If anyone can make you feel glamorous when you're pregnant, it's a former Net-A-Porter fashion buyer...
A stylish mother of three – Olivia 8, Nicolas 6, Alexis, 3 – Adriana Chryssicopoulos is also the co-founder of NINE IN THE MIRROR, a site for expectant women that blends style-savvy content with luxury e-commerce. It’s home to a highly edited collection of non-maternity designer clothes that will last long after your baby is born. Chryssicopoulos launched the site with friend and marketing expert Tatiana de Boisanger in 2014. “I guess you could say the birth of my children did change my career as it was the impetus for starting NINE IN THE MIRROR,” she says. Chryssicopoulos had worked in the fashion industry during all of her pregnancies and found it difficult to find fashionable clothes that she could wear to work, and still feel stylish. “I didn’t want to change my style. There were already so many changes going on, I wanted to feel like myself as much as possible. I would dress in my usual favourite brands that included 3.1 Phillip Lim, Equipment, and J.Crew among others.” Her good friend de Boisanger had a very similar experience with work and pregnancy. “No one was showing women non-maternity as maternity!” she says. So together the dynamic women created a site that did exactly that. According to Chryssicopoulos, the single biggest mistake women make when it comes to maternity fashion is thinking that they need to buy a whole new maternity wardrobe. Want to know more? We caught up with Chryssicopoulos at her chic London abode to find out her top tips for dressing the bump and how she juggles three children with a growing business… Photography: Jenna Lousie Potter
Motherhood has taught me so many things…
Perhaps the most poignant is that it is always evolving, that just when you thought you had it figured out, your children will surprise you, and with their growth and evolution you too will evolve in your understanding of them, and of your role as a mother. It has also taught me not to sweat the small stuff and to always find moments of laughter.
I don’t think there’s anything that has changed my life more than motherhood…
I have always thought of the journey into motherhood in terms of pre and post, almost like BCE and CE and feel that you become a complete version of yourself through motherhood, although through the early years of it, it’s quite a haze. From a practical standpoint I have much less time for ‘me’ and that naturally keeps your focus on others, even though I wouldn’t have it any other way even if I did!
I don’t think a balance can ever be achieved and that’s not necessarily a bad thing…
I find the pendulum will always be swaying in one direction or the other and that there are moments when your children require more of you and moments that work will tug at your arm as well and accepting that the pendulum will continue to sway will make that process easier.
A typical day starts anywhere from 6:30 to 7am…
I wake up and make breakfast for my children and then try to get myself ready (in about 10 minutes) in order to make it to school on time. I walk my three children, each to separate schools so it has to be a military-style operation to get them fed, dressed, and out the door. By the time 9am hits and I’ve left the last little one at nursery school I feel like half the day has gone by. I then head to work or to a breakfast meeting and the rest of the day is split between the office and meetings but I always aim to return home by 5:30pm in order to be there to do homework with my eight and six year olds. My husband arrives home at around 8pm for the kids’ bedtime and then we usually have a quite dinner and watch a series together. I often get back on the computer and finish up some work before bed, which varies from 10:30pm to 1am. My husband and I don’t really plan much during the weekdays but love to catch up with friends and go out for dinner on weekends.
I love the saying that if you want something done ask a busy person…
To me that exemplifies mothers perfectly as they can multitask and juggle so many varying responsibilities. I’d say ‘go for it’- and talk to as many people as you can to capitalise on the strengths of your friends and your connections. There’s nothing like the free advice and helpful hands you get when first starting out. My mother always said to me that there’s no worse effort than that which you do not do… and I find this is always creeping back into my mind when in doubt.
I feel incredibly lucky to be living in a country with such progressive maternity regulations…
At least when compared to my upbringing in the US. I worked throughout my three pregnancies and took ample maternity leaves with my first two children. It was when I was going to have my third, however, that I wanted a change in pace and to reduce the amount of travel I was doing so it was a personal decision to stop working to spend more time at home. I guess you could say the birth of my children did change my career as it was the impetus for starting NINE IN THE MIRROR.
NINE IN THE MIRROR is unique because…
We are offering women what they are used to and giving a pregnant woman a platform to shop, read, learn and browse in a way that doesn’t scream “I’m only for pregnant women” but instead says “I’m for a woman or a mother who happens to be pregnant.” In all the personal searching as well as business research we did, there was no e-commerce site offering expectant women a platform in this manner. And no one showing them non-maternity as maternity!
My top tips for dressing while expecting are that…
You should feel comfortable to dress as you always have. Yes you are pregnant and yes your body is changing, but if you love leather you can still wear it (there are great stretchy leggings that you can wear well into your pregnancy or an oversized biker jacket will always look cool). Stay true to your style and don’t feel obliged to change it just because maternity wear is a certain way. Also, less can be more. An all-over printed dress says a lot already so don’t feel like you have to layer on lots of accessories. Your bump is the best accessory, don’t forget it! When it does come to accessories however, remember that you can draw the attention to where you want it. Beautiful drop earrings or a statement necklace can draw the attention to your neckline or décolleté in a wonderful way.
When it comes to my maternity staples…
Denim is definitely a staple and an item of clothing that can see you through the entire pregnancy. The wonderful thing is that there are so many variations with maternity denim these days – not just the washes but the cuts as well: Skinny, boyfriend, girlfriend, distressed, cropped, overall style, you name it! I would also suggest that day dresses are staples because they are so very comfortable and can be quite versatile too.
The biggest single mistake women make is thinking that they NEED to buy a whole new maternity wardrobe…
And in doing so they are buying into clothes with a very short lifespan. When buying a coat or an evening dress you are much more likely to hold onto pieces you bought because you loved them, because they are quality items that can be re-worn differently and in a worst case scenario may need taking in a little but will last you for many more seasons.
My maternity style icons have been super stylish women like Natasha Goldenberg and Miroslava Duma…
Women who weren’t afraid to wear what they loved and pushed the boundaries for maternity dressing. I also loved the way Kerry Washington dressed on the red carpet.
I can mark my three pregnancies by what I was wearing…
With my first, I wore tons of tunics and leggings and bohemian dresses. With my second I bought several pairs of maternity jeans: skinny, boot cut, oversized boyfriend, and paired them with non-maternity silk tops or knitwear and with my third I was lucky that pyjama dressing was in and so I wore tons of elasticated silk trousers with matching button front pyjama style shirts and summery cotton dresses.
The way to avoid looking ‘mumsy’ by most people’s definition is to make an effort…
Yes, being pregnant or a new mother or even a mother of small children, making an effort is tough and tiring but when you look at yourself in the mirror or you bump into a friend on the street, you’ll realise its worth it! For me it’s an instant mood-lifter to look my best.
I’m currently using a Mansur Gavriel bucket bag…
I love how lightweight it is. When I want to downsize I opt for my Chloe Hudson tassel cross body bag and inevitably end up carrying my laptop and papers in a canvas tote – albeit a NINE IN THE MIRROR one!
Since becoming a mother I no longer live in heels…
I also love the new embellished and elegant flats available nowadays. I’m very much on the run from the moment I leave the house with the kids so flats are a must in my wardrobe.
We have lived in our home for about four years…
I would describe it as soft Scandi style. It’s very neutral in palette, lots of greige (grey and beige) colours with touches of warm brick or moss with the modern touches coming mostly from photography artwork. I don’t have a favourite room but enjoy spending time in the kitchen where we all usually congregate, or in the family room with my husband and kids.
Adriana’s little list of loves:
A good lie-in (that means getting to 9:30am). ‘Nutri Bullet’-ing for the whole family. Emilia Wickstead’s SS16 collection of mix and match floral motifs (coming soon to NINE IN THE MIRROR). Mid morning yoga to detoxify my midwinter mind. The ‘beso’ and ‘abrazo’ my kids give me when I drop them at school each morning. These words mean kiss and hug in Spanish.
