One concern that I had back then when I was pregnant, was having to buy maternity clothes that I was probably only going to wear for a short period of time and then discard.
I would have loved to buy from brands that produce their clothes in an ethical and sustainable way. But unfortunately this type of clothing is still too expensive for some. Maternity and nursing clothes are normally more expensive and good quality ones even more. So if we want to have a varied wardrobe and not always wear the same T-shirt. We end up buying maternity clothes from budget brands. Unfortunately these clothes are often of poor quality, not fairly produced and so on. And after a couple of uses they are not even suitable for resale any more. So they will most likely end up being discarded. And we end up contributing to an endless cycle of consumerism to which we don't want to contribute but unintentionally end up doing it.
So like many other women, I ended up buying maternity clothes from discount labels. During pregnancy I bought a couple of maternity pants because I didn't really fit into mines anymore. It was either that or go out naked! I was lucky that the last trimester was during summer, so I was actually naked at home or wore baggy dresses to go out.
But then it was time to think about breastfeeding clothes. And at first I was completely lost. Is it really necessary I wondered? Can't I just pull up my shirt? But all my mom friends were talking about the best nursing tops, and nursing bhs and so on. And even on the hospital list they recommend to have a nursing bh with you to wear after the baby is born.
Therefore I got myself some nursing bhs, but I hated them all! And I ended up wearing my beloved "spaghetti" shirts. And over them my regular clothes. But I soon discovered that any top I wore was going to end up falling on my baby's face and me holding it with my chin.
And so I went on a quest for nursing shirts and pullovers. And oh my god! They were all so expensive and some of them even made no sense at all, with layers over layers and uncomfortable as hell. So I kept wearing my normal pullovers and complaining about my neck pain from holding them with my chin.
Until the idea of ShirtUP came along! And oh I was so glaaaad I could finally wear all my pullovers and shirts without problems.
Long story short! ShirtUP is a great and sustainable alternative to nursing clothes.
I still haven't found the perfect alternative for maternity clothes, the best one is still to run around naked! ;)
