What happens when Sam chooses my underwear

This week, M&S challenged us to a little gift-buying experiment. Armed with a gift card, Sam was sent to browse the lingerie department and pick out a Valentine’s Day present for me. Meanwhile, my task was to browse the same selection online and choose what I would buy for myself. Would we come away with similar ideas or find ourselves on completely different wavelengths when it comes to buying lingerie?

I decided not to give Sam any hints as to what I might like, but I did give him my bra size. Because I’m not a complete fool! Here’s what he came home with (Before you panic and hastily close the page, it’s not pics of me in my underwear, just the ones from the M&S website):

The Limited Collection Floral Lace Set

The Limited Collection Flirt Lace Set

I actually quite like both of these sets, and would be happy to wear either. But yes, that is indeed a ‘but’ that you sense. The problem is, as I’m still feeding Arlo just before he goes to bed (and sometimes during the day when I’m optimistic about him napping), I find bras without drop down cups completely impractical to wear. And with a baby on the way, it’s unlikely that I will be ditching the nursing bras any time soon.

I have a few really nice bras that I stare at forelornly on occasion, as it’s unlikely I’ll ever wear them again (especially as I’ve gone up two cups sizes since having Arlo). As nice as the sets are that Sam bought for me, I know that they wouldn’t see any action over the next few years, by which point who knows if my size will still be the same? So, I’m not going to be adding to my ‘nice bras that I can’t wear’ collection, and will be making use of M&S’s returns policy. Sam told me that he did know that nursing bras would probably be the most practical, but they don’t exactly scream ‘Valentine’s Day’ (and after two years I think he’s sick of the sight of them!)

On to what I would pick out for myself – Well, at six months pregnant, I am really incapable of thinking beyond comfort and practicality in the early days of breastfeeding. In the bra department I would probably go for something like this 2 Pack nursing bra set , but actually what would be most practical at this point in time would be a long-sleeved button down pyjama set like this one. 

For the short period of time that I used to co-sleep with Arlo (or at least spend half the night with him in my bed), my top half was always really cold as I was wary of pulling the duvet right up over me, and often there was no point in covering up as Arlo would feed on and off for hours anyway. Baby 2 will be a summer newborn so I might not have this same problem with being cold, but I do like to sleep covered up, so a long-sleeved top with buttons or a zip would at least mean my arms and shoulders were covered.

To be fair to Sam, because my choice is so specific and is more nightwear than lingerie, there is no way that he would have picked exactly what I wanted, and at a different point in my life I would have been very happy with the sets that he chose, so I actually think he did a pretty good job with his choices for me.

M&S have included a Lingerie Buying Guide for Men on their site, and I think the 5th point is the most useful (and the most relevent in terms of what Sam chose for me VS what I chose for myself): Buy for her and not for you – choose something that will be loved by you both and won’t end up hiding at the back of her lingerie draw.

————————————————————————————————————–

M&S provided us with a gift card in order to purchase and review these products