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May 2011 Moms
Pythia1022
member
Cheating on maternity clothes
Pythia1022
member
I'm a fashion junkie, plain and simple. I've been shopping for maternity clothes for the last week because I've been popping out of most of my pre-preg things, and the conclusion I've come to is that cute maternity clothes are super expensive, and most of it is ultra-conservative. I'm not advocating a mom-to-be wearing minis all the time, but good-NESS, I have boobs for the first time in my life!! You'd think they could add another inch to the plunging necklines on some of those wrap dresses!
So I went to Forever XXI, and bought a ton of things a couple sizes up from where I'm at now; tunics with empire waists, and other things with room to grow. And I don't think I'm going to buy any maternity anythings unless I absolutely have to, because the stuff I found is perfect and wayy cuter/cheaper than most of the maternity lines I've seen.
Is anyone else cheating on maternity wear? And if so, where did you find the outfits, or do you have any tips for substituting (ie, men's sweaters at opposed to maternity?)??
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Re: Cheating on maternity clothes
Yup, good stuff but VERY VERY limited, and not carried in most stores. None of the stores in my area carry it, and I would rather try it on than buy online.
H&M has a maternity line. Also try Ross, TJ Maxx, and Burlington Coat Factory - they usually have trendy maternity items.
I bought some really long super stretchy shirts from tjmaxx last time around. I was even able to wear them once I lost the baby weight and felt comfortable in form fitting clothes again!
For camis I really liked aeropostale, but I just bought some from WetSeal and they were way cheaper and just as good. They're super long and stretchy and should last the entire pregnancy. The WetSeal ones don't have a shelf bra which I actually think is a plus.
I am a fashion wh*re.... these maternity lines are just not doing much for me either! I broke down today and tried Gap, the jeans are too frumpy for me. I just ordered these J brand jeans today, hopefully they look as good as they look online! https://www1.bloomingdales.com/catalog/product/index.ognc?ID=492785&CategoryID=9329
I plan on just getting a few designer jeans and sticking with leggings too. So many hot styles right now are flowy tops, so stock up on them!
I actually outgrew some of my maternity shirts while some of my non-maternity shirts fit til the very end. It really just depends on the clothes. Just because something's maternity doesn't necessarily mean it will have enough room and just because something's not maternity doesn't mean that it won't.
I went to my local TJMaxx, Marshall's and Ross today and none them had maternity clothes. I was bummed. Maybe certain locations have them?
I love the honesty! I think I am going to try and get away with non maternity clothes as long as possible but I know that eventually I will have to buy the maternity clothes. But I am def going to wait till the very last moment lol.
I'm in the same boat! I don't want to show off my boobs. They're getting out of control! Stay put, boobies, stay put!
Also, I work with kids...plunging necklines are a big no-no!
One thing I have read (but not yet tested) is that sometimes shopping in the plus section is better than maternity. It's just as famous for being frumpy but getting a little better and -- importantly -- it's so much cheaper.
It all depends on what your own body does. If you just get a bump, I'd expect you have to go maternity. But for those of us who also gain weight everywhere else during pregnancy, plus is an option. Particularly for tops, obviously.
My problem isn't so much that everything looks frumpy, its just that we don't have an Old Navy or Gap that carries maternity, and our Target has a very limited selection.
At 5'8 I'm what I would consider 'tall' and finding something long enough to cover a bump (once its bigger) that isn't maternity is going to be a little challenging. I normally wear a medium in 'normal' clothes (sometimes a large). I tried to 'size up' the other day and it really didn't work. The shirt just looked like it was too big, and that was just with a normal sized large henley waffle knit shirt. I can see how going to the plus section would be good in theory because they are cut a little longer and more drapey, it would never work if the average large is too big in the shoulders on you.
I have pretty much come to the conclusion I will just buy regular shirts that are in the style of super long. I am so short that they are already long on me and as long as they fit everywhere else, what is the point of buying the annoying shirts that have the tie in the back??? I hate those shirts and would prefer to not wear them EVER.
Funny story about being short and maternity pants, the jeans I tried on the other day had the blue stretchy stuff go ALL the way up to my boobs. Like I could tuck it under my bra. Yeah I have no waist.
I too am a fashion junkie. For now, I've been able to modify a lot of my regular wear, I finally caved and did the elastic hair band trick + bella band for my jeans, but other than that, i am not showing very much.
I've seen a lot of articles/comments that state that you could buy regular clothes a size up, and then tailor them. The problem with a lot of maternity wear is that they completely disregard the fact that some of us started with small boobs, and thus don't fit that large boob area in the top. Also, they're just plain ugly (for the most part). I am planning on wearing as many dresses as I can, as for now, sweater dresses are doing the trick with spanx.
Also, empire everything, tunics and other flowy but still fashionable articles that could work.
I'm all into belts and fun jewelry, which is still updating my wardrobe.
And yes, Forever21, H&M and other inexpensive stores have fun pieces that you can incorporate that at least make me feel like I"m not a pregnant waffle, but a fashionable mama to be.
I wore lots of non-maternity items my entire pregnancy and I did not deliver until 41 weeks. I had a few basic maternity items--some tanks, tees and jeans. But I wore a lot of non-maternity clothes the whole time too, and that is what I will try to do this time around as well.
I looked for long, flowy shirts and dresses, items with empire waists, skirts with elastic waistbands. I had a swing coat that worked great too.
My SIL wore mostly regular clothes throughout her pregnancy. I thought it looked funny towards the end. I mean, regular shirts are cut to be the same length all the way around. So once she got big, the shirt covered her belly, but it was way longer in the back than it was in the front. It looked sloppy.