Bella Mama Cara Dress Review!

I was very excited the other day to be sent a dress from the lovely Bella Mama! When I enquired about doing a possible review I never dreamed Kirsten (founder) would send me an actual dress, but it was obviously my lucky day.

"Bella Mama is a small, busy boutique specialising in chic, contemporary breastfeeding clothing and transitional maternitywear for new mamas, blending fabulous style with amazing comfort. To complement this, we also offer a lovely range of beautiful baby bags, swaddling blankets, nursing necklaces, nursing covers, changing mats and indulgent skincare."

I have been struggling for some time to find beautiful, but affordable nursing clothes. I was starting to give up and just revert back to "normal" clothes and keep pulling my top up, but thanks to Bella Mama I think I have changed my mind!  The clothes on the website look very stylish with an indulgent edge, just what a new mum needs, no frumpiness in sight!

When I opened the parcel I was utterly amazed at what a beautiful item it was. The dress itself is called "Cara" and is a deep purple colour made out of jersey material - but good quality jersey. It hangs beautifully on the hanger (see picture)

and I would say it of better than usual quality for a jersey style dres (£45).  The real test though, is what is it like when feeding! Well I put it to the test yesterday when we went out for my birthday meal to Leeds new hot spot "Red Hot"(pardon the pun). Normally it is the sort of place I avoid but with four small children in tow it was ideal. I felt really comfortable all day in the dress even during my hot flush episodes (is this normal?) when in other nursing clothes I often get very warm and flustered probably due to the type of material.  However in my Bella Mama dress I felt lovely. I felt absolutely comfortable feeding in it as it is very discreet with a sort of gap in the neckline (see video) to allow easy access while still allowing a certain amount of coverage.  Due to the good design I was also able to move around easily in the dress and didn't feel constricted at all which is very important when you have young children. The dress also has a fashionable feel and hangs/moves well in a fluid line. It feels very comfortable against the skin and I didn't need to wear any vests etc underneath it. There is a tie at the back which isn't visible in the picture but is great as it means you can adjust the dress to suit your individual shape.

After our meal we then went to Leeds City Museum as I had heard they have some great exhibitions for kids. I wasn't disappointed and found there was a great sort of archeological display and a play area. At 2.30 there was a story time which gave me opportunity to feed again while sitting in front of a young man who was reading the story. I didn't want to embarrass him but as the dress is so brilliantly designed he clearly didn't even notice I was feeding! Result!



Here is a short video showing the dress in all its glory and demonstrating the easy feeding access.

All in all I really love this dress and will definitely be getting some more clothes from Bella Mama as their designs are right up my street (as Cheryl Cole would say).