Motherhood & Maternity:
Elisabeth Hasselbeck Shares Her View
By Matt Stringer
“Luckily, we’re at an age now where the maternity clothes are really cute. It was fun. You have to adjust. Some people use it as a great excuse to go shopping,” Elisabeth Hasselbeck said.
Before The View and shopping for maternity clothes, Hasselbeck became famous for making it into the final four in Survivor: The Australian Outback. Then she starred in the The Look for Less, helping women everywhere hunt down a designer look for $150. When she became pregnant, all the advice she had for others on bargain hunting paid off.
“The great thing is that high fashion looks are available at incredible prices. I wanted to have fun with fashion. You know you have days where you’re feeling a little frumpy. For such exciting news and such a fun time in your life, you definitely have days that you don’t feel so cute,” Hasselbeck said.
Hasselbeck said women can shop anywhere from a Loehmann’s to a Filene’s Basement to find the perfect outfit and that you should have a blueprint of what you’re looking for before you go to the mall.
“There are so many magazines to take inspiration from. Rip those pages out that you like and carry them with you. The cool thing now is that you don’t have to spend the money to get the look. It’s up to the individuals to put their own spin on it. You can go anywhere, hit the sale rack and come out with an incredible look,” Hasselbeck said.
But the days of hunting down the perfect pair of maternity pants have turned into shopping for infant sleep sets and gowns, which can be even more expensive than shopping for the perfect little black dress.
“My gosh, I’ve almost forgotten to shop for myself since I’ve had her. One thing you’re going to focus on is they’re going to outgrow them at warp speed. I always buy a size up,” Hasselbeck says. “It’s going to be a little loose on her for a little bit it, going to fit her perfectly for a while and then she’s going to be out of it.”
Tim, Elisabeth Hasselbeck’s husband and a professional quarterback, told her that she’s been more frugal since Grace. “No, I’m just more busy,” she said. That’s not the only thing she’s cut back on since Grace.
“My workouts revolve around her. When she’s napping or sleeping, that’s when it happens. A good day for me is if I get up around five or six and get a workout in before she even knows it’s today. Occasionally, after work I’ll run home and count it as my workout,” says Hasselbeck.
When she first came to The View in 2003, Hasselbeck focused more on voicing her views. “Now I kind of live in the moment. It’s incredible to be able to evaluate your opinions on so many different topics each day. It’s kind of made me a better citizen,” she said.
Even if she was a little nervous at first, she never felt unwelcome. Hasselbeck said coming to The View was like “bring reunited with family members” and that all of them are friends.
Star helps her find doctors when she’s not feeling well. Joy offers to watch Grace. Barbara asked her to sleep over at a party during her pregnancy because she wasn’t feeling well. Meredith invites her and Tim for dinner.
The View is an especially good job for Hasselbeck now.
“It let’s me be a mom. There are some days that are longer than others and I’m busy working to the evening, but those are rare. I can be home with her for lunch and hang out with her the rest of the afternoon,” Hasselbeck said.
Sometimes, she does miss The Look for Less.
“There are days that do go by that I do miss The Look for Less—especially when I’m in the mall. I almost want to grab and innocent bystander and be like ‘okay, here’s your challenge. You have a $150 to recreate this look’,” Hasselbeck said.
When you walk into Hasselbeck’s office, you notice two things: the Elmo icon on both her and her assistant’s computer and the talking Elmo behind her. It’s not just any Elmo either—it’s also an alarm clock programmed to tell Hasselbeck what’s going on with Grace.
“You can hook them up to your computer. They’re awesome. You can put in things that Grace likes to eat. Elmo will come on during dinnertime. ‘Grace it’s dinnertime. Elmo loves chicken. Do you like chicken?’ Then he’ll sing a song. She loves it,” Hasselbeck said.
Grace also loves Johnny Cash. When the man in black comes on “she dances with one leg like she’s Elvis almost,” Hasselbeck said. “She loves music, which is amazing since neither Tim or I can sing, but we do now, a lot”
With Grace being 1 years old, the late night trips to the crib have declined.
“She’s not getting up anymore, and at about nine months she actually made it through the night when she could find her pacifier. We put like six pacifiers in her crib. Now that she’s able to do that herself, she’s completely content,” Hasselbeck said. “She might whimper for a minute, and you can hear her fumbling around for one. She’s happy when she gets it.”
The most important thing Grace has learned is love. “She totally gets the concept of love. She’ll look at something and hug herself. I know she’s thinking, ‘oh, I love that.’
“She’ll hold her little piglet, and she’ll hug it and put it by her cheek. That’s all a mom can ask for. That’s the most important thing I think anyone can learn,” Hasselbeck said.
Elisabeth’s Tips to Be Fashionable & Frugal During Maternity
Having a baby? Check out these tips from Elisabeth that’ll help you be comfortable and hip. During her pregnancy, Elisabeth used all the advice she gave to others and went bargain shopping for herself. Now she’s helping you. “I kind of get a charge out of getting things for less. It’s my M.O.. I like to wear a dress and tell people it was only $19.99,” she said.
It’s not your mother’s maternity fashions in the stores anymore, either; you have choices. “There are tons of options out there from Old Navy and Gap to Seven to Chip & Pepper,” she said.
Focus on Fashion
Before you hit the mall, know how you want to look and feel. Elisabeth said you’ll need to have a blueprint of what kind of outfit you’re shopping for. “Start with the area of your body you want to focus on. If you’re self-conscious about your bottom half, find a pair of pants that feel really good on. That’s where you spend 40 percent of your cash and then you divvy the rest of it up between your accessories, your shoes, your tops,” says Elisabeth.
You’ll Fit Right In
“The Bella Bands helped me wear some of my looser fitting pants. You want to feel good,” Elisabeth said. This seamless knit accessory stretches to fit and helps expectant moms wear their favorite pre-pregnancy pants, shorts or skirts. With the Bella Band, you can squeeze all the joy out of your favorite jeans by wearing them unbuttoned. Let it peek out of a top for a hip camisole look or wear it under a shirt. The Bella Band sells at $26-28 and is available at www.bellaband.com
Make it Last
“You can fight yourself for awhile and feel like you can make it one more day in your normal jeans,” said Elisabeth. “The two things I invested in were a good pair of maternity jeans and a nice pair of black maternity pants.” She wore those clothes interchangeably throughout her pregnancy and felt great.
Top it Off
“I just tried to have fun. I didn’t need expensive tops. These were things that were going to have to be comfortable number one, cute and also inexpensive,” Elisabeth said. For fun tops, try out a 2 chix™ tee shirt. These tops will let you feel comfortable, and they have incredibly cute slogans like “My Pea Has Two Pods” and “What’s Kickin’.” Elisabeth sported one on The View. They’re sold at www.2chix.com and some of the tees sell for as little as $19.
Matt Stringer is the editor of Curious Parents.
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