Dressing the bump – rainbow summer dress

I bought this rainbow cotton dress many years ago in one of my favourite second-hand shops in Copenhagen. It cost around 8 pounds.

I love the bold and bright colours as you can’t help but feeling cheerful when you wear it, and it’s perfect for hot and humid summer days where you need a bit of ventilation under your skirt.

I remember thinking that someday this would make a great maternity dress, as it can accommodate even the biggest of bumps, so the other day I decided to give it a try.

I’m wearing it with a ribbon tied around it, to make sure that I wouldn’t be mistaken for a ginormous tent

Dressing the (summer)bump – Liberty print jumpsuit

Summer really has arrived, so I’ve been combing through my closet seeking out summer dresses and other comfy light garments….with an expandable waist of course.

The first thing I found was this home-made, second-hand jumpsuit, made from Liberty fabric. I bought it for £12.50 two years ago at the outdoors Greenwich Clocktower Market (open Sat, Sun & bank holidays 10-5).

It always had a very loose-fitted waist and before I had to wear it with a belt. Not so much anymore.

And if it gets a bit more chilly, I’ll wear it with my beloved old Camilla Stærk jacket.

On my feet are the even more cherished (they live on my feet every summer) glitter-infused jelly shoes.

Yohji Yamamoto at the V&A + dressing the bump accordingly

On a grey and rainy day like today there’s nothing better than cuddling up on the sofa with a cup of hot tea. But if you want to be a bit more active, you can always head for a fashion exhibition.

Even though I love (second-hand) clothes and shopping I tend to yawn and curl my lip in contempt when faced with catwalk shows, fashion weeks and the name-dropping of aaaaarrrhhhmazing designers.

It just bores me to death and I never learned to love the vacuous mingling and bitchy atmosphere of Copenhagen Fashion Week, when I worked as a fashion journalist.

But if there’s one designer that can get me up from the sofa it’s the ground-breaking Japanese Yohji Yamamoto. So last week I went to see the his exhibition at the V&A. It’s small but good.

Left-hand side is dedicated to a mannequin parade of some of his best designs, through the years. 9 out of 10 of his designs I would wear on the spot, and I was (almost) tempted to just tear a few dresses of the dolls and make a run for it 🙂

The right-hand side consists of a row of TV’s, showing Yohji Yamamoto’s catwalk shows  and videos about the controversial designer. Should you want to meet the designer himself, then I suggest you book a ticket for the talk on the 26th of June.

6 months pregnant or not, I felt I had to honour Mr. Yohji by wearing one of his designs to the exhibition. I only own two Yamamoto items: a skirt with a narrow waist (so that one was out of the question) and this dress:

So on it went. I had to leave the zipper half-open, but I still like the way it looks. If you want to see it in a non-pregnant state and read about where I bought it, click here.

I love how this last windblown picture reminds me of the poster from the exhibition. Noone does those avantgarde silhouettes quite like Yamamoto. They’re instantly recognisable.

Yohji Yamamoto at the V&A, until 10 july 2011.
Read more & book tickets

Dressing the bump – Japanese polka dots

I had a dinner date with some friends in East London last week. And with all the young hipsters running around in that part of town old Mette kinda felt the pressure to retro-dress-up the bump a bit.

Looking in my closet the options were very limited, but then I remembered this dark blue polka dot dress with puff sleeves, which has a very high waist. I bought it ages ago in a second-hand shop in Japan for around 3 pounds.

But the big question was: could I squeeze the bump into it?

I could. So I chose to ignore the fact, that it’s made from 100% polyester and left for a lovely dinner at one of my favourite East London restaurants, Lennie’s Snack Bar.

Here I’m wearing it with a pair of studded ankle boots from Topshop to make it less dressy.

Dressing the bump – black and blue dots

HAHA! I found another two items in my wardrobe that still fit.

Strangely enough I’m not really into (second-hand) clothes shopping at the moment, so I get very excited when I discover that I can squeeze the bump into old stuff from my closet.

Like this black & blue dotted top, bought from a second-hand shop on Edgware Road ages ago for around £10. (I’m also wearing it here in a non-pregnant state).

I’ve paired it with an old H&M zip-up skirt which fit the bump after I stretched the seams until they started popping…..woops.

I really like the puff sleeves and cheerful dots on this hand-loomed sweater and the fact that the look changes, chameleon-style, from black-on-blue to blue-on-black dots, depending on what side you’re facing.

Blingin’ up the bump

What do you do when you want to dress up but your waist has disappeared alongside 99.8 % of your wardrobe?

Well, my answer is you either sit down or cry or you bling it up baby.

So yesterday when I was going to Soho for a party I decided to spice my beloved stretchy H&M dress up with a gold second-hand belt and my Chanel earrings.

The belt might be in a weird position, but who cares, it’s shiny & glittery!

Dressing the bump – H&M python print dress

My old cold has been substituted by a new one. Great. But in between being sick I did manage to pop into H&M at Regent Street.

I was there to buy socks and leggings,  but their sale is still on and I just couldn’t resist the flirty looks from this python print dress.

It is made from a mix of cotton and modal and is so comfortable and best of all: stretchy. It was half price and only cost 15 pounds.

Second-hand find: Old School Poncho

When I was a kid I would flick through our family album and see my mum run around in a brown, black and white wool poncho back in the late 70s. Years later when I was in my late teens wool ponchos were all the rage again and I turned to my mum: “What did you do with that old poncho of yours? Can I have it?” I made her feel real bad as she had given it to the charity shop ages ago, thinking that ugly thing would never come back in fashion.

Imagine how proud she was when she later found this one in pristine condition in the local charity shop. She paid 5 kroner for it (50 p) and sent it to me in Copenhagen. I’ve worn it ever since (well, on and off that is). It’s 100% wool, comfy and warm and some nice woman once put a helluva lot of effort into knitting it.

Second-hand poncho - Second-hand Louis Féraud Clutch - Vivienne Westwood jeans - Second-hand Charles David croco boots

What I wore: Hat, leather and Williamson cape

SECOND-HAND HAT - SECOND-HAND MATTHEW WILLIAMSON CAPE, H&M LEATHER DRESS, VIVIENNE WESTWOOD TROUSERS, DUNE BOOTS W. TASSELS, MULBERRY ROXANNE BAG. Photo: Mette Bassett

Fredagens pub-outfit. Denne flerfarvede uldkappe fra den fantastiske, farveglade designer Matthew Williamson er et af mine bedre genbrugskup. Den hang i Traid genbrugsbutikken på Westbourne Grove (som i øvrigt er en rigtig udmærket butik) og så lidt slatten og meget, meget fnulret ud. Pris 24.95 pund. Den pris kunne jeg ikke stå for, så den kom med hjem, og så brugte jeg ellers et par timer på at hive et lag fnuller af og vupti, så så den pludselig pæn ud igen. Jeg er vild med farvespillet i uldet, som skifter nuance alt efter lyset.

Indenunder ses min højt-elskede skindkjole, som jeg købte tilbage i sommeren 2007 for 900 kr. Den er blød som en barnenumse og perfekt til de dage, hvor man ikke rigtig ved, hvad man skal tage på.

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Friday’s pub outfit. This colourful cape from the very talented British designer Matthew Williamson is a closet favourite and was quite a bargain too. I saw it in the Traid Charity Shop on Westbourne Grove (one of the chain’s best shops). It was hanging on the rail looking rather limp and was covered in lint. But a quick look at the price tag (24.95) convinced me that it had to come home with me. I spent two hours grooming it, gently pulling off all the extra wool fluff and voilà: it looked almost like new again.

Underneath I’m wearing my beloved leather dress from H&M. I paid 100 pounds for it back in 2007 and it has been a great investment as it’s soft as a baby’s bottom and I wear it all the time.

What I Wore: Hat, Boots, Balenciaga & Burberry

SECOND-HAND HAT - SECOND-HAND BURBERRY - SECOND-HAND L.K. BENNETT BOOTS - BALENCIAGA CITY 07. Photo: Mette Bassett

Ooooh, det er blevet lidt køligere her i London. Og det regnede i går. Det fejrede jeg ved fluks at iføre mig min hat (købt i Chiswick for 10 pund), min genbrugs-Burberry (købt for 30 pund i  St. John’s Wood) og mine lange, bløde-som-smør snørestøvler fra L.K. Bennett (var som nye, da jeg købte dem for 30 pund i genner’en i Chiswick). Balenciaga City tasken er årgang 2007 – et af de år hvor de brugte det blødeste læder. Den er en af mine absolut favorittasker.

Jeg kan virkelig anbefale at spare op til en dyrere kvalitetstaske i klassisk design, da man ender med at have den i årevis, ofte årtier, og så bliver man glad hver gang man tager den over armen, netop fordi kvaliteten er i top.

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Oooh, it’s getting a bit chilly here in London. And yesterday it rained. I actually don’t mind at all as it gives me a chance to wear my black hat (10 pounds in charity shop in Chiswick), my second-hand Burberry coat (30 pounds in  St. John’s Wood) and my black lace-up boots from L.K. Bennett (were as good as new when I bought them for 30 pounds in Chiswick). Last up is one of my favourite bags: a black Balenciaga City from 2007, one of the years when they used the softest leather for the bags.

I can really recommend buying fewer, but more expensive bags in classic designs as you end up having them for many, many years. And it’s such a nice feeling carrying a top quality bag over your arm.

SECOND-HAND HAT - SECOND-HAND BURBERRY - SECOND-HAND L.K. BENNETT BOOTS - BALENCIAGA CITY 07. Photo: Mette Bassett

SECOND-HAND HAT - SECOND-HAND BURBERRY - SECOND-HAND L.K. BENNETT BOOTS - BALENCIAGA CITY 07. Photo: Mette Bassett