When Minimalism is forced upon you

I am so close to the end of the pregnancy now! A couple of weeks left (unless baby extends her stay). In any case I’ve found I have fewer and fewer items of clothing that still fit me, even amongst my ‘maternity’ items. I’ve been packing away items as they no longer fit and my cupboard is looking pretty bare right now!

Here is the run-down:

2 x Long pants (black and grey)

3 x ¾ pants (navy, grey, black and white patterned)

4 x loose work shirts (white, light blue, cobalt blue and black with grey polka dots)

4 x other tops (white, grey, navy and black). Of these the navy and black are ok to wear to work.

1 x black dress which I am wearing more and more around the house as it’s very comfy and cool

2 x shoes. My flip flops around the house and my navy loafers for everywhere else.

I’ve excluded jerseys from my list as I haven’t actually worn on in ages; it is super-hot in CT right now!

So that’s 16 items! Even when I started out on minimalism and was super motivated to cut back I never thought I’d get down to such a limited wardrobe! Being pregnant has forced me to this state and with so little time remaining Ive been determined not to go out and buy more clothing so it has been like a mini minimalist experiment. 

What have been my thoughts?

1. 1Getting dressed is very quick and requires almost no thought. Especially as at any given moment about a third of my wardrobe is in the laundry hamper
2.  I also find I quickly miss items – as in – Damn where’s that shirt – oh no it’s probably in the wash! Skipping laundry for a week is no longer really an option
3. My clothing all seems very neutral, I have no bright colours so at least everything matches everything else more or less (I have yet to brave wearing my polka dot shirt with my patterned palazzo pants)
4. I find I am wearing more jewellery and larger statement pieces. I use these pieces to make-up for some of the monotony I find in my outfits. I look ok every day and most people probably don’t notice that I wear mostly the same clothing but I feel like I am wearing the same stuff all the time and it feels boring without some added bling.
5. The 4 work shirts I bought are exactly the same style (only the colour varies). I found it difficult to find cheap maternity shirts ok for work so when I did find one I bought it in 4 colours. They are all in heavy rotation now as I wear almost exclusively these to work. Maybe a different cut would make them feel a bit more varied.

So basically while I can do such a limited wardrobe it doesn’t really make me happy. I must admit though that it wasn’t a very well thought out capsule. I was very limited in my clothing options as most maternity wear here seemed very ugly and/or expensive. I might have been happier if I had a bit more variety in the cuts/types of tops I had. To ensure maximum mix and match ability I was also very limited in colours – basically black, grey, white and blues. I am craving some more colour!

December Purchases

So it’s been a long break, a blissful four weeks to relax. We finished the work on the flat. It’s all looking so lovely now and I am so happy it’s all done. Finally feel like I can relax again in our own home and can now focus on getting things ready for baby (more on that later).

My list of December purchases:

-        *  Nothing. I bought no clothing this month, despite getting bigger. I did borrow some maternity wear from a friend though so that helped. My mother also gifted me a pair of soft, thick-soled moccasin type shoes as my feet are starting to get quite sore.

With so little left of my pregnancy I feel like now is not the time to buy more maternity gear, I will keep relying on the capsule I have built-up. Once baby is born I also don’t foresee a rush to buy new clothing until after my body settles back into something I am hoping resembles its previous shape. At this point I don’t think I will buy anymore items until earliest April or May but I will post if I do.

My November purchases

In November I had to slightly bend my rules to accommodate my growing belly. I wrote about my maternity capsule here (I also posted some pictures of these items). I bought more items then I said I would per month but I did manage to stay well under budget. I hope that these items are sufficient to carry me throughout my pregnancy and I will not need to purchase any additional items. 

1.       2 x White Tank top. Mr Price R35.95 each

2.       1 x Grey Tank Top. Cotton On R125

3.       White Shirt. Mr Price R115

4.       Navy shirt. Mr Price R115

5.       Black shirt with light grey polka dots, Mr Price R99.95

6.       Soft grey marled T-shirt. Cotton On R224.95

Total number of items = 7

Amount Spent = R751.80

Changing body shape and my maternity capsule

Oh my gosh I feel like I have completely ballooned recently! I went from having a tiny bump which I was happily still wearing most of my cloths with to something that I feel resembles a blimp (ok DH feels I am overreacting here but it’s hard to accept the extra weight when I’ve always had the fortune to be very slim).

I know it’s all for a good reason etc but it is strange to realise how much your body is actually changing in all sorts of unexpected ways. My body almost feels like a stranger to me and I am finding the best way to take it in is to just trust that it knows what it’s doing and hope I can get it back afterwards.

In the meantime losing touch with my body has not been helped by the fact that I felt like none of my cloths fit my new shape. Everything was starting to pull somewhere (if not over the bump, then over the breasts). Some of my shoes are getting too tight, causing what I’ve despairingly started referring to as muffin top feet. Walking around with your pants undone also loses its charm after a while (the yay I can still wear these, kind of, feeling is lost).

So... I bit the bullet this weekend and went out with the plan to buy myself a small maternity capsule. I have read so much about capsules so I figured I could give it a go and find myself enough clothing to last until after baby. Here were my criteria:

1.       Stick to neutral tones: I choose White, Navy and Grey. I already had some looser pants in black and stone so I tried to make sure any items bought now would match these pants. The light blue maternity top I bought last month also works with these colours.

2.       Classic lines, solid colours or subtle pattern. Nothing too fashion forward

3.       Pick items that are still loose enough to allow for more growth around belly and bust.

4.       I would need about 4 work appropriate tops and wanted a couple of looser T-shirts. I also wanted a few tank tops for layering or wearing on their own in the weekend (this meant that the straps on the tanks have to be wide enough to cover my bra straps and not gap at the sides). The tanks also have to be quite long in order to extend over belly.

I then went shopping. Since I didn’t want to spend a fortune on these items (since I don’t expect to wear them that long) I went to Mr Price again and Cotton On.

So here is my maternity capsule, Items marked with a star are new (I will summarize and price these in my November purchases round-up). I also bought 3 tank tops (two in white and 1 grey that I did not include in the pictures

The above are all work appropriate. There are 13 clothing items. I am also happy that most of it is mix and match-able giving me more outfits options. There are only a few items I would not possibly mix, for example the longer loose black Palazzo style pants doesn’t really go with the brighter, patterned tops. I also still have some tighter T shirts, a couple of pairs of shorts and a pair of yoga pants but I didn’t include these as they’ve pretty much been relegated to only around the house wear. I also didn’t include my cardigans and jackets since most I can still wear (only open).

The last step before I put all these new items in my wardrobe was to take everything out of my cupboard and pack away anything that didn’t really fit me anymore. All my cloths now fit on two shelves but that is ok since at least I know now that no matter what I pull out it will fit me. All in all, I am much happier with the way I look now and am pleased with the items I bought.

Baby and minimalism

So I am almost 6 months along and Hubby and I are seriously thinking about where to slot baby into our flat. I’ve been very mellow now in the second trimester, most of the panic/stress is gone and I am feeling very relaxed. So relaxed that I am not at all fussed about baby anything.

This has left hubby trying to sort out everything. He is very excited about baby coming and wants to get our flat ready. He’s re-done the bathroom floor, getting quotes for new built-in cupboards and drawing up plans for a partition wall in the lounge so we have a baby room. I wasn’t fussed at first, thinking we could just put baby in lounge and it would be ok but he is adamant a child should have its own room, even if it’s just so you can close the door on them and relax in the rest of your house (since admittedly my idea of baby in lounge would probably mean that we’d need to be quieter in the evenings and tip toe around her (yes we’re expecting a little girl!)).

Some inspiration I've collected for our nursery:

So how does this tie-in with minimalism? We’ve decided that we will not go overboard buying baby items. Since it is our first I appreciate that it may seem naive, after all what do we know. I’ve been reading lots of ‘baby essential’ lists and there are only a few things that most lists agree on. The best piece of advice I’ve seen so far is to only buy stuff as the need arises, ie not stock up on loads of items beforehand.

So here are some of the things I’ve got on my basics list:

1.       Newborn diapers – We haven’t decided on disposables or cloth diapering yet but either way were told the first couple of weeks to stick to only disposables so we will get a small supply (not too many as we were also told baby might grow into a bigger size soon). I am thinking maybe 50?

2.       Stuff to clean baby and umbilical cord – surgical spirits, cotton swaps, baby oil, soft towel and a plastic mat (since we are planning to wash baby in bathroom sink – we haven’t really decided on a sink yet so might have to get a plastic tub if this doesn’t work out)

3.       A Moses basket – a friend is lending us hers with sheets, covers etc so baby’s sleeping arrangements for first couple of months is sorted.

4.       A car seat so we can take baby home safely from hospital – we might look at one that fits on a stroller – Hubby’s parents have said they would like to gift us this.

5.       Some onesies – although we are expecting to get gifted enough that we won’t need to buy these (also getting hand me downs from friends). Baby will be born at height of summer so I figure we don’t need that many cloths.

6.       A couple of light blankets (that can double-up as burp cloths, nursing covers)

7.       Nursing bras, nipple cream and pads

8.       A wrap carrier of some sort, we haven’t really started looking at any though

That’s pretty much it for now. I am planning to try the breast feeding route so we will see how that goes. I have purposefully decided not to buy feeding items until a couple of weeks after baby is born. I’ve read that it is best to try out a couple of different teats etc with baby before buying a set of plastic bottles etc. Same goes for breast pumps, I have no idea what will work for me but have heard that the hospital has a selection so I can try out some there and decide later on which system I prefer.

We have also decided not to buy any toys. I am sure we will get gifted some but I figure babies don’t need much to be entertained. I have seen them staring at plain walls and finding that exciting enough. All I have is an old stuffed rabbit (which I’ve had for more than 10 years, it survived the purges as I wanted to keep it for my first born. I had a stuffed bunny as a baby and like the idea that my child will as well, even if it’s not the same one). It is baby safe (ie no buttons, zips, sharp or loose bits) and I will give it a wash beforehand.

And that’s pretty much it for now. We haven’t bought anything yet though. The plan is to wait until after I’ve seen what my mother and mother in law send us. Both have already bought items which we are expecting to receive over the Christmas holidays. We are also waiting to see what we get as hand me downs from friends. Worst case DH will have to go and pick up any necessities while I am at the hospital (standard for a natural birth here is 3 days in hospital). We are avoiding any and all baby shops like the plague! I have heard from friends that the larger baby warehouse type of places are very overwhelming and there is such a large selection of items that it becomes very difficult to distinguish between necessities and needless items. 

Lastly we have decided to fore go the crib. We have a basket for the first couple of months. Our neighbor will let us have her old traveling cot which we will use afterwards and whenever we go out and when that gets too small baby will migrate straight to a mattress on the floor. We are investing in a new memory foam mattress for ourselves (mostly since I’ve been struggling more and more to get comfy at night, my hips are on fire by the morning!) so our old mattress is available for baby room. Since it’s a double I figure I can sleep next to baby during evening feeds or when she’s being particularly difficult.

As mentioned before though, I realize as first time parents we probably have a lot to learn and might not be able to implement all our plans so I will post about how things go as we go along :)