Maternity Style
Pregnancy is one of the most mentally, emotionally, and physically vulnerable times for women. While growing and sustaining a human life, women’s bodies undergo changes in unexpected and sometimes undesirable ways, not to mention the fatigue, nausea, morning sickness, and lack of sleep that often occurs. While all this is happening, it’s worth considering: Do women feel confident during this period of time in their lives? Do they feel beautiful? Are they comfortable in their clothes? Do they feel feminine? These are some of the questions that everyday pregnant women are faced with or at least feel innately. If there is anything that can help moms-to-be look and feel great (even if they are actually sick) during this time, it’s finding the right clothes that fit their style.
Since maternity wear is its own category in the clothing industry, there are pros and cons to finding the best style for each person.
The Cons of Maternity Wear
Comfort over style
Sadly, a lot of maternity wear isn’t uplifting at all. In fact, it’s quite drab, created ultimately for physical comfort and not much else. But the designers miss the mark here: a changing body is all the more reason to make a woman look and feel her best. Pregnancy is challenging, finding the right clothes shouldn’t be.
Lack of options
Some brands, such as Pink Blush Maternity and Target – to name a couple – are increasing their maternity options, yet overall, there is a severe lack of style optionality on the market. While offering maternity clothes isn’t the most lucrative business model, brands should sell more diverse styles that reflect their consumer base. The women who shop in the trendy sections of Target don’t suddenly give up their style and desire cheap cotton dresses replacements because they found themselves pregnant.
Affordability
Quality maternity clothes are expensive. And for a time that is so fleeting in a woman’s life, that’s a hard pill to swallow. Well known brands such as Spanx or A Pea in the Pod offer a variety of clothing for pregnant women but the cost creates a high barrier to entry for many.
The Pros
Be creative and size up
A growing bump forces creativity. Many non-maternity clothes can be used as maternity alternatives depending how a person wears it. Examples for this include wearing a men’s casual button-down shirt with modern and well fitted maternity pants and flats or tucking a tight tank into an A-line midi skirt that sits over the bump. Going up a size or two to accommodate a changing body ensures women have the ability to adapt while maintaining their style at a fairly low cost depending where they shop.
More brands are offering better options
More trendy brands are offering maternity styles. In addition to Spanx, Target, Pink Blush Maternity, and A Pea in the Pod, brands such as ASOS, Nordstrom, Madewell, Baltic Born, H&M, and even secondhand online stores like ThredUp are offering more diverse options for women. Companies like these are curating clothing lines to ensure pregnant women look fashionable and stylish without sacrificing comfort and stretch.
Buy key pieces and build around that
Like anyone else, pregnant women should ensure they have key, everyday pieces in their wardrobes that they can easily throw on or pieces that almost everything else can match with. Depending on the time of year a woman is pregnant and her lifestyle, staples like this include summer dresses that reflect her style and lay nicely over the bump, a few great pairs of fitted blue and black denim jeans, work appropriate clothing like maternity work pants and a few basic work tops (A Pea in the Pod has good options), and large or maternity-specific sweaters are a must for the cold months. Additional items that can be added to these staples to create stylish, put-together looks include layering pieces like denim or leather jackets or blazers, accessories and jewelry, and modern shoes like clean tennis shoes, loafers, flats, or heels.
Go to consignment shops
Shopping at consignment boutiques, secondhand online stores, or Good Will allows for more optionality without breaking the bank. That said, this approach requires an open mind and extra time to sort through all the clothes and try on pieces that most likely aren’t maternity specific. Secondhand stores can be a goldmine for unique finds for fashionable mommas-to-be.
While maternity clothes are limited and can be difficult to shop for, being creative with sizing, clothing pieces, and brands produces more opportunities for women to cultivate their sense of style and internal confidence while pregnant.
Stylishly Yours,
Anthony Bolognese and Leah Nalepa
