From the comments under the summer capsule post: “I feel guilty spending money on clothes for a body that might change again next month.” I understand that sentence from the inside, and I also know where it leads: a summer in the same two tops, feeling invisible, while the children have new everything for the heat. There is a middle way, and it is cheaper than you think. Nine ordinary summer pieces that all open and all go together make a whole season of outfits, and most of them cost less than a takeaway.

By my third summer with a nursing baby I had stopped shopping by scrolling and started shopping by job. Each piece on this list has one job on a feeding day: open fast, hide a leak, sit above a scar, survive a wash, go with everything else. If a thing does not do its job, it does not matter how cheap it is. If it does, it does not have to be expensive.

So here are the nine, in the order I would buy them, with what each one has to do and the Amazon picks I bookmarked for each while I was looking. Shop your own drawers first; you will find half of this there. Then buy only the gaps.

1. Nursing tank tops, two of them

The job: go under every other top, clip down with one hand, hold a pad flat, cover a soft waistband. One pale, one dark. Mid-weight cotton with a little stretch, not the thin kind that shows a wet patch. This is the one piece I would always buy new, because the clips and the fabric are what you are paying for.

The ones I bookmarked: the first, a second, a third and a fourth. Pick by the strap width and the length in the body; both should be generous.

2. A button-down shirt, linen or soft cotton

The job: three buttons from the top is a feed, open over the tank it is a layer, tied at the waist it is a top. White or chambray, with sleeves that roll. Linen breathes and looks right creased; a soft cotton is cheaper and nearly as good.

The ones I bookmarked: one, two, three, four, five, six and seven. Size for the chest you have now; a shirt that pulls across the buttons is a shirt you will not open in public.

3. A wrap dress in jersey

The job: one piece between you and the heat that still opens at the front, with a tie that fits at six weeks and at six months. A stretch jersey with enough weight that you cannot see through it at the window. Navy, dusty blue or a small print on a dark ground.

The ones I bookmarked: one, two, three, four, five and six. Ten ways to wear a wrap dress while nursing once it arrives.

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. High-waisted shorts with a soft waist

The job: a walking length that sits above the knee, a waistband that is elastic at the back and sits above a scar, in navy or taupe so it goes with every top here. Not short shorts; a short you can push a pram in and sit on the grass in.

The ones I bookmarked: one, two, three, four, five, six and another. Ten breastfeeding-friendly summer outfits around one pair of shorts if shorts make you nervous.

5. Light jeans, in the size you are

The job: a straight or wide leg in a light wash with stretch, a mid rise that sits above the scar, bought in the size you are this month. For the cool summer evenings and the days you want to feel like yourself in denim. This is one to find secondhand first; a pair that has been washed fifty times is softer and half the price.

If you buy new, buy one pair and wear it to death. Ten postpartum outfits built on jeans show how far one pair goes.

6. A relaxed V-neck tee, and one stripe

The job: lift from the hem over the tank in two seconds, in a soft cotton that hides a small leak. An ivory V-neck and an ivory-and-navy stripe. The stripe is the piece that makes shorts and sandals look like you chose them, and it is almost always under $30.

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Buy a size up if the old one pulls across the chest. The shape comes from the relaxed fit.

7. A fine cardigan for the air conditioning

The job: live in the bag, go over everything, come off with one hand, double as a feeding cover on a bench and a blanket on a plane. Fine knit, ivory or taupe, buttoned to the middle. One good light cardigan beats three cute jackets you never carry.

This is the piece most likely to be in your wardrobe already. Check before you buy.

8. A midi skirt that pulls on

The job: feel like a woman rather than a pair of shorts, with nothing at the waist that digs. A pull-on midi in a soft jersey or a fluid fabric, elastic waist, in navy or a print. With the stripe and sandals it is the easiest dressed-up outfit of the summer.

The ones I bookmarked: one, two, three, four and five. Ten breastfeeding-friendly outfits with midi skirts once it is in the drawer.

9. Flat sandals and white sneakers

The job: carry a person. Taupe flat sandals you can walk in, and clean white sneakers for every other day. Two pairs carry every outfit on this list. Heels will still be there next summer, and so will you.

Nine pieces, two shoes. Mixed, they make thirty summer outfits, and every one of them is laid out and then worn, with how it opens, in the Year Round Capsule, where summer is fifty outfits deep. The pieces are the same ordinary shapes, so any shop at any price can supply them.

The guilt is the part I want to speak to, because I carried it for two summers. Mamas deserve to be cared for as intentionally as their newborns are. A tank that lets you feed in your own shirt and a pair of shorts that do not sit on a scar are not indulgence. They are the minimum, and together they cost less than the baby’s new sandals.

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 each morning what to wear from what you already own, that is Anah inside the Atelier. And if you want to know whether your rose is dusty or bright before you buy a single top, the Colour Season Quiz is two minutes and free.

Buy the tanks. Shop your drawers. Then sit down in the shade; you have done enough today. The focus is on you, mama.