The third trimester is definitely the time to repeat outfits that make you look and feel good, and to do so unashamedly! Find things that work for you and wear them as many times as you like. I've included 55 outfit ideas for the third trimester below, from both of my pregnancies. You can click on the links under the images to view more info about them.
Office Outfits:
In the third trimester, I still wore my ASOS maternity pencil skirts often, but the standout pieces were my wrap dresses. They were such an easy outfit that always fit the growing bump and never failed to look good. I wore wrap dresses a lot! I was able to find some regular non-maternity dresses in my wardrobe that still accommodated the baby bump too.
This will be a very photo-heavy post as I share a few of my favourite second trimester outfits. 38 different pregnancy outfit ideas! There are links below all the photos if you want more details.
My single maternity wrap dress was a real wardrobe workhorse, being worn almost weekly, although I continued to wear my regular non-maternity dresses in the second trimester as well. Fit and flare or empire waist dresses were perfect for this.
I only needed one maternity maxi dress for both pregnancies, the majority of my existing maxi dresses were stretchy enough to work through all three trimesters. There were a few I outgrew in the second trimester though.
I added a second pair of maternity denim shorts to my wardrobe for my most recent pregnancy as I was heavily pregnant over summer and it was too hot for jeans. Previously I was doing a full work week and with the cooler temperatures and dressing for casual Friday, my maternity jeans were worn a lot more.
One of the best things about being pregnant is watching a tiny baby bump grow day by day. For any number of reasons though, you might want to hide that little baby bump for a while, especially if you're a blogger. I thought I'd put this guide together to show you how to hide a baby bump.
When I was pregnant with toddler T, I was keeping the baby bump hidden until after 20 weeks, once we had shared with our families and friends over Christmas and I had returned to the office from extended leave and told my boss. With my most recent pregnancy, I wanted to participate in the Frocktober fundraising challenge which meant I couldn't hide the bump for quite as long. My limited wardrobe (a different dress every day for 31 days) wasn't most conductive to hiding a bump, unlike when I was pregnant with toddler T and could select from my entire wardrobe.
Top three tips for hiding a baby bump:
Continue to wear your regular pants/skirts for as long as possible. Use the hair tie trick, or invest in a belly band for clothes without elastic waists. Some skirts with elastic waists can be worn a little higher over the baby belly if it doesn't make them too short.
Favour clothes that skim over any emerging baby bump. Think empire waists, trapeze tops, skater skirts and fit and flare dresses. Anything that flows rather than clings.
Accessorise! Use scarves to hide bumps, and prints and layers to distract attention from your belly.
As well as following the pointers above, there are a few things you can do if you're a personal style/fashion blogger and you just want to hide the bump in photos. Be aware that while these tricks do work well in photos, they won't always hide the baby belly in person.
Hiding a baby bump in photos:
Pick your angle. Facing straight on to the camera is the best way to reduce or disguise the size of a baby bump.
Take photos as early in the day as possible. The more you eat, the bigger your belly gets, especially in the early stages.
Accessorise. Same as above, you can hide a bump with clever layering, a scarf, or even just hiding behind a handbag!
Never tuck any tops in. A half tuck hides a little bump quite well, but firmly tucking a top into a skirt or pair of pants just highlights a baby belly.
Avoid clingy fabrics. You want things that skim over your bump.
If you have a photographer, get their feedback. If you have a professional photographer, or just someone helping you with photos, ask them for the best angles / views to disguise a baby belly as they are shooting.
Change your pose. It feels extremely silly, but I found this works well if you're standing straight on to the camera. Not so much if you're standing at an angle! Stand up straight, and push your butt back a bit, letting anything you're wearing fall in a straighter line over the baby belly. Perfect if you're wearing looser clothing, it will skim rather than hug your frame.
Sit down. It's much easier to hide a bump when you're sitting instead of standing.
Practice. Take a few more photos than you usually would to make sure you're getting the photos you want, showcasing your great outfit and not the baby belly you aren't ready to spill the beans about yet!
I shot this video in the second trimester that might be helpful for anyone wanting to keep a pregnancy secret for a little while longer in the office. 8 different outfits you can wear at work to hide an early bump.
With my maternity leave approaching, I wanted to give my ASOS maternity pencil skirts one last wear in the office. They've lasted me well, through two pregnancies. The black and white prints gave me more chance to play along with the #SNScolour challenge on Instagram too.
The style challenge for the day was white, so it seemed obvious to wear my white maternity tank. I did worry it would be a little too casual for the office, so added the blazer over the top. I'm looking forward to wearing this blazer more when the autumn weather finally hits Brisbane and it cools down a little! It's great to have a cover-up in the office air-conditioning though. The blazer is a spring item from 2014 I picked up in the Jeanswest outlet last year but it's the perfect pastel pink to be classed as 'Rose Quartz', one of the colours of the year everyone is raving about.
I felt the statement necklace was a nice touch with this outfit - added some colour and sparkle so it didn't look too dull. This ended up being one of my favourite pregnancy office outfits, so a nice way to say farewell to this skirt.
It was a slightly cooler morning so I got excited and wore a jacket. While I liked the extra print mixing it brought to my outfit, I quickly realised that it was still much too hot for wearing layers, and regretted my decision a little.
By the time I went to my OB's appointment in the afternoon, I'd had my jacket off for a while!
Kept things much simpler with this outfit - no extra layer, I added a statement necklace for a bit of interest instead. I've worn this necklace and tank together before - I love the way the colours look against the black.
I felt really happy and confident in this outfit all day - even though it's just a simple maternity tank and pencil skirt outfit. An outfit doesn't have to be overly fancy or complex to make you feel good :)
My January purchases and some third trimester office wear. Although I'm trying not to dress too casually for work, my maternity tanks are so comfortable I'm looking for ways to make them work in the office. Adding a blazer on top is a great way to do that!
It was quite cold and rainy - but welcome as it broke the heatwave we'd been having. I did consider wearing pants in the morning and wished I had during the day. I liked the print mixing with the scarf and tartan pencil skirt together. This is my favourite blazer and although I can't button it over the baby bump it works well unbuttoned. Just as perfect for the office as it is with jeans.
This tank is another of my post-Christmas sale purchases. You can tell I had some Jeanswest gift vouchers to spend! I wouldn't normally be able to wear this skirt in the third trimester, but as the maternity tank is so long I was able to wear the elastic waist of the skirt under the bump and have the tank cover up all of the baby belly and then some. I was actually able to tuck the tank into the skirt. Benefits of being petite, maternity tanks are quite long.
In contrast to the previous outfit above, this was such a hot day. I took the blazer off after these pictures and just wore it around the office to keep my shoulders covered. It was much too hot and humid to wear it long on the commute.
That's a lot! I had some gift cards to spend and there were so many good sales on....so far the most worn items have been the maternity bras. I don't usually talk underwear on the blog but a good maternity bra is a pregnancy and breastfeeding essential and these two are just so perfect!
I don't anticipate buying any more clothing until after baby arrives, so there are likely to be few monthly haul videos for a while. I'm not entirely ruling out getting some accessories though.... ;)
Consistently, the Marc by Marc Jacobs Ukita bag is one of the most clicked items on my blog. Probably because the rock lobster colour is awesome and it brightens up a neutral outfit really well. It's the perfect size for taking to work too.
What I wore:
Necklace: thrifted pearl and heart charm long necklace
As it was a slightly cooler day, I figured I'd get some wear out of my maternity jeans and wear them to the office again like I did with my last pregnancy. I did want to wear a button up shirt to look a little more professional, but couldn't find one that actually buttoned over the baby bump, ha! it was too hot to consider a blazer too, so I just wore the bright tank by itself.
I'm surprised I haven't worn this tank and bag together before, the colours go really well together.
Fully embracing the casual side of business casual with a grey tee and a pencil skirt for another day in the office. I'm lucky that my workplace has such a relaxed dress code and I can get away with wearing tees in the middle of the week.
After my Melbourne trip and drooling over some scarves and twillies in Hermes, I decided to get my twilly out again. I really can't pull off the neck scarf look without looking like a flight attendant, but I like wearing it around my wrist. I've done so before, but silk is not the most practical fabric to wear around a toddler so it hasn't been worn much recently. Need to make more of an effort to wear it. It was a nice way to have some colour in my outfit even when I wasn't wearing the bright Ukita bag.
Having a bit of trouble filling up your cart enough to get the bigger discount you want?
It's so close to Christmas - check out the gift section and grab a few things for the special people on your Christmas lists.
Try coordinating with a friend - you could consolidate an order to get bigger discounts for you both.
Do what I do, check out the handbag section (Rebecca Minkoff bags are my favourite) and you'll be sure to find something you 'have' to have, to hit that top discount easily!
Hope you pick up some great gifts and bargains, or bargain gifts!
Back to the usual what I've been wearing. It was actually a little exciting to open up the big bag of maternity clothes I'd set aside post-baby, and rediscover pieces I'd loved in my last pregnancy. I was extremely happy to see these Asos maternity pencil skirts again, they were real workhorses before.
Just like last time I wore this scarf as a headband to the office, I got a bunch of compliments, which is always nice! I had a scan to check baby's progress in the early morning, and then it was Melbourne cup day so we had a bunch of events in the afternoon in the office. As I had just recently finished up the Frocktober fundraising challenge, I didn't really want to wear my usual dress option for Melbourne cup.
I figured the ruffles on this cami made it a little more dressy than a standard pencil skirt outfit, and the scarf in my hair was a nod to the headpieces worn to our themed event that afternoon.
Back when I was still hiding the baby bump on the blog and in the office, I'd gone through my wardrobe pulling out a few possible outfit ideas. This pretty teal top was one of them, so it had been hanging at the front of the wardrobe waiting for me to wear it. I didn't get around to wearing it before starting Frocktober, so it had been sitting there unworn.
Was wondering what to wear with this pencil skirt when I saw this top and figured I'd better wear it again before the spring weather heats up too much. It was a slightly cooler day when I wore this so it worked out perfectly. I wasn't too happy with the length of this top worn like this - I usually always partially tuck it in - but I liked the combination of the teal with the black and white.