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.

If you're planning to stock suits for pregnant women, here's what to watch for:

• 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.