I’ve been trawling the web for some maternity gear. You see, I threw all of my pregnancy clothing away after my second child was born, and now that I am 21-weeks – it is time. It is time to buy some decent clothes that will see me through the next 19 weeks, without revealing my midriff or ever-growing generous chest area.
I’ve been living in tunic dresses since my skinny jeans were cast aside at week-18, but am finding that the dresses are rising up my thigh the more my mid-area protrudes, otherwise known as put some clothes on that fit you Mrs Geriatric Mum!
It’s time.
So with that in mind, I have been scrolling through the maternity ranges online. There are some gorgeous things to choose from and I am always drawn to denim and stripes and it’s been a feast for the eyes. I’m enjoying it because I like shopping for things I genuinely need and because I haven’t looked at maternity wear for 6-years!
What I am not enjoying, is the way the clothes are displayed. Some sites use very pretty hair and make-upped women with, oh god I can’t say it, fake stick on bumps, or are they strap ons!? What are these websites trying to tell us? That pregnant women don’t make good models? That it is better to use non-pregnant women and just tie a fake bump to their middle? I don’t know about you, but I know some very gorgeous pregnant women – why can’t the clothes brands use them?
Perhaps they already have used them, but it is just that my dip into the maternity range water is of a time where they are not using them anymore. Perhaps they can’t find enough willing ladies to participate as models. Perhaps pregnant women are too much of a liability -no, it can’t be. I know that some pregnant ladies get a bit forgetful (me!) but surely that can’t be a reason. I think I am not educated enough about this pregnancy model topic – all I know is that I have seen a lot of fake bumps in the last 48-hours.
You see, I don’t look like a 22-year old, 5ft9 female with a perfectly round bump and extra slim legs. I look like a 42-year old, 5ft6 expectant mother whose bump is sticking out quite a bit now (with more to come) and my legs are looking thicker and my ankles already feel tingly and swollen by 7pm. A perfectly round false lightweight bump I do not have!
I don’t know about you, but I really prefer to see maternity clothes displayed like this (shown online using the moving rotation look too)
Mothercare website
Rather than this…
ASOS maternity website
I just don’t believe that bump is real, am I wrong? or it is a fake?
I totally understand the need to see the item on a flesh and bones person, but I’d much rather see the dress on a real-life pregnant person at 5-months pregnant and then again at 8-months pregnant – to see how the garment grows! I think this is really important for us expectant mums to see.
I mean, can anyone tell me this is a real bump or that it is inspiring to see? I felt utterly Mrs Blobby-esque seeing this today. I zoomed right in to see how fake it really was, to see the squishy pillow in all its obvious glory – I think it’s horrid.
ASOS maternity website
After seeing these pics, I investigated further around this topic (thanks google) and I found a tweet from Asos HQ where they were challenged by a twitter user who asked; Dear @ASOS, why do you use models with weird fake bumps instead of pregnant models? I’m sure some are pregnant but a lot are fake 🙁
ASOS replied:
Model welfare is important to us,we don’t want pregnant models on their feet all day so we use a prosthetic maternity bump
Personally, I think that is a silly answer. Pregnant women are more than capable of standing up for a few hours – it is one of the many things we can do really well. That, and give birth to a human being! I’ve been involved in many photo shoots over the years and I know a fair bit about how they work and how long they take. With the right photographer, a good stylist and fab lighting it needn’t take hours to get a number of good shots, and pregnant women have got huge amounts of stamina, I know this for a fact. So surely we are the ideal candidates to represent the mum-to-be shoppers out there who want to look and feel good about wearing maternity clothing.
I get that the Asos audience isn’t exactly geared to 42 year old women (more for the millennial) but maternity ranges should be inspiring, rather than weird – whatever the age of the shopper.
I will continue my search for great maternity clothes. I have to say, I do like going into actual shops to try on clothes but a lot of stores don’t stock their maternity ranges in the stores, which is what led me to looking online.
I just want to see LESS prosthetic maternity bumps and MORE pregnant ladies who can stand up all by themselves.
Lucy aka Geriatric Mum x
