26 year-old Jessica Alba looks pregnant to me. I know I’m always calling celebrities pregnant, but in the last two cases, Nicole Richie and Cate Blanchett, I was right and well ahead of the tabloids. (Although I did call Nicole Kidman pregnant enough times for her to have had Irish twins by now.) At first I wrote this whole post making fun of Alba’s recent lack of style, but when I looked at the pictures closely I was struck by how much her lower stomach looks like it’s sticking out in this dress. It could just be the style of the dress, but I suspect she’s knocked up. Alba is currently reunited with her longterm boyfriend, Cash Warren, who was also at the premiere of Awake in NY last night.

Is Alba pregnant or did she fire her stylist? She was on TRL on Tuesday wearing a loose t-shirt and skirt outfit that Agent Bedhead said made her look “like the ditzy secretary who takes the ‘business-casual; notion way too literally.” Then last night she showed up at the premiere of her new film, Awake, wearing a black dress with scalloped lace detail and puffy cap sleeves. Her look is just perfect for that mid 80s prom she would have been crowned queen of if she was born 15 years earlier.

The dress even featured some odd gathered fabric tied around the stomach area that managed to make the super-thin Alba look pregnant, and she paired it with dark stockings! That dress makes it seem as if she’s got something to hide, like a bump or her natural beauty. When did Alba start dressing like a frump? Wasn’t she know for her excellent fashion on the red carpet? Alba is a b-movie actress who scored a gig presenting at the Oscars on looks and fashion. Take away the fashion and she starts to look plain.

Compare Alba to her co-star Hayden Christensen’s girlfriend, Rachel Bilson, who looks flawless apart from those huge double hoop earrings, which aren’t ridiculous so much as distracting. Her dress takes just enough risks to look daring without going over the top, and the bright diagonal swatches of color and slightly asymmetric bustline are striking. She matches a plain black belt with simple black heels and the result is gorgeous, like Jessica Alba used to look. Maybe Alba should call up Cate Blanchett and ask her how to maximize her style while trying to hide the growing evidence of a pregnancy. Just dressing uglier isn’t going to help, and it may lead to some false bump spottings, but we’ll have to wait and see.

Here are Jessica Alba, Hayden Christensen, and Rachel Bilson at the NY premiere of Awake. The film is a medical thriller about a man who wakes up during heart surgery but cannot move or speak. Here’s the trailer. Awake is out in the US on November 30th.

Thanks to PRPhotos and Splash News for these pictures.