dressing that belly through winter

orbmaker

I'm finally starting to think about buying some maternity clothes and thinking ahead towards winter (FWIW I live in a cold climate). What are your plans or ideas for...

Winter coats & outerwear?
Dressing for the holidays?
Pajamas?
Managing to wear clothes in general?

I'm personally not psyched to invest tons of money in maternity-specific clothing, so I'm thinking mostly leggings + my husband's sweaters? maybe a pair of maternity jeans? a few maternity tees? maybe the Storq bundle? and, most importantly, is this a good excuse to buy some sweet ankle boots?

P.S. Gap and Old Navy are 40% off (including maternity, duh!) through tomorrow with code "FAMILY" 

becausescience

I'm definitely in need of tips for a winter bump. DD was an August baby so I just wore dresses all summer, it was great! 

My plan is to have a few pairs of maternity pants, a variety of maternity tees/tops, and a couple sweaters. I also have non maternity sweaters I'll just wear open over the tops. So I'll basically just mix and match basics into different outfits. (I don't wear leggings at school, but will for sure live in them on the weekends.) And I say yes to ankle boots. My winter hack though is to wear snow boots to and from work and to change into my flats at work so they don't get wet/salty.

I think I'm going to skip the maternity coat and just wear mine open with a cozy scarf, unless I see one for cheap on a BST site. 

I'm definitely interested in advice for holidays, not that my family really gets super dressed up. 

Gingermom15

My son was due in December, so I have a few items left I can wear. I never bought coats or jackets because I was hot as balls 24/7 and never needed one, I carried an oversized jacket if I had to walk outside for long distances, but usually took it off halfway there lol

I wore a lot of leggings and maternity jeans with longer shirts, either long sweaters or shirts with cardigans. 

For or holidays I just bought a nicer shirt with a belt that went around my belly and black pants. I never bought maternity dresses or anything 

ShawnnaO

I'm team leggings and oversized sweaters. Which is what I wear anyway so I won't need to be new clothes, thankfully. I got so sad today because I was looking at a ton of cute outfits on Pinterest today and almost went to buy a few things and then remembered, oh yeah, I'm pregnant and probably shouldn't be buying new clothes right now. 

kalawa

I am in thw minority here but I love maternity clothes. I buy them at H&M, and the jeans and shirts are just as affordable as my regular clothes, so I look at it as I buy a couple pieces of clothes for fall/winter anyways, this time it's maternity. I buy mostly just basic tanks, and jeans and wear my regular cover sweaters over them.

ksmwalters

Depending on what your needs are (holiday parties, etc) I’ve been thinking about either utilizing something like Rent the Runway or similar if I need to. I probably won’t because our only big plans are a NYE concert and I’ll just dress up what I already have. I have a friend who had her daughter in January who said she might have stuff for me, but she’s WAY taller than me so
we’ll see. My plan at the moment is layering some of my looser/less structured stuff over inexpensive (Target/H&M/etc) basics. 

npkat

@kalawa does H&M have maternity clothes in their stores or just online?

cford08

@Gingermom15 thank you for your usage of hot as balls. Nobody down here gets how accurate a descriptor that is lol

AFM: FTM and I'm digging all the maternity stuff. It doesn't get too cold down here so I'm thinking layers, layers and leggings for the most part. My jackets and coats are really big on me just because I need the length for my arms so they should be good. I may put some money down on maternity jeans though. I'm down to three pairs right now and that will be narrowing down shortly. DH has a fancy Christmas party every year and that's more what I'm worked up about. I want the below dress, but wonder if I'll have to have it made for the bump? The color is everything and it has sleeves. Win and win for me.

orbmaker

@cford08 that dress is AMAZING!! Really hope you can make it happen. 

Unfortunately I feel my future is more like, uh, 

ivfgotthistwice

@kalawa I never thought to look at H&M for maternity clothes! Going there in a few weeks to check it out.

@cford08 love love love that dress!

HappyMonkey817

I was pregnant with my daughter during the winter (in NJ), but I felt overheated all the time. I didn't buy a coat. I also didn't spend long periods of time outside when it was really cold. I had a couple of pairs of maternity pants (2 slacks and 1 sort of yoga pants). I usually wore them with a fitted maternity tee and a cardigan that I left open. At home I was in PJ pants (not maternity, just went up a couple of sizes) and a sweatshirt.

orbmaker

@kalawa @npkat @ivfgotthistwice just as an FYI, not all H&M stores carry maternity. I recently called the closest one to ask, and they redirected me to another location (which I haven't visited yet).

kalawa

@npkat All the H&M stores near me in Ontario carry maternity. I can't say the same for every where else. I woyld recommend calling first. But I do find they are true to size if you order online. And the jeans are super stretchy, soft and comfortable.

wisewitch222

My DS was born in April, meaning the only maternity clothes I wore were winter ones.  Regular clothes were not a problem.  I had some nice maternity sweater dresses (I wore one of these for Christmas), leggings, jeans, dress pants, sweaters, long-sleeved shirts with ruched sides, and I wore lots of cardigans.

Winter coats are another story.  Long story short, they don't make warm maternity coats.  The women at the Motherhood in Michigan were like, "Yeah, don't buy those if you want to be warm."  If you go that route, you have to do layers.  I ended up wearing a long puffy size large coat (I'm normally a small) that belonged to my mom before she lost weight.  I plan on wearing it again this year.

I did the same thing for pajamas - size large PJ pants from Target and Old Navy, as well as soft long-sleeved maternity T-shirts and this ridiculous XL New York Giants t-shirt that belonged to my dad before he lost weight.  I wore the Giants shirt for awhile post partum, too.

Oh, and I found two pairs of amazing fleece-lined leggings at Motherhood that I wore with my sweater dresses.  I taught at a university in Michigan, so fleece-lined leggings were a necessity.  I need to find those again because my old ones got pretty worn out by the end of that winter.

enigmaticjj

For my first (prior) pregnancy I really liked having actual maternity clothes because they just fit me better and helped me look pregnant instead of just larger than normal. I felt much more comfortable with how I looked once I bought some. So had a handful of tops, maternity jeans (at that time I wasn't a leggings person) and some dresses (during 3rd trimester, dresses were a must). I also didn't realize it in the moment, but the ruched tops are also easily wearable as regular clothing, so I still wore well after being pregnant. I didn't buy any special pajamas, just got a size bigger in pants (I already just wore big t-shirts for bed). Towards the 3rd trimester I did have some trouble finding underwear that was comfortable, so ended up wearing just low rise bikini style, otherwise any higher it was uncomfortable on my belly. Not sure what I'll do this time around because I now have a c-section scar and avoid anything that hits around that spot (low rise bikini level).

For me, I had bad luck trying to find maternity clothes at brick and mortar stores that weren't officially maternity stores (although Target has a decent section in store). Like at Old Navy, Gap (now it's only online), and H&M the selection was almost nothing which was very discouraging/annoying (at least the particular stores in my area that carried maternity). I found better luck online at Old Navy and Gap (wait until they have a sale for at least 40%, which is very often). ASOS was another online store I used a few times when I could find something affordable. Although it was more than I wanted to spend for temporary type of clothes, I liked going to an actual maternity store to learn the ropes of maternity sizes, etc. as I knew nothing going into it. And was nice to have people who were knowledgeable and didn't equate maternity wear with the plus size section.

I really don't want to buy a special coat this winter because coats are expensive! And I don't see myself wearing any of those maternity coats as my normal coat. So I'm interested to read what others are planning in that department. Last pregnancy I was able to make it through winter with my regular coat, just couldn't zip it up anymore towards the end of the season.  I'm also curious if my feet will get gigantic like they did before during the 3rd trimester and if my regular boots will still fit (don't want to have to buy special boots as that's more $$$).

orbmaker

@enigmaticjj I'm encouraged (sort of? Haha) by all these ladies saying they were too hot to zip their coats anyway. 

They do make these jacket extender things, though: 
https://makemybellyfit.com/

k318

I lived in maternity leggings and fitted maternity 3/4 sleeve shirts last time (April baby) and will probably be doing the same this time around. I picked up two pairs of maternity jeans for super cheap, one on clearance at target and another at Burlington. I also shop the clearance section of motherhood’s website for tops. I also don’t like spending a lot of money on clothes that I’ll only wear for a short time. 

I did find a cute maternity dress from motherhood (fitted, lace over lay) on clearance for about $30 and picked it up last month bc I figured that will be good for holiday parties. I am also attending a wedding at about 30 weeks- I’m hoping that I can still fit in an empire waist gown that I already have but I may have to splurge on another dress for that occasion.

isntthatspeshul

My daughter was born in mid April. I work in NYC so a winter coat was a must. I held out as long as I could with a draped wool coat when the bump was still fairly small, but by the time late December early January hit, I ordered a heavy puffy maternity coat from Amazon and it was a good investment because it was necessary. I'm glad to know I'll get to use it again. For clothing I literally lived in leggings, and basic tees/tanks under tunic sweaters or cardigans. So comfy and definitely warm. I wore a lot of flat boots that dressed them up a bit. Very versatile for work, dates, anytime. the sweaters weren't even always maternity. Some of my favorite ones were just regular tunic sweaters that stretched or were a size bigger than my pre preg size. For the real cold days I had a few fleece-lined leggings but was always hot in them when I got to work and they pill terribly no matter how you wash them. 

bb3vj3n

I was pregnant last fall and had to buy a maternity coat. despite what some people have said, it was very warm. When we *TW* lost the baby in late fall *ETW* I continued to wear it as my winter coat and it was fine. I got it at Thyme maternity and ut was a simple black hooded puffer jacket that came down to my thighs. Luckily I kept the belly extended and ill be able to wear it this year aswell. 

syssa-o

My son was a December baby so I had very minimal winter stuff and my daughter was a July baby, so again, no winter gear really. I got rid of most of my stuff anyway because after she passed I was convinced I was done having kids. 

I just went shopping the other day and scored some deals and bought some pricier things that will last outside of pregnancy (cardigans). I got shorts for 6$ on clearance because we've been having crazy out of season 40 degree weather. 

I wont buy a winter coat. I have a big warm parka and I will just leave it open worn with a warm scarf. It gets fairly cold here (Canada) but I really don't need to spend much time outside with the exception of winter activities, (sledding, skating etc) and for those I'll wear a hoodie under the jacket. 

kalawa

I also had a winter coat from Motherhood and it kept me warm enough in our Canadian winter...which gets to -32 with windchill in January. Maybe our stock is different, which would make sense.

bb3vj3n

@kalawa @syssa-o

Toronto girls - I NEED THIS HEAT WAVE TO END NOW........K thx

I don't know about you guys - but this weekend has just about killed me. my MIL and BIL flew in from Vancouver just for this weekend and today is their last day so they want to go walk around downtown and see the CN tower and stuff. originally they wanted to do the Toronto Zoo but I squashed that plan pretty quick thank god!

They are saying it should come to an end weds. hopefully we all make it until then. 

kalawa

@bb3vj3n I saw that Thursday it's supposed to be 17! Thank God! Luckily, today I am sitting in my air conditoned vehicle travelling back down south.

pregobeth

I went to Ross and got some cute maternity tops, some leggings, and a pair of maternity jeans. We're going to have cute bumps during Christmas, so I wanted to have some cute outfits for the Holiday season when we visit family. I love the tops I found, my fav's being baby doll tunic style with a drawstring or elastic under the bust and long enough to wear with leggings. Some of these looked great when I still wasn't showing, so they'll be good for when I'm not preggers as well. I'll wear them with my leggings and layer them up with cardigans.(Texas does not really get cold enough for much else). I love dresses though, so I'm still looking for a good maternity dress. I usually were leggings with my dresses in winter, which I love because I don't have to shave!!! 

*edited because I can't spell*

syssa-o

@bb3vj3n wanna know the best part? Our a/c is dying. Since we had such a mild summer and we don't know if we will be moving before next summer, we haven't gotten a new unit. The a/c just can't  keep up with this so we are hiding in the basement wearing undies watching movies with fans directed at us! 

Tomorrow I have no luck though! I'm downtown from 7 am - 4pm (an 8 am appt and a 3 pm appt) lucky me. I'll probably find refuge in the eaton centre between them. 
 

I WANT SWEATER WEATHER. 

notthefather

@ksmwalters: LeTote also has every day and special occasion maternity clothes for rent. I used them for a bit and really enjoyed it!

runsoncoffee

I got a winter coat off Motherhood's website a few weeks ago... it was on clearance for $20 so I didn't think that was bad! I will say it looks like a pea coat on the website but I was surprised when I got it it's more like sweatshirt type material. I think it will keep me warm enough though.
I shop consignment shops and the clearance rack at Motherhood and also will echo I really like H&M. Their maternity clothing is a lot more affordable than other places in my opinion! And target has some cute tunic sweaters in their new maternity line!! I am eyeing up one of those! 

kiki75

orbmaker said:

@enigmaticjj I'm encouraged (sort of? Haha) by all these ladies saying they were too hot to zip their coats anyway. 

They do make these jacket extender things, though: 
https://makemybellyfit.com/

I was going to suggest the same thing! I like that it works for baby wearing, too.

bb3vj3n

@syssa-o we don't have AC either.  i just ditched the in laws downtown and hopped in a cab. I couldn't handle the heat. going to my parents house and DH is going to pick me up later

syssa-o

@bb3vj3n I work tonight and I may just offer to do an overnight if needed.... they have a/c and I am not sleeping in this heat! 

ksmwalters

Something I didn’t think to mention, and doesn’t really apply to winter so much, but I wanted to share regardless!! There are some awesome sellers of handmade caftans on Etsy that I am obsessed with. (One is Just Cottons and one is Silk and More) I literally live in mine in warmer months when I’m at home. The shops also make maternity/nursing ones with snaps or buttons in the bust for easy breastfeeding. Planning on living in those suckers in the beginning PP. A girlfriend got a bunch and she said they were awesome. 

day38

I live in the northeast and was pregnant enough that I didn't fit into my regular clothing, but my winter jacket was fine (since it's a looser fit) with my son during a TERRIBLE winter. I got through with a few tunic type sweaters, that I still wear not pregnant because you can't really tell it's a maternity sweater, it's just loose, and also rocking a tank & cardigan a lot. I just used my cardigans that I had and bought a few cheaper strechy tank tops a size up. 

I'm mostly concerned with winter coat this time around since March baby vs June baby. Since I drive to work now I'm hoping I can make do with my regular winter coat and worst case just not zip it since I'm more often than not in a heated car. Which, won't work on weekends too well when we're going somewhere with my son, but I can always wear my husband's fleece under it.