Dresses are the new sweatpants...

...or is that "trackpants"? Did you know there is actually different terminology in the west (where the term "sweatpants" is favoured) and the east (the "trackpants" crew) for the same item of waaay overused and overrated item of clothing? Friends from the west, you should also try ordering a jambuster at a Tim Hortons in Toronto... you will be met with a blank stare. Order a jelly donut, however, and you're fine.

Anyway, I digress.

I want to talk about the downtown mama "uniform". First and foremost, I just want to say that I *totally understand the tendency for new moms to gravitate towards their sweatpants or yoga clothes... like food, when it comes to fashion for the new mom, you just don't have time to figure it all out between the nursing and the sleeping. That's why, when it came to trying to solve this dilemma, I thought back to my days at St. Mary's Academy and my uniform (which according to the picture above hasn't changed at all in like 20 years).

Apart from being a great equalizer, as much as we all complained about it at the time, the uniform is a brilliant fashion solution. With the daily burden of trying to be stylish taken out of the picture, you can concentrate on what's important - back then, studies, the latest Depeche Mode album, and boys; today, the little guy and keeping your sanity (ok and maybe still the latest Depeche Mode album which is really good fyi).

Although it is tempting to actually just pull out the ol' St. Mary's Academy uniform (yes, I still have it - whatever) and wear that now, it has its limitations: 1) it is not really nursing friendly (probably a conscious decision by the nuns) and 2) there is a disproportionate amount of polyester in said uniform.

Plus, downtown mamas, you need to feel good about yourself. And that's hard in a St. Mary's Academy uniform or sweatpants/trackpants...

So what should a downtown mama uniform look like? Here's what I suggest:

1. Buy a few inexpensive jersey blend dresses. I have an example here from Old Navy for less than $25. This dress is figure forgiving, easy to throw in the wash (this is no time to be buying investment pieces), great for the hot summer weather and is actually nursing friendly (the stretch in the jersey allows you to easily slip off one shoulder to nurse). Look at H&M and Joe Fresh for similar dresses for under $30. I recently bought a great olive coloured dress from Joe Fresh for $19.

2. Stock up on tank tops. The straps on the dresses are never quite wide enough to cover bra straps so I like to layer these dresses with tank tops. I have a couple white tanks (I think they're inappropriately called "wife beaters"), a grey and a black tank. Again, the stretch allows them to be nursing friendly - and switching up the colours under your dress can change the look quite remarkably. Again, H&M, Joe Fresh and Old Navy are the best places to look for deals on these - if you pay more than $10 for one of these, you're paying too much.

3. Pick out a couple of accessories. Less is more when it comes to accessorizing. Pick one or maybe two statement pieces. You probably already have your favourites in already but if you don't try Le Chateau or Aldo. My go-to accessory is this gold bracelet. Occasionally I'll pair this with a belt sitting right under my chest - which right now will probably be the most flattering place to cinch for the new mom.

4. Get at least one neutral and one colourful cardigan sweater. There's lots of air conditioning in the summer so the dress is not always going to cut it. Have your cardigan on hand when you need to cover up. You should see the cardigan as the new button-down blouse which every new mom seems to gravitate to for understandable reasons. But the cardigan feels newer - very Michelle Obama, right? And again, you probably have a couple in your closet. I live in my grey J. Crew cardigan and also picked up a lemony yellow cardigan for $15 at H&M. It's pretty remarkable just how many colours lemony-yellow goes with.

I guarantee you that if you have all of these key pieces in your downtown mama uniform, getting dressed in the morning will seem effortless. Of course, on the odd occasion that, like me, you realize that these jersey dresses also feel pretty good to sleep in, you may be dressed already.

:)