Favorite Outfits of Pregnancy

For me, 2012 was most memorable because of Emilia. Even before her arrival, my life began changing in ways both large and small. Dressing a transitioning body was just one of the mundane aspects of change.

Outfitting my pregnant body was challenging because I couldn't rely on emphasizing my waist... at least not in the same manner to which I was accustomed. Here are some of my favorite pregnancy ensembles:

As I look at some of my belly photos (see them on my pregnancy and parenthood blog) and pregnancy ensemble posts I feel a lot of amusement and nostalgia. I think it's very funny that I legitimately believed I was visibly pregnant at like 16 or even 12 weeks. Unless outsiders were scrutinizing my body with the same level of intensity reserved for female celebrities, I just looked like I had a big lunch. Sure, my body was changing. But visibly pregnant to strangers, I was not. And my wardrobe reflected that. Until I got to the third trimester I could mostly avoid maternity clothes because stretchy fabrics and empire waist maxi dresses were everywhere last summer. Some of my maternity pieces became fast favorites and I already lament no longer having my prominent bump to fill them (as silly as that might sound...). I am still wearing a few of them particularly when they are nursing friendly. I will be writing about that soon enough. Nursing-friendly wardrobes might be even more difficult to assemble than maternity wardrobes!

Anyway, Happy New Year and thank you so much for reading in 2012!

12 (pre-pregnant) outfit hits of 2012

Although I spent 39 of the 52 weeks of 2012 pregnant (and even fewer if you only count the portion spent dressing around a big pregnant belly), it challenged me to think outside of my comfort zone, emphasize and deemphasize my growing stomach (depending on the context and my mood), focus on comfort even more so than usual, and strive to stay true to my sense of style. But there were plenty of outfits that I really liked that I wore in the period before I was pregnant and before I was showing. Here are my favorites from 2012 (with favorite pregnant outfits to come!):

I am excited to hopefully get to repeat the above sometime soon! Although my body is different now, I think I can make at least some of the items work. The variable of nursing will be a challenge (and my current bustline means things fit very differently on top at the moment) but I am game for trying.

Scenes from NYE

clockwise from top right: with Greg, Chris and Mike pretending to be tough guys, with Rachel, Sara and Fred, with Chris

I am deep in the throes of Spring 2012 preparation (procrastinators aux!!) so I haven't yet uploaded my NYE outfit photos but here are some scenes from Saturday night. I am so grateful to my friends Jenny and Jeremy for generously hosting a party in their gallery, Modern Formations for the third year in a row. The event always manages to strike a good balance between low key and raucous with the perfect mix of close friends and cool people you hope to get to know better! With many attendees bringing delicious snacks and appropriately bubbly libations, I look forward to it more and more each year. The best part is that so many of us are able to walk there, removing the dangers of being on the road from the NYE equation because no matter how responsible I am when I know I will be driving, I still worry about the impaired judgments of others. Anyway, thank you again for such a fun time, Jeremy and Jenny!