Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
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THIS WEEK WITH MARGARET If You've Got It, Flaunt It by MARGARET DICKSON Recently I came across a photograph of myself with several of my friends when we Vanity Fair, very pregnant and very naked, wearing nothing but a pixie haircut and large diamond jewelry. were young mothers. That photograph blew the door off the pregnancy closet. We are standing together in someone's backyard with our various children, knee At the other end of the spectrum is something my father, a courtly Southerner of babies and pre-schoolers all. Each of us has at least one child, and some of us have the old school, told me many years ago. Not that he had any first hand experience, two. Each of us is also in some stage of another pregnancy, some of us bigger than of course, but he spoke with authority when he said that proper Victorian ladies others. had quite the opposite reaction to being in a family way or, as he put it, "being And each of us is wearing, to put it charitably, a muumuu of some description. in a delicate condition." When their baby bumps appeared, instead of wrapping In case you missed the '60s and '70s, a muumuu is a brightly colored garment of themselves in spandex or wearing a bulging birthday suit on a magazine cover, they Hawaiian origin, often with a floral motif, that is big and baggy and reveals few simply retired to their homes for the duration. They emerged several months later details about the wearer's figure. with a babe in arms and a firmly corseted belly. To put it bluntly, they are shapeless. I have been trying to make sense of all this without too much success. The photograph brought back warm memories of raising children in a Clearly, the Victorian model seeks to tamp down any neighborhood filled with friends and lots of their children. thoughts about how that baby bump might have gotten there It also triggered a more recent memory of attending a in the first place, but there may be other reasons to cover formal dinner dance during the holidays where a fellow guest, up if not actually staying at home for months on end. Some a generation younger than I, was attired in what appeared to women might worry about obvious weight gain, and others be a sequin-encrusted black spandex evening gown which might be concerned that pregnancy could affect their jobs or clearly defined her growing belly, what we now call her "baby professional aspirations, both illegal but still operative in some bump." cases. In years past, women might have worried about an That dress was about as far from a muumuu as one could unwed pregnancy, but that is hardly a concern these days. get. And what to make of pregnancies advertised by clingy More recently still was an article in The New York Times, clothing? entitled "Pregnancy Takes a Turn on the Red Carpet." The In an essay entitled "The Baby Bump is the New Birkin" article highlighted an outfit worn by famous-for-beinglast year, Drake University Associate Professor Renee Ann famous Kim Kardashian who wore a muumuu patterned floral garment to a New York gala, only hers was cut close What is considered fashionable for pregnancy has Cramer compared baby bumps to very fancy, very pricey, high-status pocketbooks as a must-have accessory for to the body and showed off a significant baby bump. Critics changed over the years. celebrities. Maybe so, but I see equally advertised baby bumps panned the outfit and a doctored photo of Kardashian plopped on a chintz sofa from which she was virtually indistinguishable circulated on on mere mortals wearing humble T-shirts with downward pointing arrows and the word "BABY" emblazoned on the bulge. social media. The matching heels and gloves probably did not help. I am not saying that the muumuus of my era were the perfect maternity get-up. In addition to the floral disaster, the article features photographs of other Some of them were hideous, their only saving grace being comfort. I am suggesting, celebrities in late stages of pregnancy, several of whom are dressed up for possible though, that there may be a happy middle ground between staying home in a circus acceptance speeches. These include Beyonce in brilliant red, Cate Blanchett and tent and wearing clothes so tight one's belly button pokes out. Catherine Zeta-Jones both swathed in yards of fine material, and Eva Marie Saint A final word to mothers-to-be. wearing a "skirt suit" to accept an Academy Award in 1955, two days before her My experience tells me that no matter baby arrived. Currently encinta Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, is also MARGARET DICKSON, Conhow much you like your baby bump, you featured in a demure spring ensemble including a coat with her baby bump apparent tributing Writer, COMMENTS? are going to really, really love your baby! but hardly spotlighted. Editor@upandcomingweekly.com. Also included and still sensational is Demi Moore's cover shot for a 1991 issue of (9 1 0) 829-9 1 71 www.fascinate-u.com 1 1 6 Green Street JUNE EVENTS Who will be crowned? Sat., Jun 8: 11 - 1 "Make It Take It" - Father's Day Cards* Sat., June 1 5: 11-1 "Super Science" - Cricket Chirpers* Fri., June 28: 7-9 p.m. "Fourth Friday" - Patriotic Wind Streamers free admission during Fourth Friday Sat., June 1 & 1 5: 12-4 Come see the Trains. Cape Fear Model Railroad Club (free admission to the 3rd floor) *Free with museum admission or membership JUNE CAMPS: "Art & Children's Literature" Mini-camp for 4 and 5 year olds. June 1 1 - 14: 9:00 to 1 1:00 a.m. Half Day Camps for Rising 1-5 graders: June 24-28 "Ready, Set, Paint!" art camp & "Backyard Explorer" science camp Winners announced ed September er 18th! Daily Specials Breakfast Lunch Dinner Fresh Seafood Hand Cut Steaks Homemade Desserts Italian & Greek Children's Menu Banquet rooms available up to 100 guests WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM 484-0261 1304 Morganton Rd. Mon-Sat: 6am-10pm Sun: 7am-2:30 pm Serving Fayetteville Over 50 Years! JUNE 5-11, 2013 UCW 5