Help me! Frumpy mum needs re-styling

[MsPrufrock]

I never thought I would be this person, but here I am, like a big fat walking cliche:
2 children
Overweight
Wardrobe of crappy old clothes.Currently living in maternity jeans,with an assortment of tops (many of which are maternity ones) and a small selection of horrible old cardigans, and trainers with a hole in.

However. After a small crisis about everythingn, a birthday promise from husband, and an emergency cheque from my wonderful guardian angel of a mother, I have the opportunity to do some serious shopping to re-vamp my wardrobe. I have about £350 to spend - possibly a little more.

I am v.up for buying some stuff online, and am hoping to make one 'real life' shopping trip to central London. Partly for kicks and partly because I just can't buy trousers online.

I am 5'6", size 16-18 (think now a size 18 but honestly now have no idea since birth 10 weeks ago and constant breastfeeding since). I have huge boobs, and obviously anything I buy and want to wear immediately will need to be reasonably breastfeeding friendly. I'm very hippy physically, and slightly hippy by nature: like embellished stuff and beaded things. I don't ever go out, so the Christmas party beautiful velvety stuff that normally calls my name at this time of year is totally impractical.

So tell me, lovely style gurus of Mumsnet... what should I buy? I'm 32, so a bit old to dress like a teenager, but equally surely too young to be confined to years of fashion wildnerness yet.

Am dealing with small children (obviously) but will be back! Thank you for your help- you are my last sartorial hope.

Might not be what you want to hear but might it be a good idea to delay this until you have lost some baby weight ?

If you go to London, I'd suggest you book yourself a slot with a stylist at J lewis as they have a great fashion floor now- Jigsaw is a bit hippy ish at times, but you won't get much change from £120 for a dress these days.

MsPrufrock,I agree with PP. 10 weeks is still early days from a baby-congrats by the way. I thought you were going to say your youngest was 3years or something!
I would definately book a stylist in JLewis,and Topshop for a few months down the line.
Why not get your hair done? I find after a baby a new cut/colour gives me a huge boost.

Could you squeeze into some plain black leggings maybe and a nice knee length tunic?

might be worth looking at White Company, White Stuff, Boden, and M&S, and Top Shop, all online.

I agree that you might want to think carefully about spending a lot of money on something that soon might not fit.

As stop gaps I wonder whether this in velvet might be a morale booster. It is machine washable and very stretchy and comfy. I have the smoke grey and love it and I think it would have cheered me up postnatally. It also goes with lots of tops. Knee length is good and pencil shape is good at making one a bit more defined and womanly.

I loved long hippie-ish skirts before I had DS and still wear hippie-ish tops but go for a more defined lower half now as to me it looks less Amish if you know what I mean. A comfy, stretchy knee length skirt also is ossibly more pracical for chasing little ones.

Also a couple of these camisoles might come in handy to position as a second inner layer when breast feeding.

XTHB should get £10 off a spend of £30 on the skirt and/or 2 camis if ordered separately.

If you don't have a pair of funky flat boots, maybe biker syle, that would be a good idea. I say flat, but I mean with a 2" clumpy heel as personally I find that makes my legs look a lot better. And of course you could still wear the boots if you lost weight. I'd try Amazon or sales to get good bargains

TKMaxx is useful to make a budget go further, I picked up a couple of wrap/drape cardis from there that a) were v cheap b) would be great for breast feeding c) would accommodate weight loss down one or two size and still be wearable d) would fit in with the hippy chic vibe I think.

Also I think a pleather, machine washable aviator jacket might be vaguely fashionable but also warm and practical for BFing.They come pretty cheap and are for many people a one season fun thing (so it might not matter so much if you lose weight and then it is too big)

Just some ideas...

yep, agree with the others - £350+ is a lot to spend when your body still hasn't had the time to settle down properly from giving birth.

For now, I consider the following items:

1. Black or Navy Leggings - try Next or M&S(Ihave ones from both - around £8 and have washed and worn well)
2. Tunic - Boden has some nice ones (use a discount code and their clothes always sell well on ebay should it be too big in a few months)
3. Long cardigan - you can get these everywhere and don't need to pay a lot.

I would then invest in a decent pair of boots - biker boots are a good suggestion.

Also accessories are good at the stage you are at. Scarves, beads, belts etc... fit whatever your size.

I would save the rest of your money for spring when you will have more idea of your weight and shape.

Totally hear you re: not blowing lots of cash at the moment.
But there is an interim problem, in that I need to clothe my body until such a time as I shed the baby weight (also, I reckon I am now a very similar size to that which I was between pregnancies - so there is a genuine question here about how much weight is realistically going to come off any time soon! I'm not one of those people who shed weight whilst breastfeeding, more's the pity). I would also like to clothe myself in the interim in clothes that don't make me feel totally rubbish - eg: not what I'm currently wearing :(.

employmentlawquery - Lovelovelove the Boden skirt recommendation - very me, thank you so much! The camisoles are beautiful as well...although I was thinking of getting some cheaper ones that I can stretch into a 'vest down top up' discreet breastfeeding solution.

Booking a slot with someone is a v. good idea. Perhaps I could get some essentials now (jeans and at least one other pair of trousers is something of a priority) and do this in the new year.

Meggles - leggings, tunic, long cardie, boots and accessories sounds like a very cheering shopping list.

Thank you all. x

Tailored jeans in a dark colour are the sort of style that goes anywhere and they look nice either with a casual top or something fancier, plus you can wear them with heels or flatter shoes. I would get yourself footwear (boots are great) that isn't trainers, in black or brown, and a pair of tailored jeans (try TKMaxx; bootcut might flatter your figure better than drainpipe) and then try to find a few nice tops online. If you have money left over, a nice bright soft scarf can look lovely up near your face, indoors or out.

Sometimes a nice hairdo and a colour can liven you up, and a dab of blush can reduce the blahs.

Drapey cardigans like this but cheaper in a fine knit are stylish and can also be worn while bfing.

OP - I haven't got any myself, but I have been hearing rave reviews about this seasons Peacocks stuff. Cheap, obviously, but perhaps something to tide you over for up to a year as you gradually lose some weight. Just to start you off! You could then go to a personal shopper for some more expensive items.

this over leggings or jeans?

these kinds of shirts are still 'in' and good for bf - nice with black straight legged or bootcut jeans.

ruched shoulder balance out hips, and buttons for bf.

analternative to jeans and leggings - they have skinny combats as well that are pretty fashionable, but not sure if you would like the cut?

dont buy anything NOW
youll lose weight

lol at everyone saying get your hair coloured!
i only started that when i hit 39!

OP - invest in a couple of items you can wear even when you've lost the bf weight (like a waterfall cardigan, great accessories to dress up the day to day jeans/leggings and top/tunic combo). When I was exclusively bfing I basically wore tops and trousers every day but invested in some lovely pieces I could wear that made me feel happy and good about myself - and which I still wear a year on having lost (finaly!) all the baby weight.

I had this same problem - i felt terrible post birth and really needed a boost.

I am 5'6'' was a size 16 though now more like a 14. The answer I founds was to buy a few things to keep me going. Got one well fitting pair of jeans and then went down the jersy day dress route. I have 4 dresses that I just wash and hang up. I am wearing with legging to thick tights and cardi if necessary and boots (currently have nice swede grey biker ones from TKmaxx .

I also bought a few nice scarves, necklaces (get them chunky as baby will break!) and chunky bracelets. Makes a big difference to an outfit.

Also also recommend getting a nice coat - boots and a nice scarf- you will look fab!