To wonder why it's so FUCKING difficult to find maternity clothes offline?

[kinkytoes]

I live in a large town in the south east and only one shop here sells maternity clothes. None of our department stores do them any more. I get told by everyone to go online instead.

But I don't want to go online and pay for loads of stuff that will end up not fitting me and I'll have the hassle of returning it and then waiting for a refund.

I want to go and pick things off the shelf, try them on in a changing room, leave the ones I don't want and buy the ones I do want.

Why is that so hard? Why are shops discriminating against us pregnant ladies? There are enough of us to warrant stocking some clothes for us, surely? There are many places that sell baby clothes so why not maternity?

I know it's a bit of a first world problem but I'm hormonal and I just had a wasted afternoon 'shopping' and I want to enjoy being pregnant (as much as the sickness will let me). I just feel stressed out and pissed off and I need some new clothes!

Matalan had a lot last time as well I recall, this time round there are a few tshirts. New Look online has been my saviour.

Probably because a lot of women don't wear maternity clothes nowadays. I didn't for my last 2 pregnancies, I just wore leggings and loose tops.

It's like pregnant women shouldn't be seen out

I'm all for keeping my eyes peeled for casual sexism, but I think it's probably more likely that they don't sell enough maternity wear to justify keeping it in stock because most women don't want to spend a small fortune on clothes they'll only wear for 6 months (if that).

I've bought 3 pairs of maternity trousers (because I don't wear dresses) and one maternity top, and I'm 5 months gone. At the moment I don't have plans to buy any more.

If you end up buying online, anyhow, Verbaudet maternity clothes are fab, btw and the selection is vast.

There was a major difference between 2010 and 2012 in high street presence. I needed to update my maternity wardrobe due to different seasons. By the time I got to mid-winter first time, I was too hot to need much clothing.

One of my bugbears is checking that the clothes will last the pregnancy rather than giving up in the second trimester. Simply upsizing doesn't work when you end up as a size 8-10 with a 43 inch waistline!

Agree it's infuriating! I drive all the way to a branch of Next to be told by a young man there "oh, we don't have the clothes instore, you have to go online". To which I (hormonally) snapped back something about being the weirdest shape of my fucking life and actually the one time I did want to try clothes on before buying them.

Lack of nursing wear also makes my blood boil. I'm not surprised people don't persist with it. Why the obsession of combined maternity / nursing clothes in eg. JoJo Maman - I'm 3 stone lighter than I was when pregnant, clothes aren't going to fit and look good in both situations are they? Milker (a Danish brand online) do amazing stylish nursing clothes but at £80 a dress just rather unaffordable!

I remember driving all over town with wife trying to find some, and to add insult to injury the maternity section was upstairs and registers downstairs.

YANBU - I live in London, am a very average size (10-12 pre-pregnancy) and still find it a bloody nightmare trying to get things in store. My local Mothercare (Holloway Road) only stocks bras (and none of them fit my giant rack), no actual maternity clothes, which is stupid. I was never a fan of H&M because the sizing is so inconsistent and I feel too old for most of the clothes, but it's one of the better maternity options, which is crazy.

is it just me then
who orders a shed load of stuff on click and collect
picks it up
takes it to the changing room - tries it on
the goes to the returns desk with what dosnt fit
so it never leaves the shop if i dont like it

just requires a pair of scissors in your handbag to open packaging

Try buying empire line tops. I had a lot of them (not maternity) which I wore with maternity leggings.
I have a Next account and it really is no hassle. You can get your stuff the next day if you order up to 10pm and just organise returns online and they are picked up same day.
Asos were great for dresses which I'm now using as feeding dresses.

It is a pain, but Asos maternity clothes are fab, and so easy to return. Would much rather buy a load of stuff from there and return half of it than make do with the frumpy, overpriced shite in Mothercare.

Maternity underwear is equally as depressing. Just because I am pregnant doesn't mean I don't want a pretty bra!

Totally agree OP. It feels.like everywhere I look i see pregnant women. So why cant I find maternity clothes everywhere.

H&m have a tiny selection here and that's it. And I live in a big city with a large next, new look, 2 large h&ms and other such shops. It's awful. I just want to try some clothes on!

19 weeks here and so far own just one pair of jeans that I've been able to purchase in person, at H&M. I live inbetween two decent size towns in the south east, and regularly visit a large town, and H&M and New Look are the only ones that stock anything; even then, New Look (only in 1 of the 3 local stores) stocked only vest tops and skinny jeans in sizes 6, 8 and 18 (I'm a 12). I hate internet clothes shopping, I've never once managed to buy a single item online that fits in real life.

I'm so far wearing the aforementioned jeans, old joggers and stretchy T-shirts, thanking my lucky stars that I work from home so no-one but DH and the cat regularly experiences my sartorial choices, and determinedly not thinking about what's going to happen very soon when I'm bigger.

There is literally nowhere to buy maternity wear here now. I'm expecting Ds3 any day now and have had to buy online. I still had some bits from when I had DS2 who is now 4 but even then the choice was very poor. I got black work trousers at peacocks and a single dress at Dorothy Perkins that time. Any why are maternity trousers cut for people 7' tall? The legs are trailing off the ends of my shoes in some cases!

I had exactly the same problem OP. I went to the trafford centre and the only place that stocked maternity was H&M. The range was tiny, I couldn't even find a pair of black leggings in medium. Even mamas and papas have stopped stocking maternity in store.

It wasn't this way two years ago, I'm surprised retailers have gone down this route given the obvious demand.

YANBU. It's my first pregnancy and I've been really surprised by the lack of high street maternity clothes. As a result I have a small range of (near exclusively stripey) tops that I have to wash very regularly!

I understand the issues re market forces, demand etc. I think a great idea would be an out of town style maternity 'supermarket' where the various brands / shops could have their maternity wear on sale in one place. It would remove stores' worries about 'wasted' space on maternity clothes (as that is what all the customers would be there for) and would have a variety of maternity clothes all in one place for women to try on.

It is for this reason I spent my whole pregnancy in one pair of mat jeans and one pair of mat leggings. The rest were just oversized clothes. I still havent found a nursing bra to fit which makes feeding interesting.

Bah!

Sandsnake that is exactly what we need! A one stop place that has all of it. Wish someone would fill that gap in the market (but that won't happen in time to help me anyway).

I'm glad I'm not the only one to be bothered about this. It does feel like discrimination to me.

I ended up going into Peacocks to buy some maternity jeans

(Maidstone, if that helps?).

I was lucky enough to go to a big H&M abroad with a really good selection and buy some bits there. And Primark!

If you have a friend or relative who is handy at sewing, find jeans that fit pre-pregnant you, cut off the belt part, sew on some folded-over tshirt material. Comfiest trousers ever!

But yanbu, maternity wear and high street shops suck cock.

Morning!

YANBU, however, if I may put a positive spin on this I'll share some tips:

1. Don't be restricted to maternity sections. River Island (and many others) this season have some delightful long swooshy assymetric tops that will see you right through (mine comes to below the knee), and work post-partum (am wearing one now - look up 'long assymetric') and I found that larger jeans + the hairband through buttonhole trick saw me up to 8 months with a proper Behemoth of a belly.

1. New look have a black maternity maxi-dress for very few quid that I'm still wearing 6 YEARS after having my son. Lovely Jersey drop fabric and still looks amazing. Has the advantage of being able to be put on without bending. Sling a leather jacket & scarf over the top and you're practically Nigella fucking Lawson.

1. Shop 'TALL' sections of stores if they have them. Tops are cut longer and can team up with 1-2 pairs of maternity trousers. ASOS & Boohoo have great tall sections and the most hassle-free returns ever (put it back in the bag, tape it, they come to your house and pick it up).

1. Search 'Abaya' online. They're fantastic for winter (imagine long-sleeved maxi dress) cost very little, and I've adapted mine with a well-placed belt or broach to pin the excess fabric aside (which looks like intentional gathering and works for months post-partum as you can ruche as much as you need) and, most importantly, can be thrown on over your head when you get to 8-9 months. No bending. One item of clothing and you're good to go. KACHING!

I hope this helps. Have a wonderful pregnancy.

Also, because my Husband is a splendid human being, he has just agreed to my request to photograph the River Island top. He is a terrible photographer, and I was all bouncy and annoying, I went through several cushion options (the grey ones were too lumpy) and decided that this, in a very square way, best represented what I was trying to convey.

This comes in 4 colours (black and glittery - for festivities!) and charmingly skims the fact that your jeans are held together by a hair tie and prayer.

[note - I am not pregnant, hence fucking huge glass of wine in background, and fact that belly looks like a cushion. it's a cushion]

oh yeah. photo...