And by the way those photos of you with your newborn will be emailed to all your friends, posted on Facebook etc – they will be with you forever, believe me! So you may as well be looking amazing…

Freya Dotty Maternity Bra and Shorts

Another new style added to the site today is the Dotty nursing bra by Freya. Now if you love Freya’s support for D+ cups and their high fashion designs, you will adore this maternity set.

And it is available in back sizes from 30 right up to 40 too.

Matching shorts from XS(8) to 2XL (18)

Bravado Body Silk Nursing Bra

Body Silk Seamless Nursing Bra

The biggest selling Bravado bra is the Body Silk Seamless Bra – designed to melt onto your body and give you comfort unlike any you’ve experienced from a bra before (nursing or not!) Our view -  Perfect as the comfiest T-shirt bra ever!

This bra is so comfortable and has such an excellent range of sizes I sold one to a wheelchair bound elderly customer last week – I’ll let you know how she gets on with it.

Bravado Essential Nursing Tank Top

Essential Nursing Bra Tank Top

Our other new Bravado product is the nursing vest top – perfect for day wear, nightwear, yoga classes, the beach…long enough to cover your bump, fitted and flattering without being clingy – once discovered, this top is one you’ll never be without.

To order go to http://www.harwayeslingerie.com/brands.asp?bid=31

In the meantime, check out this video from Dove (the toiletery brand). They have a campaign for ‘Real Beauty’ and I think this video sums up what fashion photographers and designers really do to images of young women: It is quite short (20 seconds perhaps) and shows the transformation of a model from when she arrives at the studio to when she appears on a cosmetics poster. Show it to your young teenaged sons and daughters – its a real eye opener and well worth a look.

No Wonder our Perception of Beauty is Distorted

Thanks to Rev. Mark Warwick for bringing this video to my attention.

Hotmilk Nightwear

First up – the nightwear – looking for something glamorous to pack in your hospital bag? Then we suggest the cotton camisole with drop-cup for discreet feeding. The fashion forward gathered floaty look defies the power fabric support.

The matching long PJ pants are perfect for a hospital stay – a Valentine’s gift perhaps? Made from deliciously crisp 100% cotton, the mineral blue and cloudburst hem add a flattering splash of colour – to your night, or your day!

Hotmilk Lingerie

HOTmilk’s Ever After theme has an enchanted forest setting to promote a powerful and provocative lingerie collection. Recall your favourite fairytale heroine and empower her!  The HOTmilk woman is sexy, strong and scintillating. She is at her most feminine, she bewitches and beguiles.

We have selected two of the lingerie sets for you to try:

‘Radiant In Her Rescue’ -  exquisite fabrics and styling. Perfect for pregnancy and beyond. A sumptuous apricot floral print on the cup is beautifully offset by delicate ivory gardenia lace.

‘Tamed By Her Sensuality’  – striking, sexy full cup bra is befitting of every new mother’s wardrobe of seduction – stunning, strong and sophisticated. Jet black lace and microfibre decadently lined with deep purple cotton, giving richness and depth.

Both collections feature a bra in size 34 – 38 C – FF, with power support sides and A frame design to ensure fantastic support and one-handed drop cup clips for ease of feeding. Matching g-string, brief or French knickers complete the look.

New Zealand based HOTmilk founders Lisa Ebbing and Ange Crosbie are both young mothers who believe intensely in their product. ‘Beige, bland and boring‘ was once the offering for the maternity and nursing market – but not anymore.

‘Our mission is to make women feel fabulous when they most need to,’ says Lisa Ebbing. ‘Being pregnant is a time to celebrate; it is one of the most feminine times in your life so pregnancy and nursing lingerie needs to reflect that.‘

(Quotes from an interview by Kate Pope, Lingerie Buyer Magazine Jan 2010)

This is true, as many smaller firms need extra help at certain times of year, but the job of recruiting seems immense, often put to one side in favour of just getting on with it yourself. So how exactly do you find jobs to match your talent and availability?

Firstly, document your strengths. Believe it or not your skills are incredibly valuable in the work place. Mothers have a certain maturity, ability to see the bigger picture, and usually don’t mind rolling their sleeves up and getting stuck into a job.

Contrast this with my experience of trying to recruit young people. I can only speak of my own experience and of course there are young motivated, well adjusted candidates for jobs. We have tried to interview/recruit 3 youngsters aged about 20 – 24 in the last 2 years. One turned up late for the interview and talked about how she was really looking for a proper career but not really sure what. Another came for interview and claimed to be ‘an expert’ in marketing at the age of 24 (sure thing!), then failed to turn up on the start date. The third couldn’t manage to phone me to make an appointment for an interview, despite several reminders that this was what was required to progress the job. The result. None of these people were recruited and we are struggling on with too much to do!

If you have a certain tenacity (which comes with the territory of being a mum: getting your child into the school you want, negotiating with health visitors, nurses and GPs, finding out of school activities, getting child tax credits (!)) then my guess is you have the tenacity to get yourself to an interview and start date!

Ask around. Don’t ask for a job – ask small business owners whether they need assistance for a few hours when they are busy, and don’t forget to specify that you would need to be paid of course – this isn’t a free service! Once you have proved yourself useful, they are likely to give you more hours than you ever really wanted. This isn’t necessarily the solution for everyone, but some small businesses are growing fast, even in a recession; as they can move fast into new markets and opportunities. From the bottom up is always the best way to learn a business and later on there may well be an opportunity for training to get you into the career you really want.

Triumph: excellence of fit

When selecting new lingerie for a mail order and web business, the key is to stay one step ahead of fashion and ensure products selected for the next season are bang on-trend.

Harwayes wasn’t traditionally a fashion led business: The purchasing policy was that of selecting bras that fit really well, so brands such as Triumph and Playtex have always been, and continue to be at the fore. However, with new brands seemingly popping up daily, and every celeb endorsing a lingerie launch, how is a retailer to continue to ensure excellence of fit, whilst responding to the demand for fashionable undies?

Luckily, some of our newer suppliers have made it their mission to put fit first. This is why we have chosen to feature DiMurini, Royce, HotMilk, Fantasie, Elomi and Bravado in our new collections for the Spring.

The collections encompass ‘dressing up box’ feathers, polka dots, taffeta and ribbons, architectural slate and charcoal greys, layers of antique ’shabby chic’ french embroidery, lacing and bows galore and a preponderance of raspberry pink …. and we haven’t even started on the swimwear yet!

We hope you enjoy the new collections, keep an eye on the website for all the latest in bra design!