Supersize Me

But picture the same gown on skinny Claire Danes and the effect will be equally mesmerising. Which makes me want to question: are maternity clothes really required?

When I was pregnant,Mothercare wasn’t yet launched in India. My maternity wear—elastic band jeans and skirts,gathered tops,belly-tubes and hideous empire-line dresses — were all shipped from overseas. These were all popular maternity wear labels but the clothes I saw on their websites were either frumpy or cheesy (pink polka-dots,anyone?).

Why must a woman dress like that when she’s looking her most beautiful? I’m not talking esoteric here,but the no gold facial or power blow-dry can ape the shine of a pregnant woman’s skin and hair.

“Throw it all away,” said my friend and fellow blimp Celina Wadia (we ended up having our kids on the same day in the same hospital),showing me how she updated her wardrobe. “Shop in the stores you like,just look for a size that fits the new you.” This turned out to be the best advice I received in those nine months.

Save a couple of elastic-band bottoms and a belly-tube or two,all I had to wear were clothes that stretched around the tummy. A Tarun Tahiliani digital T-shirt was worn at seven months pregnant to a brunch at Indigo. A Banana Republic single-shoulder body-hug was for another evening out. I remember wearing a Narendra Kumar green ruffle dress to a friend’s house where I met Elizabeth Hurley for the first time (at eight months). A hand-stitched Max Mara tunic is so special,it magically fit at nine months. I wore a Ranna Gill silk poncho to dinner with the family the night before I checked into the hospital. Five years later,I still own and wear the same items.

Maternity wear is tricky terrain. For starters,it’s a one-time-only buy; even if you do have more than one child,you will reuse the same elastic jeans again. Another friend,Sylvia,has just had her third child and continued with the same maternity bottoms she purchased the first time.

Secondly,maternity labels stress on style and shape more than fabric,when it should be the other way around. An empire-line is the most common,but it will make a woman look bigger than she is and as shapeless as a tent. A jersey knit will envelop and flatter her growing shape. Maternity labels aren’t big business in India for this very reason; tailoring jersey requires sophisticated machines that housewife designers do not have access too.

It’s only when popular fashion labels or designers bring out a few pieces of pregnancy-friendly clothes (7 for All Mankind,Topshop,Diane von Furstenberg are some),is the balance between style and supersize achieved.

Then all mums-to-be can channel our inner Portman. namratanow@gmail.com