Maternity Clothes

[theTramp]

Where is hot and where is not. Online stores worth checking out. High street stores worth visiting. Good for petites. Good for giantesses. Second hand e-bay bargains - worthwhile? Views and reviews of the maternity gear you have bought.. all for the benefit of everyone who is desperately looking.

Agiraffe- Isabella Oliver do a couple of lovely, simple, clean lines sort of tunic dresses. Not cheap but as mentioned above, good resale value on eBay. Budget allowing if you lived in them during and immediately after pregnancy they would be worth the price as they wash well, hold shape and colour well and you feel really good in IO clothes.

Thank you! I'm feeling so big and so bleurgh and my boobs hurt. Nice clothes are my only hope

A lot of love for H&M on here so think I'll head down there. I've also thought IO was quite expensive until I got some stuff and do think the quality is brilliant. A friend told me she also sold on Ebay afterwards and got great prices too... so can always justify it that way...!

I thought pretty pregnancy clothes incredibly expensive and not reminiscent of anything I wore prior to pregnancy so just not appealing to me.

Love this thread.

I bought an IO khaki coloured t-shirt dress in the sale, it is lovely quality and very flattering but my god I feel self conscious in it. It's SO clingy and makes my relatively small 25 week bump look enormous. I bought it for work but have only felt brave enough to wear it for dinner so far. Also bought a couple of IO layering tops and they are great for work with grey maternity trousers (which were a £9.99 gap sale bargain-v pleased with them and they are quite long in the leg).

Have had maternity jeans from H&M and new look both of which I utterly despise, in fact yesterday I was considering throwing the NL jeans in the bin. They look fine, but absolutely will not stay up-same for the H&Ms. Leggings from H&M have been great though.

Topshop Leigh skinnies have been great and stay up perfectly, therefore I love them. However I bought them in lilac and now need to invest in some in a darker colour.

For the love of all the is holy, where can i find non-fugly balck trousers? I want slim leg (although some room for my hockey player thighs would be useful) and not minging polyester. Is this too much to ask? It certainly seems to be.

Can defo recommend IO - just got a load of stuff from there and the fabric is just soooo lovely - am afraid I took back everything I bought from H&M immediately after - there was no comparison in quality and the H&M stuff was not that nice anyway. Especially loving the cobalt blue ruched dress and the leopard skin skinny belt.

Has anyone found any good over-bump leggings? I'd like some for when it gets colder. I need somewhere plus-size as I take an 18-20 normally.

Free I'm a bit of a Boob Design evangelist... that's where I got my nicest black maternity pants from. Unfortunately I got too fat pregnant to quickly and can't fit them anymore (or any other maternity pants for that matter... sigh... leggings for me for the next 8 weeks!).

Here's some

Here's some more

Seconds OP - best leggings I've found have been ASOS & H&M. Am currently a 16+ on bottom and am taking XL in those brands. Check and see if they go a bit bigger.

If you're having no luck finding leggings in your size, a trick I heard of on another thread (works with tights too) is to buy regular ones in your size/next size up and turn them around - ie so the bum part is over your bump.

zara thank you - will try those places, and also the trick of turning them around. I sometimes did that with tights pre-pregnancy because I needed the extra panel round the back to keep them up.

Has anyone managed to find work-suitable trousers that aren't the inevitable black? I really need them to be available in short (I'm 5'1 and a size 16).

A quick update on Tall Maternity -I dropped them a line to let them know abouty the fault and the fit problem with the shirt. The lovely lady who looks after customer service replied straight away to apologise and has told me she is withdrawing the shirt from sale until she has investigated the fit issue as it sounds like a manufacturing problem. How wonderful that 1) she replied and 2) she takes the quality of her goods so seriously. I will definitely buy something from there if I can - and if she sorts out the fit issue on that shirt I will be buying that.

For leggings - Mamas and Papas, boring as they are, really weren't bad.

re plain black work trousers FreeButton IO have some nice one's in the sale. Or if you get some good jeggings in the right black cotton and wear with boots or a heel because they are skinny fit they look like smart work trousers. This is my trick anyway.

I went into Pretty Pregnant today. Not impressed. Material was all a bit meh, prices were pretty high, design was a bit frumpy and all cut for a woman several inches shorter than me. (sigh) Staff were nice though.

Some more online links for everyone...

Picchu: www.picchumaternity.com/ Some interesting basics and evening wear on here. Ladies who were looing for a simpe tunic dress, there is a good black tunic dress on offer.

Melba maternity: www.melbamaternity.co.uk/ Is nightware with a little lingerie and slouch about the house knitwear. The PJs look lovely & really comfy for ladies with bumps. I suspect hospital friendly too.

Vertbaudet: www.vertbaudet.co.uk/maternity.htm Reminds me a little bit of la redoute, but for maternity wear. I suspect there is something on here that will appeal to everyone - but it wasn't the sort of site where I ohh's & ahh'd in a lustful way at lots.

Mothercare: www.mothercare.com/maternity/cat_maternity,default,sc.html The collection online did not inspire me, however on other threads a few ladies have said that they have bought some lovely bits & pieces from here and they are very comfy. So perhaps more exciting in the flesh, so to speak. There seem to be some good casual clothes.

From here to maternity: www.fromheretomaternity.co.uk/ cute name! This is clearly where to go for lingerie, maternity and nursing. There is also a good selection of tights, leggings and nightwear.

Mumzy Not: mumzy-not.com/shopping/ Not a shop but a blog with links and reviews, which are quite helpful. Some good pointers to different maternity providers with costs. Kiddies clothes also reviewed. Could be inspiring for some ladies - although personally I think the Mumsnet ladies are providing very useful reviews and links themselves.

Blossom Mother and child: www.blossommotherandchild.com/index.php There is a misture here of the designer to the higher end of the high street. If you are looking for something special, or you just want to wear designer this and Tiffany Rose are for you. There are some interesting sale items - and there is a maxi dress I would LOVE but would never pay for, so perhaps more for eye candy browsing than shopping.

Zoe Alexander: www.zoealexanderuk.com/maternity-clothes-c-1.html?sesid=0mnpqgi6piv8o4hlt82m2clbu6 Not for everyone, but some interesting different options here. And nice to see models who are normal sized women - not tall and curves.

I've also just done the wardrobe sort. Apart from a couple of pairs of trousers, none of my 'bottom halfs' fit, and blouses are also out, but most of my stretchy tops are OK. The rest has been packed away!
Thanks for this thread - I'm 5"11 and bought some maternity jeans from H&M today, I'm impressed with the fit and with a belt round the 'faux fly' they stay up. I did have to go up a size from normal but I hope this means they will fit me for longer. H&M stuff often seems to come up a bit small for me so t's not a huge surprise!

Anyone know what the sizing is like at seraphine? my h&m mat jeans are getting a bit tight around the bump (I've lived in them so far this pg) and I want to have a hunt on eBay for some seraphine ones.

I'd recommend h&m for jeans, although they do comevup small I think. also new look have a few ok bits, I found some long stretchy jersey tops in the non maternity section and they've been great as are v stretchy. Just got a size up from usual. Also love the jojo wrap tops. Think a fitted look is much more flattering. Hate the whole smock top look it just makes me look massive

In general though i think alot of the high street maternity stuff is a bit meh. Also fewer and fewer shops seem to be stocking mat clothes these days.

Thanks for the list tramp - very very useful!

kissyfur - I've found Seraphine sizing runs a bit big on top. Haven't managed to find bottoms/skirts that fit properly from them. I am a 14/16 on bottom now during pregnancy and I need something with a bit of lycra in it IYSWIM so maybe it's just me. Anyway, if you're normally a size 12, buy a medium, don't be tempted to get the large because it will be too big.

At 32 weeks the only pair of "real" pants that fit me are my Mamas and Papas jeans. Everything else (yes, including my other maternity pants) are now too small. Thank you, expanding pelvic bones....

Last weekend I bought a nice forest green stretchy dress from H&M and a couple of tunics/long long top/dresses. That and leggings are going to have to get me through the end....

Am looking forward to fitting my other maternity pants AFTER the birth not going to look at my regular jeans for 2-3 months!!

Lexi - depressing isn't it!

Mamas & Papas jeans are v generous with the bump bands so I'm guessing work well/are designed for those last few weeks. They don't seem like grow with you trousers though.

Sorry, haven't read the whole thread so don't know if these have been mentioned already, but I got most of my maternity clothes from the Gap (they do different length trousers as well) and Crave. Also got some stuff from H&M, but I hated their jeans and their tops didn't last through one pregnancy, let alone a second or have any resale value.

Super helpful thread OP!

I dug my maternity stuff out from last time recently and there's feck all in there! God knows how I managed an entire pregnancy in that sad little collection of things. If we get through the 12 week scan OK I've got some serious shopping to do.

A couple of other tips FWIW:

1. think quite hard about your footwear - especially for those of you with corporate jobs. I am normally a tailored dress, heels and smart jacket kind of girl at work so gaily bought a couple of IO dresses last time to update my work wardrobe to accommodate the bump. I actually didn't wear them very often (despite how gorgeous they are) as they need a good heel really and I was too waddley and my hips were too sore to wear proper heels more than once in a blue moon.

2. remember that you'll be wearing god awful maternity bras - again, I bought lovely tops (some non-maternity but that I knew would stretch) and felt v smug about having sorted myself out. Only to discover that the gross bras I needed to house the enormous mammaries came higher up my chest than the ones I worse Pre-pregnancy so I either couldn't wear them without showing a hint of granny bra or had to wear scarves All The Time

Worth knowing thanks Camel

Thanks for the thread and all the links tramp - this is just so helpful to have .
Don't have too much to add as I haven't bought tons of maternity stuff yet, but I've got some good tops and leggings from H&M, a couple of nice dresses from Seraphine (kissyfur IME Seraphine comes up slightly big on dresses but haven't had jeans). Have also ordered some bits from Asos coming this week.
Now off to start looking at all the other places in a bid to try to cheer myself about the fact that I'll only be able to get into 1/5 of my current clothes for probably the next year!!

Thanks zara I'm with you on the wearing most of my mat jeans again after the birth! I'm 30 weeks tomorrow and only have one pair that fit now!

Thanks two and tramp for the great thread

I found gap brilliant for work stuff especially trousers and they do a lot of 30 percent off vouchers. I also got some great white company dresses in their sale which ar empire line and til work even now coming up to 30 weeks.

Pikz - in usual run of things Gap never fits me so I wouldn't think to visit them for maternity wear. Is it significantly different?

H & M? When I went in they told me only did mat wear on line? Have they changed?

sammi some H&M stock maternity, some don't. In my city only one H&M stock maternity in-store. Same with TopShop.

Maybe email/give them a buzz to find out if there is one that has maternity gear in-store. TBH I've bought most of my maternity gear online - better selection generally and it just means you have to sort out return postage if it doesn't fit. I'll happily take that if it means I can shop in my PJs rather than exhausting myself by walking around a mall!