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BIG CHOICE FOR BIGGER BELLIES

PREGNANT WOMEN CAN FLAUNT THEIR BULGE IN STYLE THANKS TO A GROWING MATERNITY SHOP FRATERNITY, SAYS TATIANA BONCOMPAGNI

Occasionally the fashiopnworld surprises everyone and rather than complicate a woman's life with improbable designs actually makes things better.

Maternity wear is a case in point. In 2002 U.S. birth rates reached their lowest level since data counting started, 13.9 births per 1,000 persons, and in Japan, the U.K. and western Europe low birth rates are causing alarm. In spite of this, every fashion designer worth its label is making maternity wear, and the maternity shops are sprouting forth just about everhwere.

Aside from Diane Von Furstenberg and Chaiken, ther is A Pea In the Pod in New York, Naissance on Melrose in Los Angeles, Blossom Mother & Child in London, plus Oliver, a catalogue company, and Nicol Carmel in Milan and Formnes in Paris. Anbd then there's the U.K.-based Joy Mother and Baby, which provides nationwide at-home consultations to help women put together a maternity wardrobe.

For them the market is growing, noit shrinking, not because there are more pregnant women about these days, but because these days pregnant women, as with non-pregnant women, want to look good. Instead of hiding their blooming shape, they falunt it.

At the forefront of the body-conscious maternity wear trend is London’s Blossom Mother & Child boutique. Founded by two sets of sisters, the new store sells not only traditional maternity wear, i.e. clothes made specifically for pregnant women, but non-maternity clothes that happens to work for expecting mothers as well. Tania Khreino, one of Blossom’s owners, shops the runways for cuts that flatter a pregnant woman’s silhouette. “A lot of people make the mistake of adding material when they are pregnant. The most important thing is to keep the woman looking tidy and not bulky,” says Khreino. “We want the woman to wear what she would have worn were she not pregnant.”

Which of course means different things to different women. Blossom’s international clientele gives the shop’s managers a bird’s eye view into varying cultural preferences. For example, according to the shop's experts, pregnant Japanese women are highly brand oriented and the most likely to walk into the store toting pages from a fashion magazine spread. Middle Eastern customers tend to want more conservative cuts (higher necklines and longer skirts), Europeans the most daring options. Americans love baby blue and pink, but also buy a lot of black, while Europeans go for browns, caramels and taupe. The most universally popular look? Jeans, made by the same brands that make the "coolest" non-bulging styles: Paper, Denim, Cloth and Citizens of Humanity.

Gap Maternity jeans were one of the only maternity-wear items Sally Albemarle, the British-born, Manhattan-based sculptor and style icon, bought when she was pregnant with her first child last year. Albemarle sported a maternity sweater and a shirt made of denim, which she had bought off of the Internet, and the rest of the time tripped around in oversized trousers, Jean Paul Gautier knitwear tops, and a favorite baby-doll jumper from Azzedine Alaia. At night Albemarle favored the empire cut and a “clingy and sexy” red Michael Kors dress. Her advice for expecting moms: “Look for a high level of stretch. Make spandex your best friend.”

Still, it wasn’t always considered in good taste, never mind chic, to show off a pregnant belly. When Rebecca Matthias, chief operating officer of the Philadelphia-based maternity apparel empire Mothers Work, founded the company in the 1980’s, she was filling a gap in the market for professional-looking suits for pregnant women. Although Mothers Work’s trio of brands—A Pea in the Pod, Mimi Maternity, and Motherhood Maternity—all offer clothes suitable for a dressy work environment, Matthias says she sells more denim and blues than “navy blue suits” these days.

“When I started it was all about cover up and now it’s all about showing,” says Matthias, adding that one of the current top sellers at Pea in the Pod stores is a 16-inch, stretch canvas miniskirt in a black and white mod print.

Indeed, miniskirts were one of Juicy Couture designer Gela Taylor’s favorite items when she was pregnant 14 years ago and founded a now-defunct maternity wear company called Travis Jeans. “We wanted to accentuate the best part of your body, which is your legs, no doubt about it,” says Taylor about the denim skirts she once designed. Another fan of short if not super-short skirts is Rochelle Jacobs, a pregnant beauty executive based in Manhattan. Her latest shopping spree unearthed a to-the-knee wrap dress in autumn colors that Jacobs says she loves because it makes her feel comfortable and confident at the same time.

If there is a second rule in maternity dressing, it is this: Confidence is key. Colette Anthon, a London-based mother of two and interior designer known for her funky style, favored low-cut fitted tops with leather pants for the day and short dresses, including one satin and lace Dolce & Gabbana number that she used to pair with high-heeled black boots, for night. “You can feel extra sexy when you are pregnant,” says Anthon.

Ar least until the last couple months. “You are so beyond sexy,” says Anthon. The good news is that even then it is possible to stay fashionable, even if that means bending the form-fitting rule.

Stephanie Hirsch, the recently pregnant head of Inca, a luxury swim and beachwear and accessories line based in New York, says she started donning the sheer ponchos she sells with her resort-ready suits and bikinis when she no longer felt comfortable in her more structured clothing.

Hirsch says her uniform was a shirt and sheer silk poncho with ethnic beading over jeans or pants, plus wedge heels. When it is cold outside, she added a fur poncho to the ensemble. “You have to modify what you wear a tiny bit, but you can still be who you are,” says Hirsch.