Invisibilizing the Nursing Mom: A Visual Story
Longtime Brooklynite Iris Ying became an unwitting pandemic mom, promptly moving in with her parents in the Chicago suburbs when the virus hit mid-pregnancy. While her maternity quarantine has consisted of nursing, copious amounts of Netflix, and the occasional apple-picking excursion, she photo-chats below about the frustrations of nursingwear.
I don’t consider myself a participant in the fashion industry—I rarely keep track of trends and influencers, and most of my “new” clothes come from clothing swap parties on the Upper East Side—but I do love a stylish piece as much as the next person.
I found this amazing patchwork trench in a designer boutique in Shanghai. It’s definitely the most expensive item in my closet.
Here, I’m not yet pregnant but already getting into Park Slope mom garb—that envious cool-girl-turns-cool-mom look of jeans, lots of whites and beiges, and perfectly mussed hair. My spin on it involved a camo sports bra with my favorite Pons sandals in gold.
Ironically, it was after I had my son Asher last June that I became all too aware of the fashion industry. I chose to nurse, and I felt like my clothing choices became limited to nursing tanks that I would pair with a stretchy skirt or patterned tapered sweatpants.
More or less the only outfit I wore this past summer. Again, I tried to make it more interesting with camo print.
And for fall/winter, not much different, but at least I could have a little fun with the shoes. I’ve always loved leopard print booties.
Nursing moms require two things from our clothing: boob support and easy boob access. Why haven’t designers addressed this yet? Is it because French moms don’t nurse? Aren’t there designers who nurse and go out? I know about Hatch, but their clothing tends to be baggy, neutral colored, and expensive. Amazon was the only place where I could find affordable nursingwear, but, still, nothing exciting.
I hope that, like the growing segment of both stylish and practical period underwear, the fashion industry will soon recognize nursingwear and provide us with a few more options!
