What to wear to a baby shower

By Catalogs Editorial Staff

What is considered proper attire for a baby shower?

What to wear to a baby shower depends entirely on whether the affair is formal or casual and where and what time of day it is being held. As a rule of thumb, if cocktails are being served, ?dressy casual? will always work. When selecting an outfit, if you know that baby games will be played at the event, pick something that will enable you to move around easily. (Tight skirts and stiletto heels are no-nos here).

Sometimes, you can get a clue as to what to wear to a baby shower from the invitation; if it is gilded with fancy engraving, go for pearls and cashmere; if it is on plain paper advertising a backyard barbecue affair, stick with blue jeans and a nice sweater. For showers that take place after work, choose corporate casual, as most people will be in work attire. Find out what other people are wearing so that you can make an intelligent decision about what to wear to a baby shower.

Rely on the common sense you were born with, but if that fails, read on and consider some of these ideas.

What to wear to a baby shower

1- Daytime baby showers

If a group of friends are meeting somewhere for coffee and exchanging gifts, there?s no need to worry about wearing anything fancy at all (although attire of some kind is required)! For daytime showers, you would not consider wearing something flowing and strapless, but you do want to look as if you dressed for the occasion. One question to ask yourself is: Would I wear this dress to attend religious services? If the answer is no, keep looking because you aren?t there yet.

2- Evening baby showers

Even though you might be tempted, when attending an evening baby shower, do not wear sexy party clothes. (Save them for another, hotter evening.) Conservative is the key here, both for makeup and dress. Your dress should cover your shoulders, cleavage and most of your legs above the knee.

3- Attire for the guest of honor

For the mommy-to-be, chances are any dress in her closet will not fit due to the work in progress occurring inside of her. A loose-fitting maternity dress and comfortable shoes are perfect for the occasion. The point is to make her feel better and distract her from all of her body parts that are ten times the size they used to be!

If it still isn?t clear to you what to wear to a baby shower, it?s better to simply ask advice from the host or hostess. Be careful about calling the expectant parents, for the shower may be a surprise and you don?t want to be the one to ruin it!

When deciding what to wear to a baby shower, remember that you can never go wrong by giving your outfit some thought. Your mind does have the answer, although it may be temporarily cluttered with odd colors, patterns and low cut things.

Happy baby shower!