For the longest time, I stopped taking outfit photos.
And if you’ve been following me for a while, you might remember that I used to enjoy taking photos of my outfits. I loved putting an outfit together, taking a few pictures and documenting what I wore.
But somewhere along the way, I stopped.
Not because I stopped loving fashion.
Not because I stopped enjoying dressing up.
I think I just… stopped feeling confident.
My body changed after motherhood. My size changed. The way my clothes fit changed. And, if I’m being completely honest, so did the way I looked at myself.
Sometimes, I would put on an outfit I liked, look in the mirror and think:
“Hmm… maybe this doesn’t look good on me anymore.”
Then I would notice my tummy.
My arms.
My legs.
The little things that weren’t there before.
And suddenly, the outfit that I was excited about didn’t feel so exciting anymore.
So I stopped taking the photos.
Motherhood changes me in so many ways
Motherhood has changed me in ways I never expected.
Of course, there are the obvious changes my priorities, my routine, my time, my responsibilities.
But there are also changes that are harder to explain.
I became more conscious of my body.
I became more aware of how I looked.
And sometimes, I found myself comparing the woman I am today to the woman I was before becoming a mother.
The younger me.
The smaller me.
The me who could wear certain clothes without thinking twice.
And I think many moms can relate to this.
We spend so much time taking care of everyone else that somewhere along the way, we forget to take care of our relationship with ourselves.
And then there are other people’s opinions
Sometimes, it’s not even our own thoughts that make us insecure. It’s what other people say.
A comment about our weight, a comment about our body or a joke about how we’ve changed after having children.
Sometimes it’s just one sentence.
But that one sentence can stay in your head for a very long time.
I’ve had moments where criticism made me question myself.
“Maybe I shouldn’t wear this.”
“Maybe I don’t look good anymore.”
“Maybe I should wait until I lose some weight.”
And without realising it, I started making decisions based on what I thought other people would think of me.
That’s when I realised something.
Why am I allowing someone else’s opinion to take away something that makes me happy?
I missed the woman who enjoyed dressing up
Recently, I’ve started wearing more colours. And this is actually quite a big deal for me.
For years, my pants were basically:
Black pants or blue jeans.
That’s it.
But lately, I’ve been experimenting with colourful pants. And today, I wore my powder-blue pants.
I looked at myself and thought:
“You know what? I actually really like this outfit.” 💙
And for the first time in a long time, instead of finding reasons not to take a photo, I wanted to take one.
So I did.
And honestly?
It felt really good.
Not because I suddenly became slimmer or not because my body suddenly changed and not because I suddenly became “perfect”.
I simply decided that I wanted to enjoy the moment.
Maybe confidence isn’t about becoming our old selves again
I think this is something I’m slowly learning.
Confidence doesn’t necessarily mean looking like the woman you were before motherhood.
It doesn’t mean fitting into your old clothes, it doesn’t mean reaching a certain number on the weighing scale. And it definitely doesn’t mean getting approval from everyone around you.
Sometimes confidence is simply saying: “This is my body today, and I’m still going to enjoy dressing it.”
My body is different now and that’s okay.
I’ve lived more life.
I’ve experienced motherhood.
I’ve carried and raised a little human.
I’ve worked, loved, struggled, grown and changed.
Of course my body can change too.
I don’t want to spend the next few years waiting for my “old body” to come back before I allow myself to feel beautiful again. Because what if it doesn’t? What if this is the body I’m going to have for a while? Am I really going to wait all that time before I start enjoying myself again? No.
You don’t have to stop being YOU after becoming a mom
This is probably the biggest thing I want to share with my fellow working moms.
Motherhood is a part of who we are. It doesn’t have to erase who we were.
You can be a mom and still love fashion.
You can be a mom and still dress up just because you want to.
You can be a mom and still take outfit photos.
You can be a mom and still have hobbies.
You can be a mom and still have dreams.
You can be a mom and still want to look pretty.
You can be a mom and still do things that have absolutely nothing to do with your children.
And there’s nothing selfish about that.
Actually, I think it’s healthy.
Because our children don’t need a mother who completely disappears into motherhood. They need to see a woman who knows that she matters too.
To my fellow working moms
If you’ve stopped doing something you love because you don’t feel confident anymore, I hope this is your little reminder to start again.
Maybe you used to love taking photos.
Maybe you loved dressing up.
Maybe you loved going out with your girlfriends.
Maybe you loved exercising.
Maybe you loved writing.
Maybe you loved travelling.
Maybe you had a hobby that slowly disappeared after becoming a mom.
You don’t have to wait until life becomes easier.
You don’t have to wait until you lose weight.
You don’t have to wait until your body changes.
You don’t have to wait until everyone approves.
And you definitely don’t have to wait until you feel 100% confident.
Sometimes, confidence comes after we start, not before.
Wear the dress.
Try the colourful pants.
Take the photo.
Go out.
Start the hobby again.
Make time for yourself.
Do the thing that makes you feel like you.
And about the people who criticise us…
We can’t control what people say. Someone will always have an opinion.
Too big.
Too thin.
Too dressed up.
Too simple.
Too much.
Not enough.
At some point, we have to stop trying to make everyone happy. Because we are the ones living our lives...Not them.
And I don’t want to spend my life shrinking myself just to make other people comfortable.
I want to enjoy my life.
I want to wear clothes that make me happy.
I want to take photos.
I want to look back one day and see the woman I was at different stages of my life, not just the version of me who waited until she looked “perfect”.
So yes… I’m officially entering my colorful pants era
Maybe it’s just a pair of powder-blue pants. But for me, it represents something a little bigger.
It’s me slowly finding that part of myself again. The girl who enjoyed dressing up. The woman who liked taking outfit photos. The person who wanted to have fun with fashion. The me who doesn’t want to disappear just because I became a mother. And maybe that’s what this new chapter is about.
Not becoming the old me again.
But learning to love and appreciate the me I am today.
Different size.
Different body.
Different priorities.
Different life.
But still me.
A little reminder for you
To all my fellow working moms who are struggling with body confidence, I hope you know this:
You don’t have to become smaller to deserve happiness.
You don’t have to look like your pre-motherhood self to feel beautiful.
You don’t have to wait for the perfect body to take photos.
You don’t have to stop doing the things you love because you’re a mother now.
And you don’t have to let someone else’s criticism become the voice inside your head.
You are still a woman outside of being a mom.
You are still allowed to have fun.
You are still allowed to feel beautiful.
You are still allowed to dress up.
You are still allowed to dream.
You are still allowed to choose yourself sometimes.
So please, don’t stop loving yourself just because your body has changed.
Don’t stop doing what you love just because life has changed.
Motherhood added another beautiful chapter to your story. It didn’t end the story of YOU. ❤️
And if you need a little sign to start doing something you love again…
Maybe this is it.
Put on that outfit.
Take the photo.
And don’t delete it. ❤️✨
0 comments