First, I want to extend to you all a huge thank you for your sweet comments and well-wishes regarding my current state of pregnancy. It truly means a lot to me. So thank you, from the bottom of my very pregnant Anthro-loving heart. Now on to the post:
I’m sure you have heard at one time or another, to “dress the body you have now”? Meaning, buy clothes that fit the body you have now; don’t buy clothes in the size you *wish* you were. Have you heard that before? I certainly have, and I would agree with it whole-heartedly….with the following exception: Pregnancy.
As this is my 4th time around in the pregnancy ring, I’m no novice. I know “the drill”, so to speak. I am SO not one of those pregnant chicks that just gets a belly. When I’m pregnant, I’m pregnant all over. My arms get bigger, my chest-(much to MacGyver’s delight)- gets much bigger, my rump…I can’t even talk about it. So I have had to learn how to dress a morphing body. However, that being said, I also exercise til the day I deliver (ran 4 miles and lifted weights the day I delivered #3), so the gym and I are familiar friends and after the baby makes a grand exit, I am right back at the gym working myself back to my former me. Yes, it’s frustrating, but I know the process and trust my body. Like I said, been there…done that, 3 times over. It usually takes a good 6 – 9 months to lose it.
So why, do you ask, have I been purchasing some form-fitting items as of late that fit the pre-pregnant me, that I won’t possibly be able to wear for a year or so? Great question. My answer is two-fold. First: I know the drill, and I know I’ll have my normal-sized ass back, just like I have all 3 times before. Second: I have learned from experience that not buying items (ESPECIALLY ANTHRO ITEMS) you absolutely double adore, while you have the chance, leads to horrible, tangible, time-consuming regret. Case in point: The Wisteria Cardian, from 2007.
Wisteria Cardigan
I was pregnant with #3, saw the Wisteria Cardi in the store, tried it on, went insane for it, purchased it….then convinced myself it was too expensive for not being able to wear it for a good 6 months. Returned it. Obsessed about it. Had the baby. Still obsessed about it. Got my body back while still obsessing about it. Hunted on ebay for OVER A YEAR, people. Finally found one, and paid a mere $18 less then the retail price. Here’s the lesson: Buy the dang object of your affection when you have the chance, even if you’re the size of a house, because regret is a bitter lollipop to suck on. I learned from this experience, and I’m a good student. Reference a recent form-fitting purchase: the Pom Flower Shift that I wanted so badly, but found out I was pregnant shortly after it’s release. I promised myself I would still buy it if it made it to sale in my size, because I knew from the “Wisteria Incident” that I would search ebay with the bitter taste of regret on my tongue for a whole year if I didn’t buy it while I could. I waited and waited, panicked when my size disappeared online, did a charge send at full-price on a Saturday, and the following Tuesday it hit sale. Cha-ching!
It now currently resides in my closet with only one mark on it’s dance card. Any regret? Not a titch. I will completely enjoy the process of zipping it up with ease and wearing the *Shift* out of it (hehe) when my body re-emerges postpartum.
There may be some of you who don’t agree with my philosophy. Like I said, I believe in it because I’ve lived it already. I would bank on the fact that more Anthro items will be released within the next 6 -9 months that I will fall seriously in love with. I will probably purchase those items, on sale. I won’t be able to try many of them on due to a the larger model of “hipnbutt” I’ll be carrying. But since I know Anthro’s in-house brands and I’m familiar with the quirks of sizing differentiation, I’ll know what will work for me. Plus, the secret weapon we all have now, … those awesome bloggers who do dressing room reviews and comment on fit….they’ll help me immensely, specifically for those random design names that Anthro carries only one or two pieces from.
Speaking of, this dress was by a design house called Konrad and Joseph. Never heard of ‘em, but I’m hoping to get a few more wears out of this blue lovey before the belly trajectory is too great. The Extended Shirt Dress was a perfect buy for me. Here’s why: it was on sale, it’s BLUE, length goes ALL the way to the floor, perfect neckline, vintage style buttons, did I mention it’s a gorgeous blue?! I’m obsessed.
Wearing: Dress-Anthropologie Extended Shirt Dress, Necklace-Anthropologie Mustard and Sage, Shoes-Cynthia Vincent for Target, Earrings-Banana Republic, Belt-Anthropologie Palisades Belt
Hope your weekend’s been a bit more relaxing than ours. We worked our patooshkies off putting in a new lawn. Thank goodness for a dear friends that lent their time, hands, sweat, and hearts. Couldn’t have done it without them. We are so fortunate. And what a great lawn it is. Now, if the weather would just throw us a bone and rain already!!
xoxo Molly
The paperbag waist and bow tie sash is quite different from any other pair of pants I own. It’s a good thing to add new kids on the block to your closet every once in a while…you know, to shake things up. The paperbag waist on these, bow tie sash, and lower rise makes these pants unique to my arsenal in that they require me to think about tucking in, which I do anyway with high-waisted skirts….but pants? Not usually. Especially when wearing slimmer cuts. The pleating on these pants was done quite well, and really, could they have used a better color?
