Bella Band Press

ePregnancy
Smooth Operator
August 2004


In 2001, at 4 months pregnant, Ingrid Carney was rushing out the door for an important meeting when disaster struck. “My belly popped out and I couldn’t fasten my pants!” Ingrid remembers. She had a few maternity suits ready, but she wasn’t big enough to fill them out yet. “I panicked and tried anything I could find,” she says. Safety pins were bulky, rubber bands were uncomfortable and folding the unfastened pants just looked sloppy. Finally, she grabbed a tube top and pulled it up over her hips. “It was too thick and my stomach looked bulky, but it worked,” she says. She un-tucked her top and headed to work.

A few weeks later, Ingrid realized that, though it wasn’t perfect, she had been wearing her tube-top accessory almost every day since she first tried it, and not just with pre-pregnancy clothes. “I was actually able to wear maternity clothes that I otherwise wouldn’t have filled at that stage of my pregnancy.”

Ingrid has stumbled upon a way to smooth the transition between months when regular-sized khakis don’t fit but maternity-pants are still huge. A year and a half (and one baby, Isabel) later, Ingrid started a maternity wear company, Ingrid & Isabel, to carry the Bella Band, a seamless, one-size-fits-most knit band that slips over unbuttoned pre-pregnancy pants or slightly big maternity pants. The Bella Band not only holds pants up, it also disguises bulky unfastened closures or excessive fabric to create a smooth belly surface. The best part? With seven colors to choose from, the Bella Band can peek out from under your top for a chic, layered look.