Hellobee

This is a guest post by professional photographer Laura Novak, who I first met in the wedding world.  She owns two award-winning family photography studios outside of Philadelphia called Little Nest Portraits and is currently expecting her first child, a son, on November 17th.

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Everyday I see beaming moms-to-be and newborns. Photographing these glowing, beautiful women and proudly documenting their baby bumps made me excited to “join the club” – I wanted to be one of them too!

It took my husband and me several years to become pregnant ourselves, so when we found out the news, we were beyond elated!  I anxiously watched my belly every day waiting for that moment I might see even the smallest of bumps appear. I excitedly waited to start visiting maternity stores. The little fake bump I found inside the dressing rooms thrilled me; I just couldn’t wait to show off my pregnancy for the entire world to see!

The excitement about maternity fashion was incredibly short lived however. Beyond the basics, I found that the overall style in many of the stores just wasn’t me. I am quite the fan of high and low fashion.  I love combining inexpensive finds at H&M and Zara along with stylish chic pieces I’ve happened upon at local boutiques. It didn’t take long for me to realize that I’d have to search well beyond traditional maternity stores to bring that fashion philosophy into dressing my new changing body.

My first trimester wardrobe remained fairly easy to pull together – I pretty much lived in a pair of white or blue maternity jeans from Pea in the Pod combined with loose-fitting blouses from brands like Joie and Splendid. Joie is a brand I found that fits loosely without feeling too “maternity,” and is also perfect for after baby while breastfeeding!  I purchased several different Joie tops – some I splurged on and some I found on sale.  They are all so beautiful and comfortable and better yet, they made me feel beautiful.

Me with Jennipher Frederick on Live Fox Philly 29 at about four months along.  The top is Joie from Skirt, a store I love in Bryn Mawr, PA. 

During my second trimester, I started to watch years of my wardrobe pile into a bin labeled “no longer fits” at the bottom of my closet. Maxi dresses became my new best friend.

To find affordable, well-made maxi dresses I turned to items like this dress from J. Crew.  I found that if it had a bit of stretch, or a higher waistline, I could make it work over the bump.  Rotating several different colors and changing accessories helped make them look fresh and different each week.  Scarves, jewelry and cardigans are never a waste of money; at one-size-fits-all, they’ll continue to fit throughout your pregnancy and beyond.

left: on vacation in the Berkshires with my husband. Right: at a party celebrating our studio’s Best of Main Line win in July

Sticking to simple clothing and using accessories as the “pop” became a new challenge in my morning routine.

a sampling of the cardigans and scarves I wore to mix up the look of wearing the same dresses all the time

My third trimester was where things got a bit tricky. But then I found this Rachel Pally Caftan Dress on Gilt.com and purchased three of them – Olive in sleeveless, Crimson in long sleeved and Lavender (which I wore to my baby shower) with short sleeves.  I can’t tell you how much I love this caftan dress and how truly versatile it is. It’s not a maternity dress, but because of the cut it can easily be worn as one. The hem can be altered with a pair of scissors; you can hem it yourself and then easily adjust the dress again without a tailor once your baby arrives.

Here are a few instagram pics of my favorite Rachel Pally dress towards the end of my 3rd trimester.

left: jacket Ruche, scarf is H&M; right: leather jacket J. Brand

As far as less expensive finds go, I discovered some unreal deals at Target and H&M, which looked great when paired with funky jewelry.

left: dress Target maternity with a gifted Kate Spade necklace; right: blouse H&M, turquoise Druzy necklace Anthropologie.

Even into my third trimester I was able to find some items that were not maternity. Anthropologie, one of my favorite stores, also had a lot of items that I was able to wear in my third trimester. I foresee wearing these styles postpartum by either belting or letting them fall loose to have a lounge-y feel.

left: Anthropologie blouse by Moulinette Soeurs; right: Anthropologie stripe maxi sleepshirt (yes a sleepshirt!) by Allihop, flower pin from ban.do.

Overall the only “maternity” items I purchased included a few tops worn towards the very end of my third trimester, jeans (mostly J. Brand or Pea in the Pod – some new, some hand-me-down, and others found on eBay!) and weekend wear from Old Navy.

You would think, having enjoyed 36 weeks of accessorizing my bump, that getting dressed for our last minute maternity photo session would be a piece of cake. Wrong! But looking back at the images, I’m happy that I didn’t purchase something new to wear because the photos reflect my personality and capture my everyday look!  We plan to use these shots in some baby albums and give them as gifts to our families.

Michael Stars is as good as gold in the comfort department.  Pairing this navy tunic (similar one here) over grey tights with Anthropologie booties was the perfect way to ease me into our maternity session.  This outfit is something you might find me wearing on a normal day.

As the session went on, my husband was done being in pictures so he moved off to the side, where he snapped this instagram behind the scenes pic.

For the second half of the session, my bump and I were feeling relaxed and beautiful.  It was time to be a bit more artistic and turn up the heat!  Breaking out a pair of black J. Brand maternity jeans (these are great for maternity sessions because they don’t have the “pouch”) was a perfect base for the next series of photos… the bare belly shots!  We wrapped me in this amazing etsy find by Scout and Catalogue that I already had in my closet.

So have fun with your clothes! Having your beautiful bump is the perfect excuse to experiment with your wardrobe.  Stick to clothing lines that make you comfortable and shop more for pops of color in accessories that will fit long after your bump has melted away.

If you have any questions about photoshoots or styling your bump for a photoshoot, please feel free to ask!