Being pregnant in winter can be a good thing. First of all, most women feel warmer during pregnancy and so the cooler days are a welcome relief from sweating it out in summer. Secondly, winter is a great time for layering up your look. Funky scarves, hats, coats, and gloves are inexpensive pieces that change the look of your outfit in a flash.
The key is to start with a versatile wardrobe of maternity items. This doesn’t mean volume buying. It means choosing wisely and going for quality. Look for maternity clothes made from stretchy cotton jersey fabric that will fit nicely throughout pregnancy and afterward.
Also, think about your lifestyle. Do you work in an office, hang at the playground, freelance from home, dine out often? This will dictate what style of clothes you will need then you can plan how to make the most of each piece you buy.
Say you work in an office, lunch with the girls on the weekend, and go out to dinner on Saturday night, then a black suit (jacket + pencil skirt + trousers) is going to be a great investment. The three pieces can be worn to the office with a crisp white shirt or colored blouse with different scarves, different tights, and different shoes and boots to give you lots of options.
On the weekend, the maternity jacket and jeans paired with a pretty fitted top are going to give you effortless smart casual for your lunch activities, and you can be a bit bolder with your jewelry choices. Think chunky gold bracelets, ethnic earrings, a snakeskin print bag.
When it comes time for date night, the trousers or pencil skirt worn with silk or cashmere tops work well with higher heels and fishnet or patterned stockings. A bare leg and animal print heels are a killer combination too. Naturally, you can bring it up in the evening, adding sparkly jewelry in earrings and necklaces. You can also use some faux fur or feather scarves and jackets in jewel colors (emerald, ruby, and plum) for a glamorous look.
Pregnancy is a great time to experiment with some accessories you may not have played with before. Luckily some great accessory shops offer on-trend pieces at prices that are hardly more than a couple of coffees! Fashion is meant to be fun, so be bold and style yourself into a fabulous pregnancy.
Maternity Winter Trends for Winter
While we may still be enjoying the heat of summer, the serious pregnant fashionistas amongst us are turning our attention to the key fashion trends for winter.
As always with maternity fashion, there are several themes for the season, allowing you to move from rocker chick one day to glamour the next. Here’s your guide to picking the hottest looks for the cooler months.
#Rocker
This season’s rocker look mixes punk with grunge. But before you moan at the thought of all that 90’s grunge coming back, the trend is a bit more sophisticated this winter. Look for sleek leather, destroyed denim, moody plaids, and florals in dark hues. On-trend clothing will include studs, zippers, and buckles, the latter, particularly on footwear. In the color palette, stick to metallic, grey, purplish royal blues, burgundy, navy, black and deep reds.
Key items: Sheer maxi skirt, studded wrap skirt, modified biker jacket, parka, four-way stretch maternity leggings, long duster, and leather sweater.
#Boudoir
This trend calls on old glamour with a distinct pajama reference – which doesn’t mean you’ll be heading to lunch in your favorite PJs. Instead, look for easy-to-wear pieces in silk, jacquard, velvet, lace, cashmere, and colored leather. You’ll want to go for colors in deeper jewel tones mixed in with feminine powdery blue, lilac, vanilla, and pale pink. In terms of pattern, this look works best in ditsy florals (use old wallpaper patterns for inspiration), geometric diamonds, soft plaids, and soft ginghams. It’s all about being a starlet!
Key items: Oversized coat, pencil skirt, embellished sheath dress, silk suit.
#Moto Sport
If your style is more sporty spice, the moto sports motif could be for you. This style features athletic silhouettes powered by technical fabric with a motocross muse. Key colors are gold, red, royal, navy, and olive, and don’t be afraid to throw in a bright accent color like orange or cobalt.
Key items: Quilted bomber jacket, quilted sweatshirt, boxy sweater, drawstring maternity pants, turtleneck, and color block sheath dress.
#Folk-Boho
At the more whimsical end of the fashion spectrum is the Folk-Boho look. This mix of boho and folk and suits fashionistas who prefer a more flowy, mother earth feel to their wardrobe. For this trend, think embroidery, border prints, and print mixing. (Tip: When print mixing, choose one bolder print and pair it with a more subtle print in the same colors; otherwise, you risk giving yourself a migraine with visual overload!)
This trend’s strongest colors are blues, deep reds, warm neutrals, honey tones, and red-casted browns. When choosing fabrics, juxtapose heavy and soft patterns, including abstract ethnic, baroque swirls, retro geometrics, and blanket stripes.
Key items: Sheer blouse, flared pants in suede or twill, blanket cardigan, maternity shorts, blanket coat, tapestry overcoat, maxi dress under sweaters, fur coats, matched sets, and mixed media sweatshirts.
You can stay on trend with leather for winter
Leather is a key trend for winter, and it doesn’t look like it will disappear any time soon. When it comes to leather, it’s the pants that get most people excited. But you’re pregnant, and who wants to drop a small fortune on leather pants that won’t fit next quarter, never mind next year?!
Invest in some great leather pants post-baby bump but in the meantime, think leather (or faux leather aka pleather) trim. This will allow you to slide into some pregnancy-friendly maternity pants with plenty of stretch, and the leather trim will shout, “I’m still fashionable when I see it!”.
How to wear it all year?
Next year it looks like you will be rocking leather pants with slouchy boots and zipped-up vests. For this season, a slim leg is always in style, and sophisticated accessories like pumps, a red lip, and a gorgeous coat are the perfect inspiration for putting a simply chic outfit together.
