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Maternity's Strong Suit
Stylish,
well-made suits are a working woman's best friend-even during her pregnancy!
By Dominique Perron
To realize just how much an American woman's pregnancy
has changed in the last half century, consider this classic scene from
the black and white movies of the '50s: The husband comes home from the
office. The wife eyes him coyly. She has something to tell him. What,
my darling? She is pregnant. The man gasps, taking her into his arms and
seating her gingerly, as though the state of pregnancy has suddenly rendered
her fragile as a teacup.
"Sit down, darling," the man implores. And sit she does,
presumably for the next nine months. Today, pregnant women do not spend
much time in a seated position. Unless of course you count sitting behind
a desk, sitting in a taxi trying to get to the office, sitting in a restaurant
having lunch with a client, sitting at a boardroom table at her company's
branch office, or sitting in an airport lounge waiting for a flight home.
In short, as pregnant women's waistlines balloon and the
miracle within unfolds, their careers, essential and increasingly demanding,
go on as usual. Which is why it's essential for maternity retailers to
carry clothing suitable for work.
"Professional women who are used to wearing fashionable,
high-quality clothing won't settle for dowdy, inferior goods when they're
pregnant," says Dominique Perron, owner/designer of Clementine Mom maternity
wear. "And if they usually wear a suit to work, they'll usually want to
wear a suit to work during their pregnancy," she says.
While Clementine Mom has always produced a full range of
stylish maternity wear-career clothing, sportswear and dresses-Dominique
has been steadily adding more suits to her line in response to the demand
from buyers. Pregnant women want suits for the same reason other women
do: they're an easy response to the eternal question of what to wear,
and they make the wearer look pulled together and professional instantly.
The suits pregnant women want aren't stiff, don't have to
be formal, and aren't necessarily designed to camouflage the pregnancy,
Dominique says. They do have to look sophisticated and feel great. Advances
in fabric technology have created ingenious stretch materials that make
suits not just bearable but highly wearable from the beginning to the
end of pregnancy. Today, even a structured suit design can be as comfortable
as casual wear.
Because a suit is so perfectly classic, the theme lends
itself to countless design variations. Suit jackets are available in a
wide variety of shapes and lengths, in single and double breast, with
collars from Mao to Peter Pan. Suits with caban-style jackets plus skirts,
pants or jumpers have become classics. Slightly A-lined jackets that button
to the neck, paired with easy, slouchy pants, have also proven extremely
successful.
Fit and confident pregnant working women are attracted to
fashionable cropped Chanel-style jackets matched with skirts or pants
that don't have a "pouch" in front, but rather a system of buttons that
allow the waistband to expand as the months wear on. These work from about
4 to 9 months, and are popular even after pregnancy. "Designers throughout
the industry are coming up with ever more clever ways of accommodating
the pregnant tummy," Dominique says.
For Fall 99-Winter 2000, fabric and texture continue to
be key in every sort of maternity wear. This season Clementine Mom is
particularly fond of Ponta di Roma, a classic knit material that's made
an astonishing fashion comeback. Textures, always key to comfort, continue
to be soft and nubbly, and a touch of Lycra is essential. The season's
top color, a key fashion indicator, is gray in every possible shade, from
mouse to stone to mushroom. Mixes-grays with a touch of blue or a hint
of green-are most interesting. Gray is as versatile as navy or black,
and lends itself to surprising and flattering color matches. Clementine
Mom likes light gray with pale blue and charcoal with pink.
.Good-quality fabric. "A suit has to look good at the end of the day,"
Dominique says. "Not baggy at the knees."
.Good fit. "A pregnant working woman can't look like she's wearing her
husband's jacket."
.Stock to provide maximum versatility. "Don't just buy one thing to go
with a jacket. Get a jumper, pant and skirt. Then the woman doesn't look
and feel like she only has one thing to wear. Don't forget the suit will
get used for lots of occasions, from office to receptions and dinners."
.Basic colors. "Corporate women prefer something fairly neutral because
it looks more professional. They can always dress it up themselves with
accessories."
.Clothing that lasts the life of a pregnancy. "The ideal is when it lasts
into the last month and looks good post-pregnancy. If a pregnant woman
finds that in your store, you've done her a real service."
Dominique Perron is the owner and designer of Clementine Mom maternity
wear and Ma Divine Clementine, a line of children's clothing for sizes
from 6 months to 12 years.
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