MetroMom Amy Koch
Amy Tara Koch is a Mom of 2, author and trend reporter for NBC and contributor to Town & Country, The New York Times, The New York Observer, Travel & Leisure, American Way, Self, Daily Candy, Chicago Tribune, NPR and Huffington Post. Her new book, Bump It Up: Transforming Your Pregnancy Into The Ultimate Style Statement, will be released this spring.


MM - What led you to write Bump it Up?

A career fashionista, I assumed that my pregnancy would follow in the chic, minimally swollen footsteps of Gwen and Madonna. As first trimester bloatage accumulated, I hit my local chain maternity store. Leaning on a rack of jewel neck ONE HOT MAMA tees, my jaw hit the ground. Where were the sportif strapless dresses sported by Gwen? JLo’s va va voom bejeweled shifts? The pricey drawstring pants, drab button downs and decidedly non Tory Burch tunics were simply not the look that I had in mind. Nausea—of a fashion origin-washed over me. I waddled out to Starbucks and pondered my fashion future. How, oh how could I let my finely honed fashion identity be eradicated by leisure wear? An epiphany materialized over my chai tea. Forget investing my unborn child’s college tuition on a full blown maternity wardrobe. Those bump savvy celebs that I had been obsessing over had mastered the high art of mix and match fertility fashion; a combination of must have maternity with easy civilian silhouettes that embraced and enhanced the bump. And, a liberal dose of hard core accessories. I reworked my existing wardrobe. Skinny jeans and skimpy tops were packed away; empire waist dresses, tunics and other bump friendly silhouettes were positioned front and center. I borrowed maternity and non maternity from friends. I cast Pucci-esque innerwear as outwear, skirts as dresses and chain belts as necklaces. I revisited seasons’ old wrap dresses and off the wall knits from storage. I raided Grandma’s closet for Jackie-O scarves and quirky accents like Peruvian coin belts and carved jade pendants. Loathing the idea of spending a lot of money on clothing with a nine month shelf life, I became a master of rotation investing only in core maternity items. I researched maternity boutiques that reflected my style invested in one pair of designer pregnancy jeans, a chic maternity pencil skirt and one pair of multitasking black trousers. I bought a multi-tasking loose above-the knee black dress that could be paired with flats and a sweater or tights, boots and a Chanel tweed jacket. From hubby, I snagged crisp white dress shirts to belt with leggings. I amped up these pieces from basic to baroque with drapey sweaters, colorful knits and easy jackets that could be worn during pregnancy and afterwards. I took risks and had a blast. People loved my glammy high/low look. Pregnant women would stop me in the street to ask me where I bought X,Y and Z. When I shared my fashion formula, everyone suggested that I write a book on how to women can build a dozen looks with a basic maternity wardrobe and statement accessories. When I brought up the book idea with colleagues in the fashion and beauty industry, women began to share both their tips for maintaining their fashion identity during pregnancy and solutions for common problems. Once designers began offering to create unique line drawings of fabulous -and –easy- to- mirror maternity looks for the book, I knew that I was on to something big. Since beginning the proposal, scores of pregnant women pleaded with me to rush the process so that they could buy the book. Non-pregnant friends want it for congrats gift for knocked up friend and family.  


MM - Looking back, Did you have reasonable expectations about writing and promoting Bump it Up?

Over caffeinated and type A, My expectations are always off the charts. I wanted to create the What To Expect When You're Expecting for the style set. But the work load was far more intense than I could have anticipated. It sounds so simple…”she wrote a book.” But the process of getting an agent, writing a proposal, rewriting the proposal, selling the book, securing 20 top tier designers to do original fashion sketches for the book, finding and managing a fashion illustrator to bring my concept to life, selling the concept and writing the book is a full time job. Then, I came up with all of the marketing ideas and designed my own tour!


MM - How do you balance work and motherhood?

It is really hard. These days, my bffs are acupuncture, massage and Pinot Noir!! As a free wheeling fashion gal, accepting that spontaneity is not an option in the lifestyle of a working mom has been hard. Some tips? 1.SUPER ORGANIZED It is key to be super organized and have an excellent nanny. 2. COOK IN BULK I cook for 3 hours every Sunday so we have food for the week. No matter how hard I am working, we have family dinners 5 nights out of the week. 3.MAKE ME TIME Since having children, my creative process peaks in the morning. So, I get up early to nurse my coffee and have some me time before going to work. 4. TAG TEAM WITH OTHER BUSY PARENTS I have great relationships with other parents so we can swap pick up from activities for the kids. 5. INVOLVE KIDS IN YOUR WORK I also get my kids excited about what I do so they love to come to my office when I have to work on weekends.6. TRY TO EXERCISE it is tough but I try to get to the gym twice a week. If I cant, I do lunges in front of the TODAY show! 3. What advice do you give to expecting moms on style? Style is about mixing and matching compelling accent pieces, not piling on expensive brand names. Armed with the basics and a flair for the dramatic, pregnant women can create maximum style with a minimum investment in maternity specific clothing. I advise women to strategically invest in multi-tasking flowy (maternity and non) silhouettes (which are outlined in the book) and “bump up” this UNIFORM (or, in editor parlance, "super-accessorizing") with what I call ADD ONS and WOW FACTOR. Such a style strategy will transform a handful of basics into dozens of jaw dropping preggo ensembles. Here’s the formula: • Craft your anchor outfits to function as THE UNIFORM (4 to 5 easy and flattering silhouettes comprised of maternity and non maternity basics: a bias cut jersey dress, a black empire waist dress, the black pencil skirt, jeans, long, black tank top, a navy shirt dress) • Enhance the uniform with dazzling ADD ONS ( punchy shawls, swingy print jackets, a deconstructed knit cardi-coat) • Inject your look with WOW FACTOR (fabulous accessories like gold bangles, tribal beads, cocktail rings, exotic belts, colorful scarves, hot pink kitten heels)

MM - What is your parenting motto?

ASK DADDY!!!