My Maternity Style Is Defined By Below-the-Bump Dressing

The moment reminded me that if I don’t want to buy anything maternity for my wardrobe, I don’t have to. There was also a vindication that I don’t have to hide my pregnancy. (Note: I no longer work full-time in an office, which is a privilege, and I can take liberties when getting dressed.) I hate hearing that expecting women feel the need to hide their pregnancy when it comes to their careers! No one should feel that pressure—let them be!

Currently, I style all of my maternity looks below the bump, which means the bump is out. These days, when I wear clothes, I pretend my bump isn’t there and that I’m simply showing off my midriff as I traditionally have—although my midriff is now a hulking loaf of bread that protrudes from my body. Maybe the inspiration stems from Rihanna’s deliciously flagrant belly-baring fashion choices when she was pregnant, or Madonna trotting around London during her second pregnancy in 2000, bursting from her Union Jack T-shirt and cargo pants that hung on by the sheer grace of G-d. There was also Demi Moore going full nude on the cover of Vanity Fair in 1991. Ane lest I forget Sienna Miller walking the red carpet of the Vogue World: London in a frothy Schiaparelli number—a ruffled cream crop top and a confectionary skirt.

I’m not the only one who has gone below-the-bump. The other day at the Maimoun store opening in Williamsburg, I ran into the designer of a cool-girl Italian label. Pregnant, she wore her pants slightly unbuttoned. (Note: I tried this tactic with a zipper, and it does not work. Your pants will unzip and, consequently, fall off.) She looked fantastic. Very laissez-faire, very whatever!

Later, facialist Raquel Medina-Cleghorn sent me a photo of herself expecting, when she attended the spring 2025 Sandy Liang show. She wore dainty Little Bo Peep pink bows in her hair and donned an open cardi and low-slung jeans. “It felt really daring for me, to be honest,” Medina-Cleghorn says. “Even though I don’t dress ‘professionally’ for work, I still felt like having my midriff exposed was too intimate for that setting, so this was probably the only time I had my belly on show. Then, when I got in line to enter the show space, several people took street-style photos of me, which was slightly embarrassing because I’m not used to that, but it made me feel great.”