The Female Body Was Acceptable. Until It Became Pregnant.

India Elting Robert
Aug 2
3 min read

It may seem inconceivable, but only a couple of decades ago, women were encouraged to hide their pregnant bellies. Women even wore maternity corsets in the Victorian era just to hide the baby bump. The appearance of a pregnant woman was considered improper because it was evidence of sexual activity (God forbid).

This year at the Cannes Film Festival, nobody could take their eyes off the Hungarian Beauty, Barbara Sprouse. She is not the first woman to debut her baby bump at Cannes, but she certainly changed the game. We haven't had a moment like this since Rihanna debuted her baby bump in her glamorous, hyper-feminine, street style fashion in 2022. To give credit where credit is due, it's important to note that Rihanna turned being pregnant into a fashion opportunity, like a new piece of architecture to work with. Until the seventies, a pregnant belly was seen as grotesque and best hidden in high society.

Rihanna made pregnancy fashionable, and Barbara Palvin made it glamorous. A sight not just to be seen, but to be worshipped. For all the talk of how the world is falling apart, let this be evidence of progress. Finally honoring women in an extraordinary, but vulnerable time. Now, as a society, we welcome not just the baby, but the mother in the process of creation. Fashion as an art form embracing pregnancy tells you what we've always known: women are an integral part of this industry.

Believe it or not, Demi Moore ruffled some feathers with this Vanity Fair article. She was a trailblazer in the sense that nobody had ever been photographed in such an empowering way while pregnant. I remember being at a Fourth of July party and hearing someone's husband mock this gorgeous cover. As a young child, I was confused about his reaction. What could be threatening about a woman who's pregnant? And now, as an adult, I ponder, if you couldn't handle an image of a pregnant woman, were you mature enough to even have children in the first place? Maybe it's the idea that a woman is often taken when she is pregnant, or maybe it's the fact that he, as a man, could never have a baby. As the modern feminist calls it, womb envy.

Growing up, my mother was a photographer, so I was used to seeing images of naked pregnant women. Clients often wanted to document this life-changing experience. Slowly but surely, a sense of celebration has begun to surround the process rather than a sense of concealment. Maternity wear accentuates the baby bump rather than hiding it. In the 1960s, maternity wear was frumpy and often featured a "tent-like" shape. Fathers typically were not allowed to be present in delivery rooms, further perpetuating this idea of concealment. The idea that a woman should appear as if she weren't pregnant for as long as possible was paramount.

1960s Maternity Wear

Cannes has been a space in high fashion where maternity wear has been able to evolve and progress. Angelina Jolie attended the festival in 2008 in a glamorous, flowy, and form-fitting gown. High-end fashion houses and mass-market retailers scrambled to imitate the aesthetic. She made pregnancy look regal, refined, and even sexy. She rocked vintage, floor-length, billowy, empire waist dresses and emulated a romantic, classic vibe. Her style contained notes of the kind of bohemia Sharon Tate exhibited during her pregnancy. Sharon Tate was progressive in the sense that she wore dresses in which she looked relaxed and at ease. Presenting pregnancy in a way that felt natural rather than buttoned up. These comfortable, loose silhouettes feel empowering in a hippie-like, flowery way. She was heavily influenced by British Mod counter-culture design. Whilst the West Coast was becoming more open-minded when it came to pregnancy, the East Coast still held fast in its Blue Blood ways.

These may seem like minor, frivolous feats, but changes in fashion often represent a deeper, cultural shift. There is a kind of revering of Barbara Palvin by both her husband and onlookers that wasn't seen in past decades.

Women are finally able to be more open about postpartum and potential difficulties they have had during or after pregnancy. It no longer feels like such a lonely journey. Pregnancy being visible and celebrated in the way the mother wants it to be is an important step for feminism.

Jasmine Tookes even opened the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show while pregnant. Illuminated by a golden halo in beige, beaded lingerie, she was a luminous goddess. Honoring pregnant women in this kind of deity fashion shows that more women are working behind the scenes and are in charge of the creative direction. Hopefully, the progress will continue, and pregnant women will be both welcomed and accommodated in more spaces, both in and outside of fashion.