Why I Am a Frumpy Mummy
Today, I hope to shower and comb out my very curly, very tangled hair. It may be the only attention I give my appearance all day. I have had a style meltown. I have big feet, so I hate shoe shopping like I hate all exercises in frustration.
Since becoming a mother, I find I need both hands free. So I wear a backpack to carry diaper supplies instead of using a handbag. Besides, when I was single, a date I took to a fancy party once told me that I carry a purse as if it were a weapon.
Once the shoes and bag are dismissed, there seems little point to shopping for clothes. I do buy beauty supplies, but I tend to use them once, find out I’m allergic when my skin breaks out or gets rashy and the little bottles sit in the bathroom cabinet for a year, or five, until I throw them out.
Now, add the constant spot of spit up to my work-from-home wardrobe and you have one frumpy mummy.
It isn’t popular to be a frumpy mummy in this era of MILFs, Yummy Mummies, and Hot Moms.
It wasn’t always this way. True, I have never been an expert at make up. When I had to have my picture taken for something, I always had my hairdresser make me up. Fortunately, it wasn’t very often. But, I used to dress well. I used to think about what my wardrobe needs were and what image I wanted to put across. There was a collection of little black dresses I held especially dear. I wasn’t the only one. A friend of mine once said she wanted to do a series of my in my LBDs, my unique classic-boho-corporate look. I shiver, remembering those dresses and, I feel a bit sick when I think of my former credit card balances.
Those days are gone, but as I sit here in my oldest bathrobe, thinking creative thoughts, I can tell you that something is brewing. Some new style consciousness that will fit me and my life now and feel good. I don’t know what it will be, I don’t know when or how it will express itself, but it is coming.
Do you have a new style now that you’re a mother? What is your secret?
Tags: clothes-for-new-mothers, fashion-for-new-mothers, mummy-styleRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Finances, Mental Health
14 opinions for Why I Am a Frumpy Mummy
SP
May 27, 2006 at 9:50 am
LOL… I’m sitting in my robe as I type this, but you gave me the push I needed to get up and dressed. I’m even going to put on some makeup. I’m trying to cover a bruise… I have a black eye from tripping over speaker wires. Now try to get gorgeous with a black eye and green bruises on your cheek!
;)
Maybe I will just stick to the robe and be done with it.
Kate
May 28, 2006 at 5:10 am
Honey, a robe and a black eye say frumpy mummy. That look says pro-boxer. You and rocky.
Babylune » C is for Cool
May 28, 2006 at 5:22 am
[…] Yes, there has been a shortage of cool here at frumpy mummy central, but not anymore. […]
Babylune
May 31, 2006 at 1:24 pm
[…] As if having a baby and getting pregnant again immediately weren’t reason to look tired and terrible. I don’t want anyone near me with a camera and, even with our recent Blogebrity coupe, that has been easy for me and my people to control. Being a frumpy mummy is a widespread postpartum phenomenon. Even I am into it and I try to avoid trends.Culturally, I suppose the polar opposite to Britney is Helena Bonham-Carter of Merchant Ivory fame. Several months ago, I showed my husband a photograph of her in a magazine. […]
Susan (5 Minutes for Mom)
Oct 27, 2006 at 8:40 pm
As an incredibly busy work-at-home-mom I have no time at all for worrying about my makeup and wardrobe. A quick shower is about all I get. And jeans are my wardrobe staple.
kbaggott
Oct 27, 2006 at 11:50 pm
Susan,
I have to confess that my showering habit went down to 3 times a week the moment baby 2 was born. At least, I am saving water.
Babylune » All Missions are Possible
Nov 1, 2006 at 2:06 pm
[…] Now, picture me as a female Tom Cruise except I’m taller and less wooden in my emoting. My long hair is tied back in a pony tail, sweat glistens on my brow as - under the punishing desert sun - I climb up the face of a cliff without a safety harness… […]
Babylune » I Don’t Need Everyone to Agree with Me
Nov 2, 2006 at 1:35 pm
[…] So, I guess I am alone on the whole frumpy mummy philosphy. That’s fine. I am perfectly willing to go it alone. […]
Karen
Nov 8, 2006 at 4:23 pm
I am sitting here in my wore out flannel pj pants and t-shirt. LOL I work part-time and today I came home from work and wanted to get out of my work clothes. So, I chose my comfy pj pants. I need more of them.
Since having kids I seem to have a hard time getting my haircut. Then my layers get too long, my hair gets stringy, and I end up wearing it in a ponytail almost everyday for a few months until I make my way to the salon again. I have recently adopted the term “BK” into my vocabulary. “BK” meaning “before kids”.
Maria
Apr 22, 2007 at 2:08 pm
I have a new style, but I think I’d still be categorized as a yummy mummy a lot of the time. Even my sweats are stylish. I love feeling put together– it makes me feel better about the 10 pounds I still need to lose (though four months out…seems like you wrote “nine to gain nine to lose” or something similar). My style will continue to improve once I hit the States for the summer, as most of my pre-pregnancy clothes are there! For now, I make do with what I have and look forward to dressing from my US closet soon!
Controversial Conversation: The Yummy Mummies Won
May 25, 2007 at 7:15 am
[…] In this conversation, the yummy mummies won the day. […]
Revka
May 25, 2007 at 1:25 pm
Hm, I try to dress my best, but I, too, find myself in my robe late into the morning. I wasn’t allowed to wear makeup growing up so the lack thereof now can be blamed on that. I do think I have neglected my appearance more since becoming a mom, and the shower is not as close of a friend as it once it. :)
Mommy Gets Glamourous Contest
Jul 8, 2007 at 4:13 am
[…] you know, I have been on the frumpy mummy track and come back. If you’re somewhere on that journey and need a little help, head over to A […]
Babylune
Nov 9, 2007 at 7:34 am
[…] Maybe it’s the cold I’ve had since September, over-work, stress, or lack of sleep, but I can’t seem to get myself interested enough in myself. I need a make-over, but I want someone else to just give me a look, arrange everything in my […]
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