Pamela Bellafesta

Name: Pamela Bellafesta
Profession: Stylist
Background: I started working as a showroom assistant at a PR agency after high school. Then I moved on to be a fashion assistant at ELLE and have been the fashion director at the magazines King and Sofis Mode. Today, I work as a freelance stylist.
Living: In a wooden house from the late 1930s in Pungpinan in Stockholm.
Family: Partner Andreaz, daughters Leonora 6 years old and Cornelia 8 months old, and the cat Småland, 10 years old.
Currently: Styling Pär Lernström, who is the host of Swedish Idol. Co-owner of La Culture (www.laculture.se) where we deliver well-selected and organic wines directly from the farm to the door.
Instagram: @pambellafesta and @paintbypam

Pamela, thank you for you and your daughter Cornelia modeling for a day with Boob! How do you, as a stylist and style guru, manage your wardrobe and outfits with life as a mother of two?

Thank you for having us; it was an honor that you asked! I was forced to do a thorough clean-out of my wardrobe because we had water damage at home and had limited space. The positive aspect is that I only kept favorites, which has made it much easier to get dressed in the morning. I work with few garments, a minimal color palette, and only keep items in the wardrobe that I know work.

What are your best wardrobe tips during pregnancy and breastfeeding?

I've used your lovely nursing t-shirt almost every day, I have it in off-white and black. I've paired it with everything possible – with an open shirt over it, blazers, cardigans, overshirts, or just as it is with a pair of earrings and jeans. A tip is to find a jeans model that works when the pregnancy weight is still there but will also fit nicely when you are back to your normal weight, so have the jeans a bit baggy. My ultimate model is Original denim from Totême. Then I like to build my wardrobe with the same garment in two colors. This way, you can maintain your silhouette and work more easily with what you have.

You have an Instagram account, @paintbypam, where you post "thought-tourettes in drawing form." I chuckle every time you post something. Tell us about how your drawings come to be.

Oh, thank you, that’s so nice to hear! I have been painting all my life but had a long break due to lots of work and kids. The urge has always been there, but recently I didn't quite know how and what to paint. But now that Cornelia has come, and I've been home more, the drawings suddenly appeared in my head one day, and it became so clear how and in what way I should paint. What I really like about having children is that you often have to think outside the box, and having a six-year-old makes you think even more outside your usual scope with all the questions and thoughts they come up with. I like how the brain gets to work and think differently, and I've taken that with me when I paint. I often need to brainstorm with myself to come up with a drawing. And I need to spend a lot of time by myself to "hear my thoughts."

How do you think life has changed since you became a mother?

Going from one child to two I didn’t find such a big step. The biggest change was going from none to one. You prioritize differently when you have children, and you have to make space for them in your life, which means making sacrifices in other areas, such as hobbies, endless restaurant visits, late work nights, and hanging out with friends. Which is worth it every day of the week, of course, even though I can miss DJing into the early hours at some techno club, as I did so many times before having kids.

Do you have any life hacks to share that make everyday life smoother?

I try to keep weekends as unplanned as possible to allow room for spontaneity. For me, it's important to have days when the whole family wakes up and feels like doing whatever they want that day. If the weekends are calm and provide recovery, the weeks function much better. Now, during maternity leave, when I've been home a lot, I always make sure to have pre-cooked quinoa in the fridge and pre-washed spinach and some protein, so you can make a simple lunch in under five minutes (I always top salads with hemp seeds for the Omega-3, plus it looks much fancier). If you eat well, you feel more energetic and fresh. And you don’t have to stress with lunch while the baby is sleeping and can eat at the same time, which has been so cozy.

What does sustainability mean to you?

For me, sustainability is something that permeates my entire everyday life. Everything from sustainable time – looking at what I need to remove to avoid stress – to the food we eat and how the wardrobe is built. I always compare my wardrobe to the fridge – it should be fresh, updated food that you can easily take out and make something good with.

With your extensive experience as a stylist, fashion editor, and fashion blogger, in what ways do you see the fashion industry becoming more sustainable?

Continue to educate consumers to create awareness. I wish that the garments in stores had more information than just material and country. That all designers start working more actively towards sustainable production instead of just hiding behind "we work with timeless design." Sustainability needs to be integrated into all stages.

What do you do when you have a moment to spare?

Pet the cat, draw, walk around in the garden, and let the thought-tourettes flow freely. If I have another moment, I love to sit on my veranda and read a book. If I have several hours, I like to go for a long Ashtanga yoga session at the Altromondo studio.

What do you hope to pass on to your children?

Exactly what my dad gave me – everyday joy.

4 things you don’t want to be without?

Besides my family, of course. Yoga, the spontaneous dinners we have with the neighbors in Pungpinan, curl cream for my hair (the best is Noir's Poem of a Swirl), and walks in Skogskyrkogården. Can I choose one more? In that case, t-shirts from Boob. :)

What is at the top of your wish list?

I would love to visit the hotel Killiehuntly Farmhouse in Scotland. Then I'm waiting for my favorite overshirt from Stylein to come in black (I have it in beige). Last but not least, I wish for peace and quiet in the house; we've had so much bad luck with water damage, etc., so now I just want order so that the thought-tourettes can have even more space in my life.