The majority of maternity clothing is far from exciting, my friend recently described the high street choices as 'dull casual office wear'. There seems to be a gap in the maternity clothing market, it is either elaborate party wear or plain functional work wear, in most cases they are usually both extremely overpriced.
Besides being absurdly expensive I find maternity clothing sizes to be quite unpredictable. I purchased a body con skirt, size 8/10 from Moda Mothercare and even in my 6 month bump it was 3 times too big. I am over 8 months now and it is still just too big... 'body-con' my bum!
Below are a few pointers that may help both women on a budget or women just wanting something with a bit more flair.
1- First port of call, and most obvious place would be eBay, type in 'maternity lot', or 'maternity bundle'. I grabbed some ace bargains that way! I managed to get a bag of 20 pieces most of which were all in season, it came to about £4! The were based far away and refused to post so I asked my Mother to pick up the bag for me as she lived near by to the seller. Most of the items are lush and I still haven't had chance to wear all of them as of yet!
Another trick is to sell items you may not deem as 'mothery material', or items of which need to go to make space for all the baby stuff, trade in for some staple maternity classics.
2- ASOS has a clearance section which can offer some neat bargains. Maternity or not!
3- Most vintage clothes have high waist/empire seams, great to wear above the bump, watch out with vintage sizing though, us ladies were a bit more petite those many moons ago!
4- Most 'maternity' items are not maternity specific, its mainly items sold as comfort wear, you see a lot of Waterfall cardigans for instance, with a massive mark up because they happen to have 'maternity' labelled onto them. The same is to be said of the high street maxi dress as the in trend maxi seems to be made of out jersey material, but the maternity ones are sold for a premium price.
5- Jersey! It's cropped up already, anything cottony and stretchy will probably be your lifesaver over the next few months, not those designer maternity jeans! (-speaking of which every pair I have purchased have caused me massive discomfort around the bottom of my bump when sat down... I despise the things!)
6 - American apparel, they are quite unique in that their ranges sell in both maternity and non maternity ranges. Their maternity section is a collection of products that accommodate to both. Try to bear this in mind when looking at the price tag, though as admittidly, the prices are a wee bit steep... I purchased a body-con pencil skirt at the start of my second trimseter, I have been wearing it through out my pregnancy without any hassle, because of the density and nature of the fabrics they use in the body-con items meant that my ever growing bump was always left supported, it has been my staple piece of clothing ever since I nabbed it. It supports me and looks great, I will rocking this skirt pre and post natal.
7- Speaking of investments, ther
e are certain things on the market I would reccomend that may deem a bit pricey such as the above, but items do what they are supposed to. The Mama Spanx tights for instance offer great support aswell as lasting that bit longer than regular tights. I have tried other highstreet maternity tights and they just don't cut it, buying these to begin with may actually save you some pennies.
8- Most of your clothes can be revised to fit around your ever changing figure, there are lots of great guides online. DIY Maternity has a great range of projects suiting to advance to novice sewers!
9- The empire strikes back! Well no, not really, but one trick I love is typing in empire into eBay/wherever and finding empire seamed clothing which can be worn as maternity wear without the insane price tag
10- Many people forgo this item, diving in for nursing bras or larger bras, but a good maternity bra will save you from discomfort and not to mention potential stretchmarks. My boobs feel great!
Besides being absurdly expensive I find maternity clothing sizes to be quite unpredictable. I purchased a body con skirt, size 8/10 from Moda Mothercare and even in my 6 month bump it was 3 times too big. I am over 8 months now and it is still just too big... 'body-con' my bum!
Below are a few pointers that may help both women on a budget or women just wanting something with a bit more flair.
1- First port of call, and most obvious place would be eBay, type in 'maternity lot', or 'maternity bundle'. I grabbed some ace bargains that way! I managed to get a bag of 20 pieces most of which were all in season, it came to about £4! The were based far away and refused to post so I asked my Mother to pick up the bag for me as she lived near by to the seller. Most of the items are lush and I still haven't had chance to wear all of them as of yet!
Another trick is to sell items you may not deem as 'mothery material', or items of which need to go to make space for all the baby stuff, trade in for some staple maternity classics.
2- ASOS has a clearance section which can offer some neat bargains. Maternity or not!
3- Most vintage clothes have high waist/empire seams, great to wear above the bump, watch out with vintage sizing though, us ladies were a bit more petite those many moons ago!
5- Jersey! It's cropped up already, anything cottony and stretchy will probably be your lifesaver over the next few months, not those designer maternity jeans! (-speaking of which every pair I have purchased have caused me massive discomfort around the bottom of my bump when sat down... I despise the things!)
6 - American apparel, they are quite unique in that their ranges sell in both maternity and non maternity ranges. Their maternity section is a collection of products that accommodate to both. Try to bear this in mind when looking at the price tag, though as admittidly, the prices are a wee bit steep... I purchased a body-con pencil skirt at the start of my second trimseter, I have been wearing it through out my pregnancy without any hassle, because of the density and nature of the fabrics they use in the body-con items meant that my ever growing bump was always left supported, it has been my staple piece of clothing ever since I nabbed it. It supports me and looks great, I will rocking this skirt pre and post natal.7- Speaking of investments, ther
e are certain things on the market I would reccomend that may deem a bit pricey such as the above, but items do what they are supposed to. The Mama Spanx tights for instance offer great support aswell as lasting that bit longer than regular tights. I have tried other highstreet maternity tights and they just don't cut it, buying these to begin with may actually save you some pennies.8- Most of your clothes can be revised to fit around your ever changing figure, there are lots of great guides online. DIY Maternity has a great range of projects suiting to advance to novice sewers!
9- The empire strikes back! Well no, not really, but one trick I love is typing in empire into eBay/wherever and finding empire seamed clothing which can be worn as maternity wear without the insane price tag
10- Many people forgo this item, diving in for nursing bras or larger bras, but a good maternity bra will save you from discomfort and not to mention potential stretchmarks. My boobs feel great!
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Thanks! This is really helpful.
ReplyDeleteMost of the "maternity" stuff I have found has been really expensive or just not my style at all. I found a fair few of my clothes still fit me and as we are going into summer here the fashion tends to lead towards loose fitting tops anyway.
The hardest thing is jeans/shorts. I picked up some maternity jeans for 30 dollars and love them. They aren't designer but are stylish enough. I prefer dresses but these are such a comfy alternative.
Is that you in the picture?
That dress is so pretty!
No, fraid not. I will be listing some of my maternity wear in the future if you are interested. Depends on how far gone you are, I am ready to pop!
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