I felt guilty spending money on clothes for a body that might change again next month, and I said so out loud. That was after my first, and again after my second, and I believed it both times. So I bought nothing, wore the two things that opened, and felt invisible in my own house for a year. That was not thrift. That was punishment, and I did not notice.

By my third I had learned the thing I want to hand you now: the body changing is the reason to build a small, forgiving wardrobe, not the reason to go without one. Drawstrings, wraps, soft waists and clip tanks fit at six weeks and at six months. You are not buying for a size. You are buying for a shape that moves. And when every piece goes with every other piece, twelve of them make thirty outfits, which is more than most full wardrobes manage.

Here is how I would build it today on a real budget: which two pieces to buy new, which ten to find in your drawers or secondhand first, and what the whole thing comes to if you do have to buy it all. I have kept the numbers honest and the brands out of it; the shapes are ordinary on purpose so any shop at any price can supply them.

1. Start in your own drawers, not in a shop

Take everything out and ask one question of each piece: does it open? Buttons, a wrap, a V-neck that pulls aside, a hem that lifts. Keep what does, in the four or five colours you reach for most. Put the rest away for a year; do not get rid of it yet, you are too tired to make that decision well.

Most mamas I have done this with find six to eight of the twelve pieces already there. The soft trousers, the cardigan, the striped tee, the jeans one size up from an earlier year. The capsule costs nothing until it has to.

2. Buy these two new: a nursing bra and two clip tanks

If you spend on nothing else, spend here. A wireless nursing bra that clips with one hand and a pair of clip-down nursing tanks, one pale and one dark. The tank is what turns every ordinary top you already own into a nursing top, so these two purchases unlock the whole drawer.

Budget: about $60 to $80 for a bra and two tanks. It is the best money in the wardrobe.

3. The three tops: a V-neck tee, a button-front shirt, a wrap top

A relaxed V-neck in ivory lifts from the hem. A button-front shirt in white or chambray undoes three from the top. A wrap top in a kind colour (dusty rose, soft blue, burgundy) unties at the side. Between them they cover the sofa, the shop and the visitor, and all three go over the clip tank.

Secondhand is where tops are cheapest and best; a linen shirt that has been washed fifty times is softer than a new one. If you do buy new, the three together need not pass $90.

From the capsules

The Year Round Capsule

Two hundred nursing-friendly outfits from fifty-six pieces, fifty for every season, laid out and then worn. $29 once, yours to keep.

See the capsule →

4. One stripe, because it does the work of three plain tops

A striped long-sleeve or short-sleeve tee in ivory and navy is the piece that makes jeans and a cardigan look like a decision. It is the hardest-working thing in any capsule I build, and it is almost always under $30.

Three neutral tops and nine postpartum outfits show how far a tee goes when the rest of the capsule agrees with it.

5. Two bottoms with soft waists

Dark straight-leg jeans in the size you are now, with stretch, and a pair of wide-leg soft trousers in taupe with an elastic back. Both sit above a scar, neither rolls down. Together they take every top above.

If the jeans are new, this is the second place to spend properly: a pair that fits today is worth more than three pairs you are waiting to fit into. Budget $40 to $60 for the jeans, $30 for the trousers, and look secondhand first for both.

6. One dress that buttons or wraps

A button-front midi in navy or a jersey wrap dress: one piece, no waistband, opens at the front. It is the appointment, the christening and the Sunday lunch, and a dress is often the cheapest thing in a secondhand shop because people let them go so readily.

Eight office outfits around one wrap dress if yours needs to work as well.

7. One cardigan, one coat that opens

A fine-knit cardigan in ivory or taupe is the indoor layer, the feeding cover and the plane blanket. The coat is whatever you already own that opens fully at the front and is soft enough to drape over a small head; do not buy a coat for a capsule, buy it when the old one gives up.

Ten smart ways to layer in winter if the cold is where your budget is going.

8. Two shoes, and no more for now

Clean white sneakers you can walk a baby to sleep in, and a flat boot or a taupe sandal depending on the season. Two pairs carry all thirty outfits. Heels can wait; they will still be there.

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Sneakers are the one place I buy new and cheap every year; they wear out, and they are supposed to.

9. One scarf, one bag

A large soft scarf in a print that pulls your colours together is a feeding cover, a pram blanket and the finish on a tee and jeans, for the price of a coffee and a cake. The bag is a crossbody you already own, so your hands are free. Neither needs to be new.

Where you want one small lift, a statement scarf does six outfits on its own.

10. What it adds up to

If you had to buy all twelve new, at ordinary shops: bra and tanks about $70, three tops about $90, the stripe $30, jeans and trousers about $90, a dress $50, a cardigan $40, sneakers $50, a scarf $20. Roughly $440 at full price, and in practice half that, because you own the cardigan, the jeans are secondhand and the dress came from a friend.

Thirty outfits for under $300 is not a sacrifice wardrobe. It is a better wardrobe than most, because every piece in it was chosen to go with every other piece. I laid all thirty out and then put them on a body in the Year Round Capsule; the pieces are the same ordinary shapes, so you can build it from any shop at any price.

The guilt is the part I want to speak to. I spent two postpartum years believing that spending twenty dollars on a top that opened was indulgent, while spending whatever it took on the children without a thought. Mamas deserve to be cared for as intentionally as their newborns are. A nursing bra that does not hurt and a tank that lets you feed in your own shirt is not indulgence. It is the minimum.

If you want the thirty outfits already decided, the Year Round Capsule is $29 once and it is the whole year, not just this season. If you would rather someone told you what to wear tomorrow from what you already own, that is Anah in the Atelier, and she starts with your closet, not a shop. If you are not sure which colours to build around, the Colour Season Quiz is two minutes and free, and it saves you buying the wrong rose.

Buy the bra. Buy the tanks. Shop your drawers for the rest. Then go and sit down; you have done enough today. The focus is on you, mama.