What To Wear After Baby?

So you just had a baby. You are on an emotional roller coaster and your house = disaster-zone. You may be feeling like a shadow of your former well-balanced self. With a new baby, your priorities shift to addressing their basic needs. And your needs, especially the need to look and feel good about ourselves, are buried under a pile of takeout containers and unopened mail.

But CLEmoms, our promise to you is that there will come a day in the not so distant future when you will snap out of that new baby induced haze, and be ready to wear clothes again. I’m talking clothes you would not wear to yoga: clothes that don’t have a maternity band and require a dry cleaner. When that day comes, we’ve got you covered!

Here are CLEbaby’s fashion tips after having a baby:

1. Take your time & don’t be hard on yourself

The physical changes that occur during pregnancy, birth, and postpartum are tremendous. You just carried a baby for approximately 40 weeks – for goodness sakes, be proud of what your body has accomplished. Honor the fact that, for many women, it takes a decent amount of time to feel like “you” again, physically and otherwise.

2. Embrace flowy

If you feel comfortable in the fitted clothes you wore pre-baby, go for it! But most moms will continue to look pregnant for months after baby makes his debut. The reasons for this are: it take s about 6-8 weeks for the uterus to contract down to its normal size, the swelling/extra fluid you accumulated during pregnancy is excreted slowly, and it takes time to burn off the extra fat you were storing in order to nourish your babe. If you aren’t the flowy clothes type, opt to bring one flowy element per outfit. Wear skinny jeans, and pair with a blouse with extra room in the tummy. Try a fitted dress with a thin wrap kimono. Palazzo pants are super trendy right now, and they have stretchy waistbands – test ‘em out with a fitted tee or tank. You don’t have to wear a tent to achieve flowy and comfy postpartum!

3. Invest in quality, unique accessories

The easiest way to spruce up any outfit and make it memorable is to add standout accessories. Start with simple, classic wardrobe staples. Whether well-made jeans and a super-soft concert tee for a casual weekend look, or a crisp white blouse with a structured black blazer for a work event: create the foundation of the outfit and build from there. With accessories, don’t be afraid to be funky! Sometimes I put on something wacky and end up taking it off halfway through the night, and that’s okay! If you want to take fashion risks and push the envelope of edgy, accessories are a great place to start.

4. Try a rental service for special events

This is especially helpful if you are between sizes and don’t want to invest money in clothes that may not fit for long. Plus, it’s pretty fun to rent something that you only get to wear once at a fraction of the cost of retail. My personal favorites are: Rent the Runway (amazing designer selections), Le Tote (they even have a maternity option), Gwynnie Bee (caters to sizes 10-32), The Ms Collection (and a Mr collection for men), Bag Borrow or Steal (borrow, buy, or sell handbags and other accessories).

There you have it, CLEmoms. Enjoy your squishy new bundles of joy, and remember that soon, very soon, you will wear pretty clothes again. You can be a stylish new mom; postpartum fashion is NOT an oxymoron!