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:
You can’t tell we’re 38 weeks pregnant because of the magical eye trickery of these enormous collars.These overall smocks involve so much fabric, you can’t see that I have boobs, a belly, and hemorrhoids!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:
My mom’s style has always been about flowy tops with a little bit of a hippie throwback and I suppose that carried over to her pregnancy fashion choices. For her baby shower here, she did confess though that her mom actually picked out her outfit!My version of her style is to really play up the hippie/boho aspect. I chose this dress (yes-I’m in that phase of pregnancy where dresses are shirts!) over my bellbottom jeans. Dress-Knox Rose for Target(not maternity, but it definitely could be. All their tops and dresses are flowy and made from soft fabrics)
This one makes me laugh because I can literally barely bend over to kiss my baby any more…baby #2 needs to get here soon! I might actually be able to wear this as a dress once he is!
More hippie vibes:
Meet MB’s mom, Mary Lee:
That’s a whole lot of floral, man. Not only do I love this picture because of the amazing glasses and mustache my dad was sporting, but also because I was the same age in this picture as my little A is now.Floral itself is not a bad thing, but when it’s too matchy-matchy, it becomes way too much. Today, it’s about complementing, not matching. To update my mom’s look, I decided to go for some pattern-mixing. Stripes mixed with florals are an easy pairing that feel fresh and are striking without being overwhelming. This Target dress makes that a no-brainer.