
Mother Stories
Pregnancy Style: S.F. Shop Owner Pauline Montupet
Written by Katie Hintz-Zambrano
Photography by Photographed by Maria del Rio
Nov 10, 2015
Boutiques in San Francisco can often lean on the earthy, natural side—and we’re not complaining. But when the sleek, minimal, and painstakingly curated shop Le Point opened earlier this year, it was like a breathe of fresh air. Of course, when we found out that the store’s owner Pauline Montupet, also a wardrobe stylist, was pregnant with her first child, we couldn’t wait to see how she expertly styled her bump. Here, the creative shows off the results.
- "I own a shop, Le Point, which sells women’s and men’s clothing, as well as small home accessories. We just opened in April 2015, so it’s still very much my (first) baby. I wear a lot of hats there—handling the buying, acting as a manager, sales person, marketing, etc. I've also been a wardrobe stylist for the past 8 years, styling for print shoots, and I have continued doing that as well as working at the shop. That’s been more challenging than working at the shop while pregnant. Every week it gets harder and harder to bend over and put the models' shoes on!"
- “Everyday is different! I think that is what I like about it."
- "I’m honestly not entirely sure. We haven’t really worked that out yet. Working for myself, I have the beauty of working it out as I go and can take as little or as much time off as I would like. I plan on taking a real maternity leave from styling, but since I’m really involved in every aspect of running the shop, I can’t leave that for very long. So, I think the little guy and I will be taking frequent walks to the shop from our house, which is just a few blocks away. My boyfriend also works for himself as a freelance photographer, so we both have flexible schedules."
- "Classic, sporty, and casual.”
- “Well, I paired back a lot and kept my wardrobe to the basics, essentially creating a little capsule collection. In my ‘normal' life I’d like to throw in some items that are more fashion forward and conceptual and I learned pretty quickly that that doesn’t work as well on the pregnant body."
- One of several beautiful, clean vignettes at Le Point.
- "Black is always slimming right? These Gap maternity pants (and a black maternity tank) have been key components in my pregnancy 'capsule collection.' And you can’t go wrong with a black turtleneck. This one is Opening Ceremony and the furry Tibi shoes, I mean you got to have some fun right!? We are carrying them in the shop and I just couldn’t resist!"
- Those aforementioned standout shoes!
- A long view of the minimalist shop.
- "The Bellaband—I was able to really extend the wear of my normal pants thanks to that thing! A good pair of black maternity skinny jeans and the Calder Blake ‘Helen’ t-shirt has been my savior, as well. It’s long and has a little swing shape making it perfect over a pregnant belly! My Acne leather jacket has also been a great staple while pregnant, turning any old tee and maternity pants into an outfit."
- "Lately I have really been loving Tibi, It’s everything I need in a collection—cool, easy, wearable. Acne Studios is another favorite, and once I have waist again I’ll be excited to wear skirts by Tanya Taylor."
- Another pretty corner.
- "I have had this Easton Pierson dress for a few years and it’s one of my favorites. I was pretty lucky to have lots of oversized styles in my closet pre-pregnancy and they have been able to grow with me. I have a pretty extensive sneaker collection, and that has been a savoir during pregnancy since I’m on my feet all the time. These ones are by EYTYS."
- "It’s been pretty challenging. In the past years, as I’ve gotten older, I’ve figure out my style and what looks good on me. Then you get thrown this pregnant belly curve ball and that all goes out the window. I didn’t want to change my style too much while pregnant. The goal was to try and dress as much like myself as I could"
- "It’s funny, since it all happens gradually, I feel like you can’t tell the little changes week by week. It's when you look back on photos that your like ‘whoa, that’s what I used to look like!’"
- "I had a very lucky and easy pregnancy, so overall nothing too crazy. The only little hiccup I’ve hit at the end is that the baby is breech, so I have been doing what I can to get him to turn to have the natural birth I would like. I’ve tried it all…Spinning Babies, chiropractic work, and ECV done at the hospital and all the old wives tales. So far nothing has worked, so only time will tell if he wants to end up going head down!"
- A beautiful rolling cart.
- "Kristine Hicks from More Mojo Chiropractic—I only recently started to see her and wish I had discovered her earlier in my pregnancy. My back feels so much better! Salon Belle Linda gives the best manicure and pedicures. Being pregnant you really take for granted being able to easily paint your own toenails. My sweet tooth has been a little out of control while pregnant. But I would recommend a decaf latte and Dynamo Donut from Four Barrel Coffee to anyone—pregnant or not!
- "This coat is from H&M from a few years ago. The t-shirt is another favorite from Calder Blake (seriously, they make the best, super-soft tees!). The jeans are one of the few maternity items I bought—they are James Jeans maternity. The sunglasses are Prism and are from the shop, as well as the Clare Vivier clutch. I have been trying to carry smaller bags while pregnant to ease up on my back, plus this clutch will be perfect to throw in my diaper bag in a few weeks. The plan is to use a Clare V tote as my diaper bag, so that at least if I’m lugging diapers and bottles around all the time it's in a bag I love!"
- "I get my color done by Timory at Harper Paige—she is amazing. I was dying my hair rose gold/pink for about a year, but when I got pregnant we decided that something a little more natural would be nice. I always take pretty good care of my hair and skin, but during pregnancy with everything else about my body changing and not feeling 100 percent about the way I look, I really made sure to keep that looking great. My hair and skin got really dry for a while during pregnancy, so I’ve been loading up on my favorite hair product (the only one I use) GM Reverie Hair Milk, and for my skin using the Glossier Moon Mask weekly and Rodin Face Oil nightly."
- “Before being pregnant I used to box a few times a week—but that’s obviously not the most pregnancy friendly workout, so I had to stop that pretty early on. I had big plans to start prenatal yoga, but that just never really worked out! I’ve tried to stay pretty active jogging at the gym and doing the Tracy Anderson 9-month Pregnancy DVD set. Though now that I’m nearing the end, just standing all day at the shop and on styling jobs has proven to be enough to tire me out."
- At home in Oliver's nursery.
- "The grand plan was for it to have a really clean, minimal, geometric feel. But then as it unfolded, that seemed too rigid and planned out for a little boy’s nursery, so we just let it come together naturally and have some mismatched things here and there that make it feel more personal and charming."
- Instead of a rug, Pauline used patterned FLOR carpet tiles.
- "At first I was a little in shock when we found out it was a boy. Being a girly girl who loves clothes and make up, I was like ‘wait, how am I going to bond with a boy?' But now I have really loved the idea of having a little boy."
- “Honestly, we were throwing names around and we both liked that one, but figured we would keep brainstorming. Then slowly we just started referring to him as Oliver or Ollie and it just seemed right!"
- "I really like his little hanging closet we put in the corner hanging on the pipe and the grocery cart to hold all his diaper supplies. It makes it feel like a boy’s room. I also have to say the IKEA crib is pretty stylish and quite a steal! The bedding is by Olli & Lime, they have the cutest prints, plus the brand has his name in it."
- "The HIGH photo is by one of my favorite artists, photographer Gray Malin. We had it hanging in the living room before, but the blue really matched his room. The other little square screen prints are made by my boyfriend, Max Gray. I love having something personal like that in the nursery."
- “Like I mentioned, Max is a freelance photographer, so we both have semi flexible schedules, and we’re planning on working out a schedule so that both of us can work a little bit and also take care of the baby. My family is going to come out from St.Louis after the birth for a few weeks to help out and his family is in Southern California, so not too far."
- "Nope! I am kinda taking this ignorance is bliss plan of attack, especially when it comes to the birth. I can get pretty easily worked up by things. So, I knew if I started reading too much or watching too many YouTube videos it would just freak me out more. I have been using the Nuture App on my phone and that has been a good way to log my pregnancy and read little bits about the growth of the baby and the changes during pregnancy."
- "Meeting Ollie. I wonder what he is going to be like and what his little personally will be."
- "All of it! I haven’t been around a lot of babies and small children, so I really don’t know much and have no idea what I’m doing. But I try and tell myself that most people have no idea what they are doing and they figure it out!"
- "I bought these APC jeans midway through my second trimester, figuring with the elastic waist they would last me a while and after pregnancy. The top is one of my favorite 'Helen'-style tees from Calder Blake. The shoes are Adieu, a new unisex shoe brand we have at Le Point. The pencil in my hair is how I smooth it when it gets too fluffy. It can’t be an elastic—it has to be a pencil, so it doesn’t leave a mark. It’s a patented move of mine!"
- "I didn’t want any big crazy major party and my friends really respected that and threw me the most charming, casual baby showers that were just perfect. First, when I was in New York for Fashion Week, all my friends there threw me a surprise shower that I had no idea they were planning! Then, in S.F. just a few weeks ago, I had another little shower at my friend Joanne’s house. It was easy and fun, though she did manage to sneak in a few baby games behind my back, but those ended up being pretty entertaining, so I am happy she did!"
- "This rocker might not be the most practical, since it doesn’t have arms, but it comes from my Grandmother so it holds a special place in my heart."
- Adorable embroidery.
- "The plan is for a natural birth in the hospital with my doctor and a doula. With the baby being breech, I have had to come to terms with the idea of a c-section, too. So, basically the opposite of my birth plan. It was hard at first and I felt a little out of sorts about it. But at the end of the day, if I have to get a c-section, I will. As long as the little guy comes out safe and healthy!"
- "When I started showing in the second trimester I was like, ‘Oh my god, I am huge.' I wish someone had told me to cherish those days and that I wasn’t big at all!"
Share this story