My New Frugal Wardrobe Makeover that Hides my Mummy Tummy

I have a confession to make. I currently weigh more than I've ever weighed in my entire life, other than perhaps when I was 9 months pregnant. And even then, I maybe weighed one or two pounds more than I do now.

There's a bunch of reasons why I weigh what I do now, and those reasons aren't as relevant as the fact that I am about 40-45 lbs overweight and most of that weight is in my central region. I am attempting to lose the weight again, via exercising and eating better than I have been, but I accept that this is not going to be a quick fix, and I'm trying to learn to love my body, and I'm not actually upset about how much I weigh now, however...
I'm kind of sick of all the comments about "my pregnancy". Usually its innocuous comments, like the person on the street who stops me and blesses "me and my baby". Or the person who asks me when I'm due. And while it doesn't offend me, because honestly, I do look pregnant (about 5 or 6 months along, depending on the day and outfit), and I know the people asking me aren't being malicious, at the same time, I do find the comments annoying.

Basically, it comes down to this. I have a belly. Partly due to a mostly healed diastasis recti left from giving birth, and part simply from fat situated on my belly. And because I have a belly, I have the uncomfortable luck that when I wear tighter clothes, people assume I'm "showing off my belly" and therefore must be pregnant, and when I wear things looser on my belly, people assume it's maternity clothes and I must be pregnant. It's a "lose lose" type situation. Most of my clothes fit one of these two categories, which is why I get pregnancy comments on an almost every day basis.

In the winter, I did manage to figure out one type of clothing combination that worked really well at drawing attention away from my mid section, and therefore it stopped the pregnancy comments- knee length pencil skirts, shirts, and long open cardigans (especially with vertical ribbing), and I feel really good in those types of outfits and get lots of compliments on them.

The problem though is that summer is nearly here, and it is too warm for me to be wearing cardigans, even lighter cardigans, on a day to day basis. And all my summer clothes fall under the aformentioned categories of too tight-must be showing off my belly, or too loose-must be maternity clothes.

I took to the internet to ask style advice from fashion forums, what is the best style of summer clothing that minimizes attention to the belly area, that won't make me look pregnant, and won't be too hot.

I got suggestions to go especially with long shirts, so they won't stop directly at my belly, which therefore calls attention to the area. People suggested T-shirt dresses, peplum tops, wrap shirts and dresses, and loose drapey tops.


I went to the store armed with these suggestions, and in two stores I managed to buy 9 different shirts for a total of 77 dollars, which is $8.55 a shirt on average, and enough shirts for my new wardrobe. Because of modesty reasons, I don't wear these shirts on their own, but they are all light and breezy enough that it won't be a problem for me to layer them with a thin shirt in the summer. And depending on what I pair them with, I can also use them in cooler, non summery weather, like we're having now.

You might notice that it's just shirts, no bottoms, but that's because I already have a nice supply of pencil skirts that fit me that go well with these shirts.

I hit up only one store for almost all of these shirts- and luckily everything that I bought was on sale. You'll notice that there are a lot of repeats of the same shirt, just in different colors, and that's because if the cut on one was good for me, I decided to buy it in as many colors as they had that looked good on me. (You might notice I tend to the bold colors. I don't do well with pale/pastel colors- they make me look dead.)

I asked Mike to take a photo shoot of me modeling these new tops one evening before he headed off to work, so I can show you just what I bought, and you can see how I don't look pregnant in these (and trust me, I definitely look pregnant in other outfits), so they were all a good buy.

Unfortunately because he was in a rush to take these pictures, in some of them my face really looks icky (I should have done a full face of makeup before taking pics to post on the blog, but oh well), so yea, just look at the tops, not my face. :-D (I considered cropping my face out of these pics, but I didn't, so don't give me a hard time, please!)

The first set of shirts are my favorite, by far. I absolutely adore these!

This loose drapey shirt has just the right amount of give by my tummy that it doesn't make me look pregnant, nor is it loose enough to make it look like I'm hiding my belly. And because of the cowlneck collar (I think it's called that), it has enough texture and body that it draws attention away from the belly area. I'm wearing this shirt as I write this post, and it really makes me feel beautiful. I love the vibrant color that isn't quite mustard, but is more sunflower yellow. 

I also got this one in navy, which is less "my color" but still works "well enough" for me.

The color is off in this picture- it really is a strong magenta, and it looks so awesome and is exciting to wear.

The last one in this series is a bright red. Can I say I just love red? I wear all shades of red very happily, and that's why I bought 3 new bright red shirts? 

These shirts were supposed to be $11.15 each, but 4 together were $28.50, making them $7.12.

I saw this style at the store and really loved it, and they were $11.15 each or 3 for $28.50, making them $9.50 each. I bought this in bright red- even if the color doesn't come across as well in the picture.

I also bought it in black and love it! The pattern and cut on the top again draws eye's upward and away from the belly area and the belly is just loose enough to hide my tummy and tight enough to not look like a maternity top. They also had this in turquoise, and I really wanted to buy it, but they only had them one size smaller than the red and black, which was a bit too tight on my tummy so I went without.

This last one was a gamble. The color was fun, but I wasn't too sure about the cut. It is however a casual peplum top which people say hides belly fat. I'm still not sure, but bought it because of the 3 for $28.50 price.

In another store, I found these two shirts that I wasn't sure about at first, but then decided to go with them. I needed something that was a little dressier, and the gauzy fabric made it seem dressier. These shirts are about as loose as they come, but since they are see through, you can see underneath that I'm not as big as the shirt is, so it actually makes me not look pregnant (though I'm not sure how well it comes across in pictures.)

I bought it in red and blue- they each cost $10, and I really like them.

 I wore this one with a long drapey necklace to fancy it up, but I have to decide if I want to accessorize it some other ways, like with belts. I'm not sure what kinds of belts though, and where to place the belt so it is most flattering.

Anyhow, I'm really excited by my purchase, and since I've been wearing them I haven't gotten even a single comment about my baby or pregnancy or whatever. So now I don't have to walk around with a sign on my belly "Not pregnant, just fat".

I took out all my clothes that make me look pregnant and put them aside. I still am hoping to lose this weight and this belly and be able to wear my old styles again, but in the meantime, no point having them take up my minimal storage space in my room.

If you also have a similar tummy and have been looking for suggestions of what to wear, hopefully this post gave you some good ideas!

Any other stylistic advice for me about how to hide my mummy tummy? If you have a similar body shape, what types of styles of clothing do you find to be most flattering?