Realistic budget for maternity wardrobe?

soylatte

So what have you spent on maternity wardrobe, or expect to spend, throughout your pregnancy? What's your favorite thing to wear?

I'm in IL and will need plenty of warm stuff, etc. This is my first baby, and I'm older so there are no hand-me-downs, etc... I don't work outside the home so aside from "going out/ holiday outfits" I'll be pretty casual. Any thoughts on this stuff is appreciated. I'm amazed at what a racket maternity clothes are. :-)

Junebug060609

Look for second hand stores. I saved a ton on maternity clothes for my sons pg that way. Like you, i was at home and really just needed some basics

britab

I shop clearance usually and am shocked too. So far I have had good luck at Goodwill and Kohl's clearance rack.  

btcruiserlove

I wear a lot of leggings and boots (non maternity) and only buy maternity tanks. I layer with non maternity cardigans and scarves. Invest in a good maternity coat and a pair of jeans. It will save you tons of money.

spacepotatoes

Thanks for asking this! I've been wondering as well. I am a high school teacher and my selection of work-appropriate clothes that still fit is dwindling. That combined with winter seems to me like a lot of new clothes! I'm not sure how much it's worth buying. I'm still not 100% sure that I'll be having another after this so I'm afraid to spend a lot, but I also want to look good and be comfortable.

The sticker shock gets me too. I can't help but think that if I was looking at the same items, but not maternity, they'd be so much cheaper. It's hard to fork out the extra money when it doesn't feel like it's worth it! I might have to try the secondhand/consignment suggestions and see what I can find.

soylatte

I am loving these suggestions. The Kohls by me sucks but it never occurred to me to hit a resale place. I am not fortunate enough to have the long, lean body that places cater to - I'm 5'4, curvy, with huge boobs...

SMM1986

I've spent $34 so far. $17 was a pair of Old Navy jeans on sale and the other $17 was for a friend to ship me her used clothes. I'm not having more kids and it seems like a huge waste to me to put out a lot of money in maternity clothes, so I'm taking day by day. If I could spend $100 throughout the whole pregnancy that would be ideal.

CopperPoppy

Old navy and target have some good deals. Old navy always has some percent off on clothes. If you look this weekend and maybe cyber Monday you can probably get good deals online. I bought a few things yesterday at target but they might still have stuff on sale. I agree that leggings and sweaters are a great way to go. Those jersey maxi skirts that fold down (non maternity) will last you through pregnancy and beyond. Gap also usually has deals and they have their jeans that are great.

RedInLove

@soylatte, I'm built just like you! I think I've spent about $125-150 on 2 pair of jeans, a few long sleeve tees, a couple cardigans, and several sweaters. I'll be staying at home probably from this point forward (we're between work project and don't expect more work until the new year so I'm probably not going back) so I don't need anything extra for work. I will probably add a couple pair of leggings, and tops if I need them. One sweater I bought will be good for Christmas and going out for dinner so I'm not looking for anything special there either.

Divine0chaos

After my son I donated all my maternity thinking he was my last one. The biggest thing I learned through him however is a lot of nursing shirts can double as maternity shirts. S

Divine0chaos

So I have only bought 3 shirts maternity, 2 long sleeves, 2 leggings, and two pair of jeans. That should get me through the entire pregnancy being in the south. I agree totally with the camis and cardigans I plan to get a few with gap cash. Honestly I have bought all new and all name brand gap/motherhood and I've spent less than $200 and don't see it going over that. Like I said most of my tops will also take me into nursing as well which is great.

Divine0chaos

The maternity shirts I bought were all nursing shirts

ThereBeDragons

I bought 2 pair of maternity jeans and plan on making my pre-pregnancy tops work as long as possible. I like extra length in tops so I'm hoping I won't pop out from under the hem by the end. I also have several maxi skirts and empire waist dresses that I'm hoping will get me through the dressy holiday stuff because I'm also not working outside the home so its just not reasonable to buy a ton of maternity. So far spent about 100$. Hoping to keep it there.

AnnieA75

I've had good luck shopping the Motherhood Maternity clearance racks, as well as the Mothethood Maternity outlet. If you can find one of the outlet stores near you, it will save you tons if money. I try to only shop deals/sales. I've gotten some shirts and all my jeans at Old navy and gap sales.

soylatte

RedInLove said:

@soylatte, I'm built just like you! I think I've spent about $125-150 on 2 pair of jeans, a few long sleeve tees, a couple cardigans, and several sweaters. I'll be staying at home probably from this point forward (we're between work project and don't expect more work until the new year so I'm probably not going back) so I don't need anything extra for work. I will probably add a couple pair of leggings, and tops if I need them. One sweater I bought will be good for Christmas and going out for dinner so I'm not looking for anything special there either.

Well I'm on the prowl for cute holiday dresses. If I find any that don't make me look like a stripper, I'll post where I got them. :-)

spinsoffresonance

When I was pregnant with DD I couldn't find anything I liked so I just stuck to the bare minimum. Got 2 work pants, 2 work appropriate casual pants, 1 jeans, 5 t-shirts, 2 tank tops, 2 capris, 1 short, 1 dress, 1 sweater., 1 formal dress for a bunch of weddings, 1 sleep bra. And that was it for the entire 9 months. I got everything on clearance at destination maternity and target, so spent less than $20 per item. But I did splurge on a $100 pair of skinny jeans from pea in the pod. I kept wearing a few non maternity clothes like cardigans and blazers without closing them. I might have to buy a couple sweaters for this pregnancy since it's winter this time and still debating on a winter coat.

awknyc

I've spent about $175 on 3 sweaters, 3 shirts/blouses and 1 dress from Gap and Thyme. I will admit I splurged on 2 pairs of designer jeans (AG and J Brand) only bc I know I will be wearing them for a couple more pregnancies and my sister and I have decided to share maternity clothes. Other than that I am going to try and keep my eyes peeled for any holiday deals.

sammy.k

I've only spent about $75 so far on a few things from H&M. I really love the maternity jeans I bought there. I, too, wear a lot of leggings with boots and sweaters.

Chellbell20

I bought most of mine while pg with dd, but I think I spent $150ish. I had 5 pants-2 work, 2 work casual and 1 jean and maybe 10 shirts-a few tanks, a couple tees, a few long sleeve and 3/4 sleeve. I layered a lot with cardigans and sweaters, I even had some non-maternity shirts that I wore the whole time. I needed more because I worked. If I was home I could probably gave gotten away with a few pairs of jeans half the shirts.

marleybarne

I find things on clearance at Target, Belk, and Kohl's. I also have found a lot of things at thrift/consignment stores. You also might see if there are email or Facebook moms' groups in your area. Meetup.com is a good place to go to look for groups. A lot of these will have clothing sales or swaps, plus they are a great way to meet other moms in your area. I have also seen lots of yard sale type groups on Facebook where they sell and purchase bags of baby/maternity clothes for relatively cheap. It's possible to find good maternity stuff if you know where to look!

alioopsiedaisy

As mentioned previously I wear a lot of layers with maternity leggings, maternity tanks & regular cardigans/sweaters. I just bought a few more pairs of leggings from Old Navy & Boden yesterday. Great sales!

hsal

I wear lots of leggings with maternity tops, layered with non maternity cardigans or scarves. I only buy super clearance or at thrift stores. Yesterday I scored 5 long sleeve maternity shirts for $22 at my local thrift store- all they were all ON, Liz Lange and Motherhood! I have a few pairs of pants and one good black dress that I bought at the same place.

maybe I'm cheap, but I'm only wearing them for a couple months. I'm amazed by the women who spend hundreds.

ho11yday

I expect to spend about $100 to $150 on clothes, most of it going toward pants for work and jeans.  I expect to wear most of my non-pregnancy shirts for as long as I can.

caroline824

Target and Old Navy have good clearance sales. I bought some cute stuff this weekend. I have better luck online than in stores. Then I can just return to the store whatever doesn't fit.

sweetky_06

A lot. I need work clothes and casual clothes, and I really skimped last time and never felt good about myself. I've been saving some money since I found out I was pregnant and I think I blew most of it this weekend online shopping at Seraphine, Gap and Asos.

A couple of things I refuse to skimp on - thinking about cost per wear: some awesome maternity tanks that can be worn now through post partum, really good skinny jeans since I'll wear them all winter with boots and in the spring with ballet flats, a long, comfy cashmere cardigan I'll layer over everything.

cchild101010

Check out eBay. I've purchased one pair of designer jeans for $40 that were originally $200+. I bought a couple pairs of leggings from the motherhood maternity store - I think they were less than $34 for both. I have some over size sweaters already so I have been rotating threw those.

tjkdlhb

 

hsal said:

I wear lots of leggings with maternity tops, layered with non maternity cardigans or scarves. I only buy super clearance or at thrift stores. Yesterday I scored 5 long sleeve maternity shirts for $22 at my local thrift store- all they were all ON, Liz Lange and Motherhood! I have a few pairs of pants and one good black dress that I bought at the same place. maybe I'm cheap, but I'm only wearing them for a couple months. I'm amazed by the women who spend hundreds.

Unfortunately thrift stores aren't an option for everyone.  I went to another community on vacation during my first pregnancy and bought most of my clothes there, however the clothes are worn out this time around and I need to be dressed decently for work.  The thrift stores in my area are really really low quality, and only rarely have maternity items.  When there aren't options like clearance bins and thrift stores in your area, you have little choice than to buy online.  I'd much rather be able to go the second hand route!  It was painful to spend so much on clothes that will only last me for such a short while.

lrmrtn

I bought 2 pairs of jeans at motherhood and they were buy 1, get 1 half off so they came to about $50 for both. I bought 2 maternity shirts at ON this weekend for $30 total and a pair of leggings for $8.  Other than that, I borrowed clothes from a friend and my mom has been treating me to a couple of shirts.  I'm also asking for maternity clothes or gift cards for Christmas.  I have a few sweater dresses and a lot of tunic tops and sweaters that are non-maternity that I'm hoping will get me through so I'm hoping to just have to buy tees, tanks and leggings from now on.  You could try a tunic style in regular clothes.  I was also shocked at the prices!  It's like you add the words maternity or baby to anything and the price goes up!

pistolpackinmomma

If you only need casual clothes then I wouldn't buy a whole lot. I SAH too and last time I bought one pair of dress pants, 2 pairs of jeans (in 3rd tri I had to buy a 3rd pair because I outgrew the others) and a handful of tops. I bought leggings to stretch the use of some non-maternity dresses I had. Other than that I lived in yoga pants around the house.

Tkburke

I've only bought maternity clothes from old navy so far, and I haven't worn any of them yet. But I'm ready! They seem to have good sales. I'm mostly just wearing my old clothes that are most stretchy and still fit.

tbiscuit18

I've gotten lucky and hit some good sales at Gap. I teach high school, but our dress code is fairly casual. I bought 2 pairs of leggings and 1 pair of skinny jeans, along with a few long sleeve t-shirts (on sale for $6 each), a cardigan, and 3 sweaters. I feel fairly confident that with these items, I can mix and match, toss on a scarf, etc. to get me through. 

Oh and I forgot, I did splurge and buy an expensive pair of pixie pants from JCrew maternity. I wanted them for holiday parties, church, and anything else I might need to dress up for. I have the regular sized ones and wear the heck out of them, so it felt justified...

For me, as much as I don't want to spend the money, I want to feel good about myself and if that means spending the money on clothes to make me feel that way it's worth it. I can't control much of anything that's happening to me right now, but I can control how I dress. And I want to look cute! 

ksyknelvr73

I personally have to spend a good bit since I have to wear nice dress clothes for work. But I saved all the clothes I purhased with my son and they will all work this time. The problem is I had him in the winter and this baby is end of May so I will need to buy some "warm weather" shirts probably, I live in the south so it will absolutely be hot by then.

RedInLove

soylatte said:

RedInLove said:

@soylatte, I'm built just like you! I think I've spent about $125-150 on 2 pair of jeans, a few long sleeve tees, a couple cardigans, and several sweaters. I'll be staying at home probably from this point forward (we're between work project and don't expect more work until the new year so I'm probably not going back) so I don't need anything extra for work. I will probably add a couple pair of leggings, and tops if I need them. One sweater I bought will be good for Christmas and going out for dinner so I'm not looking for anything special there either.

Well I'm on the prowl for cute holiday dresses. If I find any that don't make me look like a stripper, I'll post where I got them. :-)

That would be great of you to share! The few I've seen that I like (and aren't Christmas-specific) are expensive! I'd love an affordable option. I'll do the same if I find something cute!

Sarac2288

I wear mostly clothes that aren't maternity but finally went to get some maternity clothes... I spent $100 at motherhood on Black Friday got 2 leggings 2 jeans and a cardigan I won't buy much more now but have shirts from my last pregnancy also

kit0429

I live in a trendy urban area and while I am SAH most of the time, I have a studio across the city and a client in another town. I also love clothing and aim to look cute and stylish this entire pregnancy. I've been pinning things on Pinterest since this summer, and they send me emails when stuff I pin goes on sale. I've also scored a few things on eBay, and got one formal-ish dress from Japanese Maternity for the holidays or maybe a nice date night dinner out. I got 3 tanks, 2 jeans, 2 long sleeve tops, and one sweater from Old Navy for $130 when they had a sale, and I just bought 3 more tops from Pink Blush maternity, they are having a sale right now. I'm planning on splurging on two pairs of designer skinny jeans but hoping to buy them discounted on eBay, and might get another pair of my non maternity skinny jeans (AG) in a size up since my old pair still fits now at 4.5 months. I have leggings and skirts but it's too cold to wear those out or at night anymore, without being really bundled up. I also got a few pairs of slip on shoes, chuck Taylors, some blowfish booties and some UGGs.
I plan on having at least one more kid, and while a friend said she's going to lend me her maternity clothes, I'm unsure the sizes will work for me and if I will like the styles. My husband doesn't mind, he wants me to be happy and feel good about myself, and it's just clothing.