To be incredibly irritated by the lack of maternity clothing on the high street...

[Bixxy]

Yes, I know I can order things online. But I actually want to try on a pair of work trousers - of which, there are worryingly few - in a shop, without having to order and pay for multiple sizes to be delivered for me to send back.

I live in a fairly decent sized city and only four shops stock maternity wear. Not even Next. Or M&S. Only one of those (Mothercare) have smart work wear (one pair of trousers), none in my size obviously

It seems entirely ridiculous that when your body is changing so rapidly, that retailers have decided the ideal solution is to take everything online so you can't even try it on without paying for it then traipsing to the post office to return!

Swear it wasn't this bad four years ago when I last was pregnant.

AIBU (or possibly hormonal)?

[chumbler]

Eurgh I don't recommend trousers for maternity... Leggings all the way!

But yes, v annoying, though I suspect having Xmas stock out doesn't help as they must run out of room!

[IndomitabIe]

I feel you. The only two major cities in the region don't stock maternity bits any more. They did 5 years ago. I'm not sure birth rate has fallen that significantly.

[Turquoisetamborine]

I found out the other day that H&M stock it but in their childrenswear shop not the adult clothes shop. My local shopping centre has them separately.

[Callmecordelia]

You're absolutely right. It wasn't thus bad in 2010 when I was last pregnant. You could buy maternity tights in the nearest h&m and there were a few shops in our small provincial town that stocked some maternity wear.

Now, none of them do. I resorted to ordering loads into various stores in Bluewater and doing the rounds, ruthlessly handing back anything that didn't fit straight away. Still took Next a month to refund my card though.

[Hopelass]

I had this problem too - it's bizarre it's not like there is a shortage of pregnant women so they'd not be able to sell maternity clothes?!?!
For what it's worth red herring at debenhams do some brilliant over bump black work trousers. I had two pairs during my pregnancy and loved them. Wore them from around 17-34 weeks. Fit well as per proper sizing. They aren't ridiculously expensive either if I remember correctly.

[toomuchtooold]

Oh god yes I remember this. Also, they pull the maternity coats from the ranges by about mid December. Yes of course, why would anyone pregnant need a winter coat at short notice? Sure we are all bloody fortune tellers, we all know 3 months in advance we're going to need a winter maternity coat...

[IndomitabIe]

In fairness, our H&M does have some stuff, but only in size 8 or 18. I'm neither size though I'm working from one to the other. Red Herring's black trousers were far to reminiscent of the ones I had in 1998 to actually spend money on. Only one style available.

[Enjolrass]

When I had ds I got mine from Dorothy Perkins, for work trousers.

Got some lovely fancy leggings to go out in and tops for work from Asda.

I stopped using DP because they loved the mat wear upstairs and didn't have a life. I had spd, it wasn't worth attempting the stairs.

Have you tried the supermarket clothes range.

[IndomitabIe]

Nothing in DP, nothing in the supermarkets round here. Only RH in debenhams and sizes 8 or 18 in H&M here.

There used to be decent ranges a few years ago. The point of he thread is that now there is not!

[5hell]

YANBU!!
I've got in a rage about this too...I'm a short-arse so would like to try things on to ensure they don't drag around on the floor!

Almost as annoying is the fact that when there are mat clothes available, they are tucked away in a back corner as if we should be ashamed of being pg!!!

[DisneyMillie]

I got really annoyed at this the other week too - I hate online shopping and if there's a big enough market for baby clothes there must be for maternity?!

I did find some work trousers (I can't wear leggings - more of a suit place) at jojo mama bebe and they're really comfy but even mothercare hardly had anything.

[Bixxy]

Thank goodness it's not just me!!!

chumbler totally with you on the leggings thing. Unfortunately I work somewhere with a strict work wear policy and would like a change from dresses. I only have two at the moment.

Supermarkets have taken their stuff online too and H&M have a large range but no work wear weirdly (do they think we all leave work at 12 weeks and live a life of luxury I wonder???)

I've ended up ordering from ASOS and will return what doesn't fit. Red Herring didn't have my size in store or online unfortunately

Even our Mamas and Papas store is online maternity wear only. I'm so enraged by it all I seriously want to start a petition.

I'm so uncomfortable in my normal work trousers (zip undone, lacky band holding them together) I've abandoned them until the new ones arrive and I'm wearing whatever dresses I can find in a maternity bundle I bought last week. Today's OOTD is a stripy midi dress (that's too big) with a pair of leopard print tights. I actually got dressed in the dark today. I look like an eccentric art teacher.

[ofallthenerve]

This annoyed me too. I ended up buying Asos's premium service thing so I could buy heaps of things and they would arrive next day. It was about £10 for the year. It's free to return stuff too. I found Asos maternity stuff a bit hit and miss but they have other maternity labels on there. Also as pp said, I couldn't BA with trousers while of so wide a lot of dresses at work (not helpful).

[ofallthenerve]

*wore a lot

[RealHuman]

Weirdly, the best shop in my local town for maternity wear seems to be Peacocks.

[Archer26]

I had this issue. I work in Nottingham so hardly a backwater and only one shop, top shop, had fecking maternity clothes. Annoyingly it was the furthest point from my office so just no.

Do you have a local department store you can order in to? I have a large debenhams that did a good maternity online and you can order into store for next day. I used to wander over and try them on there and then and if I didn't like them, refund it. Painless and save you sending them back through the post.

[strawberryandaflake]

You're not. It's a terrible choice. I've only got a few days to go and I will burn my maternity clothes as soon as I can. Just because I am pregnant does not mean I want to become a frump. Down with flowery wrap dresses and stripy tops. Why can't they just make the normal clothes with an extra bit for the bump? Because they are cruddy designers who don't really know how to tailor that's why. Rant over.

[goodnessgraciousgoudaoriginal]

It's still better in the UK than it is over here in France!! And we have one of the highest birth rates in the EU!

There's one tiny section of one branch of H and M that sells maternity wear (in the children's section!! I mean honestly what the actual fuck). It's about three rails of maternity wear, and about half a rack of nursing wear. And even then, that's only because it's an enormous store over three levels.

There's no jo jo mamon bebe. There's no anything else. It's all online.

Even ASOS is problematic here, as the french side seems to be EXTREMELY unreliable on arranging delivery of items.

[Glitterkitten24]

Yep, am experiencing this just now! have had to pay over the odds for next day delivery on asos for maternity jeans I need for Thursday- I stupidly assumed I'd be able to pick up a plain, black pair of maternity jeans pretty easily!

I hate shopping online for clothes, I want to see them properly!

And don't even start me about maternity jackets- I haven't found anything not resembling a sack yet, even online.

[Mumberjack]

Maternity clothes are so drab this winter! And most retailers seem to assume that anyone pg will have the same leg length, despite offering the non maternity versions in various lengths!

[outputgap]

Does Mamas and Papas even do maternity any more? I can't see anything on the website.

A shop assistant told me that women try to buy from mainstream ranges so they don't do any/as much maternity. The problem is when you get to 8 months and you cannot squeeze into anything at all. You need maternity clothes and I had to do a bit of panic shopping then.

[Anotherusername1]

My ds is 13 now and it was rubbish when I was pregnant with him. The best thing was ordering some tops online and then being told they were out of stock and would be in 6 weeks later. Really useful - I might not still be pregnant by then; it was around the 30 week mark, I had a small bump so didn't need full-on maternity wear until I was well into my pregnancy. There was a website called the Maternity Exchange where I got a couple of pairs of second-hand trousers and I just bought larger size blouses from M&S. Not ideal but it was really hard unless you were prepared to pay silly prices. I imagine the online choice is much better now though but as people have said, it's better when you can see the clothes and try them on.

But have you tried to buy normal clothes in a shop? In the larger towns and cities it's not so bad, but there isn't even a Next where I live. And when there is a shop you're lucky if they have your size. People say online retailing is killing the High Street but it's chicken and egg isn't it? If I go into town and know I can't get anything I'll buy online. Then they'll say people are buying online, so they will close the shop!

[Paintedhandprints]

They tend to remove the mat wear for Xmas stuff at this time of year. I had the same problem 2yes ago. To be fair there is a better range online and you could order into your local store to try on and return. But as pp said they then seem to hold onto your deposit for ages. Could you not buy regular work trousers a couple of sizes up and tailor the legs a bit to fit? I ended up wearing the same black mat jeans and couple of skirts for work last time.

[Vinorosso74]

I remember struggling with work clothes when I was pregnant (back in 2009/10) as I needed to be 'smart'. I agree more shops should stock maternity wear as ordering loads online to try is a pain!
Do New Look still do maternity as I got annoyed with their trousers/jeans. No different leg lengths like their other stuff so all pregnant women are the same height?
Topshop stuff was quite nice though not that cheap.

[lilyb84]

I'm in London and it's slim pickings. Local (Croydon) H&M has an okay range, there are bits and bobs in Topshop and Mothercare and New Look on Oxford St has a fairly large department but that's pretty much it. I've bought almost everything on ebay which has been a godsend - a fraction of the price and I've just resold anything that didn't fit!