2nd Trimester

Anyone manage to not wear maternity clothes?

The only maternity store we have is expensive and I'm not loving the options anyway. Even ordering maternity online has turned out to be a bit of a bust. Anyone else manage to be creative with regular clothes instead of maternity specific ones all the way through? What are your tips?
Psalm 139:16

Re: Anyone manage to not wear maternity clothes?

  • I have only bought two pairs of jeans and two pairs of work pants so far... and a couple of tops.  Most of my other clothes still work okay... if the pants are snug I just use my Bella Band (it's actually the knock-off brand from Target and works great).  I've also bought a few cute tops and sweaters from Old Navy in a size larger than I normally wear, and they've worked out well.  :)
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  • For the whole pg, no.  Maybe someone who carries very high could and just use a bella band on regular pants. But at some point my maternity clothes even got small Stick out tongue

    Things that may not fit you now from online might fit better later as your tummy fills out.

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  • Old Navy's normal clothes are crazy! My sister wore some of their tops until she delivered last week! 

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  • I haven't bought any yet. I am still fitting into all my old clothes. But I also lost a lot of weight before I became pregnant, so I am able to use all of those. However, I will admit that they are all starting to get rather snug.
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  • I live in leggings, jeggings, maxi dresses, and lots of flowy clothing that is everywhere now. I manage a boutique, so I have to be creative with the clothing and styles that are current...plus most maternity clothing that is available to me nearby really doesn't flatter my taste right now :/

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  • You don't even have a Target or Wal-Mart near you?  Both carry maternity clothes.
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  • Seriously have no clue how anyone can not buy maternity! lol Im 24 weeks and could not imagine wearing my regular clothes... I have a couple of shirts that are bigger regular sizes (that I bought a month ago and were baggy) now if I didnt have a full panel pant my belly would be popping out and Im a small girl. Plus maternity is sooooo much more comfortable, especially aroung the chest and belly for me.... I bought a pair of pants at Jcpenny for 20 dollars and they are super cute and comfy.... Also, Old Navy has a great selection of maternity $10 dollar shirts. Also, Burlington has great deals. Since Ive been pregnant I have not been working so honestly dont really have the money or need for alot of maternity clothes, but it was def. worth the money for the few I do have.
  • Ive been going to the local Salvation Army every week because they have 1/2 price clothes on Wednesdays. I go straight to the maternity section. Its really small but I usually can find atleast a pair of jeans that fit for like $3. I dont wanna spend alot of $ on maternity clothes because Im gonna grow out of them so fast. You can really find some good stuff in a thrift store you just have to look hard! Last week I bought a brand new pair of Motherhood jeans with the tags still on them for $3.50! Good Luck :)
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  • I didn't really wear maternity pants for work when I was pregnant with DD...the b-band worked just fine (jeans were a different story). In terms of maternity shirts, I waited for Old Navy to have a sale and bought some online. Good luck!
  • I wore a lot of non maternity tops because the styles now are so flowy, but I had to wear maternity skirts and pants. No getting around it. But I did have a pair of pants one size up from my pre PG size that I did the rubber band trick on until I was probably 33 weeks.
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  • I just bought 4 pairs of pants from Jcpenney from their maternity section.  Wouldn't have even thought to look there until I googled maternity clothes. Each pair was $19.99 on sale and then I got their doorbuster deal so an extra 15% off the whole amount.  Good times!!

    Just a heads up, not all Wal-Marts carry maternity........boo!!

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  • Borrow, borrow, borrow!  I have three different girlfriends who lent me their maternity clothes and what a godsend it was.  I am 30.5 weeks now but have not worn regular pants for almost two months now.  The only regular pants that fit me all have stretchy waists.  I still can fit into most of my tops - but that will change in the next two weeks I am sure.  You dont want to look like you are busting out of your clothes, and you dont want to feel uncomfortable either - contricting clothing is no fun :P
  • Also be careful you don't stretch out your non maternity clothes that you really like.  I accidentally did that to a few shirts and could not wear them post pregnancy anymore. 
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  • consignment stores are your friend.  I got 2 pairs of pants, 4 shirts, a dress and a sweater for right around $80 last weekend.  they are so much more comfortable then wearing my other clothes or jeans with a bella band.
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  • for my first pregnancy i was 19 and i did not want to wear maternity clothes at all no matter how big i got and i got pretty big. so i just wore big sweatpants and shirts pretty cumfy stuff. but this time i had 3 friends that just had babies around the same time and they are giving me there maternity clothes. otherwise i buy the clothes at stores that arent to bad on price as i need them. or just buy reg clothes in bigger sizes.
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  • Im not wearing any.. I bought  pair of jeans but still havent worn them yet because I dont like them.. I use my Beband with my regular low rise jeans and a size larger in shirts from my store.. I plan to do this the whole pregnancy.. IDK if the jeans will still fit but at least I can still wear shirts I love.

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  • I bought all my maternity work pants off of ebay!!! I found a brand I liked (Liz Lange w/ underbelly panel) and bought a few pairs of them in different colors - all gently used and new looking! I can say that wearing maternity work pants is MUUUCH more comfortable than squeezing into my regular slacks with a belly band...they're made to flatter a pregnant body so I think they actually help to make my growing butt/thighs look slimmer.

    As far as maternity shirts go, I've only picked up about 3 - on sale at Target. And I bought 3 new bras to accomodate my new cup size (went up from B to C)...they were only $12.99 at Target and surprisingly REALLY comfortable! I haven't invested in nursing bras yet, but I'll be looking at those soon too.

    I haven't bought any maternity jeans yet....I invested in some jeggings and leggings though! But not maternity kinds...I bought the regular ones at F21..just sized up. Same with my tops - I pretty much still wear F21, H&M, etc....just sized up a little bit.

    I don't know if it's warm were you live, but if it is, maxi dresses and skirts are suuuper flattering...I always get compliments on my "cute bump" when I wear mine! lol

    I guess my only tips would be to get creative with your shopping (look around affordable stores for things, size up if you have to)...and look for bargains!

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  • With my first, I never wore maternity pants.  I wore low rise pants and did the hair tie trick.  I also delivered at 36 weeks and only gained 15 pounds.  I did wear some maternity shirts though but I think I was able to wear a couple of normal longer empire waist shirts that were a size larger than I normally wore.
  • I'm currently wearing a maternity outfit I got off Craigslist :)  12 pieces of Motherhood clothing for $25!  Score!
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  • I'm still mixing maternity & non-mat items at 24w. 

    Non-maternity items that still fit me at 24w: leggings, yoga pants, my work uniform (*so* glad about this), long t-shirts & tanks, tunic tops, regular jeans that are 2 sizes bigger than my pre-pg size, jersey skirts.

    If you have a goodwill or Salvation Army near you, check it out. Sometimes you can find mat items mixed in with everything else (I just scored a pair of designer maternity denim for $9 at my local SA), or just buy a size or two bigger than you would normally wear. Also look for longer tops, both stretchy and babydoll style. 



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  • Thanks for all the great suggestions! Our Target maternity selection is very small and haven't been able to find anything in the way of maternity at thrift stores and consignment shops around here. We have 8 million daycares, but no maternity anywhere. Oh well. Craigslist and JCP/Kohls are good ideas. I hadn't thought of those yet.
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  • Ross often has a nice selection too.  honestly, past 5 months i am not comfortable in non maternity bottoms- I have some maternity shirts and some more flowy stuff from before still fits but headining into the 7th month i can tell even some of the maternity shirts will get snug...i'm all belly
  • Target was a life saver for me!
  • I agree that maternity stores are ridiculous! My sister in law got tons of maternity stuff at both yard sales and Goodwill. Just a thought to help you stay comfortable without spending too much money.
  • I'm a plus size and even though Motherhood carries plus clothing their selection (both in store and online) it's very limited.  EBay has been a god send!  I've won two large autctions that set me up with almost all my tops--one acution for 10 nice dress shirts was $85 including shipping, the other was 11 shirts and 5 pants for $90 including shipping.  The pants were all way too big but the tops were what I was really wanting. 

    I'm hard to fit when it comes to pants (short and plus sized) so I bit the bullet and bought those at Motherhood mainly because I can never find my size on eBay.  If you decide to try eBay for pants I suggest you go to a retail store and try on several brands so you know what size fits you best.  You'll also know what type of waistband you prefer.  I like the full belly panel because the mid belly pants all have a wide elastic waistband that puts too much pressure on my stomach and makes me feel naseous.  Under belly styles don't provide enough coverage for me.

    I also recommend checking Craigslist, espically if you're average size.  My local Craigslist always has tons of listings for maternity clothing in small to x-large.

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  • i can still fit in most of my jeans but maternity jeans are so much more comfy. try your local GoodWill. both of my maternity jeans and the two pairs of khakis i had to get for work came from my local GoodWill and i only spent a total of $15! ive found some tops there too, but had to buy a few red maternity shirts from my local Target for work for $9 apiece.

    ive also bought semi-tight knee-length dresses and worn leggings under them, super comfy and everybody will be able to see your growing belly!

     

    i hope this helps :)

  • No way! I am 37 weeks now, but tried to buy as few maternity clothes as I could. I was barely 100 lbs before I got pregnant (I'm up to 160 -- just swelling, it sounds worse than the number really is), so just buying larger, normal clothes was an option. I had Citizens jeans, but those are very tight now and I hardly wear them. I have a pair of Motherhood Maternity jeans and several of their stops, all which still fit. Since I live in Texas and it is not very cold right now, I wear leggings from H&M, a maternity tank top from Target with a regular long, long-sleeved shirt under it. Motherhood Maternity has some cute stuff and their prices are reasonable (this coming from a Neimans girl)... of course at 20 weeks, even 25, you can still wear a belly band (I hated that thing... never wore it)... but some time after 25 weeks, you are definitely going to want some really comfortable maternity clothes. Oh, and if you end up swelling like me (got really bad just over 33 weeks) invest in some flip flops, or if you live somewhere cold, get creative with your footwear.  I have not been able to wear anything but flip flops since then.. even Uggs are super tight and I'm not preeclamptic. Have fun :)
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