The Mom Pooch: Why Hiding It Doesn't Work (and What Does)

Let's talk about the mom pooch.

I know it's a hot topic. It's the thing women bring up every time they try something on. "I just want to hide this." But I'll be real with you…There is no one secret to hiding the mom pooch.

I've been following some of the reels that show you ways to hide it. If you really study the reel, the girl starts in something unflattering with no makeup. Then the camera switches. New makeup, new background, new pose. If she stayed in the exact same pose with the exact same background, I'd believe it a little more. Ultimately, it's about where she's drawing the eye.

I wish I could give you one pant. One top. One trick that works for everyone. But it doesn't exist.

Every BODY is different. And every mom pooch is different. Some sit high. Some sit low. Some come with a short torso. Some come with a long one. A high waisted pant flatters one pooch and makes another pop out more. The same pair of jeans looks completely different on two women in the same size.

That's why social media doesn't quite work unless you have the exact same body type and proportions as the girl in the reel, which is highly unlikely. The reel is made for a body that isn't yours.

And no, I'm not telling you to embrace your pooch. You won't hear "just love your body" from me. That's not styling. That's a slogan. Here's what I believe:

The pooch is there.

You can't hide it, and you don't need to celebrate it either.

You just have to stop bringing attention to it.

People look where you tell them to look.

This is the whole thing. 🙌 This is what I teach. Styling isn't about hiding. It's about redirecting the eye. We can't change our bodies, but we decide where the eye goes. Your legs. Your shoulders. Your waist. Your face. Everyone has something they like. Style toward that.

The long top

We think wearing a longer top will solve it. But if it ends at your hips, which for most women is the widest part of the body, the eye goes straight there. Now you look wider, not smaller. So why do brands design them to end in the worst possible place? 🙄 Stop it a few inches above your widest point or just past it. Never right on it. Where a top ends matters more than how loose it is. But this doesn't mean you need new tops. Try tucking them in first. A side tuck moves the hem off your hip and shows a little shape without clinging. I linked my favorite tuck guide at the bottom. And we're not flat cardboard cutouts. We're three dimensional. A top might look right facing the mirror, but turn to the side. That long top is making the pooch stick out further. Attention influencers…show me the side views on the reels. That'll make me believe it.

The oversized everything

Loose on top, loose on the bottom. You think it skims. It actually adds volume everywhere. Your whole shape disappears into fabric. And let me tell you, fabric plays a very big part in redirecting the eye. Stay away from garbage rayon or viscose. Go for something with structure, like a cotton button down that doesn't collapse on your body. Or a rigid pant fabric without stretch, oversized, but not tight. Give it structure somewhere. A jacket with shape. A defined shoulder. A tucked front. One structured piece gives the eye something to land on.

The high rise

The high rise gets sold as the answer to everything. It isn't. A lot of the time it makes the mom pooch worse. High rise, mid rise, low rise. There's no rule here. Try them all on and look honestly. Mid rise works for a lot of moms and nobody tells them.

The dark middle

Black on the stomach and nothing interesting anywhere else. With no focal point, the eye wanders. And it wanders to the place you're worried about. Bring the eye up instead. A good neckline. A great necklace or earrings. A color near your face. Now people look at you, not your middle.

The shapewear

You can spend your money on it for an occasion dress, but you don’t really need it. Give your whooha some air and let your body be. Shapewear is usually made of terrible synthetics and just redistributes your fat. It’s still there, but now sticking out in a different area. Why do all this work and sit in discomfort when you can just be free in regular clothes and not worry about it? Plus don’t you want to pee normally?

The tugging

You pull at the hem. You adjust the waistband. You cross your arms when you sit. Every one of those moves tells people exactly where to look. Fit it right once, then forget it.

The goal isn't to think about your pooch all day. The goal is to get dressed and STOP thinking about it. When clothes fit your proportions, you stop adjusting. You stop tugging. You stop checking the mirror in every store window. You just go live your life. Not loving every inch. Just not being distracted by it.

Stop styling the pooch. Start styling you.

The side tuck guide I mentioned: how to tuck in a shirt

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