I write about Isabella Oliver’s maternity line all of the time.  If you own even one of IO’s pieces, you already know how crucial they are to the devoted fashionista’s maternity wardrobe.  I keep in sporadic touch with the very nice women working at IO and they recently suggested that I “test-drive” one of the dresses from their non-maternity line, Isabella Oliver 365.  I already own two jackets from the 365 line, but I hadn’t yet purchased any of their dresses.  I don’t know about you, but my postpartum, “slummy mummy” physique has become very used to jeans, T-shirts, and sweaters/jackets.  Very nice jeans, very nice T-shirts, and very nice sweaters/jackets, but still, it’s become kind of a uniform.

Anyway, we are flying back to NY next week and, believe it or not, I have a real business meeting!  And my husband will laugh at me, but I am not exaggerating when I say I have nothing to wear.  My pre-pregnancy office attire doesn’t fit and is woefully out of style.  And, luckily, I can no longer wear my office-friendly maternity clothing (although I do really love some of my maternity work dresses).  So I asked Lucy at IO to suggest a postpartum-friendly, office-friendly dress for me to try out. Who better than the women working at IO to recommend a dress for the Postpartum Fashionista?  She recommended the jersey Roma dress, which is available in deep purple and black.  I chose the black, figuring the grape color was a little much for a legal office and what could be more postpartum-friendly than black?  And I really do like this dress.  The best part about it is the draping across the front. Looking at the photo (ignore the perfectly shaped model), you can’t tell that the dress is actually two layers.  The bottom layer is just a plain, black jersey slip. The top layer is the draped piece, so when you are wearing this dress, the draped fabric actually is not touching your body.  I find that this allows for more ease in “camouflaging” those parts of my body that have been virtually destroyed by the births of my beloved children.  It is quite easy to wear your Spanx underneath this dress without distorting the draping across the front.  And the draping falls exactly in the right place for the postpartum woman–across the breasts and the stomach.  This may not be an office-appropriate dress for everyone, but it is also a great dress for going from office to cocktail party.  I don’t happen to have a cocktail party to go to after my business meeting, but I will be dressed as if I do.

The black Roma Dress is currently discounted 40% from USD $285 to USD $171 here.  The grape color is only discounted 25% to USD $213.75.  This dress runs true to size, but I would go up one size if you are still unsure of your sizing.  Mine is slightly too large, but the draping still looks great and I really appreciate the extra room.  For your information, Lucy also recommended the Athena dress for the postpartum physique.  The Athena dress, pictured at left, is currently reduced from USD $159 to USD $111.30 here.