By Raj Thandhi @pinkchai online at pinkchaistyle.com
Style Writer, Masalamommas
New Line of Comfort Clothing Geared Towards Moms
Most people I know take a toned-down approach to summer fashion. After all it’s hot, we are spending more time outdoors, and most of us are in vacation mode. Even though I work in fashion, my summer wardrobe is more casual than the rest of the year, because I’m spending more time doing “kid stuff”. My clothes have to translate easily from working at the computer to shuffling kids to their activities, running errands, and playing in the backyard. That’s why the new Jersey by Jacob collection caught my eye.
Composed of a neutral palette of grey, black, and white, and dressed up with a hit of pink – this collection was created using flexible and light fabrics to ensure comfort, but is also designed to be chic like the rest of Jacob’s more professional pieces. The line will start rolling out at Jacob stores across Canada this month, and new pieces will be added until December.
To help my fellow Masalamommas make the right choices for a laid back summer to fall wardrobe, I connected with Jacob’s resident style expert Cristelle Basamaji to ask her a few questions about casual yet chic style for moms.
Raj: What would you suggest as a “go-to look” for busy moms?
Cristelle: Of course it would depend if you were a new mom or not. I think that for new moms especially, they want things that still flatter their figure and keep everything tight yet comfortable. So I think the best, best pants we have for moms are the ponte pants or leggings. It is a fantastic fabric and even when I discovered it a few years ago it became my go-to fabric, because it’s got those properties that suck everything in, hold everything tight, and makes you look fantastic, yet is extremely comfortable so you never feel constrained.
Raj: Are leggings a good choice for Moms who might be feeling like their hips and belly are their “trouble areas” after having kids? If so, what types of tops do you suggest paring with them?
Cristelle: The ponte pant is different than a regular legging because they firm everything up, so you can definitely wear them even with just a t-shirt. If you want to wear the regular leggings I would definitely go with a longer cardigan in the front, like the hoodie cardigan – it’s an open cardigan that is a longer length. So if you wear a cami and the cardigan, you are going to look great and hide whatever you want to hide as well.
Raj: A comfort line that is inspired by athletic wear can seem too toned down at times. How can you wear a casual outfit and still look put together?
Cristelle: I think that by adding accessories it can be really interesting. For example if you had a little fun thin belt in neon pink or grey, if you are wearing all black that little coloured belt can jazz things up, and also defines the waist – that’s always very flattering. We also really love printed scarves, to dress things up a bit. For shoes; you can always wear a platform or wedge, or a running shoe that has a little bit of shine. Even for the women who love Tom’s shoes; they have a version with sequins right now, so that could be a fun way to make the look a little bit less casual
Raj: You have a maxi dress in your new collection, would you consider that casual wear or is that something you can integrate into your work wardrobe?
Cristelle: I think you can definitely put this in your work wardrobe, and if you look at this maxi dress compared to some of the other maxi dresses we have in our regular Jacob collection, it’s not that casual. It’s more of a comfortable fabric, but definitely it has potential to be dressed up or dressed down. You can either wear it wear it with shiny running shoes or flip-flops to dress it down, or you can dress it up with our little motorcycle jacket, neon pink belt, and black wedges. It looks good for a client meeting or a barbeque at a friend’s place on Saturday night so the dress is really versatile.
Raj: For Moms-to-be what are the best investment pieces for them that will work during pregnancy and after the baby is born?
Cristelle: I would definitely say the dresses in this collection, because we have this one gorgeous employee that is 8 months pregnant and pretty much every day she wears a maxi dress either from the regular collection or this jersey dress that just came out. What’s great is that it stretches to fit her belly, yet the shape of the dress isn’t lost. Also the cardigans are perfect, especially the ones that are open because those you can wear with your maternity jeans, with leggings or over a skirt and blouse. Anything that is grey, white, or black, is good because it will always work in your wardrobe for several years.
What’s Your Favourite Piece from the new line?
Honestly it’s really hard to choose, but I really love pink personally so the open cardigan with ruffles in the front and detailing in the back I think is really flattering, and I just love the colour.
As someone who rarely wears clothing inspired by athletic wear, I’m pretty impressed with this new offering from Jacob and looking forward to adding a few pieces to my wardrobe.
Love the leggings tips!
Thanks Lisa…
I wasn’t so sure about wearing leggings as pants until I talked to Cristelle either, but she inspired me. The other day I wore them with a blazer and heels to go out for a drink with friends!
So much to learn still:)
Raj