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- The 36-year-old singer Rihanna recently became a mother of two.
- The island artist served stunning maternity looks during her pregnancies.
- She admits her approach to fashion has changed since becoming a mother.
Barbados-born singer Rihanna has evolved over the years, and throughout her career she has gained many titles and one title she’ll forever hold, is that of a fashion icon. Adding to these is the title of a mother, which has now changed her approach to fashion and a bit of her identity.
When we met her, she was a pop singing teenager from a Caribbean island, however, she soon transitioned to being "Bad Gal Riri", a twenty-something-year-old who was unapologetically serving skin and fashion.
However, now that the 36-year-old has entered motherhood, she is opening up about some of the changes she’ll be making when it comes to her clothing, including hiding the nips.
READ | Rihanna says pregnancy fashion is fun, but it's also a challenge
Speaking to British Vogue when she was in London promoting her latest collaboration with Puma, Rihanna was asked if she has any fashion icks, and she responded by saying:
The musician turned billion-dollar-business icon recently reconnected with Puma, almost a decade after their 2015 collaboration to revive the creeper design sneaker called the Creeper Phatty.
Although this change in fashion attitude may seem surprising coming from Rihanna, a Hollywood celebrity, change in identity is something most women experience after becoming a mother.
New York-based therapist for new and expecting mothers, Laura Otton, weighs in on how a woman's identity changes after having a child. She says there's little doubt that becoming a mother changes a woman's identity deeply and broadly. However, she says every mother will say that it does, but it can be harder to pinpoint exactly how and to what extent.
"It takes years, if not decades, to sort out, and there’s even a term for it called matrescence – the process of becoming a mother."
Laura adds that motherhood is an enormous role, and a child is a bottomless pit of needs, so time, energy, and space for ourselves must be carved out.
ALSO READ | Lessons in late motherhood: Cameron Diaz's journey at 51 sparks conversation on pregnancy after 35
Often, women feel the fear of not being enough for their children, which is either imposed on them by society or themselves and can lead to mothers losing their identities.
"Our careers, hobbies, interests, sexuality, bodies, sometimes even health gets put off to the side and often neglected, or even shamed – if you care too much about your career, you are cold and selfish, if you dress in a sexy way, you are inappropriate or crass."
However, she continues to add that it is important for mothers to have parts of themselves that aren't in service to others and pieces of themselves that are nurtured just for their own joy, such as friendships, exercise, meditation, hobbies and interests.
