By HTE Founder, Erin Hughes, and Founder of Charlotte Styled It, Charlotte Grigg
There are plenty of things people warn you about when you become a mum.
The sleepless nights.
The endless washing.
The feeling that you’ll never sit down and drink a hot coffee again.
What they don’t always tell you is that somewhere between keeping tiny humans alive, navigating the mental load, and adjusting to an entirely new version of yourself, you can lose sight of who you are.
Not completely.
Just enough to look in the mirror one day and think, “When was the last time I actually felt like me?”
For Charlotte, founder of Charlotte Styled It, that feeling wasn’t really about clothes at all.
It was about identity.
“I don’t think we actually lose our style,” she says. “I think it changes and evolves.”
And honestly, that might be one of the most refreshing things I’ve heard.
Because motherhood changes everything.
Your body changes.
Your priorities change.
Your confidence changes.
And naturally, the way you dress changes too.
Charlotte remembers loving fashion throughout pregnancy.
“I actually loved getting dressed when I was pregnant,” she says. “I embraced the bump and really enjoyed that stage.”
Then motherhood arrived.
Suddenly clothes needed to be practical.
They needed to work for breastfeeding.
They needed to survive spills, sleepless nights and long days.
And like so many women, fashion slipped down the priority list.
“In those early stages, I didn’t really think about getting dressed in the same way. Everything became focused on the baby.”
It’s a story so many mothers know all too well.
Not because they stop caring.
But because there simply isn’t enough space.
When you’re constantly giving to everyone else, there’s very little left for yourself.
And often, style becomes collateral damage.
But Charlotte believes the real challenge isn’t that we lose our style.
It’s that we’re growing into a completely new version of ourselves.
“Our bodies change, our lifestyles change and we’re maturing too. What felt right before doesn’t always feel right anymore.”
Maybe that’s why so many women stand in front of wardrobes packed with clothes and still feel like they have nothing to wear.
Those clothes belonged to a previous chapter.
And while parts of her still exist, motherhood asks us to meet a newer version of ourselves too.
A version we’re often still getting to know.
For Charlotte, reconnecting wasn’t about reinventing herself.
It was about listening to herself.
“Dressing in a way that reflected how I was feeling at the time was what helped me reconnect.”
Simple.
But powerful.
Because perhaps finding yourself again doesn’t require a complete makeover.
Maybe it starts with asking yourself a different question.
Not:
“What’s fashionable?”
But:
“How do I want to feel?”
Confident?
Comfortable?
Put together?
Creative?
Strong?
The answer will look different for every woman.
And that’s exactly the point.
“Fashion is such a reflection of who we are,” Charlotte says. “We’re all different. We all have our own little quirks. That’s what makes style personal.”
Now, with her youngest child turning three and Charlotte Styled It growing into something that’s entirely hers, she feels herself returning.
Not becoming who she was before motherhood.
But becoming who she is now.
And maybe that’s the real lesson.
We spend so much time trying to get back to the woman we used to be.
Perhaps we should spend more time getting to know the woman we’ve become.
Because she’s pretty incredible too.
To discover Charlotte Styled It, click here.
