Yummy mummies
A few decades ago, an image of a pregnant woman was one of frumpiness. But that's all changed now. Once upon a time, expecting celebrities would go into hiding until baby was born and their figure was back. It's all thanks to the Spice Girls too. Posh and Scary donned tight fitting dresses showing off their maternal bumps proudly and they looked glamorous and gorgeous. Now it seems there are hip mamas-to-be everywhere. Look to the celebrity pages in magazines and you'll see Hollywood A-listers like Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Hudson, Debra Messing, and Liv Tyler proving that women don't have to trade in their style for motherhood. The trend has been slowly building and it seemed to have peaked in 2004 when a throng of expectant mums shelled out anywhere from $120 to $180 for designer pregnancy jeans without blinking. Essential items like these allow pregnant women to keep some of their "personality" while pregnant as well as being comfortable.
Like everything though, some people take their "proud of my bump" too far. I once saw a young woman who was heavily pregnant. Her tummy exposed to the world. Her clothing so tight that her top and pants were never destined to meet. The purple and red stretch marks on her belly looked like war wounds and I was not the only one in the busy mall who caught themselves wincing at the sight.
The negative side to wanting to look fabulous while pregnant is that as women there is no time in our life that we aren&rsquot targeted by the fashion industry. Images are flashed at us constantly Here&rsquos a photo of Miss Thing who is just leaving the hospital with their newborn and she is also wearing size 6 jeans, a short top showing off her flat tummy. What are these celebrities doing? Are they having an elective caesarian and liposuction done at the same time? If so, what a marvelous idea!
Mass-market diets such as Weight Watchers are also targeting us new mums as they even have diets especially designed for breastfeeding women. Will they ever give us a break? Talk about pressure. Celebrities getting back to skeletal proportions weeks after giving birth makes is very hard for those of us living in the real world where it takes months to lose the kilos. And lets face it, your body is never the same as before, no matter how thin you get.
As long as we don't let unreal expectations get in our way, we can at least be thankful that we can now say goodbye to tent like dresses and hello to boot-leg cords.