I hope to be concise because I have much to say about this topic and what’s been discussed so far. Here we go:
o Superb topic Patience!
o Julie – can you post a picture? I get you mixed up with Julia who has already posted a picture and I know is Chinese.
o Dani, dresses are the best item to wear in extreme heat. If my recollection is correct, we have not seen you in any. How do you feel about wearing casual dresses?
o Tanya, take pride in being the best dressed person in the room. It gives you joy and gives others joy despite sniggering comments from the peanut gallery. People have come to expect your style quotient and you wouldn’t be you if you let your style standard slip.
It is imperative that you dress appropriately for your lifestyle. But what is deemed “appropriate” is highly debatable. This is when it gets interesting. Granted, a tight black dress and stiletto heels on the playground is as ridiculous as wearing polar fleece, old jeans and flip flops to the Opera.
Bear in mind that my perspective is from somebody who has lived in Europe, Africa, Asia and America. I cannot help but compare what I see and experience. After living in America for almost 5 years, I have concluded that the notion of “Mummy clothes” is an American phenomenon. In other parts of the world, there is no difference to how you dress once you’ve become a Mum. Women push prams, get onto public transport, weather snow or shine, and walk or ride bicycles with children in tow in casual, smart casual or business casual attire. They seem to enjoy clothing and fashion as much as they did before whether they work after they’ve had babies or not.
I do not have children and cannot begin to understand what it’s like raising them, but I dress women who have babies and children of all ages and their concerns are much like yours. They don’t want to get “too” dressed up, don’t want to wear items that require dry cleaning, everyone else is casual and they’ll feel out if they’re too put together. Truer words were never spoken as I quote Nicole:
“I think moms get into a routine of wearing kid safe clothes and never recognize when it's time to ramp it up. The longer they wear their mom uniforms, the less they care about how they dress. It can be a vicious cycle. I think that other moms will start to reconsider the way they dress once they see how fab and comfortable you are in your smarter wardrobe” .
I get so many referrals on this basis – Mums who’ve I’ve helped get out of their Mummy-clothes-rut because they became an inspiration to other Mothers in Mummy-clothes-ruts. I haven’t met anyone who doesn’t want to look good even when they claim they don’t care. It’s all about breaking habits and preconceived ideas.
