The day before she gave birth, Grace Elizabeth posed for a Victoria’s Secret Mother’s Day campaign.
Model Grace Elizabeth Is a Mom! She Shares How Pregnancy Has Changed Her View of Beauty
Earlier this year, model Grace Elizabeth welcomed her first child with husband Nicholas Krause—a baby boy. She found that the slowed pace and privacy of the pandemic had its upsides when it came to her pregnancy. “It gave my husband and I time to experience the pregnancy without outside eyes or expectations,” says Elizabeth. “We were able to enjoy those precious moments—and they went by so fast.” Elizabeth and Krause spent the nine months painting pandas and soccer balls on her growing belly, listening to her baby’s heartbeat on a doppler, FaceTiming family, and taking online lamaze classes.
“The changes that my body and skin and health have gone through has changed the way I view beauty 100%,” says Elizabeth, who, on the last day of her pregnancy, posed for Victoria’s Secret’s Mother’s Day campaign, the special moment captured by photographer Cass Bird. “I’ve had moments of despair when clothes didn’t fit, or at the sight of my stretch marks, or loose skin, or dark circles from sleep deprivation—but then I look into my son’s eyes and remember that these little things are proof of a strength and beauty like no other.” The model adds that, while her passion for fitness and healthy eating remain, her identification of “a strong tight body” as the epitome of beauty has shifted in kind. “Beauty is strength and capability and it’s love, the love that I feel for my body before and after,” she says. “Beauty comes in all different sizes and shapes, and my marks and little imperfections are actually perfect, because it reminds me that for nine months, I grew a little person.”
Advanced Night Repair from Estee Lauder ensured that Elizabeth’s skin stayed smooth and hydrated throughout the experience. "My skin went through a dry spell because my little one was soaking up all my fluids, so I had dry patches everywhere that I never used to have,” she says—an endeavor also aided by Bio-Oil Skincare Oil, applied liberally to her stomach. “It was actually a really nice bonding time with my little guy,” says Elizabeth. “I would be massaging my belly and he would start kicking, and I could feel his entire foot in my hand.”
Elizabeth began experiencing contractions during the Victoria’s Secret shoot, resulting in a true realization that motherhood was about to be her reality. “I went into labor the next day,” says the model. “I sent Cass a picture and was like, 'Told you so! He’s here and he’s healthy!’ So the shoot was the absolute perfect time.”
With a few months as a mom under her belt, Elizabeth is embracing imperfection and self-compassion. "Motherhood doesn’t come with an instruction manual—you can’t be a supermom all the time,” says Elizabeth. “So, if you’re a new mom, just be understanding and patient and tender. It’s all going to fall into place, and you’re doing amazing.”
This story originally appeared on: Vogue - Author:Calin Van Paris
