Pregnancy Style 101 - In the Hood

It is my pleasure and honour to be invited into the homes and wardrobes of hundreds of women.

One pearl of wisdom I have picked up over the years of working in womanhood has been that when you have a baby you need a waterproof coat with a hood and I quote 
"for when you are out with the pram." 

For a while I did question this wisdom until I realised you can't manoeuvre a pram and an umbrella, well, you can but not easily, hence the waterproof coat with the hood. So not only have I added more flats and trainers to my wardrobe, the floor length 80's wool camel coat I call my winter coat will only be let out occasionally later this year.

In January I actually looked on the Go Outdoors website for such a coat, I even ventured into a Milletts for wardrobes sake. I spun around on my heel and left as soon as I'd arrived; the camping gear looked too menacing. On a cursory glance of the Zara website I spotted my coat. It said "WATER REPELLENT" on the item description. That was it, I was SOLD "get your coat, love, you're coming home with me," I thought. I couldn't stop thinking about said coat and if I can't stop thinking about an item of clothing that is a sure fire sign I need to buy it. I went into Zara a week later and unearthed the coat from amidst the throng of sale shoppers. I tried it on, loved it, paid for it, cut the tags off and wore it home! Like an excited kid! If you fancy purchasing one for yourself click here to be transported.

The hood is pretty frickin' EPIC. And clearly got the better of me here. Silver metallic jumper from Topshop, leather jacket old, GAP trainers, ASOS socks.

The coat is khaki, not poo brown as my photos suggest.

It has 2 deep pockets which are just the right height kind of beneath my burgeoning chest but above the hips. It's warm. Sleeping bag warm. And yes, waterproof. I wear it ALL THE TIME. I even took it out for a Wagamama's to meet my German friend Stefan, that's just the kind of classy, knackered looking lady I am.

That's Stefan hugging a tired, pregnant lady

Now this isn't my first foray into waterproof 'sensible' coats. I ordered a Parka London parka a few years ago and just couldn't find one to fit. I have ogled the Woolrich ones many a time but never committed to a purchase. So Zara it was. I'm sad that I'll have to retire the coat as the weather heats up (unless I want to sweat my way through the summer) but looking forward to the first hints of autumn when I'll dig it out again and head out, this time with a baby in tow.

Til next time...x

The Wardrobe Angel

The Wrong Knickers

I love Bryony Gordon. I know this is all terribly 'fan girl' of me but blame my Mum; ever since she pointed out that Bryony and I were of a similar and age and lead seemingly chaotic lives I felt I had a kindred spirit. 

Reading about her London life in The Wrong Knickers brought back memories of my 20's, chaos being the prevalent undercurrent: moving 10 times in 6 years, crashing headlong into dead end relationships, the all night raves, food poisoning, getting my drink spiked in Ibiza, watching friend after friend waltz down the aisle whilst I was the token class clown. Yet all the while I held down a pretty stressful job and built my career. 

There was a lot of magic in my 20's as well: a houseshare in Manchester which brought me lifelong friends, cooking my first roast dinner, awesome holidays in South Africa, Ibiza and America, completing a Fashion Journalism course. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't change any of it. I'm just thankful that in Bryony Gordon writing about it I don't feel so bad about it. 

I admit I skim read some of the chapters, so close to the bone was the writing, that the words took my breath away. My carousel of lurching crisis came to a head after a move to Dubai and back after which I knuckled down, bagged my dream job, saved up and eventually started The Wardrobe Angel. If you've read Bryony Gordon's column in The Telegraph called How The Other Half Lives she used to be the pissed up lass roaring around London, the bones of which are brought to life in The Wrong Knickers. She now resides on the other side of the fence - married with a baby. 

A couple of years ago when friends were popping kids out all over the place I felt my future on this front was bleak: I was working on my business, a relationship was the last thing on my mind. But reading Bryony's story from single to shacked up gave me...hope. I knew the rest would come, and it did. 

Thanks Bryony. You utter legend. 

What to wear when you meet a new baby

Over the past few years family (sister and cousins) and various friend have given birth to babies. I'm never hugely comfortable holding a new born but give it a few weeks and I'll happily pop round for a cuddle. After looking a bunch of babies nestling (not so comfortably) in the crook of my arm I thought I would write about what to actually wear when you meet a new baby and what to take:

1. AVOID WEARING JEWELLERY. You'll end up taking it off in preparation for the cuddle with the baby and then forget about it giving the new parents the job of posting it back to you which, let's face it, they could do without. 

2. WEAR SOMETHING SOFT. I know this might sound obvious but hear me out. Babies have only been here a short while and they deserve the softest landing space we can provide. Choose natural, breathable and soft fabrics which brings you comfortably to cotton and that's always a winner. Plus it's easy to wash should the new baby mark out their territory on you, if you know what I mean. I would avoid anything that sheds, mohair in particular. This can easily shed on a baby's face and be really irritating for them. 

3. GIVE EMBELLISHMENTS A WIDE BERTH. Babies..move. They snuggle and wiggle and catch you unaware. Bearing this is mind go for a plain fronted top, jumper or shirt; all together safer given babies propensity for trying to seek out a boob for some milk. 

4. TAKE A BIG BAG. Babies seem to need a lot of 'stuff' and if you rock up with two or three bags it will only add to the mess. Take a big enough bag for the present for the baby, your stuff (obviously) and food for the parents. Then keep all your items in one place - you can see in the photos my leather jacket draped on top of my bag - and just makes for a smoother visit (read: handy if you need to leave in a hurry when the baby turns the colour of beetroot and screams.)

5. BRING FOOD. I'll never forget Bryony Gordon's Telegraph column after the birth of her daughter shaming the people who, when dropping in for a visit/baby cuddle, ate her food, rather than bring her food. See item number 1 on the list in terms of jobs new parents don't need and add 'buy your lunch'. 

I met this strapping little lad, Charlie, this week. I wore my H&M midi skirt, Gap soft denim shirt and Topshop skater shoes. 

Don't look entirely comfortable here, do I?!

Bag and coat ahoy! Tidy times!