Maternity tights - the devils work? I think so!

[lynlynnicebutdim]

I am 24w pregnant with DD2 and have a massive bump. Honestly i look about 30 weeks. I physically cannot squeeze my ever expanding body into normal tights anymore without strangulating myself or ripping them so have switched to maternity tights, specifically marks and spencer maternity tights.

The first time i wore them they seemed fine, stayed up well, no problems. Second time they seemed to sag a bit but i could live with it if i hitched abit. The more i wore them though the more they sagged. It started to drive me a bit mad. i read i think on here that a way to get round the sagging was to wear your knickers over the top of the tights as it helped keep them in place superman style. Ok i thought, that is a good idea.

So this morning i got dressed and put my knickers on over the tights as suggested. It seemed to work. Tights didnt feel saggy so off i set to walk to the station and catch my train. By the time i got to the station they did feel a bit saggy but better than with knickers on the inside. I got a seat and zoned out for the rest of my journey. Arrived at my destination and stood up and low and behold my tights AND MY KNICKERS stayed sitting.

With no word of a lie or exaggeration my tights and my knickers were just above my knee! As i stood up the tights seemed to have just slid down me and taken my knickers with them! leaving me feeling the breeze on my bare arse.

I sat back down and let everyone else get off the train then hoiked them up as best i could before penguin walking across the station to the toilets only to discover they were closed (of course they were! its peak hour, why would the loos be open!) before finding a slightly darkened corner and a very nice lady who worked out what the problem was and helped screen me from the passing masses so i could make the necessary adjustments to stay decent.

Surely it is not unreasonable to expect maternity tights (which are not cheap by the way £6 per pair!) to be wearable beyond the first wash or is this what they mean when they say there is no dignity in pregnancy. Do they do this to us on purpose to get us used to flashing our bits in preparation for birth?

oh no!! what a rubbish experience but this thread has had me giggling.

Please could you feedback?? I am 26 weeks too, I can just about get into 'normal' tights but they are starting to dig in, need to start looking at maternity tights and would have gone straight to M&S had I not read this :(

I bought these from ebay.
I'm still wearingthem now 7w post partum.

Get the large, not the medium.
bollocks looks like the large is out of sotck

I'd like to know why they only come in generally smaller sizes. Are us fatties not allowed warm legs during the winter? Or is it generally assumed we'll be wearing ugly dungarees or yeti style leg fur?

alps you need the mothercare ones. I got extra large instead of normal large and they are hoooooomungus. however, depending on what is being worn on top of them, they have once or twice tried to roll all the way down the belly, leaving a most unflattering "roll" showing through my dress. But no, generally fatties must be punished. I have now given up on most maternity wear and am living entirely in garments made of stretch jersey. Day Pyjamas, if you like.

I got ones from Seraphine and JoJo Mamam Bebe which are pricier but work.

Current bugbear is that ALL my under-the-bump trousers have started falling down (31 weeks). Lovely in the coldest week of the year so far to be walking back from the shops trying to carry food, a mop, a curtain pole and trying to cover up an extremely exposed midriff!

Stinkingbishop if it's the kind with the fabric bit that goes over the bump - I used child's braces under my tops. Looked demented until dressed but it kept my bump covered. Has to be child versions, adult braces are too long.

kitkat As you know my arse is bigger than my 38 week bump, so I just went out and bought "fat girls tights" in a much bigger size. I mean seriously, Isabella Oliver do bigger size maternity wear - wtf don't they do tights/pants in the same sizes? Does the fashion industry want to see my bare arse on display when the wrap dress unwraps itself silently at my desk?

Can't you just get extra large tights?

OP - I was your dress size during my last pregnancy.

What you need is a pair of maternity Spanx - amazingly comfortable because they help support the bump. And then leggings. Sod the tights, they are AWFUL.

You will be comfy, warm, smooth and un-wobbly :)

Can I recommend Debenhams for maternity tights? I have M&S ones too, but they laddered badly on the bump-covering bit - I keep wearing them because I am too mean to throw them out. I am 37 weeks and hate putting on socks/leggings - just not comfortable anymore as the socks dig in while the leggings ride up and the effect is annoying. So don't rule out tights altogether. Debenhams do lighter ones as well as heavy opaques, with plenty of stretch, and they haven't laddered (either sort). They're not LOVELY - a bit too hard-wearing to be really smart - but they've worked out well.

All maternity wear is utterly foul, far too expensive even if cheap, and ultimately makes you want to die. I say this from my perspective at this end of being pregnant. And I am NOT being unreasonable.

Flugelpip - agree on the total uselessness of most maternity wear in general - and the fact that nowhere stocks it so you have to buy online and then it arrives and it's horrible/doesn't fit. Was really disappointed by an Asos dress I ordered to wear for parties over Christmas which looked gorgeous on-screen and made me look like a manatee.

I'm 33 weeks and have pretty much got away with buying jumper dresses a size or two bigger than usual, a stretchy skirt and a bump band (lifesaver). Oh, and requested a couple of pairs of mat. jeans for Christmas, but other than that having got this far don't feel I can really justify the expense of specialist clothing for 7 weeks worth of wear...

Haven't tried the tights, I just bought bigger ones, but really feel for you OP, that sounds like something I would do.

alps have you not tried the superman trick? what the fashion industry really wants to see is you with an extra pair of knickers holding up your tights. Obviously, these pants would not be of a matching colour to either the tights or the outfit. And why is the wrap unwrapping? You would think a maternity wrap would have more wrap in it really.

maternity wear is shit. I have mostly only bought quite cheap stuff but even so, I have probably had to spend at least £150, perhaps more like £200 just to have a fair amount of stuff to squeeze myself into. Nobody told me the first lot of maternity jeans would be fuck all use after 28 weeks!

I have give up on maternity tights. I have found black maternity leggings (Boden) with M & S 40 denier knee high tights are a good alternative for wearing to work under jumper dresses and wrap dresses.

Minty82 it's a nightmare - especially since even the few high street retailers who sell it seem to have gone online only, including M&S. I remember buying lots last time, which is only three years ago, and actually getting to see/try it on - not that that made it easier to find anything nice. I mainly bought underwear and vests this time and forced myself into under-bump skirts in a size larger than usual or wore waist-less dresses. It is easier in winter than in summer, but I don't think anyone really looks good all the way through without being a supermodel to begin with.

I'm now facing into the horrors of nursing tops again. All of them are basically the same. I'm thinking feeding vest under normal clothes rather than hideous empire-line wrapover boob-flashers. But I still bought a couple of those from H&M when shopping in a zombie-like panic.

I think you should sell your storyline to Miranda... v funny, but poor you. I haven't bothered with mat tights (am 20+6) as didn't want the expense. Got x 2 pairs of mat leggings from Next. V comfy and lovely fabric. Pretend they're tights by wearing with boots. Pre lycra, we kept our tights up as kids the superman way, but with one pair under and one pair over tights.

I found the trick was to wear the overbump tights, but to wear a vest top/t shirt underneath my main outfit, and tuck this inside the tights. The vest fabric was a bit grippier than my poor overstretched bump skin and the tights were less inclined to walk down it that way.

Dorothy perkins do quite good opaque maternity tights too.

I'm not laughing at that story, honest. I can recommend the Seraphine under the bump tights but, crucially, I find it works better if you wear them backwards with the bum bit over your bump. Maybe that is just me though!

Maternity , over bump leggings are one of the best things about pregnancy. do it!

i got matalan maternity tights i love them and still wear them 4 months post baby!

Hardly ever wear tights, have always preferred hold ups and they were fine in pregnancy too although once I stopped cycling at 32 weeks they did begin to slip down - but I've never had that problem previously or since, as I'd always done a lot of cycling. By 37 weeks having had a month off the bike, my legs were like sticks so I did get some slippage with hold ups but luckily by that point is was mid-August so I didn't usually need anything under a dress, just bare feet in sandals. Did wear hold ups at night to go out for meals and they just about stayed up OK. If you wear hold ups, remember NOT to moisturize your legs or use any kid of lotion/self tan or anything oily, before putting them on - or they will slide down immediately!

Op I lived in h&m tights, leggings, vests and pants for all occasions but defo under gap frocks for work. Next are the worst.

Another vote for maternity leggings.

I made the mistake of buying Mothercare and H&M ones this time round, having tried JoJo and Emma-Jane(?) last time. The Emma-Jane or whatever were just not thick enough - 60 denier looked more like 15. JoJo only do massive. I have the same problem with all their clothes, "small" is a size 12 and for some reason they do extra-wide sleeves on everything. Mothercare clothing is on the small size and the tights seem ridiculously short. I bought S (am 5'3" and usually a size 6-8) and the crotch is about 6" above my knees. Tried M and they just fell down. H&M has an inbuilt self-roll-down mechanism - they fit and are really comfortable then 15 minutes after you walk out the door, you feel a 'ping' and they roll over your tummy and sit under the bump.

I'm now 37w and favourite leggings are Boden maternity (brilliant stretchy panel that stays put) and, oddly, White Stuff regular leggings in normal size, i.e. 8. They're the Jumping Jill ones on their website, currently 2 for £30 - great soft top and really stretchy. They've lasted the whole pregnancy, though I think they'll be going straight in the bin after delivery - they'll never shrink back!

I also know the shame of standing up and discovering the crotch of the tights is visible below the hemline of the dress... fortunately just at a toddler playgroup, which is when I was told to give up on tights and go straight for leggings...

YANBU!! H&M is your answer, they have lovely tights and leggings and footless tights. I lived in them for about 5 months and I still have them they are fine!
Bought a pair from jo jo maman bebe and they sagged in 3 wks! And they were not cheap :(
H&M mat tights are lovely.

Ladies the ONLY maternity tights worth bothering with are Spanks maternity tights. They are pricey but they last for weeks and weeks and they give your bump great support, don't sag, don't slip. I depended on them during my last pregnancy. You'll get them in all the good department stores and they are fabulous. For what it's worth I found the ones from M&S, H&M and Mothercare bloody useless.