Author(s): Anushree Jaiswal

Abstract:
Maternity wear is a functional garment specially designed to address the anthropometric growth in the human body during pregnancy. With the wide variety of body shapes and sizes, physical changes occur differently for every pregnant woman; thus, these variations lead to problems of comfort, fit, and sizing of ready-to-wear maternity apparel. Therefore, this study examined the changes in body measurements and shapes during pregnancy and analyzed the relationship between these changes and pattern measurements and shapes.
These garments are designed in such a way that they have enough space on waist to accommodate the maximum growth on waist and also have roominess on hip, bust and bicep which is corresponding to the growth in human body during maternity. These garments are serviceable only for the second and third trimester of pregnancy i.e. 6 months. This is exploration of the possibility of using features to make the maternity wear fit well and hence remain serviceable during-pregnancy and post pregnancy periods. Such garment designs are achieved through-pattern styling features (like Godet, Gores, Accommodating Silhouette, Appropriate Trims, Placket Placements etc.), Construction features (like Smoking, Pleats etc.), Pattern Engineering (to achieve innovative deigns) and typical fabrics selections (fabrics which are forgiving in nature). The author undertook the research to develop such garments and called them “Smart Motherhood Wear.”
The research methodology included first conducting a survey across India to understand the desired features and expectations of the target group, developing smart maternity wear keeping in view the inputs thus received and finally collecting the feedback from the target group on the developed garments. The garments were well appreciated by the target group as they provided good styling, fit and comfort with longevity. The entire pattern adjustment process represents the analysis of the relationship of body changes to pattern changes.