55 Stylish Pregnancy Pieces To Elevate Your Maternity Aesthetic
Got Hailey Bieber and Sofia Richie on your inspo board? Skip the ruched bodycon dresses, peplum tops, and unflattering maternity jeans. We can get more creative than that to dress up your baby bump.
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Some women think of their growing bump as something to accommodate, something that they simply need to work around as the months go on. Others, however, see their bump as the ultimate fashion accessory – an added bonus to make any outfit all the more memorable. Before my first pregnancy (years before), I remember constantly trying on clothes and pushing my stomach out in the mirror, fitting my arms into the perfect little circle and thinking, “God, this would look so cute if I were pregnant!”
For some reason, pregnancy for me has always enhanced my body confidence and self-esteem. Ironically, with a huge belly, I was always more apt to show it off than when I was in the best shape of my life with abs carved out from hours in the gym. When you’re pregnant, wearing that tight dress or crop top to bring attention to the sweet baby growing inside you is cause for celebration, not sucking it in or masking it behind layers of uncomfortable fabric. That’s part of the reason why I hate – utterly loathe – traditional maternity clothes so much.
I remember the first time I stepped into a Motherhood Maternity store in our local mall. Horrified doesn’t even begin to encapsulate the feelings that came over me. Everything on the racks looked like it belonged to my mother or grandmother, and it certainly didn’t look any better on. Tears swelled up in my eyes as the 20-something-year-old girl looking back at me became unrecognizable, and I felt like my entire style and personality were going to have to change. I didn’t realize it at the time, but I’d eventually work up the courage to walk out of that store empty-handed and return to my closet, where I’d remember all those times my bloated, pushed-out belly enhanced an outfit in the mirror rather than ruined it. Eventually, I’d learn what to search for in stylish pregnancy pieces and how to build my wardrobe to highlight my growing bump rather than hide it.
Now, do you have to have Hailey Bieber or Sofia Richie money to dress more stylishly during your 9-month pregnancy? On the contrary, I’ve found that it’s much more expensive to buy an entire wardrobe of traditional maternity clothes than it is to get creative with flowy dresses, lightweight pants, bump-friendly jumpsuits, and tops with some added room to grow. The plus side is that you’ll be able to wear many of these non-traditional wardrobe pieces in your postpartum period and even years post-birth when your sizes may have shifted dramatically.
So what are these stylish pregnancy essentials I’m speaking of? Let’s get into the most feminine pieces to elevate your maternity aesthetic.