Treasure Every Moment: style

Tuesday, 16 July 2019

PREGNANCY: Finding Your Own Spring/Summer Maternity Style 2019

*Advertorial Content - Gifted Items

Finding out you're pregnant can bring on so many different emotions and then the moment your bump starts to appear there's a whole new challenge...what to wear? Despite having been pregnancy twice before I still find myself staring into my wardrobe at 15 weeks wondering what I am going to wear for the day?! I have plenty of maternity clothes from my previous pregnancies, but they were too big and my non-maternity clothes were getting too tight. Like a lot of women, I feel at my most body confident when I'm pregnant and am all about trying to show my bump from as early on as possible. Let's be honest, it's the only time I'm going to be wearing figure hugging clothes so why not make the most of it?

CHILDREN: Making more Ethical Clothing Choices

*Advertorial Content - Gifted Items

Making ethical, as well as more sustainable and fair, clothing choices is becoming something that a lot of parents are considering when purchasing clothes for their little ones. We are all more aware of the impact our lifestyle over the past decades has had on the planet, so taking action isn't so much of a choice anymore than a necessity. This paired with the desire to make more ethical and fair purchases can leave parents wondering where to shop. Little Green Radicals is a brand I have spoken about on here for years now, as each season they bring out a stunning range of clothing for babies, toddlers and children. Their designs, patterns and colours all work together so beautifully, but the ethos behind the brand is what really makes it stand out.

CHILDREN: Little Green Radicals Organic Fairtrade Autumn/Winter Collection 2018

*Advertorial Content

Every season Little Green Radicals seem to out do themselves with even more beautiful patterns and designs. They release a spring/summer collection and autumn/winter collection, both of which are specifically designed to suit the time of year ensuring that our little ones are wearing clothes that are both stylish and practical. Little Green Radicals have recently released their new autumn/winter collection for 2018 and it is probably my favourite collection to date. The magical, mystical and space inspired designs are simply beautiful and the range of new styles are exciting too.

STYLE: A Week of Mummy and Daughter (Breastfeeding Friendly) Outfits

Breastfeeding brings a whole array of logistical challenges, whether it be where to feed, trying to feed on-the-go or finding suitable clothing. Back when I was breastfeeding Isabella I really struggled with adapting my wardrobe to not only suit my 'post baby' body, but also that were nursing friendly. I spent many months feeling really self conscious and unsure of how to approach this new way of life.

BUSINESS: Isabella Mai-de Launch!

Many months ago I started researching ways I could personalise Isabella’s clothes, that’s when I stumbled upon hand stamping. It was instant excitement and after many trips to Hobbycraft/orders online I was finally ready to start hand stamping Isabella’s leggings. I stocked up on plain leggings, designed and made stamps, hand stamped the leggings and was amazed by the results! It quickly became a hobby I would do in any spare time I had, with the added challenge of carving my own rubber stamps too.

WARDROBE: Updating to Spring/Summer

It's that time of year again when Isabella's wardrobe needed updating. She had outgrown a lot of her clothes and they were no longer suitable for the weather, or that's my excuse for the update anyway. As I said on Monday I am so excited for this summer because Isabella will be old enough to run around and play outside. We can have trips to the park, feed the ducks, days out at the farm and maybe even the odd trip to the beach...I can't wait!

DIY: Hand printed Baby Leggings

I always thought that adding that personal touch to your babies clothes would require a lot of skill and experience. I'm not an experienced crafter, but that didn't stop me being able to handprint leggings for Isabella. It all came about because I was picking up a lot of really affordable leggings ready for Isabella starting nursery and wanted to make them a bit more exciting. I looked into making my own leggings (from scratch) but without a sewing machine I didn't really have the equipment to. The second best option seemed to be hand printing the leggings myself and honestly, it's so easy! I picked up a lot of leggings in the F&F Clothing sale for only £1.50 each and with the other equipment needed, the completely bespoke leggings only cost around £2. Very affordable! It's important you use Soft Fabric Paint because other kinds can dry hard and crispy, not particularly comfortable for your little one to wear.

FASHION: My Breastfeeding Friendly Capsule Wardrobe Outfits

As I explained in a previous post I have found finding suitable outfits for both breastfeeding and my changed body pretty difficult. So, after lots of searching online I have finally put together a capsule wardrobe of items that can be mixed and matched to create an array of breastfeeding friendly outfits. As part of all of these outfits are the H&M nursing vests, which I wear underneath tops. This means I lift up the normal top and unclip the nursing top, resulting in the minimum amount of skin is exposed! I loved wearing dresses before giving birth, so the there's a lot of skirt and top combinations, as it's the next best thing to dresses! To see what the whole clothing item looks like and it's price check out the previous post.

Which is your favourite outfit?

Feel free to leave me a comment :)

Helen x

FASHION: Breastfeeding Friendly Capsule Wardrobe

I have found finding suitable outfits for both breastfeeding and my post birth body very difficult. Before pregnancy I was an avid dress wearer, pretty much my whole wardrobe is dresses! So when it came to getting a bump I had to but some slightly different style dresses, which wasn't a problem. However after giving birth was a completely different story. Finding outfits that looked ok on my swollen, wobblier and just generally larger breastfeeding body was a daily struggle. My wardrobe of dresses became useless because I couldn't breastfeed in them and most of my tops were too tight around my tummy area. All of these issues didn't help my already lack of confidence about what pregnancy and giving birth had done to my body.

After lots of online searching and shopping I finally have a capsule wardrobe suitable for breastfeeding and my changed body shape. As I'm sure I can't be the only one struggling to find suitable breastfeeding outfits I thought if share my capsule breastfeeding wardrobe with you.

In this post I'll show you the items in my new breastfeeding capsule wardrobe and in another post I'll show you how you can mix and match these items to make many different outfit combinations.

Cream Textured Scallop Hem Top - New Look - reduced to £5

Rose Printed Button Dress - New Look - reduced to £9

Navy Crepe T Shirt - New Look - reduced to £5 (now only available in cream)

Paisley Printed Tube Skirt - New Look - reduced to £5

Maternity Skinny Blue Jeans - New Look - reduced to £7

Blue and White Patterned Tube Skirt - New Look - reduced to £6

Black and White Patterened Tube Skirt - New Look - reduced to £7

Pale Pink T Shirt with Lace Detailing - H&M - £7.99

Black Crepe Jacket - H&M - £14.99

High Waisted Blue Jeans - H&M - were reduced to £7 but now £14.99

White Loose Fitting T Shirt - H&M - reduced to £6
(similar here)

Blue and White Stripy Loose Fitting T Shirt - H&M - reduced to £6 (similar here)

Jacquard Skirt - H&M - reduced to £10

White and Black Nursing Tops (pack of two) - H&M - £14.99

I'm still very much on the hunt for dresses suitable for breastfeeding, so if you know of any please leave me a link below.

Did you struggle with what to wear after having a baby?

Feel free to leave me a comment :)

Helen x

MATERNITY STYLE: A More Formal Look For Work Or Play

Sometimes, just sometimes, I actually feel like dressing up a bit. This pregnancy has been full of comfy clothes, stretchy materials and not much structure, which has been fine and lovely most of the time. However for those important days at work or dinner dates Tom and I are trying to squeeze in before the baby is born, I just fancied dressing up a bit. We still have stretchy materials but I feel so much more like a 'normal' human being in this outfit, if that makes any sense? It's amazing what an outfit can do for confidence. I actually took these photos when I was 31 weeks pregnant, my bump looks so small compared to it's ginormous size now, at almost 38 weeks!

Black Blazer - H&M - similar here

White Maternity Long Sleeved Top (part of a 3 pack) - New Look - £19.99

Polka Dot Skirt - H&M - similar here

Tights - Primark - £3.50

Did/Do you like to dress up sometimes during your pregnancy?

Feel free to leave me a comment :)

Helen x

MATERNITY STYLE: A Mix of Asos and Polka Dots

Comfort is what this outfit is all about: loose material, warm and easy to throw on - a winner for work or the weekends. The dress is from ASOS and I'm really impressed with quality and fitting of it, especially as I had to buy it without trying it on first. The range of maternity clothes on ASOS is outstanding and definitely one of my favourite places to shop for maternity clothes. As I've just been on the website to find the link to this dress I can feel another purchase coming on. Uh oh...

ASOS Maternity Skater Dress with Slash Neck and 3/4 Sleeves (doesn't seem to be available in this colour anymore but they do have it in navy, green or red) - ASOS - £22

Polka Dot Cardigan - H&M - similar here

Tights - Primark - £3.50

Which shops were your favourite for maternity clothes?

Feel free to leave me a comment :)

Helen x

BABY HAUL: Polka Dots, Dresses and Plenty of White

Late last year I won a £25 F&F Clothing voucher from the Tesco Twitter account, so when I spotted an offer for when you spend £50 online you get £10 off, I couldn't resist picking some pieces up for our baby! With the voucher and discount code all of these items only cost around £16 - not bad! We then picked up some really cute things from Marks and Spencer's (I'm literally obsessed with their baby range!), which I thought I'd share with you :)

F&F Clothing