Style and the Pregnant Woman Plus, Working the Color Gray – the In Look of the Season – and the Slip Dilemma By Retha Hill Washingtonpost.com Staff Writer Monday, August 24, 1998

Don't lose your style when you are expecting, just do more of what you've always done. (Illustration by Donald T. Early for washingtonpost.com)

Maria
Silver Spring

A: Dear Maria
Oh, the indignities of pregnancy. You're big, you're hot, you're sick, you have hemorrhoids and you have to dress badly to boot. Fortunately, the end result is so very pleasant it wipes from memory – well, almost – the months you were forced to wear sack-like dresses with oversize buttons and maternity pantyhose.

The main idea – other than getting through the day without heaving your breakfast – is to maintain the style you've had most of your adult life. Pregnancy is no reason to abandon the look you've developed since college. If you normally dress in trendy black and brown, stick to it. If you like the retro '70s look, don't go a-changing now. If you are preppy to the core, continue to incorporate those elements into your wardrobe.

And – here is the good part – you won't have to spend hundreds of dollars in buying a maternity wardrobe, the experts suggest.

Cherie Serota and Jody Kozlow Gardner, the creators of that stylish four-piece Pregnancy Survival Kit outfit, maintain that the average woman has many things in her closet that will get her most, if not all, of the way through pregnancy.

"Barring any extraordinarily excessive weight gain, you'll be able to wear your 'outer' pieces most of the way, if not all of the way, through your pregnancy," Serota and Gardner say in their new book, "Pregnancy Chic." "As long as you have a few core maternity pieces to properly fit your belly, your favorite clothes will look right – and feel right – as your tummy grows."

That means, the two suggest, continue to wear your same blazers, cardigans and blouses just unbuttoned as your waistline expands. A maternity T-shirt (or one of your husband's) can be slipped on underneath. A bright scarf or attractive necklace will add enough drama to pull the look together. Other staples you might have in your wardrobe already are leggings and elastic waist or drawstring pants that can be paired with a favorite sweater or shirt.

There will come a time, usually by the 27th or 28th week, where you'll need to put away your pre-pregnancy clothes and expand your wardrobe to include maternity pants and other outfits.

Increasingly, a must-have is the Pregnancy Survival Kit, an interchangeable ensemble of leggings, dress, skirt and tunic – in either long or short sleeves – in trendy black that is available from many sites on the Web, through stores such as Bloomingdale's or through direct order from Belly Basics. Mix and matching these pieces together or use them as the foundation for your casual look. The leggings would look great, for example, paired with a big white shirt and stylish neckerchief or a denim shirt.

There's much more on the Web for the mother-to-be. Sites such as Motherhood Maternity (motherhood.com), Pitterpat.com, annacris.com, Tyme Maternity (maternity.ca) and Maternity Blues (mbbmarketing.com) open up a world of choices for women looking for stylish ensembles. Maternity Blues is the trendier of the bunch and offers such outfits as black boot-cut pants and matching black T-shirt for a hipster look, bike shorts and lots of super-cute denim dresses. Anna Cris Maternity, which leans toward the casual, offers twill pants and denim shirts. Tyme Maternity, of Canada, has lots of spiffy workout sets to keep you looking good as you haul yourself around the track powerwalking.

Of course, you'll want to check out the maternity shops. But be warned: Much of what you'll see will be awfully boring – and very expensive. The smart and economical woman is skipping most of the traditional maternity clothes route and putting together a working wardrobe from stores that cater to casual dress. Chicos, with stores at several area malls, is a favorite for many a mom-to-be. The clothes aren't maternity but a hit with pregnant women because they tend to be soft and unconstructed and still stylish. And, they come in colors that remind one of the desert southwest and the seafaring towns of New England. Kokopelli and Catch-Can are two other Washington-area stores that sell unique clothing, including loose-fitting dresses that don't look as if they were thrown out by graying hippies.

Q: Is it true that gray is the color for fall this year? Please tell me it isn't so. For those of us well into our fifties, gray is definitely not our color. For heaven sakes, we spend a fortune to get the gray taken out of our hair, we sure as heck don't want to wear it somewhere else. How about some advice to us on how to handle the gray problem.

Dottie
Ann Arbor, Michigan

A: Dear Dottie
We, too, lived through the early 1980s and were frightened by charcoal gray sack-cut power suits that professional women wore, often paired with a white (or pink) blouse with a loopy bowed tie or a reddish paisley scarf draped like a bedspread over one shoulder. So we understand your aversion to gray and were a little apprehensive when it was pronounced the color of the season. Then came the shoe. Try to gaze upon the new square-toed Ferragamo pump, with its stylish silver buckle, substantial square heel and shimmery fabric the color of quicksilver and not be moved. Yes, you'll whisper, gray.

A crocodile-print leather blazer tops a long gray cashmere knit skirt and mohair top from Ellen Tracy. (Courtesy Leather Apparel)

Gray is indeed in this fall – from the wispiest smoke to the slinkiest silver, to the edgiest slate, to the murkiest charcoal and to all points in between. And gray can be worn successfully; the trick is how you work it. Forget pairing it with boring colors like white and pink, and be careful when combining it with navy and cranberry unless you actually are a flight attendant. Coordinate your lighter, smoky blue grays with touches of all that silver jewelry you bought last year. Pick up heather suits and pants with brighter colors such as the deep gold of a Tigerlily in bloom. Remember all those lime blouses and silk mock turtleneck sweaters you purchased in 1997? Pair them with a charcoal business suit for an updated look. Soften your gray with a light blue or spark it with an electric blue. A fallback look is a lean pant suit with a black cashmere turtleneck. Even men can update their gray outfits with trendier color combinations. One of the snazziest looks for men combines a soft gray gabardine pant with a casual shirt in paper-bag tan or a darker gray suit with a tan shirt and tie with flecks of deep gold and gray.

Gray can be fun and as versatile as black. Look around in nature for other ideas for giving the old standby a modern look. The green by the side of a long and winding asphalt road. The rosy glow of a setting sun on a distant thundercloud. The sandy shore by a deep, slow river. The silver strand of optimism when a mood lifts. Yes, gray.

Q: Could you please advise on when it is appropriate to wear a slip? For instance, a sheer long length dress (with prints, not totally see through) and deep splits. While in the islands I felt I could get away without one. Now back here in the [S]tates, well that's a different story. I tried a half-slip that met at the start of the splits, but I felt that the look [of the slip] seen through the dress was probably tacky ... What's the big deal about seeing through a dress if you have the appropriate undergarments on, black or nude? Although, I must admit I would feel a little self-conscious. The same question comes into mind if I wear a long length dress with a split in the back. Do I try to find a long-length slip and deal with whether it can be seen peeping out from the splits or not or can I just go without. Also,maybe it's me, but why do some women wear slips with lined clothing?

Renay
Upper Marlboro

A: Dear Renay
You should always wear a slip with unlined skirts and dresses unless you are on vacation or the dress material is pretty substantial. You can sometimes get away with wearing a sheer casual shirt without a slip if you have a long sweater or unconstructed jacket covering your rear. Allowing coworkers or fellow shoppers or dinner companions to see your underwear is pretty tacky.

Don't get a short slip to wear with a longer slitted skirt. You should look for an appropriate length slip with a slit up the back. If you need to, cut your own slit and stitch down the cut so you don't have to worry about slip material peeking through the slit. Many long formal dressses come lined nowadays. With others (full skirts), you can get a long full slip to wear with it from a formal dress or bridal shop. If your formal dress is not lined, it's either inexpensive or meant to be worn without a slip (think of the dresses that are worn by starlets on Oscar night). In that case, wear a bodysuit with lycra in an appropriate color if you are in shape to pull it off. If you are not, please spare us all.

You don't need to wear a slip with a skirt or dress that is lined (although many older women are cringing at this very sentence). Just make sure the lining is stitched down and smooth.