Pregnancy Outfits

NB: I’ve had to do this post in two parts, due to all the pics. I posted part two first, so you can read from the top of the page downwards in order to get the photos in the right order.

The beginning and end of pregnancy carry the same dilemma: to show off the belly or to hide it? Since I look about four months pregnant on a normal day, my initial goal was to make sure people knew that THIS time, I really was pregnant. Hence the usefulness of this top, which unzips from either top or bottom (or indeed both). I figured everyone would know that only a pregnant woman would deliberately draw attention to a suspicious belly bulge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The above and below photos were taken in week 20.

Since I’m not Elvis, I never thought I’d wear a jumpsuit. But a giant belly does its best to cast off clothing in both directions (tops roll up; pants roll down) so I saw potential and took advantage. It worked very well for most of second trimester, and because it was held up mainly by elastic at the very top, it was more comfortable than any other item (in my experience, even elastic below the bust was soon uncomfortable).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My various long skirts were useful for a while, as they simply sat higher and higher on my belly – but this (at 21 weeks) was the last time I was able to wear this particular skirt.

 

 

At 22 weeks, I was barely able to get in and out of this dress, despite the adjustable sides (which, though helpful, aren’t an attractive way to dress in pregnancy – in my opinion):

 

 

This is a dress I inherited from my grandmother (several fashions of the past or the third world make great maternity wear). Other than my bare arms, it gives me no shape at all – but if you want to conceal a pregnancy, this kind of thing works (only in the sense that it makes absolutely everyone look pregnant). Very comfortable. 24 weeks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These three photos were all taken at 25 weeks. The corset-style front lacing looked excellent about two weeks before this photo was taken – giving me back the illusion of an hourglass figure. I’d deliberately bought a jumpsuit in a larger size, but it still had a thin line of waist elastic, which meant this was the last time I was able to wear it (because of nausea – it still fit, but I kept automatically pushing the waistband higher, which wasn’t a good look). The golden dress is useful shape-wise in that it bares my arms and legs (which at this stage of the pregnancy were still roughly as they were) and is tight across the chest (unfortunately too tight, in this case, but the theory was good):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

26 weeks. The pattern on this skirt (and the viscosity of the artificial material) made me look much more pregnant instantly. This was the last of my long skirts to still fit, and it did mean that it wasn’t ankle-length any more (always sad – the reason I made my own skirts is that shops never get my length right. Fie on three-quarter length!) At this point, the brown top was the only good top for me to wear, because all other tops just rode up my belly and bunched unnattractively below my bust. Because any trace of elastic (or worse, non-elastic binding) made me sick, this was the last time I wore anything that wasn’t a dress.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

27 weeks. I made a surprising and pleasant discovery when I added this jacket to this dress. Suddenly the dress had shape, and so did I. The jacket buttons across the chest, which brought attention to the one body part improved by pregnancy. It fell away beautifully, framing my belly in an inverted triangle. The moral here is that  every pregnant lady should have a three-quarter length jacket with a single fastening at chest height.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Part Two is here.