Anger at online only option to buy Maternity clothes

[ColdCottage]

Does this drive anyone else mad?

Here is where my anger started...

A few weeks ago I went into Westfield in Shepard's Bush to buy some maternity clothes as I was attending an event in London and everything I owned suddenly felt so tight it made me feel sick so I didn't have anything appropriate to wear.

After visiting 6+ shops and being told, "sorry we only sell maternity online" my blood was starting to boil. Shops such as Next, Mothercare mama's and Papa's and Jojo all said the same. Shops you'd expect to stock them, especially in such a large shopping complex.

Finally I managed to find a small selection in H&M and after trying on about 13 items came away with 2 items.

I am so cross that we are expected to pay out £££ in advance as we have to buy before we try. This is just to try on a selection of clothes like anyone would, when selecting the right fit and style.

Yes, I know most shops allow free delivery to store but depending on where you live (quite rural for me) it's not ideal and many people don't have that choice. Plus it's nice to have a mooch and not just order and return so much.

I would be happier if shops just stocked perhaps 2 options of each for jeans, t-shits and a warmer layer even, but no, nothing! Surely they can give over one small rail to the people providing the next generation of consumers??

Rant over.

I remember the shock of finding something maternity in new look about a month ago - only reason it was in there was it was on sale so presumably they were trying to get rid.
I understand in smaller clothes shops (physically smaller) that it might not be possible to get the best sellers and maternity stuff out but in the big ones it's so frustrating! I have no idea what size clothes I wear right now or what I like so I need to be able try stuff on first and can't afford to pay out for everything I could possibly like

New Look used to stock a small amount in store. And Dorothy Perkins. Not sure if they do now though.

I'm very tall, and I have this all the time, not just when I'm pregnant, so I do feel your pain.

I just think they should be ashamed not looking after their normal customers for several months when are bodies are changing and we want to feel good still. It's like we no longer really matter that much. I'm not suggesting that have walls and walls of it but just as a couple of rails could be offered for Maternity so could it be for Petit and Tall. Just essentials would make us feel valued.

I'm shocked that the Jojo didn't have any, ours is pretty small but about a third of the shop is maternity, and New Look has a small area. It is really annoying that the vast majority of brands are only online though, like you say I want to try things on and feel what the material is like, and don't get me started on having to queue at the post office to send things back!

Petite clothing is often the same eg my local New Look doesn't do the petite range in store, only online - and this affects me for life, not just a few months.

I'm surprised about JoJo and Mothercare but I guess the ones I've been to have been bigger stores - Mothercare sizes are massively inconsistent as well from what I've found. It's really frustrating especially when it's just really boring things you want like plain t shirts and leggings!

I ended up buying a lot of stuff that wasn't maternity but was stretchy, cut differently (empire line/ cross over) or just in a larger size for my pregnancy.
I am quite petite to start off with but my bump was huge each pregnancy and so I generally lived in stretchy dresses, jumper dresses and H&M pregnancy leggings

Same went for breast feeding I ended up not buying specific breastfeeding clothes but just picking different cuts - the FB group 'can I breastfeed in it UK' was really helpful in finding stuff

It’s the only time when you have absolutely no idea what size you are and you really need to try on. But I imagine less than 5% of women are pregnant at any one time, and they don’t want to spend too much on clothes for a short period of time, so it’s a very small market and probably not worth the space in the store. ASOS does free delivery and returns if you want to try on maternity clothes.

The thing about petite or tall is that at least you will get to know what fits over time. So after a bit of trial and error you’ll learn that a Top Shop petite size 12 normally fits you as long as it’s not a pencil skirt. The thing about maternity is that it’s a whole new body and clothes you’ve never had to buy before and by the time you’ve learned what works it’s too late. Obviously the retail economics are against it but it’s shocking for Mothercare and Jojo MB not to stock it when they’re presumably stocking loads of stuff in store which doesn’t need to be seen in person, so it would be much easier for you to buy online.

We went shopping and had the exact same issue, soooooo annoyed that I was just told to buy online, yes I know I can order and then if it doesnt for to return and order another size but how inconvenient when ur belly is pushing against everything and u desperately want something that will fit.
We did find maternity in JoJo but had to return as the size I would've worn pre pregnancy was just far to big now that I am pregnant, the sales assistant was soooooooooo rude that all I wanted to do was leave the store and nevet return, she made us feel very uncomfortable.
We also went to a mothecare outlet centre but what a mess it was to try and find the size I needed.

@64632K why were they so rude? Poor you.

There was a significant shift from instore to online only between my first and second pregnancies. I needed a mat wardrobe update for seasonal reasons. I hadn't needed winter clothing for DS1 as by the time it turned wintery, I was heavily pregnant and burning like a furnace. The summery clothes I had weren't much use when summer ended just as I needed the mat clothes.

It was a pain. I'm short anyway, and a lot of maternity clothes weren't very accommodating of a large bump, many didn't see me out past the second trimester. Some cuts are just ridiculous, like the panels in jeans that don't start until a good way up the bump which really don't match the shape of 99.9% of pregnant women!

It’s a massive pain! I want a dress for a special occasion and I’m having to shell out literally hundreds of pounds to be able to order and then return items. I have no idea of my size so often end up ordering the same item twice. I then have to go out of my way to post a return. I just want to go into a shop and try and buy. It’s driving me mad. I know the reasons why shops don’t stock maternity clothes but it is honestly a time when I need to go to a physical shop.

Coldcottage I was returning a pair of jeans that I purchased about 7 days ago, my husband paid for them. He works shifts so could not come with me but gave me his card, the assistant dealing with my return was fine, she asked why, I explained the size issue and she was fine when I gave her the card. Another assistant came quite quickly and said no they couldn't refund his card as he needed to be with me. I said by the time he gets a chance, it will be out of the return policy time and also had his ID if they needed it. The first assistant was ok, the second kept refusing and then the first one said, we can offer store credit though can't we? She was agitated by that but finally agreed. Now I know if that is their policy then fine, but why be sooooo rude and was making out like I was doing something wrong and she was quite loud too. Why also then was she happy to charge a purchase to my husbands card 10 minutes later!

I won't go back to that particular store and have issued a complaint to their head office about her attitude and behaviour.

Hi OP, I would sign up for ASOS unlimited delivery (9.99 for a year I think) - they have an excellent maternity range including sleep bras, tights, leggings, casual and formal wear. They also sell the New Look maternity range. I had so much stuff from there, all good quality and often in the sale too.

I am at Westfield Mothercare not having maternity stuff instore as our small high street one (now closed) had lots of stuff.

I presume it's just not cost effective to stock them in store. Weirdly, despite the obvious number of pregnant women at any one time, I'm led to believe many don't buy specific mat clothes. And, as a Venn diagram, the shoppers of a certain brand also pregnant enough to buy mat wear and looking in store probably leaves a small number. Supply chain costs are much higher than they used to be.

Hardly any mat wear only stores/ brands probably shows how low in demand they actually are in reality.

But I agree with your gripe, it's a nuisance.

I nearly went cuckoo as I went the length of Oxford Street asking in every shop that stocked clothing if they had any maternity wear (about 7 years ago)...nada!

I believe some women don’t buy any...some of my stuff has done 6 pregnancies now (2 were mine) and is still on loan and in good nick. And I just bought bigger size underwear and tights so I guess some of the people who’ve had my wardrobe may have bought very little.

Oh just to mention OP that I did go to the Mothercare outlet in Burnham and managed to find (in all the mess) 4 maternity bras and a perfect pair of over the bump bootcut jeans all for the grand price of £11. Not a destination if ur looking for nice tops though - only tshirts and hideous dresses

Its very annoying. Try being fat, New Look, H&M, Dorothy Perkins and tesco all do 'curve' ranges that are online only except for a teeny tiny number of stores. I wear 20 or 22 so not looking for exceptionally huge clothing just 1 size up on the 'normal' range.

I had this when I went maternity shopping on oxford street. The only decent place was Topshop which has a whole separate massive section. The maternity section in John Lewis was pretty disappointing. I ended up going to Seraphine in Marylebone.

I managed to find a small maternity section in my local H&M (which is in a big city for context). There were racks and racks of maternity jeans, but they were all sizes 6 and 8! Over 30 pairs and none that were over a size 8 .

I’ve had to bite the bullet and buy some dresses online but I do agree it’s a faff when you have no idea what size you are.

@64632K that is shocking after all that fuss then she let you use his card to buy something else. I'd complain too.

@BellaBellaBelle I found that too. Even the small range in H&M at Westfield was mostly size 6/8 or 20 so not very helpful.

This drove me up the wall too. I detest online shopping. I’ve just given birth and needed some BF friendly clothes and also some bits eg shorts just a bit bigger than my old size. I used to be a size 10-12. Measured myself, and looked at the convenient size charts Asos publish. I was measuring as a size 16-18...now I know my sister weArs a 12 there and we are similar so this seemed so I ordered a top in a 14. If arrived and was like a damn tent, I needed a 10 (remember I measured as a 16-18). Returned to get an exchange, by that point they’d sold out of size 10 so the whole exercise was a waste of time. arghhhhh!!!!!!!!!

Pregnancy was a really hard time for me clothes wise - I didn’t like my new body and really wasn’t sure what sizes to buy. I really needed to be able to try stuff on and found it infuriating so few places stocked stuff in store.