BR: Maternity clothes

macdidlyicious · February 2011

Where did you guys shop? What kinds of things did you find were essential? GO!

billyandsara · February 2011

Gap-online and sometimes in the store. Gap maternity is withing baby gap. I love love love their jeans

Old Navy was a big one because they are cheaper, I got a lot from them. Their online has a bigger selection

And finally destination maternity, they have pea in the pod and motherhood all within the store.

With some things like shirts, I bought regular but a size or two bigger and looked for things that were longer.

Nunu&Eddie · February 2011

A lot from Old Navy Maternity (online). They have awesome sales. I also loooove Gap Maternity. Their stuff is great and fits really nicely, nicer than any other brands.

I got a couple of pieces from Target/Liz Lange. I really like how their pants fit.

I found Motherhood over-priced, but did end up finding a few tops and a sweater dress at the Motherhood Outlet.

tarmar81 · February 2011

I've had the best luck at GAP Maternity. It's a bit expensive but if you wait for a sale (I bought a ton of stuff at 40% the first time I stocked up), it's do-able. Their jeans and pants fit me like "real" pants and their tops are pretty true to my pre-maternity size. I can't wear anything at Old Navy, their pants don't fit me right and their tops assume I have giant boobs. I know lots of people that love ON for maternity though, so you just have to try a few things on first to get a feel for their fit.

I've also had great luck at Target for tops. LOVE the Liz Lange maternity line. I've bought four sweaters and one 3/4 sleeve spring henley and the fit is adorable on all of them.

Motherhood is hit and miss. Their stuff isn't high quality, but it's cheap and good for certain occasions. If I needed a dress for a wedding or something, I'd get one there. I do have two pairs of work pants from there, but the fit isn't nearly as nice as GAP's. I hate a Pea In The Pod. Ridiculously expensive.

As far as essentials, that depends on the season. I won't be pregnant during hot months, so all my pieces that have gotten me through the last 10 weeks of pregnancy will hopefully will last til term if I don't gain a ton of weight. I was an XS maternity to start with, and still am, but I am finding that Smalls are accomodating my growing belly better, so keep that in mind. I have:

-a pair of black leggings
-a black sweater dress
-two turtlenecks
-four v-neck or cowl sweaters
-two long-sleeve tees
-one 3/4 sleeve tee
-two tank tops
-3 pairs of jeans
-3 pairs of dress pants (black being the most essential)

I recommend pairing looser non-maternity clothes with maternity essentials. I have about 6 different open/flyaway long cardigans from Express that have been awesome to wear over my maternity tank tops and long-sleeve tees. I wear them at work, going out, everywhere. I also have some fold-over yoga pants that still accomodate my belly and I love wearing them on weekends. If you have any extra long non-maternity t-shirts or sweaters, you may be able to wear them well into your 2nd tri. I can still wear a lot of my non-maternity tops that were really long to start with.

Hope that helps.

kmo630 · February 2011

My bosses closet. Serioulsly lol. My old boss gave me all hers and my current one let me borrow hers, so didn't have to buy much. My mom bought me some clearance stuff when she would go to Kohls and also purchased some stuff from Target. I also just bought comfy stretch/elastic pants in larger size and was able to wear them for pretty much the whole pregnancy (even with how huge I got).

I recommend long summer dresses. I lived in them towards the end. My old boss gave me many short dresses, but I was so insanely swollen that I pretty much never wore them. You will want to be comfty and cool in the summer so a lot of tank tops and loose clothing. Luckily you are a nanny too so, like me, don't have to worry about dressing up.

Also try on the different style jeans/pants they have. They have ones that fit more below the belly and some that have the stretch material all the way up it. I didn't like the ones that sat low but I know some of my friends prefered those.

YouandMe912 · February 2011

Where I live, basically the only places to walk in and be able to try on and purchase any maternity clothes are Target, ON, and Motherhood. MACY'S and Kohls carry some stuff too. Everything here is limited. I got the majority of stuff from Target. I mainly just got regular clothes just a size or 2 up. I stuck to plains and basics. Simple tanks, t's, and long sleeves. Then pair them with a cardigan or sweater that isn't maternity. I wear quite a few regular dresses just as mat tops. I have a hard time ordering online. Just about everything I ordered didn't fit and had to be exchanged. My sizes range so much from.store to store pre-preg that I couldn't just go by most sizing charts.

Mrs. Mo · February 2011

So far, I have only really needed new pants and only a few shirts ( mostly due to the bloat form the IVF meds). I love the Liz Lange maternity pants from Target. They are so comfy ! As for the shirts, I got them at Kohls. Once the summer comes, I plan on practically living in dresses.

macdidlyicious · February 2011

I was thinking of getting a lot of dresses too. I'm so not looking forward to July & August. A friend of mine suggested gouchos. Sure, not as fashionable as one would hope but comfy nonetheless.

Lately I've been living in yoga pants from ON. I have two pairs of jeans that fit really well still and have some room to grow. The rest need the ol' rubber band looped around the button by the end of the day.

Thanks for the suggestions, ladies!

Mrs. Mo · February 2011

Also, if you are not opposed to used clothing, you should check out your local consignment shops or even ebay. Sometimes you can actually find new maternity stuff on ebay from someone who just never got to wear something due to the size.

macdidlyicious · February 2011

Mrs. Mo:
Also, if you are not opposed to used clothing, you should check out your local consignment shops or even ebay. Sometimes you can actually find new maternity stuff on ebay from someone who just never got to wear something due to the size.

I'm not above used stuff.

Ebay is overwhelming to me. I wouldnt know where to begin searching for maternity stuff there.

JamieWillard · February 2011

I haven't gotten that many maternity clothes, I found that just about all my top could still be worn until about a month ago and now i am limited to which ones really fit. I have 4 pairs of work pants from old navy, khols and target. I needed pants because I felt way to uncomfortable leaving my normal pants unbuttoned at wrok. I also have 2 pairs of jeans from old navy and motherhood. I was pretty luck I've only gained 19lbs and its all belly. I didn't really out grow my normal clothes till just recently. I recommend lose tops so you can grown with them and still were after baby is here. Comfy pants are a must so I recommend getting maternity ones when you start to feel uncomfortable don't wait till your outgoing them because your normal pants will start to hurt . Good luck!

MBMcC421 · February 2011

Old Navy and Kohls were my go-to

ChristinaDawn · February 2011

I bought two pairs of work pants and a pair of jeans from the Motherhood store and borrowed two pairs of black pants from my SIL. The one pair of jeans has gotten me through because I really don't go anywhere or do much outside of work so yoga pants have gotten me through the nights/weekends mostly anyways.

As far as shirts, my mom and my MIL gave me a few for Christmas and the majority of my regular tank tops and sweaters have still fit all the way through so I didn't really need to buy any. I had to retire button up shirts a while ago, but anything that's a stretchy material has worked just fine.

I bought a couple of shirts from Gap maternity online during one of their big sales, but even the smalls have been too big on me and just look frumpy in my opinion, so I've stuck to regular clothes in larger sizes.

kelklump · February 2011

If you watch GAP they do 40% off items or entire purchase. Sign up for their emails. It does help. I didnt buy a ton but macked on some clearance. I have one pair of regular jeans, one straight leg jeans, one black dress pants and one grey. I have a bunch of leggins which were non maternity but work. I have long tanks (my chest is abnormally large and got bigger) so I needed the maternity ones. I loved my belly band and still use it to slim. I have some basic white and black long sleeve undershirts and a few vneck sweaters I purchased on clearance at GAP. Its pretty nice to have some variety, but I wont be sad when its over and I have more selection in clothing.

mrs pH · February 2011

The only clothes I had to buy maternity so far are bottoms. Even yoga pants and leggings. I thought going a size bigger would help but it doesn't. They end up being to big every where else. So I have a few pairs of maternity jeans (from Kohls, Old Navy and Motherhood) and a couple pairs of mat yoga pants (also from Old Navy) that I rotate. I'm lucky that I don't have to get too dressed up for work and I can wear jeans. I can also still get away with wearing my pre-pregnancy pants (with the bella band) if wear the right top with it.

As far as tops go, I bought a couple maternity tops thinking that that's all would fit me but I was wrong. I have actually just stuck with longer stretchy tops and it's been working out well for me. Also, a lot regular sized tops are styled so that they are more roomy around the stomach area. A big plus. I'm not a fan of maternity shirts because I feel like I can find the same items in the regular sizes. And I'm with Christina, button-down shirts are long gone. Even the maternity ones. They just don't work for me.

macdidlyicious · February 2011

kelklump:
If you watch GAP they do 40% off items or entire purchase. Sign up for their emails. It does help. I didnt buy a ton but macked on some clearance. I have one pair of regular jeans, one straight leg jeans, one black dress pants and one grey. I have a bunch of leggins which were non maternity but work. I have long tanks (my chest is abnormally large and got bigger) so I needed the maternity ones. I loved my belly band and still use it to slim. I have some basic white and black long sleeve undershirts and a few vneck sweaters I purchased on clearance at GAP. Its pretty nice to have some variety, but I wont be sad when its over and I have more selection in clothing.

This is becoming my problem. I'm busty to say the least and my tops are starting to be too short. I do have a Bella Band though.

BR: Maternity clothes

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