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PREGNANCY WITH PANACHE

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Dana and Marcelo Rosen are on the retail side of the fashion apparel fence. They attend the seasonal markets and keep tabs on the latest trends to bring home to their customers. Occasionally, they design clothes themselves. But one thing separates the Rosens from most fashion retailers: they specialize in clothes for pregnant women.

While trends have come and gone, maternitywear has been a forgotten fashion, mired in stretch elastic and cute little bows. The maternitywear problem has traditionally been something of a Catch 22. Pregnant women don’t want to spend too much on clothes that, presumably, they never want to see again, and designers and manufacturers haven’t had much incentive to design creative and fashion-forward clothes for pregnant women. The tent dresses of yesteryear just weren’t right for the boardroom and most dress-for-success suits didn’t come with expanding waistlines.

Dana Rosen found out firsthand how fashion bare her closets were when she was pregnant with her second child, Whitney. She and husband Marcelo turned her dilemma into a blueprint for a new retail venture: current season fashions for pregnant women. They named their concept A Pea In The Pod and launched their first store in Houston three years ago this month. The Dallas store at 7815 Inwood Road followed in November 1984. Since then, spinoffs have opened in Chicago and Atlanta. Ultimately, the couple plans to open forty maternitywear stores across the country.

The clothes aren’t cheap, ’It’s investment dressing,” says Dana, explaining that all of the store’s clothing can be altered after the baby arrives. “We provide a sense of fashion, allowing the pregnant woman to dress the same way before, during, and after pregnancy. Our goal is to dress women so that they can go from driving the car pool to the boardroom to the evening gala.”

A survey of the store reveals a share of the frilly, lacy-looking dresses that are usually associated with maternitywear but also a diverse selection of professional suit looks and dressy evening dresses. Sometimes even maternitywear can be too fashion-forward, says Dana, who had customers asking for stirrup pants two seasons after they were in vogue. “Now, it’s leggings,” says Dana.

The Rosens hope that one day fashions for pregnant women will be integrated into the whole picture of current fashions and not treated as a stepchild of the business.

Marcelo loves his status as the resident male in the business. In fact, he’s often asked for his opinion by customers. “A woman will still want to look sexy when she is pregnant,” he says. “Often, a woman will want a man’s viewpoint. She wants to feel secure that she still looks good.”

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