Outfit Collage
It’s honestly so sad how mean our thoughts can be. This is probably not the topic you thought would be on this blog post but your confidence and sense of fashion are very interconnected. Hence the whole “look good, feel good” motto.
I’m currently 4 months postpartum and even though I feel like I’m doing quite well… mind, body and spirit - I still have some really negative thoughts about myself. It’s not even primarily directed at my body because I actually like my body post-baby better than before.
According to the National Institute of Health, Postpartum identity loss is a common experience, with studies suggesting that over 60% of new mothers feel they have lost part of their identity after childbirth. This profound shift in self-perception often leads to negative beliefs, including a sense of "identity grief" or feeling like a stranger to oneself.
The negative thoughts are more about my self-worth as an individual. I think about aging, loosing independence, feeling irrelevant, not being as productive in my career, and giving up autonomy. Even though there’s been challenges, I do feel well-supported. I am actively meditating, journaling, talking to Clay, and meeting up with other mamas to navigate the newness of motherhood.
I’ve realized that even small little acts of self-care and doing activities that you loved to do before becoming a mom, can help you connect to yourself in a really deep way.
I was working on my secondhand store’s social media calendar and wanted to do a post of outfit inspiration. Rather than stealing photos from pinterest, I decided to use my own… given that I have over 100k photos on my phone, I figured I could find a few decent photos!
Below is the result. I created this collage of outfits I’ve worn in recent years.
As I was making it, I found my thoughts becoming increasingly positive. The photos are a mix from pre-pregnancy, pregnancy, and postpartum. I kept thinking, “wait these are actually so cute! wait I’m so cute? she looks happy! wow look at her long legs. oooh I like how she did her hair here.” etc etc! and then I’d catch myself because I was like wait… that’s me :) when I look in the mirror up close, it’s so easy to nitpick my flaws, but creating this reminded me that we are all way too hard on ourselves.