on maternity clothes?
I work in a financial services office (read: professional attire) and am a little overwhelmed at the thought of purchasing an entirely new wardrobe to last a few months.
I'm just curious what kind of budget other ladies are laying down for the new digs?
Re: XP: Soooo....how much have you spent/do you plan to spend....
I've been lucky and have received LOTS of loaner clothes from my sister and a few friends. But its mostly casual clothes, so I'm going to have to buy some work appropriate clothes for a few conferences and meetings I have in the fall (I work in academia so can get away with casual most of the time). Plus a few dresses for weddings and other events.
I'm hoping to spend less than $500 total.
Check out CL and ebay for used clothes. Gap has great sales too (I think they are doing Give & Get at the end of August = 30% off) and they have some decent work appropriate clothes. I got a great pair of nice slacks there for $10! Ann Taylor Loft also has maternity clothes on line now.
~~ married 8.11.07
~~ DD1 1.16.11 ~~ DD2 1.3.14 ~~
~~ BFP3 12.22.15 MMC 2.29.16 @ 13 weeks ~~
~~ 2 D&Cs (3.1.16 and 3.10.16) for MMC
~~ BFP4 10.27.16 MMC 1.23.17 @ 16 weeks ~~ D&E 1.26.17 ~~
I bought a couple pairs of jeans and some basic black, gray and kahki pants. I don't need maternity shirts so far so I've been lucky.
But I know I will need a coat and I just had to buy a swim suit. I'm trying to buy a lot of solid colors, mostly black and dress it up with accessories.
For my first pregnancy, I ended up buying 4 nice pairs of black dressy pants and about 8 dressy tops. I used suit jackets I wore pre-pregnancy that I left unbuttoned. I probably spent about $250. I got my whole casual wardrobe between yard sales/consignment shops/hand me downs. I ended up getting some additional work clothes around my 6th month from a friend who was due a few months before me.
In Canada we have a site called "Kijiji" and people use it to sell their used stuff (kind of like Craigs list I suppose). I have bought about 10 outfits off of it (jeans, shorts, skirts, dresses, shirts and a three piece suit -- skirt, pants and jacket) for about $300. I plan to use the rest of my budget (about $200) to buy sweaters/turtlenecks for the winter and I should be done. All the clothes I bought were in great condition.
I've also borrowed a few things from friends as well.
So far, nothing. My best friend is the same size as me and gave me TONS of maternity dress pants and capris, jeans, shirts, dresses, etc.
I think I will get a few more shirts at a nearby consignment shop for $5 each, so I'll probably spend about $25 total.