I said this to myself, out loud, in a hallway mirror: “Why bother dressing up? Nobody sees me anyway.” I believed that for most of a year, and the thing that changed my mind was not a compliment from anyone else. It was catching myself in the hallway mirror in a wrap top instead of the stained tee and standing differently for the rest of the day. Polished and pretty is not for other people. It is a small way of looking after the one who is looking after everyone.

This is the whole style guide in one page: what makes a piece of clothing work for feeding, the essentials, casual and chic and occasion outfits, the fabrics and colours that are kind to a tired face, and the practical answers for leaks, feeding in public and keeping a small wardrobe fresh. Everything here opens with one hand.

The basics: what makes clothes breastfeeding-friendly

One test: can you feed in it with one hand while the other holds the baby, without taking it off? Buttons at the front, a wrap, a V or a scoop over a tank, a hem that lifts, a cardigan that opens from the bottom. If yes, it is breastfeeding-friendly, whatever the label says. If it comes off over your head and nothing else, it goes in the box with the date on it.

The piece that makes the test pass for most of your closet is the clip-down nursing tank. Two of them, one pale and one dark, under everything.

The essential pieces

The two tanks and two wireless nursing bras. A button-down shirt in the size your chest is now. A wrap top. A striped tee. A fine cardigan that buttons. One dress that opens at the front. Dark jeans in this month’s size and a pull-on midi. A large soft scarf. White sneakers and one flat shoe for the evening. That is the whole list; it fits on one rail and makes a month of outfits. The nine essentials and the formula is the long version.

Casual: the four-minute outfit

The tank, a V-neck or the shirt open over it, jeans or joggers, sneakers, the scarf if it is cold. This is the school run, the shop and the park, and it is allowed to be the same three days running. One colour near the face that is kind to it; dark below the waist where the day happens.

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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 →

Chic: the same pieces, one notch up

The shirt tucked into the pull-on midi with the cardigan over it. The wrap top with dark jeans and the flat shoe. The blazer, if you own one, over anything, because a blazer opens by definition. The difference between casual and chic in a nursing wardrobe is usually the shoe and the tuck, not a new piece.

Occasion: the dress that opens

A wrap in jersey or crepe, a button-front shirt dress, or a deep V over the tank, in a midi or maxi length so you can sit and feed without thinking about your knees. A print on a dark ground hides a mark. The cardigan or a shawl over the shoulders is the cover and the warmth in a cold venue. Breastfeeding-friendly wedding guest dresses has the shapes by season.

Layering, fabrics and colour

Three layers, the feed in the middle: the tank, the top that opens, the layer that stays on and becomes the cover. Fabrics that forgive: mid-weight cotton jersey, brushed cotton, fine knits, linen; nothing thin and pale near the chest. Colour: a soft version of something you already like near the face, dusty rose or dusty blue or sage, and navy or black below the waist. Prints are your friend, especially small ones on a dark ground. The Colour Season Quiz is two minutes and free.

Feeding in public, made easier

The bench, the cafe, the in-laws’ sofa. Six things that made it easier for me, in order. Dress for it before you leave: the clip tank under a top that lifts or a shirt that opens, so there is nothing to undress. Practise once at home in front of a mirror, then once in a quiet corner of somewhere you know; the third time is a Tuesday. Pick the seat before you need it, with a wall at your back and the bag within reach. Have the scarf over the shoulder if you want more cover, and know that with the two-layer trick you may not. Know that in most places feeding your baby wherever you are allowed to be is protected, and a glance from a stranger is their afternoon, not yours.

And when someone offers to help, let them hold the drink, pass the muslin, or sit so you have a wall. The mamas who helped me most in cafes were the ones who had done it and simply smiled.

The practical bits: leaks, public feeds, keeping it fresh

Leaks: a pad in the bra, a dark tank under a pale top, prints and dark colours near the chest in the early weeks, a spare top in the bag. Clothing hacks for milk leakage is the full list.

Feeding in public: the two-layer trick means the top lifts and the tank covers, so from across the room nothing has happened; the scarf over the shoulder is there if you want more. Practise once at home in front of a mirror and the bench stops being frightening.

Keeping a small wardrobe fresh: wash on rotation, swap the scarf and the earrings before you swap the clothes, and add one piece a season rather than a bag of them. A rail you can see at a glance is a wardrobe that gets worn.

The whole guide is really one sentence: ordinary clothes that open, a tank underneath, and permission to care. Pouring everything into the babies is the job. The wrap top instead of the stained tee is how you keep a little back for yourself, and it takes four minutes and nothing from them.

If you want the outfits already laid out so you can copy them onto your own rail, the Year Round Capsule is two hundred of them across the seasons, every one opening, with three pictures of you in them on the house. If you would rather someone who knows your closet picked each morning, that is Anah inside the Atelier. And First Look will tell you, free, which colour near your face is the kind one.

Polished, pretty, and still able to feed on a bench. The focus is on you, mama.