M as for what you are spending the quality and finish is pretty good. 

H&M actually do a maternity version, with an over the bump band.

 H&M Mama Leggings £24.99

But I actually wore a non-maternity pair that I had bought prior to pregnancy which had a stretchy top band (find similar here).  I would just suggest trying them on and seeing which are the most comfortable (whilst I am a lover of fashion, when pregnant comfort is super important).

Thank you for reading.  I would love to hear your comments. 

Maternity Wardrobe Essentials: Part Two

Maternity Wardrobe Essentials: Part Two

Vests

As your bump gets bigger its worth in'vest'ing (sorry!!) in some maternity vests as you will get loads of wear out of these, and I have always worn mine post baby too as they are handy while you till have your mum tum and also great for breastfeeding.  Whatever season you are pregnant in, these are essential, and you can wear them in a number of ways, either layering up under jumpers to keep you warm in the winter, under a shirt in the spring and on their own in the summer.  There are loads out there and they really aren't expensive, but my favourite ones are from Gap (plain) and Topshop (ribbed).  They come in a range of colours, are really soft, wash well and are pretty cheap - so what's not to like.  I would invest in three or four different colours which fit with your wardrobe colour palette.  In my case I went for black, white, grey and navy.

 Gap Pure Body Tank £9.95

These are proper maternity ones, with the ruching (?spelling but hopefully you know what I mean) at the sides, so they grow to fit around your bump.  However, I am still currently wearing these post baby and you would never know the difference.  Gap are also doing free delivery with any maternity purchase, so grab them while the offer is still on.  They also sometimes come up with a three for two deal so it's worth getting them when they are on offer if you've missed the free postage deal.

Topshop Maternity Ribbed Vest £6

These are great really soft and stretchy and there is also a two for £10 offer on these.  They come in a range of colours so you have plenty to chose from.  These don't look like maternity wear, as they don't have the ruching at the sides, so perfect for wearing post baby.

 

Breton 

Now on to my favourite subject, the stripe or the breton.  I have lost count of the number of these I have in my wardrobe, but I wear them all the time so I can justify it.  Pregnancy is no different, you might think avoid stripes they will make me look wider but you couldn't be more wrong, in fact a tight fitting breton over your bump I think actually has the opposite effect.

So the holy grail of the maternity breton is the Isabella Oliver one, great quality and an amazing fit.  If you are someone who lives in breton then it's probably worth the investment.  You can always sell it on ebay afterwards, to recycle and make some money back to buy some post baby clothes.

Isabella Oliver Striped Maternity Top £59

If you are looking for a more budget friendly option, I would suggest Topshop or H&M.  Topshop currently have this beauty for a third of the price of the Isabella Oliver one.  It's more of a slouchy fit, and a slightly different stripe (so you could always get both!).

Topshop Maternity Stripe Top £20

 
H&M have quite a few online at the moment and I am really loving the basic breton short sleeve t-shirt for less than a tenner.  The long sleeve version is slightly more expensive, but I'm not so keen on the wide stripes personally (although they do have different colours in the stripe and also a leopard print).

 H&M Striped Maternity T-shirt £7.99

Or for a little more money there is this one nursing top, which you could wear when pregnant and also when breastfeeding.

H&M Striped Nursing Top £17.99

Or this one, which has a cute frill detail, and if your tuned in to Instagram you will see that frills are everywhere.

H&M Mama Stripe Frill Top £17.99

 

Thank you for reading.  I would love to hear your comments. 

Gray Days

Gray Days

Since we have been having so many grey days recently (am I the only one that is done with this weather?) I thought I would share with you a little treat I ordered for myself the other week from The Gray Store, which has brightened up my days.

The Gray Store is a UK company based in Brighton who are passionate about British design and production.  They make the most gorgeous personalised items and they come delivered in beautiful packaging, which is perfect as a little treat for yourself or a gift for someone special.

The Gray Store have a range of products available including a kids selection of babygrows, blankets and t-shirts and some household items such as wash bags and storage sacks.  I decided to order a cosmetic bag, which I am so so happy with and at only £13.50, I think is really good value.  They also have pretty reasonable postage costs (about £3 I think), which is good, as extortionate postage is a huge bug bear of mine.

Personalised Cosmetic Bag £13.50 

These come in two sizes (medium and large) and two different colours (natural or black) and you can also choose the fabric for your personalisation. They have a range of six colourful fabrics; indigo web, hot yellow, blush, polar grey, dark washed denim and light washed denim. 

  
I was really tempted by the dark denim and the yellow, but I eventually opted for the indigo web as I thought this was a bit different, and I am really pleased with my choice. Each appliqued letter is hand cut and you really feel like the product has been made just for you and with such good care and attention to detail.

As a mum, I love storage bags like this, there are so many uses for them.  I have a range of different pouches or bags that I use to store different things, not just when I am travelling but on a day to day basis too. When my little boy was tiny, my nappy bag was filled with several pouches like these, which made my life so much easier as I knew exactly where to find the thing that I needed, rather than having to trawl through the whole bag to find that one little thing.  Back then, mine weren't quite as stylish as I had not yet discovered The Gray Store!
 

Finally, here I am putting my cosmetic bag to good use, even though it is a medium, it's still like a tardis and you can actually fit quite a lot in them.  I would say it would be great for either make up, day to day essentials (as below) or even for a weekend away.

 

Thank you for reading.  I would love to hear your comments and which (if any) of The Gray Store products you were tempted by. 

 NB. This is not a sponsored post and all thoughts and opinions are my own.  

 

The Joy of Sleep

So having written mostly "Choo" posts, I thought I would include another "Goo" post for the little ones.  I'm sure there are many other parents out there who sympathise with the sleepless nights that little ones bring.  I shouldn't really complain as our little boy is a pretty good sleeper in many respects, he pretty much goes to bed when it's bedtime, usually with minimal protest although sometimes he will try his luck and test out his negotiation skills with a view to getting an extra episode of Octonauts/Paw Patrol/Fireman Sam etc or an extra story.  Once we have finished his night time routine and said our good nights, he will usually go straight to sleep (unless there is someone else at the house and he has a total FOMO). Oh, and he usually doesn't wake up until 7am at the earliest and sometimes not even until 8am on a weekend.  

Sounds good right? Well it is, until about an hour or so after we go to bed and then the little monkey has developed a habit of coming into our bed in the middle of the night.  Which either ends up with me and my husband sleeping top to tail with him in the middle, or the husband gets too annoyed and vacates to the spare room.  We have tried rewards and had intermittent success with this, but I'm actually wondering if we need to cosy up his bed a little.  We have a huge king size bed, a lovely fluffy duvet and pillows and of course it's very snuggly with the three of us in there.  

So having been somewhat inspired by the beautiful bedding as seen on Little Spree's Instagram 

and in a desperate attempt to get some uninterrupted sleep, I am clutching at straws and basically upping the bedding game.  You may laugh and it probably won't work, but to be fair his bedding is pretty rubbish, he's had it for a while and it really does need updating.  Who knows, maybe having big boy bedding will work, and if not, hopefully his bedroom will look a little more stylish.  

When I was a little girl the options for children's bedding were pretty dire and my taste was a little more My Little Pony than I would like to admit.  I know there will come a time when our little boy will want character bedding, but for now I'm going to take advantage of the fact that he will still gladly accept mummy's choices.

Monochrome

You might think black, white and grey a little dull for a children's room, but I disagree.  Done well, it can look really beautiful, just trawl through Pinterest or Instagram and you'll see what I mean.  You can also jazz it up a little by pops of colour here and there.

 H&M Star Print Duvet Set £14.99

H&M Herringbone Blanket £29.99

also available in coral, mint and yellow

H&M Animal Duvet Set £14.99  

Multi-coloured

There are some really beautiful multi-coloured bedding sets and accessories out there for children, which would brighten up any kid's room and suit both boys or girls.

Zara Pom Pom Bedding £9.99-£69.99 

Zara Multicoloured Blanket £29.99

Classic Blue or Pink

For those who want to stick to the classics, there is always lots available.

Zara Cars Print Bedding £9.99-£39.99

The White Company Bertie Quilt £68

Marks and Spencer Navy Throw £69

Zara Pom Pom Cushion £19.99 

Zara Polka Dot Bedlinen £9.99-£49.99

Zara Crochet Blanket £49.99

Zara Striped Cushion £19.99

Stripe Strip Baby

Those of you who know me well, will know I have a bit of a stripe addiction.  The arrival of this black and ivory long sleeved breton has prompted me to write this post; a collection of the current bretons available. 

In my defence I ordered this way before Christmas using a £10 gift voucher the lovely people at Boden had sent me, which with the (also very generous) 20% off discount and free delivery at the time meant that it has cost me a grand total of £10.  They appear to have slightly upped the price on these, and they are now £26.50 rather than the £25 they used to be, but I would still say worth the money as the quality is great and you can usually get a discount on the website and free delivery, just subscribe to their emails and wait for the good news to pop into your inbox.  I already have this top in the navy with ivory stripe and the ivory with navy stripe and I love love love these tops.  They are so easy to throw on and a really nice fit.  There did however seem to be a bit of delay with this colour and it has only just arrived (love your stripes boden but not so pleased with the wait), but for those of you looking now, it's back in stock so grab it while you can, you won't be disappointed.

Boden also have some other stripey offerings, as promoted by the lovely Laura and Petro from Wardrobe Icons, which I have yet to try, but they look great from the pictures (it does help when they are modelled by two beautiful and stylish ladies).  

I love the supersoft oversized top as seen here modelled by Laura, which is £29.50 before any kind of discount that may be available on the website.

and the supersoft swing top as seen here modelled by Petro, which is also £29.50.

You can even get both with Boden's two for £50 offer.

The holy grail of the breton I hear is the Petit Bateau version, but at £55, I have yet to check it out.  Although having had a quick peek at the woman's iconic mariniere in heavy jersey, I am quite tempted.  I have had some children's clothes from Petit Bateau, and the quality was really good, so it may well be worth the investment after all.

For those of you, who like a little detail with your stripes, I love this from Heart Stripe Top from Topshop for only £18.  It also comes in a short sleeved version for the summer months, but I personally prefer a long sleeve breton.

For mammas to be or new mammas, this maternity stripe overlay nursing dress is great.  I had something similar from JoJo Maman Bebe when I had my first baby, but it cost nearly twice as much and was nowhere near as stylish.  This one is only £28, and I promise you will wear it loads when pregnant and beyond.  Bodycon stripes over a baby bump look great, and trust me, this will be one of the only types of dress that you can wear if you are breastfeeding.  I really missed my dresses when breastfeeding and this style is great to get around this.

For your bargain stripes, you can never go wrong with good old H&M, and they have quite a selection at the moment.  I really like this striped jersey top with a slightly loser fit for only £12.99 

and this striped cotton top for only £14.99.

Finally for the littles, how about this gorgeous knitted cotton jumper for £6.99 for the boys

and this cute sweatshirt for £5.59 for the girls.

For the older boys, you cannot go wrong with a classic, like this long sleeved t-shirt, especially when it is only £4.99.

For the older girls I am loving a bit of neon with the stripe of this decorated jersey top for only £5.99.

 
So this might be taking my stripe addiction a little too far, but how about this jute storage basket for the home.  They are not huge, but would be great for storing the hundreds of cars or figures my little one has accumulated over the years.

Thank you for reading.  I would love to hear your comments and other breton recommendations

 

Love is in the Air

So I thought I would try to be a little organised and put together a valentine's gift list early

Flowers will always go down well in my book (are you listening Mr Smith?) and the lovely people at Bloom and Wild have some gorgeous bouquets available.  For those of you not familiar with the company, they basically send your bunch of flowers in a handy cardboard box that fits right through your letterbox so no waiting in for or missing a delivery.  I've not received these flowers personally (can you hear the tiny violin playing in the background), but I have sent these to a few friends and family and seen the beautiful blooms that have arrived.  I think they are really reasonably priced for what you get, and they have a range of prices to suit.  They also quite often have introductory and ongoing offers which makes them even more reasonable. There is a 10% off offer on the website right now if you subscribe to their emails.  My pick of the bunch (sorry) is as follows:

 

Underwear is also always a winner, and there are some really lovely reasonably priced items out there including this H&M Lace Body £19.99
 

and also quite a few offerings at Topshop, my favourites are this Floral Lace Bra and Knicker set for £30

 and this Embroidered Crop Top and Pant for £46

For Foodies...Godminster have the most amazing cheese, and not only is it incredibly delicious it also comes in special heart shape gift packs such as this one which is only £14.95.

Biscuiteers do some lovely gifts for many occasions, but I am really loving this Personalised Lobster Card

It is quite pricey and the lovely people at not on the high street have some fabulous unique gifts, including a cheaper version of the lobster card here

For the little people in your life, there are some reasonably priced valentine's inspired pieces at H&M.  I love these heart shape shades - so cool!  We just now need a little bit of sunshine.

 

This vest is cute for the tiny ones, seem a shame not to get them involved in the festivities, and I think this could work equally well for a girl or a boy.

You can never go wrong with a pair of kids converse, our little man has these and absolutely rocks them (proud mummy moment, sorry!).  We tend to stock up when we are in the states as they are a little bit cheaper, but you can quite often be lucky and pick some up in the sales.

and finally these gorgeous dungarees if only I were a little smaller!

Happy Valentine's Day x