if this is small and so consumer-y of me, my apologies.

Sean asked me the other night if there has been an article at some point, some play on words between the brands Prana and Prada.  sigh.  My dad was always a big fan of the pun too.  i did find a blog with a title of that name, but no snarky gear junkie comparison between the yummy bamboo satori pants with henna wrap and the blouson suit jacket.  I think perhaps he was making reference to my obsession normal process of creating the most perfect birth outfit for myself.  Comfort, flow, color and its effects on people, moisture wicking (i have been known to take a little dip or two with some body part during water births), temperature control/layering are all factors.  I would also prefer that this outfit (certainly a noble goal for all clothes, but babysteps…) be ethically and sustainably produced.  Is this all vanity based on having my picture snapped all! the! time! at births?  It really, really isn’t.  I don’t want to fidget and be uncomfortable because my clothes are bunching up or won’t dry for hours.  I want to have a neutral to warm presence on the room.  And on a very practical note sometimes I stay in an outfit for a long, long time and get dressed in the dark.  Maybe I’m going for pajama-chic?  yoga-chic? Sean says it’s my Jedi-Midwife (or did he say Yoda?) style.  I can’t bring myself to do scrubs– I tried, but the materials are so structured that I am quite uncomfortable and awkward.  Also, they come with many associations I don’t want.

Julie, mama and doula extraordinaire– who I hear has a gear insider– has been a great resource, and contributed the final solution in this lovely prana shirt that I can layer in case it’s warm or cold; it wicks amazingly fast too– as i tested, first thing, by dunking myself to the shoulder while checking heart tones.  I have also been wearing a pair of Gaiam palazzo style yoga pants that are lovely and basic.  I found some amazing SmartWool socks for the winter at a crazy deal.  A wrap sweater.  It all seems perfect.  Except for such a crucial piece of the puzzle: the absence of pockets.

I need a pocket for gloves– not much else.  Certainly I could use it for other things, but at a birth it is always such an annoyance to me that I cannot keep a pair on me in case they are needed in a hurry.  I see the scrub pockets and almost cave for a moment, but no!  I want the smooth lines of jersey!  and pockets!  how?  I usually end up sticking a pack of gloves under the strap of my tank top on top of my shoulder.  But now…

I’m fixated.  They are the most ideally suited pants I can imagine.  I cannot move on from these pants… I imagine the ease with which I would move and rest, support and squat at births with a versatile pocket for gloves present without interfering with the loveliness of them.  And they are locally, ethically, soundly, personally, individually made by Andrea of Gaia Conceptions.  Browse around on this site, and if you do not know Etsy (she is a featured seller there as well) then you must!  I look at her sites several times a day and squirrel away my pennies, dream of learning how to sew or convincing my crafty husband to create a pair.  Notice too her beautiful skirts, dresses, sweaters all hand dyed using processes designed to minimize negative environmental waste and created to order out of hemps blends, wools, and organic cotton.

I daydream of pants.

Advertisement