Asos and Boohoo maternity clothing aside, fashion is failing pregnant women – and companies are missing a trick
- Most maternity clothing utterly fails to fit the varied lives of pregnant women and how they wish to present themselves, says mom-to-be Sarah Halzack
- Great maternity departments should be an easy way to attract millennial moms – ostensibly one of the industry’s most coveted demographic groups.
When I became pregnant I figured plenty of things were going to get harder as my belly grew bigger, such as getting a good night’s sleep or sticking to my workout routine. One thing I did not anticipate: how infuriatingly difficult it would be to find a half-decent outfit.
A year ago, I believed the conventional wisdom that maternity clothes have vastly improved since my baby boomer mom and Gen-X cousins were pregnant. Now that I’m shopping for a third-trimester baby bump, I realise my faith was misplaced.
The market for maternity clothing is a floral-festooned, polyester-laden sartorial wasteland. It utterly fails to account for either the varied lives women lead or the different ways they wish to present themselves. And the shopping experience ranges from maddening to puzzling.
True, newcomer websites such as Asos and Boohoo carry garments that reflect actual current trends. But much of what’s out there has a distinct, one-note look I have come to think of as “mommycore”: bland T-shirts, juvenile-looking baby-doll frocks, uncomfortably low-cut wrap dresses, and flower patterns that resemble the upholstery on your grandmother’s couch.
