Expecting...and Demanding

They’re pregnant, they’re stylish and they’re not going to take it anymore.

Whether the women are high-powered business executives or high-profile fashion editors, these mothers-to-be are redefining maternity clothing now and for the future.

Their tools? Ingenuity, the Internet and their experiences as balloon-bellied women.

With their chic wardrobes shelved, these 30-something women waddled through department and maternity stores searching for clothes that would fit their bodies, their self-image and their budget. Their dissatisfaction was more frightening than colicky triplets.

“I have this mantra--just because you’re pregnant doesn’t mean you lose your sense of style,” said Laurie McCartney, who this month will launch Babystyle, a Web site for maternity and baby clothing.

McCartney, a Santa Monica resident, was pregnant with her now 6 1/2-month-old son when she left an executive position with the strategic planning group at Walt Disney Co. to start her own business. The pregnancy proved to be great inspiration.

“I was trying to fit the pregnancy into my lifestyle. I was trekking from store to store trying to find maternity clothes. There wasn’t a lot of stuff out there,” the Harvard Business School graduate said. McCartney decided that a Web site could centralize the shopping experience, particularly for time-starved parents or for people who live in remote areas.

“Lots of women have trouble finding things that work for them on an everyday basis, but it’s even harder for them when they’re pregnant,” she said. Her Web site will feature popular brands such as Japanese Weekend, Belly Basics and L’Attesa.

Jennifer Noonan also was disappointed in the selections at most maternity stores. The former entertainment industry publicist was nine months pregnant when she opened her Calabasas maternity store, Naissance, in November. She stocked it with the style of clothing that she had personally wear-tested throughout her pregnancy. Then she built her store to look like a chic boutique full of casual capri pants, sporty track pants and even rental leather evening gowns.

“I went out and did for the store what I was doing for myself,” Noonan said. The store carries some non-maternity items, such as caftan dresses and full-cut shirts, that can function as maternity wear and then as transition clothing post-birth.

Her customers confirm her experience with their desire for edgier clothes engineered for the pregnant body.

“Unless you stay a size 2 and have a little belly, you can’t stay in normal-size clothes,” Noonan said. She stocks a range of brands, but only items that match her vision. Sometimes, that has meant she buys a manufacturer’s samples or requests special orders.

She recently met fashion designer Marilyn Pachasa Robinson of Los Angeles, who created the new Belly Beautiful line. Robinson delivered her second child a year ago and the first Belly Beautiful collection this spring.

“When I was pregnant with my second child, I went to stores that weren’t maternity and tried to squeeze into things. When you get really big, you can’t keep doing that,” Robinson said. “Normal clothes hike up in the front, or they’re too tight in the hips.” Her experience, combined with a desire to establish her own clothing line, brought Belly Beautiful to fruition. The clothes are made with clever tummy gathers, or panels and stretchy fabrics such as mesh, denim and jersey that last a woman throughout her pregnancy. The tunics, pants, dresses and shirts coordinate to create a wardrobe of mixable separates. Tops sell for $60 to $120, pants, $75 to $100, and dresses, $120 and up.

“There’s a whole market for maternity clothes that are hip and happening,” said Noonan, who carries Belly Beautiful in her store. Robinson and Noonan are developing separate Web sites to make their clothes available nationwide. They also hope to attract pregnant women who once shunned maternity clothes and stores. The two believe more fashion-oriented maternity stores can provide style and save time. Customer Jenifer Lass of Calabasas is a typical case.

“When I was pregnant with my first child, I wouldn’t go into maternity stores. But toward the end of my pregnancy, my clothes didn’t fit,” she said. Now expecting a second child, Lass has learned to buy maternity clothes that will last her until the baby is born.

Still, many stylish women find it’s psychologically and financially helpful to blend non-maternity clothes into their wardrobes.

Sally Singer, the six-months-pregnant fashion director of New York magazine, has been raiding menswear stores and flea markets for the latest trendy looks.

“I’m very happy that I got pregnant during the season of the drawstring trousers,” Singer said. Her latest favorites: men’s drawstring pants at Old Navy and Club Monaco’s boxy men’s sweaters.

“What drives me crazy is when I read tips from women who are size 4, and they say to buy a size 6 dress from Bill Blass,” Singer said.

She, however, has been spending $50 or less for items that will work into her wardrobe, pregnant or not. So far, her best pieces are bias-cut 1930s slipdresses for evening wear, a patchwork suede wrap skirt for this season’s Bohemian look, and a $15 Indonesian embroidered batik caftan.

“It’s someone’s summer of love nightmare creation. I’ll wear it with a pair of Jesus sandals. It’s the ‘Hideous Kinky’ look,” she said.

She’s decided that proportion is the key to looking good.

“If you wear a full caftany-type dress to the knee, you won’t look huge because your legs will show and give you a thinner balance. Wear a big sloppy dress to mid-calf and you’ll look huge,” Singer said.

In pregnancy, the legs are the last thing to go, according to Lori Newman, a partner with fashion public relations firm Schneider / Newman. She is expecting her second child in July.

Her favorite look is a big top over a pair of leggings.

“It makes your legs look skinny. It’s important that you’re skinny somewhere,” Newman said. “I find the stuff that is really oversized makes you look bigger.” Up until last month, she was wearing a stretchy empire-waist swimsuit cover-up dress by WearAbouts.

“But I’m really small--5-foot-2 and 105 pounds--so I can just buy things a size up. I think for small people it’s easier. One of my friends is 5-foot-8, and she couldn’t find anything. She had to wear maternity right away,” Newman said.

Fiona Hellwarth, an advertising sales manager for Mademoiselle magazine, scoured discounters for items that would look professional but fashionable.

She’s built a wardrobe around a tailored jacket, leggings and maternity bootleg-cut pants.

“I went to Loehmann’s and got some size 14 blazers and had the sleeves tailored up. I’m normally a 6 or an 8. It didn’t look too maternity,” she said. “The good news is that being in the fashion business, you have a little more leeway.”

In more conservative environments, the fashion experts agree: Stick with nicely tailored jackets, skirts and pants.

Hellwarth, like most fashion professionals, relies on black basics. But for the woman who prefers classic styles in current colors, the challenge is often greater. Just ask Vogue magazine fashion news director Katherine Betts, who is expecting her first child in June. Betts is known for her classic silhouette and high-heeled pumps.

“There are no straight lines anymore. It’s all curves,” she lamented. “I tried to resist the whole maternity clothes ordeal as long as possible. But you get to a point where you realize there is no way around it.” While covering the Milan collections in March, she found a designer dress that worked--a peasant-style, empire-waist Gucci.

Her favorite find is the new Liz Lange maternity collection, which is sold at Lange’s Lexington Avenue boutique in Manhattan and on her Web site (https://www.lizlange.com). The collection includes pencil skirts, slim pants, boat-neck silk dresses and stretch cotton jackets, all with high-quality fabric and classic styling.

Betts also was able to live every pregnant woman’s fantasy-- she called up a famous designer. Narciso Rodriguez agreed to make her an evening gown in her new proportions. The bad part?

“I had to measure myself, which was really depressing,” Betts said.

But many pregnant women cope with their changing images by shifting their focus. Betts is buying shoes. Noonan, of Naissance, started wearing fun necklaces and earrings. Singer of New York magazine recalled the habits of two pregnant former co-workers at British Vogue.

“They had people do their makeup when they went out at night,” Singer said. “They felt their faces had to be perfect. One of them always had her hair blown out. The whole point was that from the neck up, they were going to be perfect.”

Valli Herman-Cohen can be reached by e-mail at socalliving@latimes.com.

For more on maternity clothes, see Sunday’s Los Angeles Times Magazine.