What Mums Wear: Sara Crampton, Founder of The UNDONE.
"I think motherhood has made me get dressed for personal pleasure rather than the approval or gaze of others."
What Mums Wear is a new series that takes a deep dive into what we wear, our relationship with fashion and how it evolves throughout motherhood, just as we do. We ask our most stylish mum friends what they wear on repeat, tips on what to buy and what they consider when getting dressed each day.
Sara Crampton or Harper And Harley as she’s known on IG, is one of Australia’s original and most successful fashion bloggers. Over the years she has honed her personal style down to a minimalistic fine art, and as a result, has gathered more than 512K followers. Sara’s universally appealing style was the basis for her well-curated e-commerce boutique, The UNDONE. The store feels personal, like we’re privy to a tour of her very own closet. She does not go for trends, but rather classics – a crisp white shirt, tailored trouser, wide-legged denim and knit dresses are often worn on repeat. Her style has so far, stood the test of time and seems to transcend seasons, including the stages of motherhood and beyond, where most of us become confused and confined with what to buy and wear, Sara’s wardrobe has not wavered.
But it’s not only her style that appeals, lately we’ve seen a lot more of the real Sara on her Stories as she shares her go-to busy gal healthy meals, her strong distaste of the mesh shoe trend (she’s a timeless woman to her core!), honest words on the challenges of running a retail business in a recession while simultaneously managing a home renovation and keeping her twin daughters and a four year old son alive – and I for one, am here for it. I admire her for more than what she wears but for her strong sense of self, her humility, and if I’m completely honest, her responsiveness to my fashion queries over dm.
Read on as the style icon and mother of three offers some sound advice on how to feel good in what you wear, what she wore when she was pregnant with her twin daughters (think very stretchy and flattering!), why getting out of your Lululemon’s may be just what you need to hit refresh on your style, tips for injecting fun into a timeless wardrobe and the power of filing away outfit inspiration for a rainy day.
My husband and I are alternating our nights with the twin girls and our almost four year old son, so I’m either waking up at 5ish with the girls for their first feed of the day or I get to lay in bed in bed until around 6 before I get in the shower, dressed and off to get coffees. My husband is doing most of the drop-offs and I’ll stay home with the girls. Logistically it gets my head into a spin thinking of having twins in the car and somehow getting my son into childcare so we’re choosing to avoid this. If I do drop-off it’s usually because I’m heading into the city for work and it’s on the way. Getting us out the door on time, that takes major organisation! Haha. Thankfully my son is almost 4, so it’s not like I have 3 babies, he’s more of a helpful big brother and is usually keen to get out of the house as much as I am!
LOOK O1. DAILY UNIFORM.
When it comes to getting dressed, I’m a practical girl. I usually start with the bottom half and go from there. I like to strike a balance of tailoring with that thrown-on-with-ease look. I like it to look and feel effortless and not too contrived. The weather and my daily agenda usually determine what I’ll wear. But I have also gotten into a good habit of making the effort to get dressed in real clothes rather than just remaining in lounge or exercise gear. I have a hard rule that unless I’m working out that I don’t wear activewear. It’s too easy to fall into a habit of wearing leggings everyday, and for me, this just doesn’t make me feel good. So, I always make that effort to choose trousers or jeans instead.
My mum made a lot of my clothes when I was little, we would go to Lindcraft and choose patterns and materials. I’m sure that’s where my original interest in fashion came from. Then in my teens I became obsessed with watching Fashion TV and loved watching all the runway shows.
“…investing in jeans and pants a size up postpartum so I could wear clothes that felt like me and my style even when my body didn’t feel like my own.”
My personal style probably didn’t quite fall into place until I was in my mid twenties, and it's still evolving now. I like that even though I’ve found style parameters that work me, there is still room to explore and play with fashion.
LOOK 02. A NIGHT OUT.
I’m currently going through a bit of a transition of adding some more ‘fun’ pieces into my wardrobe to play and create some interest when worn with my basics. I was listening to a podcast with Amy Smilovic from Tibi where she was talking about how a wardrobe should look like an inverted triangle. Your foundation pieces should make up the majority, but then you can have a sprinkle of fashion-y at the point. A lot of people have this around the wrong way and that’s when they find they have nothing to wear.
My wardrobe is very much interchangeable, so work pieces cross over into weekend or my at home clothes are also my work clothes. For work, it’s either a black trouser, blue or white jeans, recently I’ve been getting a lot of wear out of a tailored black maxi skirt. I usually choose a simple black sandal, maybe add a bracelet and then either a simple tank, tee, or shirt.
If I’m at home, I wear comfortable jeans and a t-shirt. I know some people don’t think jeans are comfortable but to that I would say they haven’t found the right pair. Especially right now when loose jeans are in fashion, it’s a great time to find some that work for you. Skinny jeans are obviously the WORST.
I prefer my clothing to fit comfortably, so if in doubt I would size up rather than down. I know first hand that brands can sometimes get their fits absolutely wrong, so never feel weird about sizing up. It’s all about how they fit on the body.
My go-to looks are a trouser or jeans with a t-shirt, tank, a light crew neck knit, or button down shirt. I would like to say its effortless but put-together. I’m drawn to beautifully made pieces that have great tailoring, beautiful fabrications, items that last and wear well. Avoiding logos and prints that date is key for me. This extends to our offering at The UNDONE. I want to do the edit for my customers. Keeping the collection tight and just picking the very best pieces from a range of designers is key.
“And interestingly the psychology of fashion touches everyone, even if you’re not into fashion, you’re still making choices into how you want to be perceived.”
The only time I’ve really felt bored by wearing the exact same thing was during the end of my pregnancy when I literally had two outfits on rotation. But otherwise I find I can continuously make small switches to make an outfit feel different, it’s the benefit of a wardrobe that’s designed to be mixed and matched. Then little changes in accessory choices and shoes helps, but I also think hair and makeup can play a big part in bringing freshness to old favourites. Play with a lip colour or do your hair a different way and it’s a whole new vibe.
We all have our moments when we lose our way a little, but I think I’ve developed both an eye and intuition for knowing if something is ‘on brand’ and will last the distance, or be fleeting. It’s saved me a lot of money honing this skill! A great tip for outfit inspo is to create a saved folder in your IG or screenshot and save in an album on your phone, and also try on your wardrobe and see what you’re vibing! Then if you get stuck on for an outfit or need some inspiration, scroll through that folder and see what you can recreate.
I bought a black stretchy dress from Skims that I lived in and I think it got me to perhaps 34 or 35 weeks with the twins, so I’m sure it would fit a 40week bump with a single baby. I would wear that as the base and then layer an open shirt on top. With tight options I hate underwear lines and the shirt layers hide all that. The other outfit was a long tank, Jac and Jack do really nice ones that I still wear now, with a low waist elastic pant, Christopher Esber surprisingly has a few that are perfect. And again, layer a shirt on top.
During the seasons of pregnancy and postpartum we all just want to feel good, so buying a stretchy black dress you can wear on repeat with a growing bump and layer with different shirts worked well for me, as did investing in jeans and pants a size up postpartum so I could wear clothes that felt like me and my style even when my body didn’t feel like my own.
LOOK 03. WORK UNIFORM.
The best advice I can give for postpartum dressing is to store away all the clothes that don’t fit you. Get them out of sight so you just have the wearable options in front of you. Then work out what pieces work together. Do you need a pair of jeans or pants that fits your current shape? And if so, give yourself the permission to buy some. Sure, they may only fit for the next 12 months as your body adjusts, or this size could be your new normal. Either way, you have clothes that fit and make you feel good in. Try to find something that you can wear more than once. There are some great strapless maxi shapes from both Anna Quan and Esse that have room for bumps or changing silhouettes and work across different seasons of your life.
I think motherhood has made me get dressed for personal pleasure rather than the approval or gaze of others. Mothers do so much for other people all day every day, so what we choose to wear is that little slice of doing something for ourselves each day that can make a big difference in how we feel.
Our clothes play vital part in how we identify ourselves and how we perceive other people as well. Clothes are the way we find our people. If someone is dressed similarly to you, you likely have similar tastes and interests and it’s likely you could be compatible as friends. It’s so simple. I think that’s why trends take off like they do. We see them on other people that we would like to be associated with or be friends with and so we buy it, in the hope we can emulate them and be perceived by others as we perceive them. And interestingly the psychology of fashion touches everyone, even if you’re not into fashion, you’re still making choices into how you want to be perceived.
For me, a great outfit makes me feel completely at ease. I don’t have many body hang ups these days and love and appreciate my body, but I don’t wear mini dresses or skirts, it’s just one of those style choices I’ve made. I do wonder if avoiding these styles is the right thing for my daughters as they grow up, as I want them to love their bodies and not have any insecurities, but I also know what’s flattering on me and I feel much more confident in longer lengths.
For more of Sara’s style follow @harperandharley / theUNDONE.com.au