I am a big Frisky Gatos fan (@frisky_gatos on Instagram) and so it was truly a pleasure to collaborate with her on this nursing tee. I have always been a strong proponent of dressing through pregnancy and postpartum in a way that feels consistent with your pre-pregnancy identity (for me, this means more neutral and earth tones and avant-garde silhouettes). You don’t have to wear traditional maternity wear or nursing tanks just because the market tells us that’s what we’re supposed to do (unless you like it). Listening to your lizard is just as important when you become a mom! So without further ado, here’s Mrs. Frisky herself on how she listens to her lizard postpartum:
When I got pregnant I was told I would get tons of unsolicited advice about taking care of the baby, but it actually started happening way before that, during pregnancy, and about lots of weird things like what I was going to wear postpartum. I remember posting something saying that I was excited to wear lots of cropped tops and people were like “no, you’re only going to want to wear nursing tanks and nursing tops,” which I know a lot of people like, but I just never wear things like that. I don’t like tight things. I don’t like long things. I like loose and cropped. So I just said thank you very much but no thank you and then I went and got what I wanted, because I know my lizard.
So if you’re not familiar with my instagram account, I talk a lot about this idea of “listening to your lizard.” It’s basically about listening to your primitive brain and what it wants in terms of dressing. It’s not about following trends or paying attention to what is traditionally flattering or what everyone else is doing. We call it “pleasing your lizard overlord.” It’s about respecting what YOU like and what makes you feel comfortable.
I knew postpartum dressing was going to be hard: not being in the body that I am used to, not being able to fit into any of my favorite clothes. I have this beautiful wardrobe of clothes that I have accumulated that I won’t be able to wear for a long time, and now people are telling me that I have to wear something that goes completely against what I feel comfortable in and what I identify with. I would never tell a mom, “oh you’re not going to want to dress like this,” because I don’t know what her lizard is! Luckily for me, I know my lizard well enough by now that I can just ignore unsolicited advice and just go with what I want and what I love.
All that to say, if your lizard likes it, you can totally wear a crop top postpartum, even if your body does not look the way that you are used to. If your lizard likes traditional nursing tank tops then by all means go buy them - you do you - but if you don’t like them you don’t have to wear them. For me, I know I only want to wear things that are in colors that I like and silhouettes I like, that are consistent with what I liked before pregnancy, and that I will continue to wear after I am done with the nursing and pumping phase.
