Style tips and the brands to know
I don’t know about you but when I hear the term ‘maternity fashion’, I sick up a little in my mouth. Drab, shapeless sacks of floral monstrosity, ill-fitting denim, and deranged low-crotch overgrown toddler jumpsuits come to mind. It’s as though, immediately following conception, women should lose their sense of style in favour of a shapeless mumsy aesthetic.
Parent friends humoured me at first when I told them I would absolutely not be buying any maternity wear, and I would somehow make do with what I’ve got. “Lovely, give it a go!” was the general response. A woman who has experienced pregnancy knows the one cardinal rule when it comes to other pregnant women: Thou Shalt Not Judge. She also knows the mantra (repeated internally to oneself): I did try to warn her. Because, as I discovered, you may have to concede on a couple of items depending on what season it will be when you’re expanding to the size of a small Caribbean island. But it’s not true that you’ll require an entirely new wardrobe or to compromise on your personal style.
“I really struggled finding clothes that chimed with my personal style during both of my pregnancies,” says Frankie Graddon, fashion journalist and author of Substack Mumish. “And when your body/life is changing so much it’s even more disorientating when you can’t put on an outfit and feel like yourself.” During her two pregnancies, Graddon opted for “non-mat wear pieces in a few sizes larger, as well as knitted dresses and skirts that stretched.”
In recent years, the high street has had a good go at maternity fashion, with brands like H&M, Zara and M&S offering maternity ranges, and, Graddon adds “nice bump-friendly labels such as Beyond Nine, Nine the Label and Clary & Peg” are also coming to the fore.
So if you are currently channelling our festive queen the Virgin Mary and sporting a blossoming bump there are many alternative routes you can take to make the next nine months a sartorial treat not a fashion graveyard. I have personally had a blast getting dressed in pregnancy and I’ve largely avoided investing in maternity-specific clothing.
Henceforth, I shall impart my learnings.
Shop your wardrobe
Before you rush out to grab the nearest unflattering spandex-waisted pair of trousers being peddled for a small fortune, start at home.
For me this began with shopping my wardrobe. One Sunday afternoon I set aside an hour to sift through my rails and pull out any items I thought might see me through from seed to embryo to foetus and baby mama. I created a little ‘round girl autumn’ section in my wardrobe and, as the months — and my stomach — have stretched on, have filtered out the items I am out-growing.
I found about a third of what I already owned was a goer (adieu for now, high-waisted tailored trousers), including Frankie Shop oversized shirts, Cecilie Bahnsen smock dresses and Sleeper PJs have carried me through.
This task is even more enjoyable if completed while listening to Madonna’s ‘Papa Don’t Preach,’ but that’s an optional extra.
Think outside the box
While some new chic brands are cropping up (I’ll get to them), maternity wear is, largely to be avoided in my opinion. Furthermore, forking out for something you know you’ll be discarding or relegating to vacuum-packed storage in mere months is not a good investment, nor is it sustainable. Think long-term — both for the planet and your bank balance — and look elsewhere.
Instead, opt for non-maternity wear which can accommodate your new rotund form, or stretch around it and that you can still enjoy for years postpartum. Brands whose modus operandi is blouson shirts, babydoll and trapeze dresses, like Ganni, Molly Goddard, Cecilie Bahnsen and Damson Madder are perfect places to start. A shirred waist is also incredibly flattering on a growing tum, helping passers-by to see you are in fact pregnant and not simply people smuggling. Vinted and Depop are a treasure trove of all these brands (also look out for sales and sample sales and consider saving up — lots of these pieces will carry you through pregnancy and far beyond so they’re not one-hit wonders).
A particular favourite non-maternity discovery of mine has been US knitwear brand Simon Miller. I’ve been living in their leopard print co-ords (which one of their team recommended after her own pregnancy – the slit sides mean it expands as you grow and I plan to wear it long after the sprog has sprogged) as well as their Leith squiggle sweater and snake print jumper dress.
Consider rental
To combat the eco dilemma of maternity wear, rental is a strong choice and is great for events like summer weddings and Christmas parties, and for trying things out if you’re not sure what might suit.
For the Creators specialise in maternity rentals and Hurr Collective’s Bump Edit has singled out bulbous-friendly options from non-maternity specific brands like Cult Gaia, & Other Stories and Cos. The only downside to this is trying to nail down sizing as you grow, which I must admit I struggled with. Still, it is a no-brainer to solving the problem of being sick of items you’ve worn on repeat for nine months (which I have been warned will befall me once the baby has arrived).
Sportswear
Where I will concede on maternity-specific clothing is activewear. I pushed it as far as I could before accepting that I needed to expand my sportswear (or rather, before my sportswear expanded for me), and once I finally did, I wondered why I hadn’t made the switch sooner.
There aren’t an enormous number of brands really nailing maternity activewear, but Nike has a decent selection and I’ve lived in their over-bump leggings. Sweaty Betty’s maternity shorts and ruched tank top were saviours for my workouts, all of them designed impeccably to cradle a growing stomach, rather than fight against it. And they’re amazingly flattering, too.
When it comes to swimming, my trusty Hunza G addiction proved its mettle and confirmed this brand really is one size fits all. If you’ve been wanting to justify diving into their admittedly pricey swimwear, pregnancy is a perfect excuse.
Best maternity friendly fashion
Beyond Nine Denim Coverall
Marine Serre Moon Printed Jersey Second Skin Crewneck Top
Sleeper Lurex Lounge Suit with Pants in Black
Simon Miller Knits By Canoga Top
Paige Anessa Maternity Wide Leg Jean
Now 50% Off
Baserange Omato Long Sleeve Top
Beyond Nine Daisy Jersey Trousers
Simon Miller Leith Squiggle Knit Sweater
Nike High-Waisted 7/8 Leggings
Sweaty Betty All Day 6″ Maternity Short
The jeans dilemma
The sartorial hill I will die on is that leggings are not trousers, they are simply thick tights. And yet, they seem to somehow be suggested as the first stop for pregnant women. I wasn’t having it. I was pining for my barrel-leg jeans and high-waisted suit trousers each morning as I desperately lamented my expanding waistline and found that most maternity jeans on offer were shapeless and badly made.
Enter: Paige Denim. I will praise these jeans until the cows come home because Paige has truly nailed the perfect maternity trousers. Yes, they’re pricey (and in the spirit of openness, mine were a review pair) but their under-bump design (thanks to the pockets being replaced by elastic segments) means you can still feel relatively normal and wear them with T-shirts and crop tops. “I wish I’d invested in a great pair of maternity jeans instead of cheap high street ones as I wore them almost every day,” says Graddon.
Speaking to Cosmopolitan about their brand ethos, Paige Adams-Geller, co-founder and creative director of Paige says: “At Paige, our goal has been to ensure that our maternity jeans make every woman feel confident, comfortable, and stylish during this time. We recognise that women still want to wear their favourite denim, even while pregnant. We always keep in mind the rise heights, details along the top-block, and carefully source our elastic panels to provide maximum comfort and the most flattering fit.”
I also bought some under-bump jeans from Ilouity who do a great range of maternity jeans, including over-bump options should those work for you. Admittedly the bellow bump ones are a little less comfortable once you exceed a certain size, and I’ve been known to unzip at the cinema or office on more than one occasion (cc: HR department).
Maternity brand Beyond Nine also does a variety of on-bump trousers, but they didn’t quite work for me. Their denim boilersuit, on the other hand, made me feel like Rosie the Riveter which is an absolute win. With natty waist poppers, the jumpsuit grows with your bump and is designed to be worn postpartum, too. I’ve found it an essential.
The brand was inspired by founder Naomi Raybould’s own struggle to source flattering, long-lasting maternity wear. She tells me: “It really bothered me ‘maternity wear’ was designed to be disposable and discarded after the baby was born once we’d ‘snapped back’ into our pre-pregnancy wardrobes. Beyond Nine features versatile, chic pieces that can be worn throughout pregnancy and beyond, allowing our customers to maintain their personal style while accommodating their changing bodies.”
PJs, loungewear and undies
Eight months in and I’ve managed to largely avoid changing up any loungewear or underwear, which perhaps speaks to my penchant for enormous, comfy cotton pants. What I have found essential is maternity tights (M&S do some great ones with a thin panel around the stomach to prevent compression), soft bandeau bras to embrace your engorged breasts, and some oversized trackies. The XL biscuit cashmere tracksuit I already owned from a Bella Freud sample sale has been a lifesaver, and I’ve loved dressing up as a blancmange in Beyond Nine’s blouson pepto Bismol tracksuit which I plan to pack in my hospital bag too.
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