Help! Capsule wardrobe advice needed with budget of £200 size 16/18, and LOW post-baby body image ..

[GinAndaDashOfLime]

Hello all,
Please be nice as my body image is at ROCK BOTTOM. I have a 4 month old baby and GRADUALLY losing the baby weight but still 3 stone overweight and bad tummy / hips... And NONE OF MY CLOTHES fit! I cannot face wearing my maternity clothes but my old size 14 wardrobe won't do up / clings .. You get the picture

I currently have 1 pair of jeans, 1 pair of leggings and 3 tops which fit me - and it's getting me down.

My DH, seeing me so fed up, has requested from various family & friends that they give me clothes vouchers for my birthday.

I

• have about £200 in the pot
• vouchers can be for any store (vouchers not yet bought)
• need a capsule wardrobe that will take me until September when hopefully I'll be back in my old clothes ..

And I have not got a clue where to start. Any advice would be gratefully appreciated

TIA

I'd suggest you finish losing weight first. Having crep clothes will motivate

I always pick 3 colours I lie and get everything in those then it all goes together. Get a denim skirt they go with everything and are very flattering I find. I also find that skirts and dresses are more flattering. My colous this year are coral, blue and navy. Maybe with some white and karki. I found Debenhams were good or doing this in one hit as there is so much to choose from and they have personal shoppers who can help you pick stuff to try on. New Look coud also be. Good option.

Dumdee - THANK YOU - a really really helpful answer

Gin I'm currently having the exact same problem as you.

I'm finding leggings and tunic style tops the most flattering at the moment. Better than jeans and shorter length tops anyway. A nice jacket and a flowing printed scarf to skim over and disguise the mum tum. I'm going to keep wearing this sort of stuff until I've lost some more weight.

My problem is that I have a friend's wedding coming up - what the hell am I going to wear to that?

Sainsburys jeggings are cheap but very good. I have dark blue and black, they are £12 a pop and you can put them under dresses, tunics etc. I have a really nice dress/ tunic from Peacocks, if you feel you'll lose the weight, buy a few cheap things, don't spend serious money. I have no baby (done that) but I have gone from bursting out of a 20 to fitting into most 16s and am aiming to fit into a 12 by Xmas. This interim bit is tricky, you need to spend some dosh but not too much. The cheap shops are your friend.

New look is a good choice, they have a specialist plus size range which is far better than any of the specialist plus size stores like Simply Be have. Much nicer options that are not coated in ruffles and sparkles unlike a lot of other places. New Look jeans also tend to run true to size unlike a lot of other places which can come up quite small. Primark is good for vests and t-shirts for layering and they are really cheap so you can get loads. They are also good for skirts and basic dresses that you can style with accessories. Shop around in places like primark, new look, river island DP and top shop for costume jewellery and scarves to jazz up plainer outfits. primark and new look being the cheaper out of them all. Hope you feel better about yourself soon

www.newlook.com/shop/inspire-plus-sizes/shop-department/inspire-black-wrap-dress_273069601

The dress in this link would be a good starting point, I have it and it's really flattering when on. I wear it with a brightly coloured vest underneath so I'm not flashing everyone my norks. Can easily be jazzed up for a night out with sparkly jewellery or worn more casually during the day with coloured tights and black flats.

milkmonster yes me too I have a wedding in May - but I might wear that dress onelittlelady links to - if wearing black to a wedding isn't a social faux pas?!!!
Thank you everyone you've all made me feel better

Congratulations on your baby Gin!

I second Primark for basics. They have stretchy vest tops in all colours of the rainbow for £2 and they are sooo useful for layering. Obviously it's Primark so you might want to choose the size 18. They also have lovely scarves in there that the eye will be drawn too, rather than the mummy tummy!

May I also recommend this website. I know she's a bit slimmer but her ideas of mixing up a capsule wardrobe still translate. I love refering to it because it gives me ideas to look like I'm in a different outfit without spending a fortune on new clothes. I've just lost two stone so I know how hard the journey is. You're doing better than me though, DD2 was 10 months before I started trying to loose the weight!!

Jeans wise next do a brilliant high waisted skinny pair for about 25 quid which holds everything in and gives u some curves, wash very well too. I'd second picking key colours - mine are navy, red and White (though coral as mentioned seems v on trend) and I wear alot of skinny jeans, basic tees from primark (they wash very well and are a fraction of the price of my oasis ones) and often big scarves, with pumps or converse.

Enjoy your shopping