At 27 weeks pregnant, I started a new job in NYC and went into the office on my third day. I didn’t tell anyone I was pregnant. I was lucky that I wasn’t showing like other friends of mine were around 27 weeks, but still, I had to hide my baby bump until I broke the news to my boss that I was expecting.

Believe it or not, I hid my baby bump for an entire day, and even helped out with manual labor (moving boxes) and going to a happy hour (drinking seltzer). NO ONE knew I was pregnant.

I have some helpful tips for you if you need to hide your baby bump, either around friends or family, or at work, and hopefully you can stay disguised as long as you need to.

Wear a fanny pack at your waist

Wearing a fanny pack was one of my homegrown hacks for hiding my baby bump going into my third trimester. This has to be done the right way, because if you wear a fanny pack below your baby bump, your bump will peek over it.

I suggest loosely wearing a fanny pack somewhere around your middle, to draw attention to the fanny pack itself (make it a cute one!) rather than your baby bump. Here, I’m wearing one of my favorite fanny packs for travel, and I took it on my babymoon.

I’ve become a pro at wearing a fanny pack on a daily basis, both as a “mommy bag” and as my minimal diaper bag nowadays when I’m out with my toddler.

I have a few choices here if you’re new to the waist bag idea:

I named my lululemon Everyday Belt Bag also as one of the best gifts for new moms, for quite a few reasons, so keep it in mind!

Wear a crossbody belt bag

Did I really just come up with the BEST pregnancy hack for hiding your baby bump, ever?

Just like the fanny pack idea, try donning a crossbody belt bag. Remember: try to avoid having the crossbody bag sit on your baby bump, which would make it protrude more. The idea is to have the crossbody bag be a pop of focus in your appearance, rather than drawing eyes to your baby in your belly region.

A very excellent choice of a crossbody bag is my oversized fanny pack from a brand called Canvelle. This crossbody belt bag is so spacious, and helpful, that I love having it in my life, and it’s the perfect way to be accessorizing and hiding a baby in there.

Check out the Canvelle Oversized Fanny Pack to be the focus of your front side, rather than your baby bump.

Wear black (this is an easy one)

I know this sounds too easy, but do this: wear black.

I went to a wedding at 8 months pregnant, and wore a long-sleeve black body-con dress, and basically had to hold my belly to point out that I was pregnant because no one was noticing. How is it that black hides EVERYTHING?

In the photo below, it was mid September (I gave birth at just short of 40 weeks, in mid December). I was between 6 and 7 months pregnant!

Dan and I went to a marketing event at the EDGE in NYC and barely anyone batted any eye that there was a pregnant woman in attendance. I had to overly state my non-alcoholic drink order because it was SO not obvious that I was pregnant!

Accessorize with a scarf

You’d be surprised what having a scarf around your neck and draping down to your mid-region can do for hiding a baby bump.

Check this out: Remember how I said I got a new job while pregnant? The day I went into my new job at a new office with new coworkers, I wore the following, to hide my baby bump:

  • My favorite blouse, which still had space in the mid-region
  • Maternity jeans (shh!)—the type that goes over-belly
  • One of my long-time favorite flowy scarves, just draped on my neck and dangling.

No one had the slightest idea I was pregnant and there was no way to figure it out. My baby bulge was hidden from plain sight and the distraction was perfect.

Wear loose shirts (also a simple tip)

This tip isn’t for everyone, because not everyone enjoys loose shirts. I did adopt the loose shirt hack for hiding a baby bump during my second trimester, though, because I had to hide my bump at work up until I told all the big bosses I was pregnant.

My best go-to for a loose shirt that was still cute was a tunic-style polyester shirt from H&M that nailed the loose and breezy blouse look.

To replicate the style, I recommend shopping around Quince’s women’s tops and blouses, as they make a lot of peasant blouses and silk tops that leave room for space and don’t draw attention to the middle of your body.

Here’s a photo of me during my second trimester looking totally not pregnant, despite being in my fifth month. It’s amazing what a simple polyester tank or top can do.

Wear maxi dresses in spring, summer and fall

Another time when I wasn’t even trying to hide my baby bump, but wound up hiding it anyway, was when I went to a bridal shower in one of my all-time coolest maxi dresses, and it turned out to be a style that hid everything.

I think my best suggestion is to be wary of maxi dresses that cut off or flow out right below the bust, as these will actually accentuate the bump and where it starts.

If you want to really hide the bump in the flow of a maxi dress, wear styles that fit the form in a bit more of your torso, so that attention is drawn away from where the baby bump starts and ends.

In fall and winter, keep a zip-up hoodie handy

A zip-up hooded sweatshirt hides a lot. That’s because even when they’re zipped up, they tend to bunch at the belly region, and when that happens, no one’s first thought is, “Oh, you’re pregnant.”

I took a zip-up hoodie (my favorite one) on our babymoon trip at 25 weeks pregnant, and when I had it zipped up, you could barely tell I was pregnant. I wasn’t trying to hide it from anyone, but it turned out to be a convenient way to stay warm and cozy, all while going incognito as a pregnant lady.

In this photo, I’m 25 weeks pregnant! I’m not really trying to hide it in this photo because I was about to announce my pregnancy online.

Style shirts with a French tuck

What’s a French tuck? It’s that natural way to tuck in and tuck out a shirt when you have it tucked in the front, and “tucked out” in the back.

I’ve always used this trick if I’m bloated or if I wind up wearing pants that are too small and a shirt that runs loose. It works great for hiding a baby bump, especially if you’re wearing mid-rise jeans (that still fit) and a shirt that does not have buttons.

Avoid shirts with buttons

Something about button-down shirts draws the eyes of others toward your center and your middle. It’s where someone might notice that your button-down is sitting a little higher over your baby bump.

There is an easy way to still wear buttoned styles, though! Here’s what I did: I wore tunic-style shirts with buttons that only went down to the chest. This kept the focus on the upper half of my body, if I was seated across from someone, or at a social gathering.

Use layers in fall and winter

We went to an engagement party when I was 8 months pregnant and it was outside, so I was able to hide my baby bump and avoid being the “pregnant woman at the party.” I wore an open peacoat, an open cardigan underneath, and a layered scarf. I told my news only to those I was close to, and felt the stress melt away!

Other cute styles for doing fall and winter layers to hide a baby bump are open leather jackets or faux leather jackets that have a lot of edges, zippers and snaps. These are perfect for distraction from the mid-region.

Wear great jewelry

While I’m not hyper into jewelry, I do enjoy big hoop earrings, big gold necklaces and cool rings every now and then. As it turns out, using flashy jewelry to draw attention up toward your face or upper chest, rather than your mid-region, is a popular way to disguise a baby bump.

If you see here, I’m wearing a chunky stone necklace and piled my hair up high to draw all the attention in my look to my face and neck.

Hold a clutch or wristlet

One more thing that’s part of this list of tips: use a clutch or wristlet purse. Yes! It’s the perfect way to go to a wedding, cocktail party, happy hour or social event and have an accessory that you can constantly hold over your middle.

In this photo, we’re at a wedding two months before I gave birth, and with the combination of a little black dress and a sparkly gold clutch, who could tell I was pregnant? It wasn’t that I was trying to hide it at all—quite the contrary—this fashion combo just happened to work out great for hiding a pregnancy belly.

If you’re looking for a fresh (and timeless) clutch or wristlet, I recommend Quince’s collection of convertible crossbody clutches and more. Remember that bolder and brighter is better!