PROUD TO BARE OUR BUMPS – 18^th May 2006

 

Once, women would simply cover their pregnancy bump in a smock. But in recent years, the tide has turned, driven by celebrities flaunting their stomachs as fashion statements. Now, lingerie company Agent Provocateur has launched a maternity range to show that pregnant women can be sexy. Here, eight women who volunteered to model the styles talk to Tess Stimson about the battle of the bump.

 

 

Model Casey-Jane Rand, 29, lives in Guildford with her husband Christopher, doctor of laser engineering, and new baby, Evie, born nine days ago. Casey-Jane says:

 

The idea that someone is at last making sexy maternity lingerie gave me home that I wasn’t condemned to floral smocks and big knickers for nine months. I don’t know why pregnant women are expected to dress like boring frumps from the Fifties. I felt sexy when I was pregnant, and I wanted to look that way too. I wore tight skinny jumpers and belted them under my bump to show it off.

 

I was lucky, because my husband still found me attractive when I was pregnant – and he certainly appreciated my new cleavage.

 

 

Actress Isabel Brook, 35, lives in south-east London with her husband Elliot, an actor/writer.. Her first baby, a boy, is due on 21^st June. She says:

 

In other countries, a pregnant form is an erotic thing because it’s a source of life. But in our society, I get whistled at on the street from behind, and then I turn round, and the man sees I’m pregnant and doesn’t know what to do. My husband liked it and roared with laughter – but others will find it disturbing.

 

I love wearing this lingerie, because it allows women to feel sexy, and to have that choice. Until recently pregnant women were labelled as ‘a mum’ and nothing else. It’s great that it’s more acceptable to be ‘out there’ with your bump.

 

 

Laina Hunting, 26, a model from West London, lives with her fiancé, Clive, who owns a computer company, and daughters Matilda, 23 months, and three-week-old Ellie. Laina says:

 

It was weird to put on sexy lingerie for this shoot when I had this great big bump in the way. I suppose you just get conditioned not to think of yourself as a sexy person when you’re pregnant. You’re meant to cover the bump up with big smocks, but I loved having a big tummy – after years of looking a certain way for my career, I liked the novelty of looking more womanly. Apart from anything else, it was liberating, after decades of eating organic, healthy food, to just relax and not worry too much about it all.

 

Clive loved the way I looked when I was pregnant, which makes all the difference. Society says women aren’t supposed to be sexy when they’re pregnant, which I think is ridiculous.

 

 

Suzy Bloom, an actress in her late 20s, is married to pianist Peter Clinch and lives in south-east London. She’s expecting her first baby on 30^th June. She says:

 

I’ve always had admiring glances from men, but now that I’m pregnant I just get nice smiles from ladies with buggies. It’s as though I have ceased to be a sexual being.  As an actress, my image is very important and it’s really strange not to be thin. I wouldn’t usually bare my bump naked, but I like to show it off with tight clothes.

 

I don’t know if my husband finds me sexy or not. He’s certainly a bit tentative with me now and I have to tell him he can give me a cuddle without hurting the baby.

 

 

Model Claire Munelly, 28, lives in London with her partner Jason, a consultant. They are expecting the birth of their first baby on July 20^th. She says:

 

I laughed when I heard that Agent Provocateur was doing a maternity range. I thought, ‘At last! They’re taking responsibility for what their underwear has caused over the years!’

 

Seriously, though, I relished the fact that this is another step in the integration of pregnant women into mainstream society. I don’t go out of my way to wear tight clothes, but I’m fairly relaxed about showing off the bump. And I didn’t stop being a person when I became a mother, which is what this photo is all about.

 

 

Natasha White, 27, is a model from Birmingham. She lives with Martin, a youth worker. Their first baby, a girl, is due on August 10^th. She says:

 

Men who don’t have children and see this photo are going probably going to be more interested in the car. The average lad-in-the-street finds pregnant woman a turn-off, until it happens to their wife or girlfriend, which changes their way of thinking. As a country, we are such prudes. My dad saw this picture and thought I looked great, and so did my partner, but nearly everyone else hated it.

 

I like to show off an inch or two of my bump, but I’d never normally bare the whole thing. I don’t know why there’s such an issue around pregnant women being sexy. I feel as sexy as I ever did. It’s like the breastfeeding controversy. I think topless modelling, which I have never done, has confused men about what breasts are for. They’re used to seeing breasts in a sexual way, and can’t cope when they see a child there. They need to remember how they started out in life.

 

 

Model Josephine Markham, 26, lives in Chesterfield with her husband Dean, a PE teacher, and daughter Harriet, 22 months. Their second daughter is due on August 18^th. Josephine says:

 

Much as I enjoyed doing this shoot, I know there’ll be a real division in the way people respond to this image. A lot of husbands are terrified of even touching their pregnant wives, and don’t like to see them naked in the way they once did. It’s ridiculous. A woman doesn’t have to change who she is just because she’s pregnant. If you liked to wear sexy lingerie before you got pregnant, there’s no reason not to wear it now.

 

 

Kathryn Rayward, 33, a former interior designer, is married to Simon and lives in Brighton with their daughter, Roxy, 2 ½. Their son, Zak, is due any day. She says:

 

I’ve shown this photo to lots of people, and their reaction is absolutely black or white. Some men think it’s fabulous, but some just found it repulsive. Sadly, I think that’s going to be a common reaction. Even men who fancy their own pregnant partners may not fancy other pregnant women. I’m not normally the sort to walk around in a crop top, but I was thrilled to document this time of my life in this way.