For a long time, I had a file folder of ideas and references for pregnancy Costumes, should that day ever come. I had a big section dedicated to Amidala’s pregnancy outfits. Then, Halloween hit and I was 8 months Pregnant with no Star Wars costume in site. I don’t know if it was pregnancy hormones or what, but as I was looking through the costumes I felt like that was the last thing I wanted to make since it seemed like everyone did those. So that started my search for maternity-friendly costume options.
Costuming while pregnant comes with several challenges, the top two being “If I make or buy this today, will it fit my ever-expanding shape when I plan to wear it?” And “will I be able to take this off to pee every 30 min?” I made and purchased several costumes over the course of my pregnancy and would like to share what I’ve found as far as options go for pregnant cosplay.
1 – As I mentioned, there is always the Star Wars angle. Padme Amidala is pregnant with the twins and has a few maternity costuming options including a blue nightgown looking outfit and a sporty pregnant Jedi.
2 – For me Halloween came in my first trimester, while I was pretty miserable with morning (afternoon and evening) sickness. So I stayed home and handed out candy while wearing the easiest of all maternity costumes- the humorous t-shirt.
3 – For the more creative and larger bellied costumer, there is always the “belly as accessory” option.
4 – If your belly isn’t quite big enough to be the focus of the outfit, but is too big for you to wear your regular costumes, choose a costume that disguises the belly. I went with Lumpy Space Princess from Adventure Time. I figured she’s lumpy and so am I. I got a lot of use out of this outfit from 2-6 months along because it was so comfy and stretchy! All I did was sew some tulle onto a purple cotton dress.
5 – Halloween, horror fests and zombie walks are the perfect time for the gross zombie baby belly!
6 – There’s always the packaged pregnant costume in a bag. I tried the Maternity Fairy costume from CostumeSuperCenter.com. I think most of these kind of costumes are really just plus size costumes repackaged. This one ran pretty small, though it had plenty of belly room. The arms were tight enough to fit a child. There aren’t many good manufactured maternity costumes that are worth getting so I would not really recommend the packaged options. You can just as easily look for something in a plus size.
7 – Anything with an empire waist can be a pregnancy costume. I dressed as a pirate for the medieval fair. My top is just an Empire Waist Dress over stretchy pleather leggings. I wore the Burgundy High Low Gauze Peasant Dress by Leg Avenue, which I wouldn’t actually recommend because it ripped THREE times before I even left the house. I had to sew it back together and pray it didn’t just rip right off. The gauze material is pretty delicate. My pants were black liquid leggings by Elegant Moments. They were comfy and low waisted so they fit right under my belly. Whenever someone commented on my pregnant status I just told them “Blackbeard did it.”
8 – Find obscure characters. A pregnant friend of mine went to MegaCon as Most Fruitful Yuki. She wasn’t far enough along for Yuki’s big belly so she wore a deflated beach ball over her small bump.
9 – There are several pregnant characters in pop culture besides Amidala. Juno is one of the most comfortable costumes to do and the bonus is your partner can go as Bleeker. There’s also Daenerys Targaryen, although if you watch GOT, you know that didn’t end well. But pregnant pop-culture characters leads me to number 10 on the list.
10 – Any character can be pregnant! When you are far enough along, flaunt the bump, don’t hide it. For New Year’s Eve I wanted to be something pretty and elegant so I went as the White Queen to an Alice in Wonderland themed event. I made a flowy white empire waist dress. It was like wearing a nightgown, but I felt dressed up and it was obvious by then I was pregnant and not just lumpy. Or at least, I thought it was obvious until looking at these photos now and realizing I look like I had a big lunch. I felt huge! lol.
If you are shopping around for a maternity costume this Halloween, I am putting mine up for sale in my Etsy shop! Daenerys already sold, but the White Queen is still available and I’m trying to get more added soon! – https://www.etsy.com/shop/SewGeekMama
