On Friday, American actress Selma Blair (who I mostly remember as the snooty fiancé of Elle Wood’s ‘bonehead’ ex-boyfriend in Legally Blonde) cracked on Motherhood. She said she’s been getting 45 minutes of sleep each night since she’d had her 3 month old child, and revealed:

“…it’s horrifying. You’re too tired to enjoy how precious this time is. It is very challenging.”

Of course, she quickly went on to talk about the joys of motherhood, inclusive of “…his slow smile he gives me every morning when I say, ‘Good morning,” lest she look like a ‘bad mum’ for being truthful about the issues she’s facing.

This got me thinking about the half-truths we tell each other when it comes to motherhood, the things that are, and are not, revealed about the challenges we face, and the (often ridiculous) situations we find ourselves in. And this pretence can also extend to how we approach fashion after motherhood. Hands up if you’ve ever changed your outfit especially to pop down the shops? Ever slept in your clothes and worn them the next day? Or worn the same outfit several days in a week in front of different sets of people?

The thing is, after we have kids, we face one mother of a fashion dilemma. We’re dressing a body that has dramatically changed, but have less time and less money to do anything about it. 55% of us claim to have fallen into a motherhood-induced fashion rut (me! me! me!) and struggle to find stylish clothes that are also practical to wear when we’re with our kids. And, like Selma, we are beyond tired, so having the energy to do much about it can be debilitating.

Yet we rarely talk about it – like there’s some sort of shame to not being perfectly coiffed every second of the day. And by not talking about it can make us feel like we are making style mistakes, when in reality we’re all going through similar things.

So, for the purposes of sisterhood – and keeping it real – this week I’m inviting everyone to share the truth about the funniest/worst/most shocking/embarrassing/humiliating and/or gross style stuff ups that you’ve encountered since you’ve become a mum.

I’ll go first:

I’ll never forget turning up to my first mothers’ group – feeling a little fragile and freaked out – to realise I had vomit splattered down the back of my favourite sass & bide shirt. Talk about accessorising!

And just 2 weeks ago, I was walking through the school gates for drop-off when I realised that in my rush to get out of the house, my gym pants were on back to front. No wonder they felt a bit weird…

After you’ve played Truth with me, how about taking a Dare?

We’ve got a bunch of style related Dares to choose from that’ll probably take you out of your style comfort zones, yet will definitely help dig you out of a motherhood induced fashion rut. Reckon you could wear Red Lipstick ever day for a week? Wear a dress day in and day out? Could you wear lashings of colour every day, or indulge yourself in your favourite things 7 days straight? Could you wear something on your head all week-long? Click on the links, check out the dares, and be inspired by the people who’ve taken them on so far.

So come on, spill! What’s your biggest style stuff-up since you’ve become a mother? 

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