• Modern Floral Print Dress: Gap Maternity via Gap.com
• Red Cardigan: Vintage Michael Kors, mommed
• Pearls: inherited from mom on my wedding day
• Brown Peep-Toe Wedges: Naturalizer via Amazon.com

With only ten-ish (or should I say, somewhere between seven and 11.3) weeks to go in my pregnancy, I’m pretty much done acquiring new maternity items, but I made an exception for this dress from Gap’s maternity line. Interestingly enough, it’s actually the first floral dress I’ve owned in my adult life, though I realize this is a pretty tame sort of floral. It’s really floral mated with Andy Warhol’s Marilyns . . . though that could be stretching things a bit.

Abstract comparisons aside, I love the mix of elements here: the demure, ladylike florals and pearls with the modern wedge heels and the bold red cardigan. The woven fabric is a little outside my typical wheelhouse of bump-hugging attire; even with the waist definition provided by the tie belt, it conceals a little more of what lies beneath than I’m used to. This isn’t an outfit that celebrates or emphasizes the “me” “beneath” my pregnant state, but I appreciated all the ways it wasn’t one of those. Instead, it represents the more creative and experimental side of my pregnancy style: the part of me that tries new things and pushes outside my comfort zone, and that makes the most of dressing a changing body with playful attempts at new proportions and a slightly irreverent approach. And at seven-plus months pregnant in 90-degree-plus heat, that may well be a side I’d do well to continue to cultivate!

I’m curious, though: what do you think about the explosion of florals this spring, particularly in office-oriented looks? How do you feel about the messages florals may or may not convey about gender, power and authority? Are those implications different for a pregnant gal?