Work Appropriate Maternity Clothes

Mrs_Lady

I like the practical reality of this board....Now I am extremely frugal and not even pg yet.....I always figured I would wear my husband's dress shirts with a jacket clip to take in the excess room and my slacks until they couldn't fit anymore.

so I'm wondering where did you shop for maternity slacks/clothes since I'll probably need to have at least 2 maternity suits. did you shop Women's Plus Store or maternity store and which maternity store?

 

alisonada

Not sure if you're OK with this but I actually had good luck shopping at Goodwill for maternity clothes. The one by my house is really big and pretty nice and had a whole maternity rack. It seems that many women wear their maternity clothes for a few months then donate them, because I often found like-new stuff from Motherhood, Liz Lange, etc. at Goodwill prices. Granted, you have to sort through mumus to find the bargains, but it was worth it :-)

I also got a lot of basics at Target - solid color shirts that I would pair with (non maternity) cardigans or suit jackets, etc. I got a few things at Motherhood maternity on sale, and also some things at JC Penney.

I don't know about you and your DH sizes but I would have looked silly in my DH's shirts, even clipped back, because his arms and shoulders are so much longer and bigger. I think you'll also find that plus sized stuff doesn't fit right, I'd go with actual maternity clothes - I felt frumpy enough while pregnant, I wanted clothes that fit me right.

kgb1411

I honestly got most of my maternity clothes at "motherhood."  The clothes are pretty inexpensive, the quality is not that great, but you really only need them for a few months.  I got two dresses from Ann Taylor maternity, and two dresses with an empire waist two sizes bigger than my regular size at a regular department store. 

I had an awful time trying to find a suit jacket.  They have to be kind of stretchy, which is a wierd material for a suit.  The one I bought never really fit right.  A lot of them had little bows above your belly (what person that seriously needs to wear a suit wants a little bow on it?  I think that your feminity is proudly on display with your giant pg belly).  So, I stuck with the dresses and heels mostly.  

mrsnewlywed2005

black maternity skirt and slacks (w/ adjustable panel so it grows w/ you).  i was able to pair these w/ my old black suit jacket unbuttoned.  this totally saved me from buying an entire new black suit.

i bought a bunch of maternity dresses and just wore them w/ my old suit jackets, again unbuttoned.

MustLoveCats

I did not buy a single maternity top - the whole babydoll style was in two years ago (I guess it is still fine, I am not "on top" of fashion trends). I have a lot of stretchy tops, so I wore those and bought a bunch from Marshall's.

I wore skirts - the ones with an elastic string for the waste. I had some already and I bought a couple from a non-maternity store and I still wear them.

 Pants is what I had to buy maternity specific. I had issues finding my size (it's XS or S), so I resorted to eBay. I am a little particular about used clothes, so I bought new, but for very cheap - like $10 each. I only had 4 or so of them so I rotated them with skirts and wore them every week. I was not one into buying an elaborate maternity wardrobe that would only last 6 months.

beenbizzy

I have a group of friends that we have all combined our maternity clothes and share among who is currently pregnant.  Also, my SIL let me borrow all of her clothes, too.  I would try secondhand stores or garage sales if you are comfortable with it.  I didn't have to have any suits, but just try to buy a few basics, lots of things in black and mix and match.  Trust me, towards the very end, you will feel like you are wearing the same thing everyday. 

mrshutch

Ditto to Old Navy and Target. I did a lot of just rotating outfits, but everyone understands when you can't fit into anything anymore! I would also run into Motherhood and other stores and grab something off of the sale rack. Especially at Old Navy, where I could find shirts for just a couple of dollars.

AlisaS

Forget DH's shirts. It sounds great but in reality will probably look frumpy.

I got almost all of my maternity pants at Target - they had pretty nice dress slacks in a few basic colors.  I also liked the waistband. Not fancy but in neutrals - just fine.

As for shirts - I shopped around - Gap, Motherhood, etc. I was lucky to be pregnant in the winter so sweater coat/cardigans and a silky tee were my friends most of the time for work.

FinnishPrincess

I am with mustlovecats - I bought mostly non maternity tops. I am fairly large on the top, so most of the maternity tops were designed so that they would cut across my boobs or try to squash me completely. plus sized tops worked well. Also skirts that had elastic waists were awesome - both before and after pregnancy!! I did buy maternity pants. GL!

Mrs_Lady

Thanks ladies for the advice.... 

tosababy

I shopped a number of places, but the most reasonable professional maternity clothes I found were from JC Penney.  You pretty much have to order on-line (the selection in stores isn't great), but you can return to the store if they don't work.  I also shopped the sales at www.figure8maternity.com for a lot of my work clothes.

You definitely want to wear maternity v. plus size clothes (which won't fit right and will look baggy and unprofessional). 

Mrs_Lady

thanks tosababy! I like figure8's site. Perfect I like online shopping

JLSBWG

I bought my maternity clothes at Old Navy, Motherhood and JCPenney.  I thought they were all rather inexpensive. 

sara1104

i found some suits at jcpenney.com which worked well. 

Mjmksb04

I got a lot of work appropriate stuff from JCPenney--their catalog has a much better selection than the stores.

SLH1014

I got some things from a maternity consignment shop, some things from Target and some things from Gap Maternity.  I absolutely loved Gap Maternity.  It's a little expensive, but you can catch some good sales.  Also, I figure I can also sell them at the consignment shop. I haven't done it yet because I wanted to keep them for the next baby. I hated Motherhood Maternity!

shouldbeworkin

We have a consignment store near my work that had some good finds.  I loved the miracle pants from Motherhood (the more expensive stores sell them too, for more money for the same thing ... I don't get it).  They're great b/c they have no panel in front, the sides open up instead.  You can wear them all the way up until the end, which is great.  I found a lot of Motherhood shirts on clearance at Sears and on sale at Kohls.  I bought my suit jackets at the consignment store and just wore them with the miracle pants from Motherhood - you couldn't tell they weren't a set.