Maternity Clothes

youreggoispreggo · November 2013

This question spawned off of the Best/Worst thread because it looks like a lot of you had clothes in one or both of the categories!

Best places to shop?

Full or demi panel?

Also, did most of you just order a bunch of stuff in the beginning or buy as you went? (Or if you are a FTM what are you planning on doing?) I keep seeing cute things but as a FTM I'm scared to buy anything in case it never fits.

Julymama714 · November 2013

I might load up during Black Friday online sales and then return what I don't like...I'm a FTM though so look forward to hearing what others have to say.

pantherRN · November 2013

I am planning to buy a few pairs of pants for work this weekend. I've been unbuttoning them after lunch for the past two weeks. I am going to look for full panel, the consensus seems to be that that is what you'll want at the end. I can just fold the panel over for now.

As for shirts, I'm going to hold off on those.

dana2die4 · November 2013

There is a new boutique that has pretty cute stuff called Pink Blush Maternity

TigerLily12345 · November 2013

dana2die4 said:

There is a new boutique that has pretty cute stuff called Pink Blush Maternity

The only maternity item I have bought so far is a sparkly NYE dress from Pink Blush. I thought the price was very reasonable.

coasties_girl · November 2013

This is my second pregnancy and I reccomend wearing your regular clothes as long as you can. And when you do buy maternity clothes try to buy things you can wear after pregnancy too. It sucks spending a bunch of money on clothes you'll only wear a couple months.

Sroberts28 · November 2013

I really want to buy materinty clothes but I think I am going to hold off. It is only cold in New Mexico until maybe mid Febuary and I know I am going to need mostly summer clothes. I think I might buy some work pants in the next few weeks but that is all.

cookieinva · November 2013

I have full and demi panel and liked both but at different times/stages. That full panel can be hot in warm weather. Personally last time I held off as long as I could and bought as few good pieces as I could (quality over quantity). Also don't assume you need all-maternity everything. I had some linen summer drawstring pants, for example, that worked fine through my whole pregnancy. Ditto for some skirts. I had lots of outfits, even late in pregnancy, where the pants or skirt and cardigan were just non-maternity stuff I already owned and the only maternity item I was wearing was the top under the cardi. Cheap clearance regular clothes, say from Old Navy, in a larger size can be great too and work post-pregnancy when you aren't back to "normal". Especially for flowy dresses or tops come summer. My Gap wrap dress was by far the most flattering maternity wardrobe item and I loved my Gap full panel jeans as well. Picked up some plainer, solid colored Ts and tanks that got a lot of use last time and I expect will this time too. Lastly, consignment shops that sell kids' stuff often carry maternity clothes too (Kid II Kid et al.).

PregsMcSnoozalot · November 2013

I've been looking on craigslist for maternity clothes....I remember looking a while ago and people had big bags full of tops, bottoms, and dresses they were selling for like $50 a bag. For whatever reason, there's hardly anything listed these days, but I'm going to keep checking back. Hopefully I have a little while 'til I need 'em

AmericanInOz · November 2013

I have enough from previous pregnancies to last me - but as a FTM I just bought things as I needed it - I really only ended up buying 1 pair of work pants, 1 pair of jeans and a few tops and 1 dressy dress (for a wedding)

between that and what I already had that was stretchy - that lasted me for the 9 months (and the few months pp when I still had a belly

alyssa719 · November 2013

I've bought a couple pairs of jeans on eBay, but am keeping it under $20/pair and just looking for a couple pairs of work pants, so I have some stuff, then will wait to see what else I need. I lost 125lbs within the past couple years, so I still have a lot of large shirts and stuff which I think I'll be able to wear.

eortman · November 2013

I like Old Navy for maternity. Their things seem to fit best. Demi for early pregnancy and full panel for late.

mamatomp · November 2013

I try to wear regular clothes for as long as I can, so I say but as you go. I have a pair of under belly gap maternity jeans, but all my other pants were full panel and I greatly preferred that, especially toward the end. I really like Gap and Target clothes. Motherhood is okay, but I don't like the quality of their jeans or shirts. Some of their dresses were alright. But I wasn't that impressed for the price.

I may have to buy some maternity shorts-- never been pregnant in the summer before. Other than that I plan on wearing regular sundresses and regular tunic style tops

lindslalala · November 2013

Gap and Target for clothes, definitely full panel jeans! I bought as I went along the first time. I actually just bought some tanks and t shirts from Old Navy maternity that were on clearance, since I have basically no summer maternity clothes. I'll likely buy a couple pairs of shorts (or borrow from a friend), and wear the shit out of my regular maxi dresses.

lynnyrd80 · November 2013

I liked Gap maternity the best. Their t-shirts were the only ones that were long enough to cover my whole belly last time. Old navy was decent. I also really liked pea in the pod camis and tanks. They also had cute clothes, but they are pricey. It's a good place to go if you need a nice dress. I never really found jeans I liked. I wish I had just bought some nicer ones last time.

My son is a June baby and I was able to just wear stretchy tops and sweaters that I already had through most of the colder weather. I didn't really "need" maternity tops until around 20 weeks. Pants were a different story. I needed those around 13 weeks. I have a feeling I will need them a little earlier this time.

INmommy871278 · November 2013

I bought two full belly jeans, two Demi capris, one pair of Demi shorts, and three or four short sleeve maternity tops. I bought a bit ahead but not much because no one local sales plus size maternity so I had to have it shipped in. The only thing I might buy this pregnancy is another pair of shorts. FTR I prefer full panel over the Demi.

HollynLeana · November 2013

When you buy maternity pants---do you just buy the size you are now? Go up a size?

chance_encounters · November 2013

I am a 4th time mom. Seriously...craigslist and goodwill!

netsirk2013 · November 2013

goodwill. I find motherhood maternity there all the time!!!

LuluPMW · November 2013

I'm a FTM and so far haven't bought anything and probably won't until I hear the heart beat. I think I will get stuff as needed it or as sales come up.

That said I'm really bloated and might get some non maternity tops to hide it and then wear next fall over my post baby belly....

biglewzer · November 2013

coasties_girl said:

This is my second pregnancy and I reccomend wearing your regular clothes as long as you can. And when you do buy maternity clothes try to buy things you can wear after pregnancy too. It sucks spending a bunch of money on clothes you'll only wear a couple months.

See, I don't understand the point of wearing my own clothes as long as possible. Why be uncomfortable if you don't have to? Why stretch out your normal clothes when you're going to have to get maternity wear no matter what? Why not get some good wear out of the maternity clothes you buy? I see absolutely no benefit to destroying your current wardrobe and being uncomfortable for as long as possible.

allardr · November 2013

I prefer full panel. I only work PT so I went with minimal and bought as I needed stuff last year. (I was weird and belly didn't grow any bigger from wk 30-40, thankfully baby still was growing!) Anyway I'm glad I didn't buy too much in too big of a size.

I bought one pair of black dress pants one pair of jeans. I also bought and LOVE yoga pants (my favorite home attire). As for T's I bought one white (since I can wear almost any sweater open with this white T for work) and a few colored ones. I also bought a few nursing tanks (though I found camis work just fine too.

I also wore my regular clothes as long as possible, not to the point of stretching out. But I think everyone has clothes that fit a little different. I simply found my pants that have a little extra room in the waste (where I'd normally need a belt) and found my more flowy tops. Plus in summer t-shirts work just fine for casual wear. I totally went as cheap as possible, but I guess it's personal preference.

unaveragejane · November 2013

I also agree that going second-hand is a great way to save money. We have lots of kid-geared consignment sales around here, and a few of them carry maternity clothes. I got several pairs of pants for work there. (I also prefer full-panel.) I liked tops from Kohl's, Target, and Old Navy. (We don't have Gap maternity here.) Several of my regular summer dresses worked just find and didn't stretch out. Since DS is a June baby, most of my clothes from him will work just fine. I would like to find some long dresses this time, though.

Oh, just a side note...Even with my full panel pants, I found that some that fit comfortably in the middle of my pregnancy were just not comfortable at all at the end. The ones that bothered me the most had a skinny band of elastic at the top of the panel. Maybe it was just b/c I am short and had a huge belly with DS, but I figured I would throw that out there.

futuremrsgorski · November 2013

I'm a second timer here. The first time around I bought five things...two belly bands a small for early on and medium for later on, a dress for the shower, a pair of jeans and a pair of kakhi's from old navy. The rest I borrowed from friends. I'm more of a medium girl and some of my friends are small sized, but it just kept me motivated to watch my weight better so I could fit in their clothes and not have to buy my own. I thanked my friends by returning the cleaned, neatly folded clothes in a box with a card and giftcard to say thank you.

HokieLaw · November 2013

My best advice is borrow what you can from a friend and then buy a few staple pieces you like. I borrowed 70% of my maternity wardrobe from my best friends. Saved a ton of money.

Littlebean312 · November 2013

FTM and I went to the local second hand store and got a few different types of pants with different fronts in them. Some have a stretchy band all the way around starting above the zipper area and some have no zipper area and are mostly just a panel in the from for the bump to fit In to.
I am wearing the dress pants today band all the way around and they are great and would work good for a comfortable pant when going to a buffet or thanksgiving dinner even if your not expecting.

I think later on when I have figure out what pant works best for my bump I will buy new but for me now second hand it better.

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