Continued dissection of your bump size. Endless criticism about your maternity fashion choices. Everyone and their mother offering unsolicited advice about everything you're doing wrong while pregnant.
These are just a few of the things celebrities can expect while they're expecting. It's basically a warm-up for the endless barrage of shaming that they're due to receive after they officially become moms and it's enough to send a girl into a months-long respite from public appearances. (Respect, Kylie Jenner.)
And yet so many stars solider along for 40 loooooooong weeks enduring a side of judgment with their nausea, exhaustion and swollen feet. Plus, more often than not, they do it in designer gowns and four-inch stilettos.
"Women are embracing their bumps instead of hiding it throughout their pregnancy," stylist Jessica Paster told Fashionista in 2016 of the new maternity fashion rules, using client Emily Blunt and her statement-making Michael Kors ensemble at that year's Met Gala as an example. "Just a few years ago, when the bump got too big, they would throw that trusty muumuu on top; now I see women who are proud of being pregnant, and proud of their personal style, and don't want to compromise one for the other."
Same, agrees stylist Karla Welch, who still beams with pride over getting client Olivia Wilde on the best-dressed list after she wore the heck out of an emerald sequin Gucci while some six months along at the 2014 Golden Globes. "When I was pregnant, there wasn't too much change from my trademark look and I didn't really buy maternity clothes," she explained to the outlet. "For Olivia, we've stuck to her smoldering style, especially on the red carpet. We've made dresses work with her changing body."
That's not to say anybody need spend the entirety of their pregnancy in heels and constrictive formalwear. (Ladies, maternity leggings exist for a reason.) Frankly, when growing a human, you deserve points just for getting out of bed each day.
But if you want to also serve up some serious style inspo while you're doing it, well, we're here to salute you.
Sure, the actress' magenta halter (not Prada, but custom Brandon Maxwell) stunned at the August 2019 opening of Broadway's Sea Wall/A Life. But it was the specially made label for "Anne + 1" that left the Modern Love star, then pregnant with second son Jack, floored.
Really, designer Maxwell just loves to get personal. Tapped to craft something for the nominated Scandal star (then weeks away from having son Caleb) to wear to the 2016 Emmys, he had it handled. Stitched inside the strapless number with attached cape: Her own "Kerry" label.
"We tried it on to be silly when she was fully showing," stylist Jordan Foster told Vogue of this berry-hued latex number from Vex, "and it ended up looking amazing and so hot!" Paired with strappy Jimmy Choos and a high pony, the custom piece ensured the model, then pregnant with son Isaac, stunned at the September 2019 Fashion Media Awards.
By her third go-round, the Honest Company co-founder had fully figured out how to play the maternity style game. For an August 2017 outing in New York City, the actress (then pregnant with son Hayes) selected a whimsical printed Tanya Taylor midi dress and strappy navy heels.
Thanks to her colorful sequined choice, the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit model was very much glowing when she celebrated her 2018 Maxim cover not long after revealing she was expecting in July 2018. She and husband Justin Verlander welcomed daughter Genevieve four months later.
Before tweeting that she'd begun "officially wearing Mike's clothes in public now," the seven-time Grammy winner (then pregnant with second son Jacob) chose a series of outfits for her hosting duties at the 2018 CMA Awards, including this floral-inspired embroidered Uel Camilo she picked to walk the red carpet with husband Mike Fisher.
When you're promoting your turn as Jackie Kennedy Onassis, refined style is pretty much a must. So the Jackie actress—expecting her second child, daughter Amalia—kicked off a string of appearances at the 2016 Venice Film Festival with a white silk Dior Couture gown.
Taking on her second pregnancy, "I am confident and not trying to hide my bump—I actually want to accentuate it!" the E! star shared in a September 2015 blog post. For her appearance at the LACMA 2015 Art+Film Gala that November, just a month before she'd welcome son Saint, that meant a lace Givenchy jumpsuit.
Over the course of now three pregnancies, the cookbook author has modeled dozens of designs by the likes of Tadashi Shoji, Lanvin, Pamela Roland and Self Portrait. (All fab, btw.) And yet we're kind of partial to this tailored March 2016 daytime look she put together while expecting daughter Luna, her tan coat, One Teaspoon distressed denim and sheer crop offering just a peek at her bump.
Tasked with following the 2016's Met Gala's "Manus x Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology" theme, pals Blunt (less than two months from delivering second daughter Violet) and Wilde (expecting daughter Daisy) decided to shine bright in sequined embellished lace and black stone embroidered gowns by Michael Kors.
Safe to say the runway vet's casual maternity looks are a bit more elevated than most. Three months into her first pregnancy, with daughter Dusty in March 2016, Adam Levine's bride paired a slip dress with a chambray duster at the launch of her Behati x Juicy Couture collection.
You know we love her style. So it'd be next to impossible to choose just one great moment from the fashion-adept actress' three pregnancies. But this vibrant Versace number from the 2016 Cannes Film Festival—bearing just a hint that she was expecting second daughter Inez—certainly stands out.
Even before his June 2017 arrival, the model's son Jack knew how to make an entrance. Four months before she and fiancé Jason Statham welcomed their little one, the Mad Max: Fury Road star went with a custom Atelier Versace metallic sheath for her bump's big debut at the Vanity Fair Oscar fete.
After performing at the 2017 Grammys as the true golden goddess she is in gilded Peter Dundas and a coordinating crown, Queen Bey—then pregnant with twins Rumi and Sir—slipped into another dazzling number by the former Roberto Cavalli creative director.
Much like Kerry Washington and Gina Rodriguez, we are smitten with this monochromatic rose ensemble the actress picked to attend the Costume Designers Guild Awards four months before welcoming son Jose in June 2018. "Let me tell you, it's nerve-racking enough deciding what to wear to these things," Longoria joked, "and then you're pregnant."
The crowing achievement of the Grammy winner's maternity style parade: An appearance (her first!) at the 2018 Met Gala. Date Jeremy Scott didn't skip a single detail crafting this ornate Moschino number for the rapper—mere weeks away from welcoming daughter Kulture—to fit the "Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination" theme. As if the bead- and jewel-encrusted dress with an attached train wasn't enough, the designer added gloves, a choker and a three-point pearl-topped hat that took three full days to complete.
The owner of, perhaps, the most documented bump of 2019, the actress-turned-humanitarian dutifully chosen an endless parade of stylish, but appropriately conservative, designs by Erdem, Victoria Beckham, Dior and Valentino. But for a charity gala that January—four months before she and Prince Harry would introduce the world to Archie—she added a bit of flash with a navy sequined Roland Mouret.
"I'm gonna try to not wear maternity clothes as long as possible," the Keeping Up With the Kardashians star told Ellen DeGeneres in January 2018, while expecting daughter True. And even when she did opt for stretchier fashions, they were far from frumpy. A February outing to pick up baby supplies saw Khloe pairing a body con dress with a duster and stiletto booties.
Mere weeks after announcing in March that she was blooming with daughter Daisy, the American Idol judge made a bold statement at her first appearance—for the 2020 ICC Women's T20 World Cup in Melbourne, Australia—in a color-blocked Mara Hoffman dress.
At 34 weeks along with son Buddy, the WWE Hall of Famer felt this lace For Love and Lemons outfit was giving her "Baby Shower Vibes". We'd argue it was totally, uh, bellissima.