How to dress as a new mother and maintain a sense of style without succumbing to the careless comfort

New motherhood is filled with questions, but even if you’ve read all the books and taken the classes, there will always be conundrums. You are unlikely to consider, for example, how you might dress after pregnancy and breastfeeding. Of course not; you’re too busy thinking about how you’re going to keep that baby alive. Eventually, though, you will need to re-establish a sense of self in your new role, and a superficial but integral part of that is how you look. Vanity in this case can be a form of self-preservation.

Since becoming a mother three years ago, I’ve had to shift focus from dressing up to dressing down. Dresses, high heels, spiky jewellery and sharp hairsticks were integral to my style. However, they proved unrealistic and sometimes danger­ous when cuddling, feeding, running after and rolling on the ground while carrying the accoutrements of mother­hood. How could I maintain a sense of personal style without succumbing to the comfort and ease of yoga pants?

“Mum dressing” has a bad reputation, often prompting awful comments about how women have “let themselves go”. The reality is that a woman’s body goes through extra­ordinary changes in the process of making a human and keeping it alive. Although some women manage to return to their former size (with the assistance of carers, skinny genes and cash for gyms and treatments), many experience long-lasting body transfor­mations.

Weight gain, specifically around the waist, not only changes your size but also which silhouettes suit you. That’s only the beginning. Breasts can go from pornstar big to small and saggy. Feet can irrevocably go up a size. Add the exhaustion, lack of free time and guilt that comes with motherhood and it’s no wonder some women live in sweatpants.

Still, many stylish women and bloggers have provided style inspiration through what seem to be universally approved mum uniforms. There are the afore­mentioned yoga pants, which is a habit I have yet to break. The benefits of jeans and having pockets has not escaped me. They go well with the increasing number of muffin-top-obscuring tees and tops, chic trainers and a blazer in cooler months. Too bad I’ve never been a jeans and T-shirt person.