Britney Spears is known for exposing her belly, but when earlier this summer she bared her pregnant tummy in an outfit that consisted of a bra top and a low-slung skirt, tongues wagged.

Spears was then photographed July 10 at the premiere of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" wearing an aqua T-shirt announcing "I have the golden ticket, " with an arrow pointing toward the baby in her tummy.

Tacky? Cute? How are fashion observers and fans weighing in on the public displays of motherhood?

"It's just gross," says Kelley McConnell, who's expecting her first child in November. "Then again, she's in her early 20s, and I'm 36 years old."

"We're completely behind seeing pregnancy as a beautiful thing, but not to the revealing extreme Britney has taken it," says Janci Frisby, one of the owners of Belly maternity wear store in Denver.

"Many of the women we dress are young, hipster moms, and we also dress newscasters, artists, judges and doctors," says Frisby. "They all show their form off now, but they're not naked."

Frisby viewed Spears' belly-baring as "fairly tasteless," adding, "I don't know who can get away with that."

Julia Beck, founder of Forty Weeks (http://www.fortyweeks.com), a marketing company catering to companies selling maternity and child products and services, is more diplomatic. She views Spears' maternity mode as an extension of the celebrity's Bohemian, offbeat style but thinks Spears' appearance could be improved with less bareness and more layering.

"I thought the T-shirt was fun, expressive and youthful," Beck says. "She has stayed in the quintessential Britney look - wearing gauzy fabrics and peasant skirts, and a lot of lingerie cuts.

"There are a lot of ways to be super feminine and sexy without going for broke," adds Beck, citing Jennifer Garner and Heidi Klum as other celebrities who have looked fashionable during their pregnancies.

Beck recommends Spears and other expectant mothers look at how they support their new figure and wear tank tops with shelf bras. Layering with shrugs and ponchos are good ways to finish an outfit, she adds.

It's also a good idea to focus attention on the upper part of their body by wearing halter-type necklines.

"Most women are flattered by it because your shoulders don't change at all when you're pregnant, and your breasts and arms still look good," Beck says.

Women don't have to abandon the style they're used to when they get pregnant, because designers and manufacturers are translating current trends into maternity wear, say retailers and fashion observers.

And in many cases, women find the labels they love offering maternity wear.

"We have maternity jeans by Earl, Citizens for Humanity and Seven," Frisby says. "Diane von Furstenberg and Chaiken also have separate maternity lines."

Then again, some women find their changing figures give them a license to experiment, says Frisby, who has three children. "They feel the freedom to do it. I don't normally wear strapless tops, but when I was pregnant with my twins, I loved stretchy strapless tops over jeans."