My humblest apologies for the delay on this post! Being pregnant and teaching a full load has made the fall difficult, to use polite language. Thankfully, my grades are in and I'm settling in for a long winter's nap. Baby's due in mid-January, so I'm hoping to live on the sofa through the holidays.
But I was rather busy professionally several months ago! I had to attend a smallish conference in North Carolina and present a paper properly attired. Since my suits stopped fitting around the end of my first trimester, I had to invest in quasi-professional maternity wear for this outing. (I will explain the "quasi" below.) I was about 6 months pregnant for this trip.
Now, a few words of introduction for those of you who have never delved into maternity clothing. First, there are two price tiers. The upper echelons (this is Pea in the Pod territory) are literally hundreds of dollars for an article of clothing. Basic outfits are not inexpensive. They are well-made, but I have found myself infuriated at the prices for the simple reason that these are temporary outfits. I will not always look like a orange balanced on toothpicks. I swore that I would do this shopping on the cheap.
Enter the world of consignment/hand-me-downs and the flawless retail opportunities offered by Old Navy Maternity and Target Maternity. Girlfriends who had been through this process mailed me their sweaters and jeans, which have been godsends the past few weeks. Everything else I got from Old Navy and Target. I have lived in the two pairs of maternity corduroy trousers from Old Navy (teaching outfits), and the tops from both stores have been worn and worn and worn.
Target is where I found my conference outfits. Once I resigned myself to the prevalence of black in maternity wear, I embraced it. You can make many outfits out of a very few pieces and a handful of accessories. The first day, I wore a pair of herringbone trousers and a black wrap top. The slacks were Target, and while not made of anything born on this earth, they could pass for wool in a pinch. The top was also Target, and the wrap shirt is a great way to show off your newly ridiculous rack while keeping the tum at bay.
Day two, when I was presenting, offered a different challenge. I could wear my clogs with slacks. (Buy clogs, pregnant ladies! You can look put together, even chic, and they're good for your feet. I'm a Sanita girl, although my preg friend A. swears by Dansko. My oxblood clogs have not left my feet for weeks.) I wanted to take it up a notch for the talk. So, I invested in some boots with low heels. (The concept of a "low heel" made no sense to me for a long time, but I found that I was more comfortable in a 2" heel than I was in a flat boot or shoe. Go figure.)
Boots in hand, I could wear a skirt! I found a very sweet jersey dress (Target maternity!) in black, of course, and paired that with the INDISPENSABLE sweater wrap concoction from Victoria's Secret. It's called the Cotton Cashmere Wrap. I bought mine in chocolate cherry heather, which is a lovely rich purple. Great with black. It is so damn chic. I hope to wear it a third as much once this baby's out.
Hotel bathroom shot. I'm wearing the long sleeve jersey dress under the wrap with the boots. As I said, it's a little leggy, but it was almost refreshing to show flesh again. :)
Only problem? This dress is not long enough to really be professional. I was showing some leg at this conference. No tights for me, because of lady issues while pregnant but also because I couldn't find a pair to stay on me. The tum pushes them down. So, as you'll see in the picture, I was pushing a few boundaries. This would have been totally fine for most presentations, but for the fogeys at my conference, I was a little sassy. But then, it can be a bit of a relief to know that you have the capacity for sass while pregnant.
My other attempt to dress up, around 7 mos. This is MOD from Macy's, as I recall. I wore it all the time pre-preg. Those empire waists are lifesavers!
The boots are a staple at this point, as you can tell.
Hope that helps, friends! Take good care of yourselves this holiday season. I will likely evaporate until I return to post on how to dress your fashionable academic spawn at the spring conferences. :)
xoxo,
Megarita
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