One of the mamas I interviewed for the Back to Work capsule said it in almost these words: “I need to look professional again, but I’m still pumping. Nothing works.” The mamas I interviewed for the Back to Work capsule said some version of that sentence, almost word for word, and this little wardrobe is my answer to it. Ten pieces: a white shirt, a black blazer, a cream collarless jacket, a black and white striped polo knit, a black clip-down nursing tank, grey tailored trousers, camel cargo trousers, black shorts, ivory sneakers and black ankle boots.

They make the ten outfits pictured below, and the range is the point: the first is shorts in the park, the sixth is a blazer on an office floor, and the same tank is under both. The blazer opens because blazers do. The shirt opens three buttons. The knit lifts over the tank. The eleven o’clock pump stops being a wardrobe problem.

1. The white shirt open over the tank with black shorts

A white button-down worn open over the black clip-down tank, black cotton shorts, ivory sneakers. The weekend outfit, and the one the rest of the list grows out of. Shirt as cover, tank as feed.

2. The striped polo knit with black shorts

A black and white striped polo knit over the tank, black shorts, ivory sneakers. The placket unbuttons and the knit lifts. The stripe near the face does the work of a colour on a tired day.

3. The blazer, shirt and shorts with ankle boots

A black blazer over the white shirt and the tank, black shorts, black heeled ankle boots. The dinner-out outfit. Everything above the waist opens; everything below hides a mark.

4. The cream jacket, white shirt and grey trousers

A cream collarless jacket over the white shirt and the tank, grey tailored trousers, ivory sneakers. Softer than the blazer, still an outfit. The first-week-back look for a casual floor, or the coffee that is secretly a meeting.

5. The white shirt over the tank with grey trousers

The white shirt worn open over the tank, grey trousers, ivory sneakers. Three buttons from the top for the pump, buttoned again in a minute. The most-worn outfit here, in and out of work.

From the capsules

The Back to Work Capsule

Two hundred workday outfits, every top opening for the eleven o'clock pump. $27 once, yours to keep.

See the capsule →

6. The blazer, shirt and grey trousers

The black blazer over the white shirt and the tank, grey trousers, ivory sneakers. The outfit the interviewed mamas called the first-day uniform. The blazer closes for the meeting and opens for the eleven o’clock. Breastfeeding-friendly fashion for work and meetings has the rest of the week.

7. The blazer over the striped knit with grey trousers and boots

The black blazer over the striped polo knit and the tank, grey trousers, black heeled boots. The winter version of outfit six. The knit lifts under the open blazer; the boots carry you across a wet car park.

8. The white shirt over the tank with camel cargos

The white shirt open over the tank, camel cargo trousers with a soft waist, ivory sneakers. The errand outfit: pockets for the muslin and the phone, nothing on a scar. Untucked, it covers the waistband.

9. The blazer, shirt and camel cargos

The black blazer over the white shirt and the tank, camel cargos, ivory sneakers. Cargos under a blazer read as a decision, and this is the outfit for the day that goes from nursery drop-off to a desk without a stop at home.

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10. The cream jacket over the tank with camel cargos and boots

The cream collarless jacket over the tank, camel cargos, black heeled ankle boots. All soft neutrals with black at the feet. The jacket opens, the tank clips. The lunch-with-the-in-laws outfit.

Ten pieces, from shorts to a blazer, and the same tank under every one. That was the thing the interviewed mamas kept landing on: the professional wardrobe did not need to change much, it needed a way in underneath and a jacket that opened on top. The blazer was already in the closet. The tank cost less than lunch.

The full version of this idea, two hundred workday outfits with every top opening for the eleven o’clock pump, is the Back to Work Capsule, laid out and then worn, with three pictures of you in them on the house. For the other six days of the week, the Year Round Capsule covers all four seasons. And if you want someone who knows your closet to pick the blazer-or-cardigan each morning, that is Anah inside the Atelier.

A tank, a shirt, a blazer that opens. You can look like yourself at work again. The focus is on you, mama.