While I am by no means an expert, although my wallet may tell you that I have been working very hard at it, I can say that after wearing the goods for 9+ months when I was pregnant with Lil’ Tea Cup, I can hopefully give some helpful hints to mommies to be. I linked some items for easy shopping, and I also tried to talk about affordable options since we all love a deal! Here are the good, the bad and the oh so ugly of maternity wardrobes.
1, 2) Accessories and bright colours – The one thing that I heard most from friends and family was they loved that I still wore bright colours. I did find it challenging at times to find colour in maternity items, and that just made me more creative with scarves and jewelry. Don’t be afraid to dress how you are comfortable, and still look like yourself as much as possible. In my experience, people always notice and love a pregnant belly so why not wear brights!
3) Maxi skirts are great options to keep cool in the hot weather and still look stylish. I stayed away from purchasing maternity styles because I found them to be shapeless for the most part, and just purchased dresses from stores I would regularly shop at.
4) Jean jacket – You could extend summer pieces into fall by throwing a jean jacket over any of the looks.
5) Long sleeved and short sleeved t shirts – I wore these pretty much every day both to work and after work. They are great because they fit well and you can dress them up or down. Make sure you find styles that have stretch because I don’t think there is anything worse then a poorly fitting t-shirt. I also was not a fan of the styles that gathered at the sides because they didn’t fit until I was much farther along. Thyme Maternity makes a great stretch t shirt in a variety of colours and it has been my go to top. I bought these in white (x2), black, yellow, purple, pink, grey, green, teal and orange. I loved them that much!
6) Maxi dresses and t- shirt dresses – When pregnant you must be aware of whether something gives you a shape or makes you look like you are wearing a tent. I actually went down a size in my dresses in order to make it hug the bump rather then tent over it and just make me look chubby. A belt is my go to maternity accessory to give me some shape in the billowy silhouettes. I purchased non maternity styles in these as well.
7) leggings – I purchased a few pairs of black maternity leggings and they were wonderful to throw on under a tunic or long shirt for weekends and evenings. This style from Old Navy are very inexpensive and have worn well. I purchased three pairs.
8, 9) Full panel maternity pants – I purchased some pairs of under belly pants and found that as my body grew and changed, I was always pulling at them and worrying about my belly and my bottom hanging out. I discovered the “secret belly” pants from Motherhood Maternity and was sold. They have a mesh like material that covers your whole belly in the beginning, and even at seven months they still go about 3/4 of the way up. They are very stretchy and stay put throughout the day. The best part is they come in a variety of designs from dress pants to jeans and they even have pockets, which are left out of a lot of maternity pants. Just in case you are wondering, I purchased black and light tan dress pants, a more casual pair of white pants and one pair of skinny khakis to make it through the months. I also purchased a pair of skinny jeans and a pair of flared jeans in dark washes that I wore all the time.
Here I am in my typical maternity outfit: a t- shirt and maxi skirt
{ The bad }
Button down shirts – I know some women swear by these when pregnant, but I am not a fan. An ill fitting button down looks sloppy and unflattering and when you are constantly changing sizes, it is tough to find a shirt that fits properly for any length of time. If you do have to purchase these, make sure they have some stretch in them and they leave a little wiggle room for the ladies and the belly.
Blousy tops – When it comes to this very popular style, I found sticking to wearing my pre maternity tops worked out better for me. The maternity styles in this shape tended to be large all the way around and again look tent-like. Show off the bump and wear something that still shows your shape.
{ The ugly }
Ill fitting pants – oh my did I get some duds. Make sure that when you purchase maternity pants, they fit your body not just the belly. Some have rather large…there is no other way to say this…crotch areas that balloon out when you wear them. That was not where my belly was! I found styles with stretch were the best way to go.
As a whole I find maternity clothes run very large, so be careful when shopping online for styles. I am normally a large/extra large and found myself swimming in some of the clothes I purchased.
General sizing tips:
Old Navy – runs very large
The Gap – runs large in tops and dresses
Motherhood Maternity – tops, dresses run large, bottoms true to size
Thyme – runs small
Loft – runs large
What were your go to stores for maternity clothes?
clementine / 943 posts
Neat post! I think a lot of women don’t realize that the more fabric you put around your body, the larger you’ll look (like the maxi skirt- better to avoid the ones that are pleated with lots and lots of fabric, and those flowy, empire waist tops). Pregnant women look much cuter when they wear clothes that fit, rather than conceal, the bump.
pomegranate / 3779 posts
I bought about 10 of the maternity tank tops from Target and wear them all the time. I love the ones that don’t have the ruching along the sides because I can wear them long after the pregnancy. I double them up and wear them to work or with a skirt on the weekends.
pear / 1837 posts
The plain maternity tanks from target are great because you can wear them under shirts after baby- easy to pull down the neck to nurse! Asos also has some cute maternity clothes, and free shipping.
apricot / 298 posts
The Gap Maternity clearance rack has been my best friend. I also have a few pieces from Old Navy and Motherhood, but Gap has been my favorite.
grapefruit / 4669 posts
Most of my stuff came from Motherhood, but my GAP stuff was way cuter and higher quality, so I’ll probably add clothing from there for future pregnancies.
pear / 1614 posts
Most of my stuff was hand me downs from craigslist or garage sales. I ended up buying boxes of stuff people were getting rid of and pulled out the few things I liked. I also wore a lot of my regular clothes for most of pregnancy, like a couple pairs of pants that I just folded down the zippers on by the end. The Patagonia Vitaliti skirt has been awesome this time around, it is not maternity but it just sits under the belly and I wear it with a maternity tee. Thanks for the tip on Thyme mat clothes! I’ll check out those tees. Their US website seems to be down currently but they are apparently sold at Babies R Us.
apricot / 441 posts
I know this is an older post, but I’m curious if you have a belly band suggestion to keep wearing your pre-pregnancy pants at least into the second trimester?