My Mother, Myself -

Who doesn’t love the 80’s? The big bangs, the slap bracelets, the Bangles. Music and accessories were on point that decade. But I have to say, I’m glad that I was a child of the 80’s and not pregnant in the 80’s. During a time where the hair and the shoulder pads couldn’t be bigger, it seems like preggo fashion missed the memo. Big swollen bellies were apparently not synonymous with crimped hair and side pony tails, and maternity fashion seemed to be all about covering up–not showing off–the presence of the miracle of life. I mean, just look at these classic McCall’s arrays:

d003c670fb4799161f0a8b5f85dc188a — You can’t tell we’re 38 weeks pregnant because of the magical eye trickery of these enormous collars.

mccalls — These overall smocks involve so much fabric, you can’t see that I have boobs, a belly, and hemorrhoids!

0708ac5a139a386510789d075c0ad4e3 — Everything about this outfit is designed to make you think that I’m not pregnant, not starving, not uncomfortable, and not crabby, bitch.

Even though we’re both miserable now because we’re so big that our maternity pants are too tight, we have to admit that we’ve had a lot of fun with clothes during these last few months. Pregnancy today is a fashion statement in itself, designed to showcase and celebrate the seriously incredible sh** our bodies are doing. Millennial preggos are all about showing off that bump proudly, opting for clothes that are belly-hugging and don’t necessarily come from the maternity section. And when we need a little space and air circulation, we’re opting for flowy, not boxy, which means that in all our swollen glory, we’re not interested in hiding our changing bodies.

So when we thought about how to best celebrate the beauty of motherhood, we decided to honor the most beautiful moms out there: our own. And since, as it turns out, the Eternal Flame on these maternity outfits burned out long ago, we thought we’d try to give these 80’s styles a 2017 makeover.

Meet Erinn’s mom, Chris: