How to Hide a Pregnancy Bump For 9 Months (8 Ways That Work)

There are plenty of reasons why a pregnant woman would want to hide a pregnancy bump. Perhaps the most common reason is so that they could announce their pregnancy properly in their own time, typically after a trimester or two. Therefore, it is important for them to know how to hide their bump for 9 months.

Hiding a pregnancy bump is totally doable. However, it gets more difficult the further along you are in your pregnancy. In the first trimester, or until you barely have a pregnancy bump, you can preemptively take action by wearing loose-fitting clothes and dresses.

When you begin to have a more noticeable pregnancy bump in the second and third trimesters, then you can take advantage of patterns and layers. Other visual tricks that you can use include wearing darker colors, front tucks, and horizontal stripes.

This article will detail the various ways a pregnant woman can hide her pregnancy bump for nine months.

How to Hide a Pregnancy Bump for 9 Months

The First Trimester

It is incredibly common for women to hide their pregnancy bump, or at least wait for a trimester, before announcing their pregnancy. The typical reason is so that the pregnancy will not be prematurely announced before complications or even miscarriages can happen.

These women would prefer to make sure that they will not be announcing their pregnancy one day and possibly announcing bad news soon after. While some women would wait for the first trimester to end to announce the good news, some women can wait longer periods of time. 

Other women can have other reasons. It is also some women are hiding their pregnancy from people close in their lives, such as friends and family. They typically have their own personal reasons as to why their pregnancy is being kept secret.

Fortunately, the first trimester is perhaps the easiest time to hide the pregnancy. Understandably, it tends to become more difficult throughout the nine months of pregnancy. Here are some ways that women have hidden their pregnancy bumps during the first trimester.

1. Loose-Fitting Clothes

The first trimester can look very different among different women. Some women do not even learn that they are pregnant until they are well into their first trimester. Thus, it can be much easier to hide a pregnancy bump during this time.

For some women, a pregnancy bump may begin to appear during the first trimester. Although, pregnancy bumps in the first three months are usually small to unnoticeable.

However, even if you do not yet have a pronounced pregnancy bump, it is recommended to begin wearing loose-fitting clothes. This achieves a few things.

Firstly, loose-fitting clothes should be more than enough to hide a small pregnancy bump. If you are concerned with looking sloppy by wearing loose-fitting clothes, you do not necessarily have to wear loose-fitting clothes – you simply have to avoid wearing form-fitting clothes.

Aside from potentially masking a tiny pregnancy bump, wearing loose clothing early can help get people around you used to seeing you wearing such clothes. If you begin wearing loose-fitting clothes when your baby bump is already noticeable, it becomes much more conspicuous.

Loose clothing can still look stylish and fashionable. Examples of clothing that you should look into would be oversized sweaters, flowy dresses, and such. You can even get into streetwear as they typically make use of oversized clothing.

2. Dresses

In the first trimester, there may be hardly any pregnancy bump to deal with. However, it is not too early to develop your maternity wardrobe. Comfort should always be a priority, but when it comes to a fashionable maternity wardrobe, dresses are going to be your thing for the next nine months.

Dresses are absolutely excellent during pregnancy. Firstly, dresses are roomy and breathable articles of clothing that are comfortable for a pregnant woman. While there are tighter dresses, you should be looking into ones that are flowier like sundresses.

Aside from comfort, dresses are cute and adorable. During the nine months of carrying a developing baby, hormones can run wild inside a pregnant woman. It can be common to have some body dysmorphia during this time and having to wear something that can make you feel good is important.

As you progress to your second and third trimesters, you will have to adjust the types of dresses that you choose. The further along you are with your pregnancy, the more important it will be to prioritize comfort and breathability. Pregnancy can be uncomfortable at times, and clothing should feel restrictive.

The Second Trimester

While a pregnancy bump may not necessarily appear for all women during the first trimester, a pregnancy bump would most probably be there for the second.

In fact, one factor that does affect when a baby bump appears is how many times you have been pregnant before. Many reports have shown that women often do not get their pregnancy bump during the first trimester of their first pregnancies.

However, a second or third pregnancy could then reveal a pregnancy bump as early as the first trimester. Thus, hiding a pregnancy bump in the second trimester becomes much more challenging for most women compared to hiding it in the first trimester.

The tips that you can use in the first trimester are all still very much applicable. However, there are other tips that can definitely help you hide a pregnancy bump in the second trimester.

3. Use Layers

Layers are amazing at a lot of things. Fashion-wise, adding layers to an outfit adds more visual components for the eye to see. A simple cardigan over a plain shirt can ultimately elevate a relatively basic attire. Functionally, layers are amazing to help you keep warm during the colder seasons.

More importantly, layers can help hide a pregnancy bump.

By the very virtue of adding more materials and fabrics over an outfit, you can visually minimize the impact of a pregnancy bump by wearing more layers. Imagine how a pregnancy bump would look if you simply wore a plain T-shirt. Now, imagine how diminished it would look if you wore a jacket over it.

Layers are your best friend when it comes to hiding a pregnancy bump because of how inconspicuous they can be. No one suspects you of being pregnant just because you are wearing jackets and coats more frequently than before.

Additionally, layers should be your priority because of how stylish they can be. Many pregnant women complain of having difficulty dressing nicely when they have gone up a few sizes. Fortunately for them, layers are always a great way to elevate a simple outfit to an amazing one.

You have a wide variety of options when it comes to layers. Lighter options can include cardigans, flannels, and shawls. Heavier options would be sweaters, jackets, and coats. Even for more formal occasions, you can choose to wear a blazer. Regardless, there are enough options out there to help supplement your wardrobe without being too obvious that you are hiding a pregnancy bump.

4. Use Patterns

Plain outfits are highly recommended for their versatility, especially for someone aiming for a relatively minimalist wardrobe. However, patterns are highly recommended when it comes to hiding something like a pregnancy bump.

A busy pattern like a floral or checker can be incredibly strategic when it comes to hiding a pregnancy bump. Busy patterns achieve this illusion by tricking the brain of other people to focus on the patterns instead of what is behind them.

On the other hand, it is not recommended to go all-out with the patterns as it can be tricky to work it fashionably. Thus, it is advised to wear patterns sparingly – preferably as accents. For example, a patterned blouse paired with a solid-colored pair of jeans.

Patterned accessories are also great at distracting the eyes. A simple sweater and skirt can be impressively emphasized with a patterned scarf, for example.

As mentioned, caution is advised when working with patterns, especially busy patterns, as they can quickly become too overwhelming in an outfit. Thus, it is best to have a healthy mix of patterned and non-patterned items in your wardrobe throughout your pregnancy.

5. Overalls

If your baby bump was negligible during the first trimester, it is more than likely that it is getting more pronounced now. It may not be for everyone, but a great way to hide a small pregnancy bump is to wear overalls.

Overalls can be pretty divisive. Some women feel strongly against overalls, while others absolutely adore them. Understandably, overalls can be quite challenging to deal with, especially if you find yourself in the restroom more often than others. However, it is also difficult to deny that they look cute.

Aside from looking great, overalls are great for hiding a pregnancy bump because it basically covers the entire front part of your abdomen. Overalls can be a little restrictive, so they might not be highly recommended when your pregnancy bump gets bigger.

Depending on the style of overalls you get, they also help hide some dimensions of the belly as they are typically made of denim or some other heavy fabric. Something with a heavy fabric can always trick someone’s perception and make them assume that you look a tad bigger because of the fabric – and not because you are actually hiding a pregnancy bump.

6. Front Tuck

One thing that can really help you hide a pregnancy bump for 9 months is understanding why pregnancy they can be so noticeable. One of the reasons why pregnancy bumps can be so conspicuous is that they visually move the line between your top and your bottom.

Therefore, one great way to help hide your pregnancy bump for 9 months is by enforcing the distinction between your top and your bottom. An easy way to do so is by simply tucking in the front of your top.

Also known by some as a French tuck, tucking in the front of your top into your pants or jeans effectively reinforces the distinction between your upper and lower body. Wearing lower-waisted bottoms can also help this effect.

Additionally, tucking in your top also allows extra material to fold in front of you. That extra fabric can add volume to your look, and effectively hide a small baby bump behind it.

The Third Trimester

By the third trimester, pregnant women typically get a very pronounced pregnancy bump. Understandably, the baby has already been developing for several months, inching closer to being delivered every day.

If hiding a pregnancy bump was already challenging during the second trimester, hiding a pregnancy bump in the third trimester might be downright impossible. However, some women can still pull it off, and maybe so can you.

Just like before, you can still use the tips from before to help you hide your pregnancy bump for nine months. Here are just some additional ways you can make your pregnancy bump even more inconspicuous.

7. Use Dark Colors

There are several different visual illusions that can take advantage of to minimize the obviousness of a pregnancy bump. Like anyone who wants to look slimmer than they really are, wearing dark colors is highly recommended.

First of all, human eyes are more adept at discerning light and colors. Therefore, human eyes are not as skilled when it comes to detecting such keen details in darker shades. There are different factors as to why wearing dark colors can make someone look slimmer.

One thing that black and other dark colors are good at is hiding visual interruptions. Visual interruptions are tiny details of information that help the brain understand the dimensions of something. These visual interruptions can include body flaws like fat rolls, bulges, and creases.

By wearing a dark color, you can potentially trick someone into thinking you do not have a pregnancy bump. You can test this out yourself by simply wearing a black shirt and standing in front of a full-length mirror. You should notice how unnoticeable the shape of your body is as it is hidden by the darker color.

Wearing dark colors works especially well for pregnancy bumps because pregnancy bumps only tend to extend in front of the body, unlike fat which also extends to the sides of the body. Thus, the dark silhouette of a dark outfit will not give away your secret.

8. Use Horizontal Stripes

Another visual illusion that you should take advantage of is the use of vertical stripes. As mentioned before, patterns can help distract the brain from seeing a pregnancy bump. However, vertical stripes are significantly trickier when it comes to distraction.

Interestingly, it has been long thought that one should wear vertical stripes if they want to appear taller and slimmer. In fact, it has been argued that wearing horizontal stripes does the exact opposite and that it should be avoided when hiding a pregnancy bump.

However, research has shown that it has been the other way around this whole time.

It can be due to a variety of reasons. For one, a person’s width can be more noticeable when vertical lines run along the body, showing off the body’s true contour. This also holds true even when the pregnancy bump is primarily in front of your body.

Another factor is that in contrast, horizontal lines act the opposite way. Horizontal lines diminish width while emphasizing height and verticality.

It should be noted that there are wise ways to wear horizontal stripes. Instead of making it the focal point of an outfit, you can have horizontal stripes as accents. For example, a shirt with horizontal lines coupled with a non-patterned blazer.