Body After (Oh) Baby
I swear I shop at New Seasons just to avoid US Magazine, and People and all the rest. Not because I’m so high-minded, but because every few weeks the Body After Baby headline pops up and it makes me cringe. The celebrities are celebrated for having their pre-baby body back. I lived among these women for a solid year, I’ve seen them in person standing behind me as I longed to grab that US magazine, but one of the celebs on the cover was standing there, so you know, that’s just not cool to be reading your neighbor’s dirty laundry in the check out aisle. I’d like to say very clearly that I LIVED IN A TRAILER IN MALIBU. It was a 300 square-foot travel trailer in the middle of a dusty orchard. I was not rollin’ with Paris or anything. But back to the women. These women had taut, lean, tanned bodies. And big bobble heads. They not only had their pre-baby body back, but their pre-adolescent body back. It was ridiculous and slightly nauseating.
I’m the mommy of a two-year old and for the first time in nearly three years I have a body back. It’s not the same body I started out with but suddenly, it’s mine. And so how to celebrate this moment of waking up and saying not, why’s my stomach all soft, and how come my jeans fit weird, but instead, ding-a-dang-dang, I look good! I’ve got a nice round rump, a soft tummy, big hips, a rack to write home about. Well, hot mamas who have emerged from the gloom of having a child, here’s the first step: go get bras fit at Oh Baby.
The women who work at Oh Baby are all shapes and sizes — none of these college girls on holiday break you find at the department stores — and they’ve seen all shapes and sizes come in. They are sweet and gentle and understand that you, you new hot lady, are positively luscious. And that you want to look luscious. It feels good to have a well-fitting bra. They’ll measure you with warm fingers and show you bras that suit your tastes. They’ll tell you which ones offer support, which ones are a rip-off. And they’ll get you bras that will ensure a full-cup. This is my favorite expression they use. When I tried on my favorite pink bra there, the woman said, “Oh, that is a very full cup.” May I wear it out? Without a shirt?
I know we’re all trying to fight consumerism. I don’t own a TV and I haven’t read a women’s magazine since Sassy because I hate the whole “find a new you” thing that just sells this month’s lipstick. And I don’t want you to spend money when you can’t afford to. I’m on a budget myself. But there is something about going to a store for women, adult women, and being spoken to as a woman. Not as a Mom, a wife, whatever. But woman-to-woman. There’s something about being touched and taken care of and being told, ‘that looks beautiful’ when you’re nearly naked. It’s something that needs to happen more often. We need to be kinder to ourselves, to the women around us. We need to take care every once in a while.
And we need to take a lit match to that Body After Baby headline.
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Great. Freaking. Post.
Thank you for talking about something no one else is willing to say. Oh baby, I’m off to buy a new bra.
So let’s see a picture!
Caesar, lets keep the creepy to a minimum.
Yes, let’s see the picture!
Hear hear! FABULOUS post Melissa — thanks!!
Neato. What’s that got to do with Portland, exactly? Nothing? Oh, gotcha.
Thanks you guys! Even thanks to Caesar and Chris — a girl likes to be adored. Oh, and Nolando, since you didn’t click the link, I’ll let you know that Oh Baby is Portland’s finest indie lingerie shop. With Victoria’s Secret dominating the scene most everywhere else, Portland girls are lucky that we can support local lingerie stores in our hometown. You should check it out for your Ms. or for yourself.
I appreciate a little girl talk around here, damn. I’ll check out that shop, sounds a lot friendlier than Nordstrom with the chilly fingers. “May I touch?”
(See what you boys miss out on?)
We call a bra a “bre” in my family. So, that’s why my aunt was screeching, “She needs to borrow a bre! Somebody help!” at my cousin’s wedding when my other cousin was having a “clothing situation.”
(What did Janet Jackson call it, “wardrobe malfunction”?)
I think since you didn’t mention local pop culture, a fatal bike-car collision, pinkie-extended beer or boutique coffee, readers might have assumed your post wasn’t about Portland.
Silly Steve - Melissa she DID mention local culture - her post is about Oh Baby, one of our fave Portland lingerie shops. And the post also opened up an important conversation for local moms. Yep, local local local.
Right on, Terri, I was just getting in a dig on the guy squad who missed that very point.
Oh. D’oh. Silly me, then. ;-)