This feature is part of ELLE's 'Modern Motherhood Series' - exploring the shifting role of 'mother' in society and the women choosing to do things differently.
In a recent ELLE catch-up, a staff member - ever concerned with sustainability - pondered, ‘what do women do with their old maternity clothes?’ only for our Deputy Editor to retort laughingly, ‘don’t buy them!’
Kenya Hunt, two children and two impeccably-dressed pregnancies in, explained that she avoids maternity clothing as a whole, opting instead for...well you’ll see. Following the revelation that there are ways to do maternity dressing that don't actually involve any maternity clothes, we considered it high time we asked some fashion-lovers and industry insiders to give the rest of us a few tips. So, as well as ELLE's own Kenya Hunt, we've solicited TV presenter and lifestyle guru Laura Jackson and also author and influencer Katherine Ormerod, to give us a break-down of exactly how they dressed their respective bumps.
With searches for maternity clothing increasing 23 per cent month on month at the moment (according to Lyst) and Meghan Markle’s own bump stylings causing crazy spikes in traffic and sell-out items (remember those ASOS and H&M maternity dresses?) we wonder whether any other mums are going against the grain, and eschewing maternity clothes altogether?
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Maternity Clothes To Buy Now
TV presenter and lifestyle guru Laura Jackson is currently pregnant.
I’ve got a very small collection of 'bump' clothes. I wear lots of big tunic dresses anyway so lots of my wardrobe still fits. I invested in some Topshop maternity 'Dree' jeans, some H&M maternity black cigarette trousers, black maternity tights and a stretchy crop top - the kind I wore from Tammy girl aged 12.
I’ve enjoyed 'dressing the bump'. As I say, I haven't really bought a new wardrobe as lots of my dresses still fit. I’m nine months pregnant now, and wearing a lovely Molly Goddard dress I was fortunate enough to snap up in a sample sale.
Watching my body change has been interesting, but it’s part and parcel of being pregnant, so I have taken it in my stride.
Lots of my friends are big fans of the floaty, tunic style dresses too so they again have invested in maternity tights and continued to wear the clothes in their wardrobe that still fit.
My advice would be, don't go overboard! It’s not sustainable to buy a whole new wardrobe just for six months - the time passes so quickly so, if you can, invest in just a few key pieces, it's good for the planet and for your wallet.
Non-Maternity Wedding Guest Dresses You Can Wear Totally Pregnant
Influencer and author Katherine Ormerod has an 18-month-old son Grey.
When I hear the word ‘maternity clothes,’ a ‘basic b*tch’ uniform of stretchy skinnies, bretons and a wrap dresses springs to mind. Don’t get me wrong, I love a stripey tee as much as the next girl, but after a while, looking the same as everyone else really got to me.
I think you have to accept that you’re not going to be able to express yourself every single day through your clothes while pregnant, unless you want to spend your child-to-be’s university fund on it.
I missed separates a lot - though I did find a couple of great fine-knit stretch midis at H&M which saw me through, at least up to the third trimester.
I’m only 5’2’’ and I went from a 32A to a 34E bust size and carried my bump all on the front (it was 100th percentile and I got asked if I was expecting twins at least once a day). So, tight fitting tops and dresses looked good, whereas big shirts like some of my cool pregnant friends wore, just made me look like a big round breast ball. I really needed to be able to see the shape of the boob in my outfits otherwise it was massively unflattering.
I lived in a turtleneck black midi dress from Isabella Oliver (pricey, but worth its weight in pure gold) and I did wear maternity jeans from J Brand and Topshop, religiously. ASOS maternity was the best for occasions.
But, I also wanted to burn it all by the end.
To be honest, maternity dressing was just another thing that got me down. Pregnancy was not my peak life moment - the hormones, sickness, then immobility because of SPD just ground me down and I was not really myself.
When I did find something that looked good and even made me feel like a vaguely attractive female, it was major - thus why I always say to everyone spend money on a couple of pieces that if you really need to feel your mojo you can just slip on.
Non-Maternity Party, Evening And Occasion Dresses You Can Wear Totally Pregnant
Deputy Editor of ELLE UK, Kenya Hunt has two sons, six-year-old Cosmo and six-month-old Bruno.
There are more creative ways to dress a bump than maternity clothes! Why buy clothes you’ll only wear for a few months when you can invest in pieces you’ll want to continue to wear afterwards?
For example, during my second pregnancy I invested in lots of men’s button-down shirts that I could still pull out post-baby (I wore them with my husband’s jeans). During my first pregnancy, I wore a stretchy, body-con mini dress and my Balenciaga leather Moto jacket practically every day - and I still wear that dress and jacket.
Come summer, I switched to voluminous dresses that could accommodate the bump (Simone Rocha is a good designer for this). But, honestly, at the end of my pregnancy I was so massive and it was so hot (the hottest summer on record in 40 years) that I had taken to wearing the same two black slip dresses (one from Zara and another from Monki) over and over again.
Post-birth, I’ve gone back to loads of trousers and tailoring, mostly because I missed wearing them so much during the end of my pregnancy.
A lot of my friends work in fashion-adjacent industries and are all firmly against maternity wear, so they have actually been great sources of inspiration for ways to shop and style a bump.
