Jennifer Love Hewitt on Supporting Other Moms
Estrogen levels were high last night at the Beverly Hills A Pea in the Pod boutique, with a room full of expectant mamas celebrating Jennifer Love Hewitt's new collection for the popular maternity wear brand. The soiree had all the trappings of an event catering to those eating for two: Take-away boxes filled with popcorn, fried chicken and waffles, grilled cheese sandwiches with tomato soup and fruity mocktails, of course. The only things missing were pickles and ice cream.
Getting there was a slight challenge. The paparazzi and rubber-necking drivers along Beverly Drive added significantly to the 6pm traffic jam that plagues central Beverly Hills every weekday-enough to send this impatient and very pregnant (read: bathroom-seeking) local over the edge. I did finally make it in, however, to a boutique that has become very familiar to me over the past seven months.
There I found the 15-piece capsule collection of pieces made with comfy, slouchy, soft fabrics-all those a girl toting around an extra stone or two could ask for. Easy-breezy maxi dresses and simple separates in muted colors with pops of royal blue here and there make up the bulk of the collection. I particularly had my eye on a grey drawstring pant, now that my maternity jeans are starting to reach their threshold.
I also got a chance to catch up with the designer herself. Here's what she had to say about new mommy-hood so far (daughter Autumn James Hallisay was born in November 2013) and why making this collection was such a great experience for her personally.
On how much sleep she's getting: "It was non-existent at first! But now that she's four months old, she's managing about six or seven hours a night. We didn't really use any particular sleep-training method. She's a total dream!"
On making baby food as her daughter starts on solids in the next month: "I'll definitely try. I'm not going to hold myself to it though. The one thing I've learned throughout this whole process of being pregnant and becoming a mother is that you have to be kind to yourself and do what you can. So if it doesn't work out, so be it. I will just break out the pre-packaged baby food!"
On her favorite maternity pieces during her pregnancy: "Definitely maxi dresses. I didn't want to have to change a lot throughout the day. I wanted to be able to wear something and then throw on a jacket and a great necklace and be ready for going out at night. And I loved to wear leggings a lot for comfort, too."
On her inspirations behind the collection: "I really wanted to help make women feel beautiful during this time of their lives. I feel like as women in modern society, we tend to easily attack each other a lot. So I thought designing this collection would be a great way to make women feel comfortable, supported and good about themselves."
What's next for Jennifer? Is she already back to work? Not a chance…the new mom is thoroughly enjoying--and feeling grateful for--the chance to stay home for now and raise her little girl.
I can definitely raise my mocktail to that.
By Gaia Guidi Filippi
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