Fashion statement

Maternity clothes aren't nearly as bad now as they've been in the past. In fact, there are lots of trendy or stylish options, both affordable (Old Navy jeans for $28) and outrageous (True Religion jeans for $280). However, there seem to be several tried-and-true "rules" that maternity clothing makers follow:

• Pregnant women must wear 3/4 length sleeves. I don't know why this is. Are we more susceptible to getting long sleeves caught in paper shredders or something?
• We are either short, or short-legged. Most of my maternity pants hover an inch or so above the top of my foot. They looked OK when I was wearing sandals, but now that I'm into shoes/boots season they are starting to look funny.
• We like hoodies. Take anything, put a hood on it, and it's stylish maternity wear. Sweaters, t-shirts, blouses, tank tops, cardigans...anything is fair game.
• We can't handle things like zippers, buttons and pockets in our pants. Actually, there are some trendier "low-rise" pants that sit under your belly and include a tiny zipper-like thing and buttons, but they sit so far under your belly you can't see (or reach) them to use them easily. This is probably why most don't have zippers or buttons...but why not pockets?
• We want to show off our new shape. It's not enough to show off our bellies -- we also want to wear deep plunging v-necks to show off our cleavage. Because there's nothing like a bit of sexy to spice up a pregnant woman's wardrobe.
• We like matching pant sets. I can't say I've actually purchased or worn any of these, but I see them everywhere. I thought only grandmas wore them, but apparently pregnant women love them.

I'm looking forward to getting back into my regular wardrobe...