Summer has always been maternity fashion’s easiest accomplice. In a heatwave, everyone reaches for the same things — cropped tops, low waistbands, fabric that doesn’t cling — and a bump ends up on display less by design than by necessity. That overlap is what makes this season’s outfits interesting: some are genuinely just regular summer clothes, worn as-is, a size up and a little lower. Others are clearly built around the bump on purpose — a cropped jacket cut to frame it, a caped top designed to leave it exposed. Both read the same way from the outside: confident, unbothered, in on it rather than working around it.
Photo: Lovisa Barkman, Hanna Schönberg
This summer’s crop of pregnancy announcements has been especially fashion-forward. Barbara Palvin made her maternity red-carpet debut at Cannes in a Miu Miu gown that hugged rather than hid. Elsa Hosk returned to Victoria’s Secret for the first time since 2018, this time with her belly fully on display. Anne Hathaway just announced her third pregnancy in a flowing white gown, weeks before Hailee Steinfeld and Sofia Richie Grainge turned their own pregnancies into some of the season’s most screenshotted street style. And while she’s already welcomed her fourth baby last year, Nara Smith set a high bar for the rest of them — she’s said she refuses to buy maternity clothes altogether, simply sizing up in her regular wardrobe and raiding her husband’s denim when nothing else fits.
We have split this season’s bump style into four distinct moods. There’s the no-effort uniform of errands and elevator selfies — wide-leg denim, a cropped tank, flip-flops kicked on without a second thought. There’s the version with a little more intention: a leopard coat, a bow-collared jacket, something with real shape. There’s the after-dark edit, where satin, sheer panels, and a heel do the talking. And there’s the loosest, sun-drunk register — the one that only shows up on vacation, somewhere between a poolside robe and a market run abroad. Ahead: the bump fits worth screenshotting this summer.
Resort Mode
Summer and a bump are genuinely a great pairing. The light is golden, the dress code is loose, and there’s something about the season that makes leaning into the belly feel completely natural and even inevitable. Summer, more than any other season, gives permission to just let it be, and the best outfits in this category are styled exactly around that.
Resort dressing in pregnancy is less about specific silhouettes and more about a certain ease. The key pieces are floaty midi and maxi dresses in lightweight fabrics — linen, cotton gauze, viscose — and crochet, which earns its place here for good reason: it stretches naturally with the body, never pulls or constrains, and the open weave keeps things breathable in the heat. Think an oversized linen shirt worn open over shorts, the bump catching the sun; wide-leg white trousers with a triangle bikini top and a wide-brimmed straw hat; or a cut-out bodycon dress that doesn’t try to conceal anything — and looks better for it. Empire waist dresses sit just above the bump and skim everything below, making them work at any stage of pregnancy.
The summer palette here leans toward sand, ivory, sage, and pale blue. But prints work well in this category too — bold florals, stripes, abstract patterns all feel right in a vacation context and draw the eye rather than trying to minimize anything.
Casual But Make It Chic
The throughline here is the statement topper — a cropped tailored jacket, a bow-collared blazer, a leopard or zebra coat — doing all the work while the rest of the outfit stays disarmingly simple underneath: jeans, a casual skirt, straight-leg or wide-leg trousers in quality fabrics. It’s the same proportion play turning up across spring runways, where designers are shrinking jackets, sharpening shoulders, and using animal print as a neutral in its own right rather than a punchline.
What makes it read as styled rather than thrown-together is the structure. Peplum hems, puffed sleeves, exaggerated collars — these are pieces built to be looked at, and they’re doing double duty here, framing the bump the way a peplum frames a waist on anyone else. A belt cinched just above or below it sharpens the whole silhouette instead of letting it disappear into volume. Texture carries equal weight: lace, satin, tweed, sheer panels, each one doing the job a print might in a quieter outfit.
This category leans into heels, but smart heels. With your center of gravity shifted, a wide block heel, wedge, or platform offers far more stability than a thin stiletto — and most stylists agree 1–2 inches is the sweet spot for all-day wear. Mules look effortless, but without a back strap they make your foot work harder to stay put, so save the open-back styles for shorter outings and pack a flat for anything longer. The goal isn’t to skip heels entirely but choosing ones with a wide enough base to match the confidence of the outfit on top.
Evening Edit
Pregnancy is not the time to retreat into safe, shapeless dressing. The visibility of a proudly styled bump on major red carpets and runways has become genuinely empowering, and it’s filtered down from celebrity dressing into how women actually think about getting dressed for an occasion. The approach has split into two distinct directions — and both are worth knowing.
The first is pure minimalism: a sleek column dress on thin straps, a satin slip with a cowl neckline, a bias-cut midi that follows every curve. No ruching, no draping tricks, no attempts to “balance” anything. The bump is simply part of the silhouette — framed, not hidden — and the effect is striking precisely because of its confidence.
The second direction goes the opposite way: volume, architecture, drama. When you’re further along, something super-fitted looks amazing, especially if that’s not your normal style. But so does a sculptural strapless gown in pleated satin, a structured peplum top over a floor-length skirt, or an all-white one-shoulder draped maxi that moves like water. The bump here becomes the focal point the whole look is built around, not despite the volume, but because of it. Either way, the principle is the same: commit fully to the choice, invest in fabric and fit, and let the rest follow.
Everyday Easy
It’s the category that does the most work across the longest stretch of pregnancy. Think under-the-bump denim, drawstring trousers, and tanks that were never meant to be maternity wear in the first place, just worn a size up and a little lower. The common denominator across this season’s off-duty looks isn’t a silhouette, it’s an attitude: the goal is dressing as close as possible to how you’d normally dress, bump or not. Wide-leg jeans slung low, corduroy joggers, a striped tank with a bandana — these are clothes that were already in the closet, recalibrated around a growing midsection rather than redesigned for it. It’s the coffee-run, errand-day, elevator-mirror-selfie uniform — proof that the most photographed maternity looks right now are the ones that look like no one tried at all.
Photo: Anna Winck, Taïna Cassagnes, Paola Ambre, Hanna Schönberg
Footwear stays just as unfussy and accessories do the same: a woven tote, a pair of sunglasses, nothing that requires a second thought. Ballet flats are a staple of many everyday looks, but not every pair earns its place in a maternity wardrobe. As your center of gravity shifts and feet swell, skip anything paper-thin and opt for flats with a cushioned insole, a touch of arch support, and a flexible upper that gives with you rather than against you. A wide toe box and a non-slip sole matter more now than ever — both for comfort and for steadier footing. The same logic applies across this category: flip-flops, slides, and sneakers all read effortless, but the ones worth repeating are the ones built with a little structure underneath.
Photo: Orne Quarlerii, Orne Quarlerii, Jess Hunt, Elsa Hosk
