I realize at some point I should discuss a “cheat” that a lot of us plus sized women used before plus size stores and clothing lines became more common: we would resort to wearing maternity clothing.
Now personally, I hated this and I would do anything I could to avoid it. I also recognized that in the early years of developing plus size fashion, a lot of styles were taken directly from maternity lines. This was an unkindness both to pregnant women and to fat women, and caused thin-but-pregnant women to be asked inappropriate questions about weight gain, and fat women like me inappropriate questions about pregnancy. (I have decided that the next time someone decides I’m pregnant, I’m going to convince them that a 1957 Chevy is the father. No reason to do this, except to be weird and to amuse myself, but it’s bound to happen, so I might as well make it fun for me.)
Maternity clothing, like plus size clothing, has become a lot more attractive in the last ten years. Maternity clothing also has some visual way of announcing “I’m pregnant” worked into most designs, whether it’s an obvious tummy panel, or careful pleats in cotton fabric so that it drapes so enticingly over the stomach.
Some plus women still use maternity clothing as a cheat - I’m one of those with a distinctive belly, and I can understand the temptation. Now that I’m old enough for it not to be scandalous should I somehow get pregnant… nope, I still wouldn’t do it. I appreciate distinct visual cues that indicate “pregnant” or “just fat.”
I can’t even begin to imagine what a plus sized woman might go through when she is with child. As if our bodies weren’t daily issues enough, there is that whole new process as your body turns into a chemical plant, coming up with new and mysterious ways to confuse and inconvenience. And how would she handle the pregnant or fat dilemma of uncouth passerby? The truly strong would grin maniacally and say, “Both!” Those who are still struggling, however, could find this more of an upset. But I still give you more credit than I would give my first grade teacher, who tried to convince me she had swallowed a basketball. Yuppy snob, please.
Considering this dilemma, and the many times “plus size maternity clothing” leads to hits on this blog, I thought I’d help some folks out. If someone would like to guest blog on plus size maternity styles, by all means, leave a comment.
I can’t vouch for these links, and I didn’t look too closely for style. I just know that these sites do offer actual plus sized maternity clothing.
- Baby Becoming
JC Penney
Woman Within
Her Room
Motherhood.com
The Gap
Lane Bryant
Bare Necessities
MomShop.com
PlusMaternity.com
Maternity4Less
Jake&Me
GrandStyleMom
Maternity Clothing Fashions
Maternity Cupboard
Comments
This entry was posted on Saturday, March 29th, 2008 at 12:01 am and is filed under Fashion, Maternity. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
“Maternity clothing also has some visual way of announcing “I’m pregnant” worked into most designs…”
But not all, and those that don’t are a miracle for those of us that are significantly pear-shaped. I’m two sizes larger in the hips than the shoulders/bust and I virtually never find dresses (or even tops) that fit from plus size lines. When I try on a size that fits my hips comfortably there are swathes of spare fabric up top, which is horribly unflattering. I have to shop carefully, but you would never guess that most of my dresses are ‘maternity’ - they just FIT!
Wow, that’s 15 more places than sold plus-size maternity clothing 17 years ago when I was 300 pounds and pregnant! I had the most awful time finding things I could wear. Eventually a friend and I made a couple of things — she is a better seamstress than I am by far, but they still had that “loving hands at home” look. Thank goodness nature has taken care of the pregnancy issue for me, but it’s good to know that retailers are catching up. Yep, fat women get pregnant…get over it!
As a size 32-34ish woman who just had a baby 7 months ago, it was HARD. I could only get things at woman within, which had even less than they do now. I lived in Avenue yoga pants, and their maternity shirts. I am also a pear, and I think it wasn’t obvious to strangers I was pregnant, even at the end. My friends and family could tell, but I would think strangers just thought my baby bump was part of my fat. It was in some ways sad, people usually complain that strangers rub their bellies, and ask them questions, but not having it made me feel a bit left out.
I’m an inverted triangle with wide shoulders, big bust, big tummy, smaller hips and legs. So if I’m not careful I look pregnant ALL the time. When I actually am pregnant it’s almost freeing - finally, I can order anything in the catalog! So I look 6 months along when I’m only 2 and a half…oh well. :)