Prego-sexy: It's Not What it Used to Be.

Today I went maternity clothes shopping with a friend.  It's her first baby and she needed some help deciding what to buy.  It's frustrating to be pregnant, because you feel like you're living in someone else's body, and it's expensive to buy a whole new wardrobe.  You need to make good choices about what clothes look best on your new, unfamiliar shape. 

I know my friend has been frustrated lately, because she's really starting to show and has no clothes that fit in her closet.  I offered to help since I've had three babies, and I always have enjoyed shopping for clothes to accentuate whatever body type I have had through the years.

Female bodies change through time and experience, and so do the styles.  As we ate lunch, we talked about maternity fashion in the old days.  My friend Eva remembered this picture of her mom when she was pregnant.  She said, "I'm sure glad styles have changed."  Then she described how her mom was wearing a bright blue, boxy maternity dress with matching blue eyeshadow!

Simplicity pattern 9419 from 1970.  Forty years ago, maternity clothes were difficult to find and expensive to buy, so some women made their own clothes.

1970.  The year I was born.  Look at what my mom had to choose from for maternity fashion. Maternity clothes were big and boxy and were meant to hide that place on a woman where the baby was growing.  For some reason, a growing baby was meant to be hidden.  Pregnancy was some kind of secret, I guess.  Of course, at the same time, women chose to feed their babies engineered formula instead of nature's choice-- breast milk.  

"The seventies were such a weird time," my friend just said to me.  Yeah, they were, weren't they?  Weird fashion, weird gas-hogging, enormous cars, weird hair-do's, weird sideburns, glasses, weird drugs.  Just weird. Not a very intimate time for mothers and babies.

Of course, I was raised in Iowa, the place where time stops, so my family was probably less affected by 70's weirdness than many others.  We were not as influenced by fashion, and people still paid attention to babies and families over partying and drugs.  

But, back to fashion-- in 1970, pregnancy, I don't think was considered sexy.  Even twelve years ago when I was pregnant with my daughter, the maternity clothes were getting cuter.  But I don't think they were sexy.  

My last pregnancy was three years ago, and I really loved my maternity clothes.  I decided that if my belly was large, it didn't mean all of me had to look like a blimp.  I always wore fitted to show off my still thin legs and sleeveless to show off my arms.  I was definitely going to accentuate the parts of my body that were still thin.  And I was never concerned about someone noticing my pregnant belly.  Towards the end, all of my shirts were tight.  Of course they were.  How could a shirt be loose on a stomach as large as a medium-sized watermelon.  

Today, pregnant women have become a sexy thing.  In some ways, I think this is good.  Pregnancy is not a disease.  A pregnant woman is just doing a very natural and truly amazing thing...she's growing a baby inside her body.  Why wouldn't that be considered awesome by men and women alike?  But maybe looking at a pregnant woman as a sex symbol is a little wrong, too.  If you look at the woman with admiration and respect for what she's doing, then good for you.  But if you are slobbering and whistling when she walks by, thinking, "She's so hot.  Oh, baby!"  that's just wrong.  Look guys, if that's what you think, then get yourself your own pregnant wife to chase after.  That is some other guy's baby in there!

A tastefully sexy maternity dress and great boots.  Notice how she accentuates her thin legs and arms, and the slimming effect of the black dress can't hurt either. (Pregnancy Fashion/ sheknows.com)

The real problem is not the tight fitting pregnancy clothes.  It's the way our culture views women and the way we women view ourselves.  Sometimes I think women feel as if they don't have the right to look fabulous. To me, there is definitely nothing wrong with looking our best in all stages of our lives.  And pregnancy should be beautiful.  We should all be confident about and really love our growing bodies.  We should also be healthy and take care of ourselves and our babies by eating well and exercising.  Pregnancy is not a time to sit around, pig out, and grow to hate ourselves. Pregnant women are known for looking extremely happy and alive, so flaunt it while you've got it, girls


I've seen so many women use pregnancy as an excuse to frump out and become the size of a submarine.  But wouldn't it be better to buy yourselves some pretty clothes and recognize it is an even more important time to take care of your bodies?  You are doing a great thing.  Becoming a mother is a pretty important step in your life.  Enjoy being pregnant today..in a time when you are free to look beautiful with clothes that don't hide the cute bump that is your baby.