Maternity clothes shopping in Oxford Circus - don't bother

[EmmaMia]

Hi everyone

I thought I would add this thread as there are a few posts about shopping for maternitywesr on ox circus which would be extremely helpful but I just did a trek of Oxford st from Marble Arch to Oxford Circus in hunt of maternity work clothes and most of the shops mentioned frustratingly no longer sell maternity clothes in store. Here's a summary which hopefully other mums-to-be will find helpful - a frustrating trip down maternity lane...

1. Mothercare near Marble Arch - they do have a maternity section but it's quite small - they recently decided to make it smaller than what it was previously (thanks!)
2. New look marble arch - no longer sells maternity but apparently their Oxford circus branch does (lost energy by the time I got there so can't confirm this)
3. Dorothy Perkins bond st station - no longer sell maternity
4. Gap nr bond st - sounded great from the comments in some threads but surprise surprise no longer do maternity in store! Grrrr...
5. Checked Zara on the way down cos they do kids clothes - don't have maternity (that would be asking far too much!)
6. Top shop Oxford circus - small maternity range although given the size of the whole shop i think it's shocking it's so small
7. HnM regent st - what a rubbish collection of work clothes. I wouldn't waste your time.
8. Mamas and papas regent st - no longer there and has been replaced with HnM's 'Other Stories' but not been updated on google maps!

In summary don't waste your time. Just go online and accept there will be a lot of trial and error

As a recently pregnant first time mum-to-be I am disgusted by the lack of choice for pregnant women in such a large shopping area as Oxford circus

Hopefully this will save some of you other mums-to-be precious time and energy.

All high streets/large shopping centres seem to be the same.
Don't understand why retailers can't see woman want to try stuff on rather than ordering it online. Especially as a lot of places who do maternity I don't shop t normally so no idea why size I need.
Maternity clothes are just rubbish in general. Looking forward to fitting in my normal clothes again and so glad I can wear jeans to work.

New Look Oxford Circus does but is not much better than any of the other shops round there, particularly not for work.

Yeah agree with you its very disappointing. Seems some people just get by with buying things in larger sizes??!! But if you need to dress smart or care about clothes its very difficult.
Westfield stratford is the same.
I had best luck on asos, new look online and isabella oliver for a sale dress.

Totally agree. Maternity clothes really do need to be tried on first as they can look so wrong!

But I've given up and I'm just going to go online. Yes I've also heard asos is really good so will def try there.

You can get much better quality stuff buying in large sizes though, so I wouldn't rule it out - I have lovely (sale!) dresses that are a 12 in flattering styles I wear for work and some nice tops rather than spending huge amounts on nice maternity stuff. Doesn't work for bottoms, sadly.

I am on DC No.3 and its been a 5yr gap since I last was pregnant. I have found hardly any of the stores now have a high st presence for their maternity range. I have found online to be the best bet. A mix of ASOS and Isabella Oliver are seeing me through with a few tshirts fromH&M. But don't bother tiring yourself out by trying to actually go to the shops

I bought good work things at jojomamanbebe in store. they do online too. i was 12-14 and went for size 14 and it fitted fine. hope that is some help

Wish I had read this before spending 2 hrs shopping in 30 degree heat at Oxf Circus a couple of months ago!

I tried all those shops and ended up just putting a big order in from Asos and returning half of it.

I find the Asos maternity stuff looks good although the fabrics they use generally feel quite cheap.

Totally agree - had a similar experience in my local High Street recently. It's bloody ridiculous. As a first time Mum-to-be, maternity clothes are a new and strange concept to me and I want to be able to try before I buy. Why can't retailers understand this?

I have bought some work stuff from Debenhams which was decent quality only their trousers (boot cut over the bump) were really long on me even though I am a regular normally and not a short! Debenhams also have a 20% sale on at the mo too so worth having a look.

I bought my clothes from the store but they do different trouser lengths on line so I will be buying a new pair of (short) trousers this week.

I have bought some stuff from New Look but honestly the quality is just crap although I don't want to pay much as I'm only wearing these clothes for a few months and I'm not planning on being pregnant again.

Some of the higher end clothes are just too expensive for me to consider buying as I will get so little wear from them and I refuse to spend £80 plus for a dress for work when it will only be worn for 8 or 9 weeks.

If you want some Isabella Oliver or higher end stuff check eBay. I have bought a couple of dresses there and they have clearly only been worn once or twice.