Welcome to TOGS! Here we explore the culture of fashion in the outdoors, test clothing and gear, poke at trends, and bring you interesting stories from people who sport in style.
Hi Toggsers, Hadley here with a little update from maternity leave.
At 5:48pm on July 3rd, Lazare Michael Cadot arrived in the world, pulled straight out of my core.
We are deeply in love.
You were here for the last nine months but we didn’t yet know you.
Didn’t know if you were a boy or a girl.
Didn’t know the sounds of your grunts nor the smirky smile you make after you poop.
Didn’t know how deeply we would melt when you’d lay on our chests, arms wrapped around us.
Didn’t know that your arrival would be a slightly unhinged three day extravaganza. That eventually they’d pull you straight from my core.
It seems fitting that you came out of my core.
We didn’t know how instantly great Pierre would become as a dad to you and a partner to me. Taking a huge load while I recover from the delivery and surgery. We didn’t know he was the diaper king. I guess we could have guessed how lucky we are to have him.
We didn’t know how great of a community we have. All around the world. How full our phone messages and fridge would be. How lucky we are to have the French maternity system that includes long hospital stays and at home check in’s and endless pelvic floor and ab rehab.
Lazare Michael Cadot, born July 3rd—We still don’t know who you are. What your first words will be. What you will become. We still haven’t found your instruction manual.
But we can’t wait to get to know you. Day by day. Year by year.
We love you.
Welcome to the wild ride.
*if anyone has any c-section recovery advice and what they wore that didn’t bother their scar, I’m all ears!
**for those expecting mamas reading, some unsolicited advice (as if you’re not getting enough already…) It might not matter how many books you read, or classes you take, or exercises you do, or how many instagram videos of peaceful births you watch…my conclusion is that your body and baby decide how to birth. For us it was a fairly unhinged 52 hours of non-stop contractions and a cervix that never dilated which in the end meant a c-section. I’m proud of what my body did, what Lazare did, and what the amazing hospital staff did. To give birth is to surrender, and then ask for a lot of help. C-section recovery is no joke and needs a village. And as long as you and your baby are healthy, the birth was as it should be.
As I’m currently on maternity leave, I’m replacing myself with creatives, athletes, and mountain town style-phenoms who remind me how fun and big the world of personal expression through clothes, art, and movement really is.
Next in this series is Madeline L.— runner, skier, jeweler, mountain-town dweller. I first met Madeline through her husband Victor in Aspen. Stylish, sporty, kind, and smart, it was easy to instantly want to figure out how to be friends with her, or at the very least absorb her style, tricks, and vibe. Whether she’s living in Aspen, Jackson or Portland, her style remains very much her own.
Madeline meet TOGS. Toggsers, meet Madeline.
