What to Wear for Maternity Photos

Short answer: Wear something fitted through the bump. Jersey, ribbed knit and stretch silk hold the curve; heavy tulle and loose kaftans hide it. Our studio gown wardrobe covers most sizes, so many clients bring nothing. If you do bring your own, bring three options plus smooth, unseamed nude underwear.

Almost every maternity outfit problem comes down to one mistake, and it is the opposite of what people expect. Women arrive worried about looking big, so they choose something loose. Loose fabric turns a round bump into a tent. The camera flattens depth, and a flowing dress that looks elegant in the mirror reads on screen as a shapeless triangle with a face on top.

Fitted wins. Not tight — fitted. Fabric that follows the curve and stops.

What different fabrics do to a bump

This is worth understanding once, because after that you can shop for yourself.

• Heavy jersey and ribbed knit. The most reliable thing you can wear. It clings without gripping, it does not crease in the folds under the bump, and ribbing adds vertical lines that describe the curve.
• Stretch silk and satin. Beautiful, and it catches light along the top of the bump, which is exactly where you want a highlight. It also shows every seam underneath, so the underwear question below is not optional.
• Chiffon and tulle. Lovely as a second layer over something fitted, terrible as the whole garment. On its own it floats away from the body and the bump disappears inside it.
• Linen and heavy cotton. They crease hard where the bump pushes, and those creases photograph as horizontal lines cutting across the shape.
• Lace. Fine, if it is lined and fitted. Unlined lace over bare skin looks better in person than in a photograph, where it usually reads as texture noise.

Colour, and why we push you towards dark

Deep colours do more work than pale ones. Charcoal, ink blue, forest, burgundy and black separate you from the background and let a single light describe the bump with a soft gradient from lit side to shadow side. That gradient is the whole picture.

Pale cream and white can be stunning, but they are unforgiving: they bounce light back evenly, which flattens the curve, and they show every fold. If you want a light look, go for a warm sand or oatmeal rather than optic white.

Skip patterns entirely. A print stretched over a bump distorts, and the eye follows the distortion instead of the woman.

Our gown wardrobe

The studio in Epping keeps a rack of maternity gowns specifically for these sessions, in stretch jersey and silk, in sizes that actually fit late pregnancy rather than sizes that technically go up to a 16. Long trains, off-shoulder necklines, a couple of fitted body-con pieces for the more graphic frames.

Everything is steamed between clients and the fitted pieces are chosen because they work on camera, not because they photographed well on a model who was not pregnant. Most women who come in use two gowns and their own outfit for a third look.

Tell us your usual dress size and your height when you book and we will have three or four pulled and hanging before you arrive, so you are not going through a rack at 32 weeks.

If you are bringing your own

Bring three, not one. What you love in your bedroom at 9pm and what works under studio light are sometimes different things, and having options means we can change direction without anyone being disappointed.

Good things to look for: a maternity slip dress in a stretch satin, a plain ribbed midi, a partner’s white shirt worn open over a fitted bandeau, and — this one surprises people — your own jeans with a simple fitted top. The jeans-and-top frames are frequently the ones clients print, because they look like the actual woman rather than a costume.

Bring shoes only if the dress needs the height. Most of our maternity frames are barefoot or cropped above the ankle.

What goes underneath

This is the part nobody writes about and everybody needs.

Smooth, unseamed, nude — and nude means nude against your skin, not beige. Lace edges and elastic bands print through jersey and silk, and while we can retouch a line, we cannot retouch away the dent it leaves in the fabric. A strapless smooth-cup bra or a soft bralette works under nearly everything. Bring a spare.

Two other small things that make a real difference. Take off your watch, rings that are too tight, and hair ties the day before if you can — they leave marks that take an hour to fade and every one of them has to be retouched. And if you are wearing socks or tight leggings to the studio, change out of them in the car park rather than five minutes before we shoot.

What your partner should wear

The job of the partner’s outfit is to not compete. Plain, mid-to-dark, no logo, no busy pattern, sleeves rather than a t-shirt if he has the option. A plain dark knit or a white shirt with the sleeves rolled are the two that never fail.

Pull one colour from your gown and put a quieter version of it on him — ink blue gown, charcoal knit. Do not match exactly. Two people in the identical shade look like a uniform.

If older children are joining for part of the session, the same logic applies to them, and there is more on how to stage that in our guide to including partners and older kids.

How do I test an outfit at home before the session?

A dress can look beautiful on the hanger and fail the moment you stand in it as a camera would see you. You can test most of that on the bed the night before, with a full-length mirror and about twenty minutes.

Run each outfit through five checks.

1. Side-on. Stand with your side to the mirror. This is the angle most maternity portraits use, because it shows the curve. Does the fabric follow the bump and then keep going, or does it stick out in front and hang away underneath?
2. Sit down. Sit on the edge of a chair. Many dresses ride up, bunch under the bump or pull across the chest once you are seated, and you will spend part of the session sitting.
3. Raise your arms. Lift both hands towards your head. A neckline that gaps or a seam that digs shows up immediately.
4. Walk three steps. Does the hem tangle your feet? A long skirt that glides in a photo can be an effort in real life.
5. Breathe. Take a slow breath in. If the outfit squeezes under the ribs, you will be uncomfortable by the second pose, and it will show in your face.

If an outfit fails two of the five, leave it at home, however much you love it. There is no point photographing a dress you cannot sit in.

What if I do not feel confident showing my shape?

This worry comes up more often than people admit, and it is worth treating as a planning question rather than something to push through. Tell us at booking. We would much rather know than guess.

Some women are happiest with a long, fitted gown that covers the legs and arms and lets the bump do the talking. Others prefer a simple open shirt over a fitted top, with the bump softly covered. A few want to be photographed bare-bellied. All of those are normal, and there is no right answer. What matters is that the first outfit of the session is the one you feel most like yourself in, because the first ten minutes set the tone for the rest.

Start with comfort and finish with courage, if you want to. Plenty of women begin in the jeans-and-top frames and move to a gown once they have relaxed. If you would prefer to begin with the bolder look while your nerves are high and your energy fresh, say so, and we will plan the order around you.

A note on how you are feeling on the day: pregnancy changes from week to week, and studio sessions involve some standing and posing. If you feel dizzy, hot, short of breath or unwell at any point, tell us and sit down. Your doctor or midwife is the right person to ask about anything physical, including how long you should be on your feet, and we will always work around their advice.

What should I pack in the bag?

The outfit is only part of it. A small bag of practical things keeps a session smooth, particularly in the third trimester when your body can surprise you. When to book maternity photos covers the timing question, and the bag below covers the day.

That last item deserves one sentence of its own. If you bring a keepsake, hold it against the bump and keep your hands still while we shoot. A small, calm object read clearly in the finished photograph. A handful of objects becomes clutter. Choose one, and choose the one that would make you cry in ten years.

Common questions

Should I get my hair and makeup done?

If it makes you feel better about being photographed, absolutely, and book it for the morning of the session rather than the day before. Ask for something a little stronger than everyday — studio light eats soft makeup. Skip a heavy contour and anything with SPF or a strong luminiser in it, because both can flash back under our lights.

Can I be photographed with my bump bare?

Yes, and plenty of clients do — usually an open shirt or a draped wrap with the bump uncovered, which is a completely different picture from a gown and often the favourite. Say so when you book and we will plan the light for it. Say no and we will never ask twice.

What if nothing I own fits any more?

Then do not buy anything. That is exactly what the gown wardrobe exists for, and a gown you wear for forty minutes is a better outcome than a dress you spend $180 on and never put on again.

Do I need to bring anything for the baby?

Only if you want it in the frame — a first pair of shoes, a scan photo, a knitted blanket from a grandparent. One small object, not a basket of them. These are the frames that tend to end up in an album rather than on a wall.

What about jewellery?

Wedding rings and small studs, and that is usually enough. Statement necklaces sit awkwardly over an off-shoulder gown and pull the eye up to the collarbone when the picture is about the bump.

Lay it out the night before

Three outfits on the bed, the right underwear inside each one, your partner’s shirt ironed, shoes only if a dress demands them. Photograph the pile on your phone and send it to us if you want a second opinion — we would far rather answer that on a Thursday night than watch you unpack something at the studio that was never going to work.

Email the pictures to info@tzportraits.com with your session date, or tell us your size and we will simply have the rack ready and you can walk in with nothing at all.