Pregnant and stylish

Chicago’s maternity scene is fertile with plenty of fashionable options

By Kristina Zaremba

The biggest mistake women make with maternity clothes, it turns out, is not buying them.

“You’ll never get the right fit if you borrow your husband’s and your girlfriend’s stuff,” says Rebecca Mathias, founder of nationwide chains A Pea in the Pod (46 E. Oak), Mimi Maternity (835 N. Michigan) and Motherhood (various). “Maternity really isn’t about a style, it’s about a size. Pregnant women still want the same fashions.”

Indeed. The designer and owner of Oak Park-based Majamas (909 S. Lombard), Germaine Caprio, travels to major fashion trend shows in New York, Los Angeles, Italy, France and Japan to keep her maternity designs “fresh” and “in step with what women want to wear.”

Mathias credits celebrities with focusing attention on the maternity scene over the last five to 10 years. The real positive impact of the celebrity maternity trend, Mathias believes, has been the realization of “how beautiful you can look when you’re pregnant. It makes wearing maternity clothes acceptable.”

Hundreds of pregnant pop icons have bundled their bumps in Pod products, and Mathias’ DestinationMaternity.com website even offers advice on how to get the Gwen Stefani look, characterized by full-length halter dresses ($150), or the Elizabeth Rohm look that emphasizes ultra-femme, knee-length dresses ($200-265).

While celebrities may influence the industry, Rebecca Zipser Hoffman, the co-owner of Preggers (900 N. Michigan), doesn’t think real women take their fashion cues from them.

“The average pregnant woman wants to be able to bend down and pick up her toddler while still being dressed to impress,” she says.

Fashion sense meets maternal instinct
At 15 weeks pregnant, Michelle Seagraves doesn’t fit into her normal clothes, nor her maternity clothes, and often has to mock-tailor items with safety pins. The only thing worse than this awkward phase, she says, is nearing the nine-month mark when “nothing looks good on you.”

A working mother of one, her goal is to reuse most of what she has from her first baby and — to add variety — she will sift through boxes from friends who have had babies within the year or so, ensuring “it’s not old, ugly stuff.” When she buys new, Seagraves prefers Target’s Liz Lange maternity line, “because they have cute clothes.”

Seagraves and five-and-a-half-month pregnant Diana Bieniasz both have taken advantage of the mainstream trend of loose-fitting, empire-waist shirts.

“The shirts have more room, so at this point, I can still buy clothes off the rack,” says first-timer Bieniasz, who has gone to Target and Motherhood, where the average price is $18, to fill in her mostly second-hand wardrobe.

Bieniasz has shopped at The Gap and Krista K Maternity (3530 N. Southport) for items with a designer’s edge, while special occasions consistently send Seagraves to A Pea in the Pod.

“It’s a little more expensive there, but you feel like, ‘I’m this large, and I deserve to wear something nice,’ ” Seagraves says.

Maternity clothes look best on a six-month baby bump, according to Seagraves. “Otherwise, you look like maybe you just ate too much, or you look like a whale,” she says. At the end, I wore a lot of dark colors. If you wear a black shirt, even if you’re ginormous, you don’t look as large.”

What to wear when you’re expecting
Jeans are usually the first piece of clothing women look to replace. Mathias uses a thick, stretchy waistband to transform dress pants and jeans from designers like True Religion and 7 for All Mankind, ensuring women uninterrupted access to their favorite denim collections.

Several waistline styles conform to changing midsections for a full nine months and some time after delivery. The popular Secret Fit Belly features a smooth, expansive panel that extends to just below the bust or can be folded down and worn under the belly, which works well for transitioning after birth.

Three-quarter-length sleeve shirt, solids or prints that go with black or mom’s favorite color, and a cute set of pajamas that can double as a last-minute outfit for running errands are smart buys, Caprio says.

Chunky indoor/outdoor sweaters work as light fall jackets and winter insulators, while dress pant sets that run the width gamut from skinny to wide can be taken apart and matched with other items. Maternity outerwear makes the long Chicago winters more bearable as well.

Multi-cup bras and tanks are essential for expanding ribcages, Caprio believes. These undergarments are not fitted in the cups and underbust the way most bras are in order to maintain comfort as women grow.

New moms need to stock up on breast pads. Use absorbent, disposable lanolin pads made of untreated, organic wool alone or in combination with washable silicone Lily Padz ($19.95), which stop leakage rather than absorb it. Working women who plan to nurse for a year or more should invest in a good breast pump as well.

Caprio recommended keeping five nursing bras on hand so a spare will be available when leaks occur. Three light-support night bras or supportive tanks provide added comfort during sleep and over the weekend.

The next year of your life
Maternity covers the entire period from pregnancy to early stages of nursing, which lasts a year or more.

“You will wear these pieces of clothing many times during the course of a pregnancy, probably more than you wear your average clothes through the course of a year,” Zipser Hoffman says.

“A few basics will get you through the next year of your life,” Caprio adds. “That’s a pretty good run for any piece of clothing.”

In the end, Bieniasz reminds women to focus on the amazing transformation they’re undergoing rather than their appearance.

“Don’t be too concerned over how you look,” she says, adding that hearing the baby’s heartbeat for the first time and going for ultrasounds have been the most memorable parts of her pregnancy. “Just know you’re about to experience one of the best things in the world.”

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photo courtesy of Joliestar.com