My Wardrobe Essentials. For Maternity.

What.... a blog post that isn't a wallpaper freebie?? I don't know what's gotten into me.

While pregnant I've been pretty particular about what I have committed myself too and what I've let kind of just be. While I love this blog so much- it's such a creative place for me to just be -I also was just not feeling the energy for it.

So here we are- days from my due date and I felt ultra-inspired to share with you my super-minimal maternity wardrobe.

I realized rather suddenly a couple weeks ago that I kind of... became much more of a minimalist. And the minimalist shift happened specifically in my closet.I didn't want to spend a lot of money on maternity clothes... so I didn't. The problem was that I "popped" really quickly though. I had to switch to maternity pants around 10 weeks and I couldn't make do with my regular shirts by the time I hit 16 weeks. I stubbornly bought four shirts, two tank tops, three dresses, and four pairs of pants... and kept it at that. (I do have to throw in one caveat- I did buy two nicer dresses for our maternity photos.)

how I built my maternity capsule wardrobe (and what I learned)

I kept a simple mantra in my head- simple all the way. I really really really didn't want to spend a ton of money- so I kept pieces super simple. Solid tees, tanks, and dresses. I got two patterns though (because I got a little bored)- one striped dress, one striped top, and a floral dress.

I was more comfortable with I finally decided to just purchase actual maternity pants, tops, and dresses. I tried to avoid it for a bit and just... it wasn't working and I was looking sloppy and weird. Pants with the really stretchy belly band (whether that band goes under or over the belly) are a million times more comfortable than just adding a belly band to your regular jeans. Same with tops and dresses- the ones that had the gathering at the side where just so much more comfortable as my belly has grown.

On that note though- layers do NOT have to be "maternity" layers. Seriously... why in the world would I need a "maternity" cardigan that somehow costs 10% more than a regular cardigan? I never buttoned my cardigans or zipped up my military jacket before I was pregnant... so no need to make a deal about my outer layer covering my belly. I didn't buy any new layers (heck I even pulled out my button-up tops and just used them as layers unbuttoned).

This may not be everyone's cup of tea- but I felt better when I just decided to embrace the bump. I bought a couple super loose dresses and tops to kind of hide the bump a little bit and it just made me feel HUGE. I felt better and more like myself when I just leaned into it and really showed off the bump with more form-fitting tops and dresses. Once I was telling everyone I was pregnant I preferred looking pregnant instead of just... fat.

Get creative. I used my non-maternity button ups as a finishing layer. I wore my maternity dresses as shirts sometimes just to shake things up. I kind of played with all sorts of semi-non-tradtional things to stretch my existing closet to accommodate my belly.

Keep modest for work with trusty favorites. Honestly- my boobs got sooooo much bigger during my first trimester (we shall see what happens when I start to breastfeed) and I became very very aware of my cleavage at work. So I wore scarves a lot. like all the time. to keep the girls from being too out there. Plus... I love scarves and think they're an easy way to complete an outfit.

Shoes... that are super supportive. That's all I need to say. The second I wore flats with no arch support I was in back-ache-city. I kept two pairs of shoes in my rotation that weren't the best... and never wore them. But they were there for moral support (I love my leopard print flats too much to say adios... and I always need a pair of heels in my closet JUST IN CASE. I wore the heels once... for my maternity shoot).

This was literally everything in my closet... it is hands down the most minimal, capsule-like wardrobe I have ever had. AND. I LOVED IT. I think I might start looking into more of a capsule wardrobe once I'm not prego anymore... and the prospect is incredibly exciting to me.

Where I found my maternity clothes :

One annoying thing... there were very few places I could physically go to find maternity clothes. There was a tiny section in Dillards that had Motherhood clothes, a little section in Target of maternity, and a single Motherhood store in a slightly inconvenient mall in the area. Surprisingly frustrating.

Target | Old Navy | HM | Motherhood