Second Trimester Pregnancy Outfit Inspiration: 38 Outfit Ideas

I've been blogging for over 4 years and through two pregnancies, so I thought a wrap up of my favourite maternity outfits would be a great resource for anyone looking for pregnancy outfit inspiration!

As well as sharing my second trimester travel essentials I previously did a series about my wardrobe changes in each trimester you might find helpful too. I spoke about what worked and what didn't in my second trimester.

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.

Office Wear:

I bought two ASOS maternity pencil skirts and they got a lot of wear in the office.

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.

Asos maternity panelled pencil skirt in tartan check (non-maternity version here)

1: red bag, grey tee, tartan pencil skirt | 2: red shirt, tartan pencil skirt | 3: orange bag, printed skirt

 Asos maternity graphic print pencil skirt (non-maternity version here)

1: grey tee, printed pencil skirt | 2: wrap front top, printed pencil skirt | 3: teal henely, black and white skirt

1: paisley print dress | 2: striped dress with pink accessories | 3: Aztec print dress and blazer

1: Soon Maternity wrap dress, Chloe Paddington | 2: floral wrap dress | 3: printed wrap dress, pink bag

Maxi Dresses:

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.

1: black maxi dress and denim jacket | 2: Black and white printed dress | 3: feather print maxi dress

4: maxi dress and glitter belt | 5: Mothers En Vogue maternity maxi dress | 6: maxi dress for Christmas

Maternity Denim - Jeans and Shorts:

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.

1: pinstripe shirt and skinny jeans | 2: casual travel outfit | 3: printed top and skinny jeans

4: print mixing and jeans | 5: floral top and denim | 6: printed kimono and skinny jeans

How to Hide a Baby Bump In Photos: A Guide For Bloggers

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.

Hiding the baby bump with a printed dress | Hiding a baby bump with an empire waist

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.

Wearing a skirt above the bump | Hiding a belly with a half tucked shirt

Trapeze top to skim a baby belly | Printed tank to disguise a baby bump

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!

Skinny jeans and a belly band | Hiding a baby bump behind a bag

Hiding a Baby Bump in the office:

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.

I hope you found this guide helpful! Feel free to pin or share. You can check out more pregnancy outfit inspiration here too.


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Pregnancy Capsule Wardrobe: 22 Items for Third Trimester Maternity Wear

Dressing in pregnancy is a fun challenge as the baby bump grows and changes every day! In order to simplify things this time around, I implemented a third trimester capsule wardrobe.

Why I Made a Pregnancy Capsule Wardrobe:

• I've never tried a capsule wardrobe before (unless you count living out a suitcase for travel).
• The baby bump was outgrowing my current wardrobe faster than I anticipated this time around.
• I didn't have the luxury of time that I had in my first pregnancy to try on lots of outfit options each night and find things that still fit. (Or I didn't have the energy to do so after spending time with my toddler!)
• The summer heat and humidity (that continued well into autumn in Brisbane) left me less inspired to try new things.
• I had lots of great maternity pieces I wanted to wear as much as possible to make sure I got my money's worth.

Third Trimester Capsule Wardrobe in Video Form:

Below is a video covering the pieces in my capsule wardrobe, how I wore them, and my general thoughts about the experience.

The 22 Items In My Pregnancy Capsule Wardrobe:

• Asos maternity graphic print pencil skirt (non-maternity version here)
• Asos maternity panelled pencil skirt in tartan check (non-maternity version here)
• Soon Maternity 'Madeline' grey print wrap dress
• Thrifted Target printed wrap dress 
• Atmos&Here Betsy jersey wrap dress in watercolour print 

• MEV Havana maxi dress (C/O Zibibo)
• Jeanswest 'Elodie' tie dye grey jersey maxi dress
• Jeanswest 'Sierra' embellished black maxi dress
• Jeanswest 'Chantelle' crochet detail blue printed maxi dress

• Target black and white striped maxi skirt
• AT by Atmos&Here Mars striped maxi skirt
• Target grey marle maxi skirt
• Jeanswest plain jersey black maxi skirt

• Jeanswest Georgie maternity boyfriend shorts (available in non-maternity also)
• Jeanswest maternity rolled up shorts

• Jeanswest maternity tank in white
• Jeanswest maternity tank in sea glass
• Jeanswest maternity tank in black
• Jeanswest Carla Maternity Cut out tank (non-maternity version)
• Jeanswest Sol Maternity jacquard tank (non-maternity version)
• Jeanswest Sonny maternity tee in lagoon marle (C/O)
• 'Ninja baby' maternity skeleton tee

A Few Notes On My 22 Items:

I didn't include accessories (scarves or bags or shoes) in this count. I also didn't include 'completer' pieces like my printed kimonos or blazers. I freely grabbed these from my wardrobe as and when I wanted them.

The pieces included were suitable for my part time office job, as well as being perfect for a stay at home mum the rest of the week.

Not everything was a maternity piece, I used pieces from my regular non-maternity wardrobe too.

There were a few times at the start of the third trimester where I wore pieces that weren't included in the capsule, but after realising they were getting uncomfortable I stuck to my capsule wardrobe for the majority of the time.

The 22 items I had were great over summer (and multiple heatwaves!), but would need to be changed for cooler weather. Simple things like swapping the maternity denim shorts for jeans instead, and some long sleeved tops and fewer tanks.

Outfit Combinations from a Pregnancy Capsule Wardrobe:

Some photos of my favourite third trimester outfits from my capsule wardrobe to give you an idea of how I wore all the pieces in the third trimester. Not an exhaustive list, as 3 months worth of daily outfit photos would be a pretty big post! You can see all the outfits I wore in the third trimester here.

For my first capsule wardrobe experience, it was pretty fun, and I hope that it gives you some ideas or inspiration to try your own capsule wardrobe if you've often thought about it too.



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