christian siriano maternity

No, you didn't read it wrongly - my latest favourite project runway alum (& winner of s4) is actually designing a maternity line!!!

It's called - get this - Fierce for Moody Mamas by Christian Siriano. Oh my. Early sketches look promising. I'm guessing Victoria Beckham would wear his clothes if she had a fourth child.

Wonder why he would venture into bump fashion? Might it be a "hot mess"? Well, according to sources Christian "thought it would be great for a gay man to team up with two women who've never had a baby to do maternity clothes."

Fierce.

Product Review: Bonds Bumps Soft Cup Contour Maternity Bra

The last time I posted about the Bumps Soft Cup Contour Maternity bra by Bonds I had yet to try it. Now that I've worn it several times, I thought I'd post a "formal" review in case any of you have been searching for something similar.

I bought it for A$28.45 (sign up as a member and get a slight discount off original price) on Zodee, an Aussie site. The registered shipping cost an additional A$7.95 and took about 2 weeks to arrive. Total comes up to A$36.40 (approx. S$45) which I think is a really good price considering how rare it is to find something like this here.

I'm lucky that I got my sizing right - I just took my current size and coverted it against the Aussie sizing chart. Didn't bother measuring myself.

It's marketed as "Maternity" but it is a nursing bra that can also be worn during pregnancy. Have to say that I am very pleased with it as it has all the features I'm looking for. My favourite things about it:

+ It's a basic, seamless bra in black - great for wearing under fitted knit tops.
+ I like that the cups are padded to give sufficient coverage but are not overly bulky. I don't wear nursing pads as I don't need to, and anyways I find that they bunch up and look so bad under the thin fabric bras.
+ The cups fold down smoothly and easily and STAY down (my MIM one kept popping up, was overly padded and did not fit well).
+ It's lower cut than my other nursing bras so I can wear tops with more open necklines. The existing bras I have are cut such that they tend to peek out at the corner of scoop necklines.

The bra is made of cotton - feels similar to a thin T shirt-y material and does not have an underwire. I would have preferred a microfibre material - but this works out ok. It has 6 settings on the back opening, which is great for our ever changing proportions. The straps are even adjustable to make it racerback but this isn't a big plus for me because I rarely wear such styles.

Fit wise, there is a bit of a crease at the bottom of the cups where it doesn't fit me a 100%. It's also not as well fitting as my regular Marks & Spencers underwire, but of course that bra cost me almost double what I paid for this one. However, it feels comfortable on so I'm not complaining. Also, I wish they had a nude version instead of white - not that I don't like white, but it tends to show up under light coloured clothes.

The best bit for me is that it's built like a regular bra, so you feel actually feel like a normal person again! It seems like a small thing but it made a huge difference to how I felt in my clothes. Better and definitely happier.

I did try the MEV knitted bra and it was comfortable and well priced. I think I might have gone for the MEV bra if I was a newly nursing mum - it's soft and straightforward to use but at this stage I want something that is closer to a regular bra. Also thought the colours of pink and grey slightly odd since I'm used to basic black or nude.

In any case, I'm giving the Bonds bra a huge thumbs up - go get it!

Finally...a simple seamless & lightly padded T-shirt bra that doesn't cost an arm and a leg.




My Bonds Bumps nursing bra arrived in the mail today! Got it off Zodee. It was recommended by a couple of friends who bought them in Australia, so I thought I'd give it a try.

It wasn't too expensive at all - close to S$40 inclusive of shipping. (I saw another nursing bra highly recommended by a friend called the Anita bra over the weekend - the price tag? A whopping S$120! And not padded!)

Haven't worn it out proper yet but trying it on it's pretty comfortable and the cups can be folded down properly, thank goodness not like the MIM one I got. It also has an impressive SIX settings for the back clasp opening.

help!

Nursing moms - any recommendations for a comfortable, simple, seamless, lightly padded nursing bra that is easy to use (drop down cup) and that isn't too expensive? Ideally around $60 but I don't mind paying more if it's really good.

The closest I found that fit the bill was at Mothercare but only had giant sizes left.

I may have better luck online but I'm hesitant because it's difficult to gauge the right fit for a bra and returns/exchanges would be too much of a hassle especially if the shop is not in Singapore.

They seem to be so hard to track down - I bought one from Moms in Mind but the fit was poor and the cup was so hard to fold down while feeding.

Anyone have a clue?

Dwell Studio

I've been a fan of Dwell Studio since seeing their stuff featured in US magazines. They seem to be a favourite with the stylists and I can see why. Their stuff is tasteful, modern, and yet has no problem fitting in with pre-baby home decor for any parent afraid of the traditional cutesy infant accessories.

Great design doesn't come cheap, except when you're buying stuff from Target. Which is why I bought a crib sheet and skirting from their Dwell Studio for Target line early this year - way more affordable.

But I was still very excited when I recently saw Dwell products stocked at Mothers Work at Great World City. They have bedding, fabric baby blocks, bottle covers and even diaper bags. I really liked the prints, but I wasn't too impressed with the actual fabric, which felt a little too thin for the price. $55 for a fitted crib sheet and $65 for a stroller blankie that I was eyeing which I decided was too expensive to splurge on.

Nonetheless, I'm just pleased that the brand has made its way here - more choice for selection-starved Singaporeans.