Maternity Clothes Shopping = :(

Carebella · May 2014

Tomorrow I will be 16 weeks and most of my pants are pretty darn tight. So I hit a used maternity clothes shop today and a Target, now I'm down in the dumps. It feels super weird and excessive having paneled pants at this point. None of the pants were clear winners and the selection was TINY. I'm not finding many dresses or skirts I like which could be easier because pants, particularly shorts, don't like me. And I really don't want to order online because sizing was challenging enough for me pre-BFP. Also, it just feels really weird to buy pregnancy stuff right now when I barely have a bump. Argh

Any other FTMs struggling with this or anyone have tips/tricks?

Kehlepop · May 2014

My pants still fit, but it's starting to get uncomfortable when I sit too long. I noticed that I had quite a few dresses that are empire waisted and will probably last quite a while. There's a better selection of summer dresses than maternity dresses, I may pick some more up, then I can wear them next summer!

hiketheworld · May 2014

I'm so impressed you are ok up until now in your regular pants!! I went for maternity pants around week 11 or so. I did buy a suit in regular sizes but one size up than normal because maternity suits look totally ridiculous still.

Maternity pants are a godsend in my opinion. I bought a couple pairs from destination maternity. They came in small, medium and large. If you don't have a great selection where you live I would just see if you can order a bunch of stuff online from somewhere with free shipping and returns.

whoaitsnikki · May 2014

I'm still in my regular pants too and I'm 14 weeks today. I have been using a hair band through the button hole on mine to hold them up lol and I'm looking into getting a bella band. I've also gotten some dresses and tops from good will that have more room in the belly and they are really cheap. It probably also helps that I wear scrubs and a lab coat to work everyday lol

KMW08 · May 2014

I know these aren't considered stylish, but kohls often has regular pants/shorts that have an elastic stretch band on the back side. Might be a better temporary fit instead of actual maternity clothes?

KitKat099 · May 2014

I gave in and bought some maternity pants. Totally worth it. I feel better and I look better. My regular pants were giving me a serious muffin top. Now even my normal shirts even seem to fit better.

turtles7 · May 2014

Pulled out my fat pants today and will be looking to maternity clothes this weekend. I went to target last weekend and didn't find anything. The dresses were literally hospital gowns with a draw string to tie around the waist. I've heard old navy's, macys, and Ann Taylor loft are good places. I'll let everyone know if I find anything good.

xiaopeapod · May 2014

I'm 16wks and have given up trying to fit in most of my normal pants. Even the hair band method was a no go. Got one pair of maternity jeans so far and what a godsend it was. The majority of the time I just stick with regular empire waisted dresses or skirts. Those are the best and perfect for summer.

kaimee27 · May 2014

I went shopping for a pair of shorts today and decided that they hardly make ANY cute maternity shorts. I finally settled on a pair, but they definitely don't look like my normal shorts. Other than that, I'm getting used to maternity pants. I just fold the belly panel over half-way because otherwise it makes my stomach feel itchy. I might not be able to do that for the who pregnancy and keep my pants up, but for now it works!

shan24 · May 2014

I bought three pairs of maternity pants - two for work and a pair of jeans. My issue is that they're so damned ugly. They give me droopy crotch. I'm hoping it's because I'm not quite big enough for them yet. I can still wear my regular pants, although they're becoming uncomfortable.

I'm hoping to live in dresses this summer.

dnetherl · May 2014

I am a plus size FTM, so I have had an especially difficult time finding clothes. I have had some success at JCPenney.com finding decent maternity career pants and leggings. They had good regular and plus size selections, and most were on clearance.

Motherhood/Destination Maternity had great jeans. Old Navy plus size maternity was a joke. I am struggling to find tops that have full sleeves (not baby doll sleeves). Fat chicks need sleeves.

ccam · May 2014

I wore my regular pants and a bella band until close to 24 weeks last time - it was a godsend! Maternity clothes are hard to find. I would recommend ordering some stuff online with free returns or where you can return it in store (like Old Navy). Maternity selection online is much better than in stores!

Non-maternity maxi skirts and dresses also work, plus you can wear them after you have the baby. And non-maternity flowy style or tunic shirts.

mander82 · May 2014

I just bought full panel maternity pants and shorts. I am going to need them eventually anyways. I just fold the panel down so it's under my belly. It makes them fit just like my low rise jeans.

brichar31 · May 2014

My first pregnancy I didn't get into maternity clothes until I was 4.5 months or so and let me tell you after I did I kicked my butt for not doing it sooner!!! When you are more comfortable you feel so much better overall!! I'm already in maternity wear this time!! I can still wear my pants with a hair elastic or belly band but its not near as comfy as my maternity wear. I struggled finding clothes I liked too, I agree online is the way to go

Kristy774 · May 2014

I order everything from The Gap, Old Navy and The loft. I love my pregnancy clothes but this is the last baby for me so I'm trying to enjoy everything.

missnacholover · May 2014

dnetherl said:

I am a plus size FTM, so I have had an especially difficult time finding clothes. I have had some success at JCPenney.com finding decent maternity career pants and leggings. They had good regular and plus size selections, and most were on clearance.

Motherhood/Destination Maternity had great jeans. Old Navy plus size maternity was a joke. I am struggling to find tops that have full sleeves (not baby doll sleeves). Fat chicks need sleeves.

I hear ya on finding plus sized maternity wear. Kohls has some cute stuff.

I want cute dresses and I can't find any. It's making me sad.

ETA: Kohls website - I haven't seen any Plus size Maternity clothes in store.

2ndGeneration · May 2014

Walmart has good maternity stuff online, and you can return it in the local store-my local store does not carry maternity or I would just go buy it there.

The Planet Motherhood bootcut jeans are short enough for me at 5ft, so for us petite ladies, these are a great find at $15!

My dh says maternity looks better on me than trying to squeeze into regular clothes. I'm a smallish gal and my regular clothes are close-fitted, so they got tight fast lol.

lizgrace03 · May 2014

To me, the maternity clothes are actually a lot more flattering than trying to squeeze into regular clothing. The panel seems to accentuate the cute little bump rather than make you look like a big blob. Well, at least this was my experience. I found pants at Old Navy, Target and Motherhood. I do agree with the PP who mentioned droopy crotch- I find that I have to pull my pants up constantly to avoid that. But it's worth it.in my opinion.

carcrashheart · May 2014

Motherhood maternity is s,m,l sizes in pants. Not exactly difficult. You can order ON online and return in store. Kohls. With DS I started wearing panel pants at 11w. It may seem excessive but it's not as much as you think. The panel gives the appearance of a rounder bump instead of chunky blump. I don't like half panels because they end up rolled up under the bump as you get bigger. Also, I suggest going to a real maternity store so that there is a bump provided to help try on clothes and give you an idea of how things will fit in a few months. I'm all about second hand shopping but you need to figure out wha sizes work best for you first. ON pants never really fit me well, which is why I only wore motherhood jeans last time. Dresses aren't going to flatter much now. Not until you're bigger. It just gives the appearance of frumpy right now unless it's a fitted maxi. You can also look up pink blush maternity.

TXPyroMom · May 2014

dnetherl said:

I am a plus size FTM, so I have had an especially difficult time finding clothes. I have had some success at JCPenney.com finding decent maternity career pants and leggings. They had good regular and plus size selections, and most were on clearance.

Motherhood/Destination Maternity had great jeans. Old Navy plus size maternity was a joke. I am struggling to find tops that have full sleeves (not baby doll sleeves). Fat chicks need sleeves.

I totally agree about the sleeve thing. I wear a size 14, but I hate how my arms look. It seems like all the maternity shirts I find are sleeveless or baby doll too.

I think I will be able to wear all of my pre-pregnancy light cardigans and such, so I will probably just do that.

As far as fashion goes, give me pants and a tee shirt and Im happy. There is no dress code at my office, so jeans and capris are just fine. I can't imagine having to buy a maternity work wardrobe.

MrsTuna08 · May 2014

I just ordered from ON today, they have 20% off everything on the site (the code is EVERYTHING). I ordered a bunch of shorts, a few tops, and a maxi dress. I'm not counting on all of the shorts fitting, so I ordered enough that I can return what doesn't fit and hopefully have one or two pairs left over to wear.

krgriffin26 · May 2014

I have been buying from Target and Motherhood since I was about 10 weeks. I have several maternity pants now and I LOVE all of them. I finally had to buy Maternity shirts this past weekend and I will be 16 Weeks on Saturday. I have some short elastic waistband ones and the full panel ones. I actually find that the full panel ones stay up better and they are more comfortable. The short band ones cut in the middle of my stomach and made me feel lumpy.

stacyslo · May 2014

I found a couple maxi skirts at Old Navy and a maxi dress at Target. My problem is that all my tops are getting too tight bc my boobs are huge!! I can still fit it most of my pants with the belly band but have no tops to wear and maternity tops will still look ridiculous on me! Although yesterday I wore a non maternity top witb my bellyband and nonmaternity slacks and everyone asked how far along I was! Like, everyone! So maybe I look more pregnant than I think! Lol

brooklyngirl18 · May 2014

shaddox16 said:

Two words....yoga pants!!! I've got three pant length and 3 crop length (my choice is Victoria's Secret) im still wearing a medium (pre pregnancy size) and they still have plenty of room to stretch. Plus they have the fold over top that can be adjusted. Also figured they will be super comfty after birth. I have found they can be dressed up (have worn to church) or of course casual. LOVE them!!!

this exactly i live in vs yoga pants!

Kimcraig14 · May 2014

Same here. I realized really quickly that I had no clothes that had room for me even to gain 5 pounds. Had no idea that I had always worn such fitted clothes. Anyhoo - I tried the bella band for about 3 days and I hated it. So uncomfortable sitting down in regular clothes even with the band that I went for maternity around 11 weeks. I couldn't believe how much more comfortable I was. I personally have found the things on walmart.com to be really soft and comfy and you can always take them back to the store if you need. So far I've loved everything I've gotten there - I just wish they had more of a selection. Also check out thredup.com - awesome online consignment store!!

SweetMelissa5 · May 2014

This thread just inspired me to go through my maternity clothes, and I can't believe how many I've accumulated over the last few years. The good news is my pregnancies have spanned all the seasons, so I've got a little of everything; the only thing I've never used is a maternity bathing suit, and I recently bought two from Kohls, so I should be set on that now. The majority of my maternity clothes have come from Kohls, with a few things from Motherhood Maternity; I definitely recommend buying online from Kohls and then returning anything you don't want to the store (I do that all the time at Kohls).

highbornhunter · May 2014

I was given a bunch of maternity clothes by a friend. We are close in size when not pregnant, but she gained a good bit while pregnant, so thus far a lot of those clothes, esp. shirts and dresses, don't fit me. They are way too big in the boob area. So I'm wearing the longest/biggest of all my non-maternity shirts most of the time. I've picked up two pairs of maternity jeans, one from the Old Navy website and one from Target. I also got a maternity maxi dress from Old Navy that is super comfortable.

I've got some Kohl's cash to spend, does anyone know if they have a maternity section? If not it's being spent on shoes.

I

shoes.

absolutelymaybe · May 2014

I was fairly thing to begin with, but I've managed to gain ~10lb in my 1st tri and I swear most of that is in my ass and thighs, so my even my stretchy pants suddenly made me feel like a stuffed sausage.

But I'm really long waisted and appear to be starting to carry low, so I don't really have a baby bump that works for maternity clothes. So, basically I'm living in non-maternity maxi dresses, skirts and long tank tops. It's working for now.

jf198400 · May 2014

I'm a third TM so I've basically been in maternity clothes since 6 weeks lol. But I remember being extremely frustrated during my first pregnancy too. I would order online b/c really the stores don't carry anything. Stores I've shopped at include: target, gap, old navy, motherhood, and loft. If you need to, order 2 sizes and return what doesn't fit. Maternity clothes are all going to be somewhat big, loose, and baggy at this point, unfortunately.

kikimeemee · May 2014

I roll my eyes seeing maxi dresses for sale as they are tube tops or slinky straps so one would have to go bra-less, or wear a strapless bra. Pregnant or not, those skimpy tops are useless to me. :-/

Sarahbeth612 · May 2014

I second the VS yoga pants and Bella band. I think a lot of non maternity summer dresses would work too, so you don't have to limit your selection?

FirstBabyDoyle · May 2014

I lost my maternity paneled pants virginity yesterday. Today was most comfortable day of my life (ok so maybe just my pregnancy). Seriously, treat yo self ladies!

KTgator · May 2014

I love maternity tank tops (in my opinion Gap makes the best ones- stretchy material so it grows with you and keeps shape). I usually wear maternity pants (I like the panel- I feel like it smoothes everything out) with a maternity tank top and light cardigan. I just scored an entire bin of maternity clothes on a local FB swap page today for $30, too! Try swap sites

Ineedmorecoffee · May 2014

I think its SO ridiculous how hard it is to find cute maternity clothes in this day in age. The majority of them look like they were made for grandmas, unless you wanna shell out 100 bucks for one piece. So irritating.

MamanJones · May 2014

Just hit up a motherhood maternity outlet and got like 10 or 11 pieces of clothing. The leggings are so comfortable and flattering! My first shopping trip where I felt like I found things that I love to wear now and with the store bump in the fall! I'm 15 weeks and feel gross in my regular clothes, and belly band is starting to get uncomfortable.

TeeFisher19 · May 2014

I was having the same challenge with going to maternity this soon.I'm almost 14 weeks and I found this maternity kit called the belly belt. It comes with these elastic bands that can extend your non pregnancy pants through the whole pregnancy possibly. Target.com and eBay have them available. I'd still plan to buy maternity pants but at least this can hold you over a little longer. Its worked for me and I plan in using them until summer fully kicks in

https://m.target.com/p/belly-belt-combo-kit-denim-white-black/-/A-11189501

creativesoul83 · May 2014

I am with you plus size ftm. not a fan either. I went to target last night dh was like her are you some pants....yoga pants... I have to wear khakis to work. I have only one pair of jeans that fit and after sitting over anhour no go. I am a little over 15 weeks. shirts aren't as much of Ann issue.... yet

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