Wardrobe Rebuild 003 | Maternity?!
A little plot twist
Since my last wardrobe rebuild update in the fall, there’s been a bit of a life update: I’m expecting a baby this summer!
I’m now well into the second trimester with a real bump and everything, which means I’ve had to start contending with dressing for these new and evolving conditions — while still trying to shop with intention.1
(A little context first: I work from home full time and operate more on the homebody side of things, so my clothing needs/choices already tend to skew comfortable and casual).
What I’ve been wearing a bunch lately can be grouped into three categories:
Things I already had that turned out to be very pregnancy-friendly
Aerie joggers — they need to bring back the amazing waffle kind that I have two of!
Neiwai Barely Zero bras — super comfy, one-size/adapts to your body (yes please).
Timely gifts of fleece from family
Columbia — a cozy classic… I basically lived in this all winter at home.
Arc’teryx — I’ve been defaulting to this one, in black, for weekend errands because it has a sleeker (but still stretchy and accommodating) look, especially with black joggers, the only bottoms I’ve been wearing out lately.
Things I bought recently with pregnancy in mind but also plan on wearing afterwards
Lake pajamas — I've been wanting to try them for a while and decided to pick up a set, in their classic Hydrangea colorway, during Black Friday — sized up to future-proof the bump, but I generally like loose-fitting for sleeping. The pima cotton is divine.
Lands’ End mockneck — still in heavy rotation! I liked that it’s almost all cotton. I sized up though it’s also conveniently a boxy fit (nothing like the product page photos…but perfect for my needs).
Baleaf joggers — did the job decently as “just-throw-on wear-outside-able comfy pants” in the first trimester…waist became a tad too tight after that 😅
Storq joggers and long-sleeve — after reading good things about Storq on The Strategist, I started looking on the site occasionally and happened to catch the store’s Warehouse Sale at the end of January, with prices up to 80% off. I decided to get a few basics that fit my style, including a pair of very soft, smooth, and stretchy black joggers and a tan long-sleeve with a nice ribbed texture and weight to it. (There are two more warmer-weather pieces I haven’t started wearing yet.)
Aritzia quilted jacket — a few weeks ago I realized spring was coming and I can’t be hiding in my big winter puffer anymore (and all my lighter jackets are form-fitting). After some more Instagram influence, I started looking into an oversized light jacket. Aritzia was one of the first places I browsed and I quickly zeroed in on this one, which had the color and size I wanted at 50 percent off (and the page said “one left”). So that got me. Thankfully, it worked out — the kind of success that makes you believe in online shopping again 😆
Finally, a bonus: my last purchase right before finding out I’m pregnant was a teddy-esque brown sweater from W Concept, which turned out to be so oversized on me that it’s proven quite cozy this winter. It’s my first buy from W Concept, the Seoul-based online boutique that stocks a lot of indie brands (this sweater is by the Korean brand Grove). I went there because I hadn't bought a new sweater in a few years and wanted to find something a little more different from the solids and stripes I would probably end up getting if I went to usual suspects like Everlane or Uniqlo.
Reflecting on all this, I don’t think I would have bought this many items in just a few months if I wasn’t preparing for a rapidly changing body. But I feel good about the buys because (in addition to almost everything being on sale) they’re everyday pieces that fill real gaps in my wardrobe.
Take the spring-ready jacket. I haven’t bought a light jacket in years and years and under normal circumstances I would be overwhelmed by the different directions I could go in. A “more interesting” denim jacket? A leather jacket upgrade? A colorful, patterned one just because? This time around, I needed it to be loose and I needed it soon, so the decision was way easier. Plus I’ve been wanting to try a quilted jacket too.
So in a sense pregnancy has given my wardrobe rebuild a boost, an extremely comfort-driven boost. I’m now looking forward to digging up my warm-weather clothes and seeing what could work for this next phase…and perhaps add a flowy dress or two 😉
— Jenny
As you can imagine, I'm also in the midst of trying to buy baby gear and I can already tell this is all going to be a challenge to my existing intentional shopping patterns and systems. More thoughts on this later probably!