Clothing as embodied gestation: The affects of re-worn maternity wear

As pregnant women are faced with consumptive pressures, the cultural practice of wearing used garments from a previous pregnancy creates a meaningful alternative that circulates outside of the economic fashion system and increasingly within it. This study explores how garments become assembled with mothers and children to create carework that is then carried from one pregnancy to the next. Five pregnant women in the United States between 20 and 30 weeks gestation were recruited to wear a previously worn maternity garment and record their reflections throughout growth. From this research, we find that maternity garments become entangled with mothers, foetus, partners, extended family members, friends and other non-human bodies. Affective traces were present in each garment, acting as intimate reminders of the kinship between gestational experiences. Physical signs of wear, such as holes, fabric stretch and aromas of breast milk, remind mothers of other pregnant narratives. Findings indicate that the liveliness of maternity garments imbues support during the pregnancy period, providing further context to conceptualize the dressedbody and potentials of material culture.