Maternity Clothes...

[greenlizard]

I am 14 weeks and can no longer do my jeans up when I am sitting done so off to get some new clothes.

To a clueless first timer, what advice would you give? I need some smart stuff for work and some nice casual clothes.

Where did you shop? Are the sizings different? In particular, can you recommend the best maternity leggings? What were your best buys?

I always found H&M maternity the best. Cheap and cheerful really.

I am pregant again so bit of an expert at this

One good black wrap dress
Bought a maternity coat but not really essential
Four work shirts - H&m
New great for skinny jeans and smartish trousers but not brilliant quality. Sd to replace this time.
Few casual Breton type tops - asos really good
Few longline cardigans
I have about five pairs of trousers but only two decent ones
Few vest tops that I wear for a change with cardi and scarves

Good few pj bottoms for when you get home from work. I was never a pj person but you will want comfort

Few large nighties

Bras

New look for jeans

Seraphine are very nice & last well.

www.seraphine.com/

I managed to get through a lot of it without actually wearing 'maternity' clothes. I had some ordinary empire line jersey dresses that I wore for work (I'm a teacher, so don't need to be suit-smart, but still smartish), and out of work I wore tunics with leggings quite a lot. I bought a navy pair and black pair of straight leg over the bump trousers from the Jojo sale for £15 each and would have worn those lots more had it not been such a hot summer - again, with the same non maternity tunics.

Later on (by which I really mean 28+ weeks), I bought 3 wrap dresses from Jojo - they were expensive, and felt a little frumpy, but were amazing for work, and will do for nursing afterwards too. I also had a few shorter dresses from H&M that I'm still wearing over leggings and harem pants.

Harem pants have been AMAZING. I'm still wearing my normal size ones from Next (I'm now 39 weeks - worn under the bump). I had a couple of pairs of short ones for the summer - not suitable for work, but have also bought a couple of pairs of full length ones for winter, since I figure they'll be good for jelly-belly too. I reckon that had I been still at work over the colder weather, I could have dressed up said harem pants for work quite easily, even on the days I need to wear a suit jacket.

Probably the total I've spent on clothes over the last 9 months is about £150, some things I'd have bought over the summer anyway.

H&M for.maternity leggings and tshirts.

I got some.over the bump jeans off ebay Mamas and Papas ones and theyve been perfect. I also got some under the bump skinny jeans from Primark which do the job but arent as comfy as the M&P ones.

I got non maternity vests from h&m (long line stretchu vests with thin straps) in all the colours and theyve seen me through two pregnancies and when im.not pg they popped back straight away - cannot praise these vests enough. They are also long enough that even nine months pg they were still long enough to go past the zipper on my jeans.

Jeans I have from newlook fitted really badly, I've had some leggings and vest tips from mother care that have been nice also as others have said I've found h & m the best I orderd alot from there online x

I gave up with jeans.

Other people I've met swore by ASOS, but I didn't meet those people for recommendations until I didn't want to spend any more money on clothes!

Leggings - still wearing normal size leggings at 26 weeks, just not pulled them up over the bump.

Jeans - I got some ok over the bump skinnies from mothercare. You might find that you can make normal jeans last a bit longer by securing the button with a hair bobble looped through the button hole and round the button without actually putting the button through the button hole. Easily disguised with a long line cheapy non-mat vest one size up from h&m.

Job I maman bebe have some good bits online in their outlet section.

Tops I would recommend long tunic style in normal size non maternity I have a few n still wearing at 30weeks and can be worn after.

Aldi currently have in a maternity dress n leggings

Gap has some nice casual stuff in their online store, free delivery on maternity wear.

Before you go and buy anything go and look at your existing wardrobe and see how what you've got that you can carry on wearing - empire lines, stretchy fabrics. I had quite a few tops I could wear until about 6/7 months, and one dress I wore to a wedding at 8 months, none of which were maternity.

Buy stuff as you need it. If your trousers don't currently do up, but otherwise fit and you're comfy in them, loop a hair bobble round the button and through the button hole and wear a longer top to cover it, or wear a bump band over. Buy tops you can dress up for work with some smart trousers, and more casually with jeans.

You can definitely carry on wearing normal clothes, particularly tops & dresses all the way through. I'm now 40 weeks and still wearing normal empire line maxi dresses, normal cardigans, couple of vests, leggings & harem pants. For maternity jeans topshop under the bump skinnies have been fab. Very comfortable, lovely soft denim & have washed really well. They are about £40 but I've lived in mine since about 16 weeks.

H&M are great for casual tops, nursing bras & vests. I've got a couple of mothercare work dresses. I also got some work dresses from ASOS. eBay is great for maternity bundles or one off items. I got a couple of Serephine and Isabella Oliver pieces for £10 each second hand, still in perfect condition.

Bags, shoes & accessories became even more important for me, I'd rotate the same 4 black work dresses over 2 weeks and liven them up with different shoes etc.

Maternity tights were a revelation to me, the good ones aren't cheap, I found the Asos ones the best, but are worth the money. They are so comfortable, normal tights were cutting in but the maternity ones go over the bump and I could wear them for 12 hours a day with no discomfort.

I kept wearing non-maternity tops right up to the end.

I bought casual maternity stuff in Topshop and H&M. I bought dresses for work from Asos Maternity. Through the second tri I had a few bits one size up that lasted me until I could fill out mat wear. Belly bands are really useful for wearing non-mat stuff with the buttons undone or for filling the gap if tops are not long enough.

I loved the look of Seraphine and Isabella Oliver stuff but ended up sending back everything I ordered. The fit was completely wrong for my shape.

I can't wear non-mat leggings as any waistband digs in and is really uncomfortable (and has been since around 8 weeks) so I've bought a few pairs of over bump leggings. I do know people who have just sized up ordinary ones though. I got one pair of H & M ones, which are comfy if a little big, and a few pairs from
Aldi in their recent baby event, which seem pretty similar but were £1 cheaper.

Empire-line jersey dresses seems to be the uniform of choice for teachers, I've had loads of compliments about mine, and I have a couple of pairs of work trousers I got from eBay (all my 'normal' work stuff is charity shopped, so I'm buggered if I'm paying full price for stuff I'll wear Sept-Dec). One pair new look over bump jeans that are dead comfy and I can still wear with most of my normal t-shirts/jumpers at 22 weeks.

I'm hoping that I do my 'ballooning' after I finish work at 35 weeks, so I'll avoid having to buy too much massive work wear for the later stages. I intend to slob out in my PJs for the whole Christmas/New Year period.

Mantaray dresses are brill, and so pretty, and the wrap top style will be good for bf too.

Giant knickers are a necessity too. Weirdly, my arse has changed shape. I used to be a thongs only girl, but not any more

I have spent a fortune in asos, although sizing comes up very big so I would order a size down from pre-pregnancy size. Their leggings are great and have bought quite a few jersey dresses and tops from there.
Topshop maternity Leigh jeans are great but don't buy their leggings, so uncomfortable!

Ooh and peacocks do some great padded non underwired seamless bra tops. Comfy and don't make your boobs look droopy!

I got dresses as they were great for work and out of work and then I didn't need to double buy! Also agree H&M is good. Also some cheap nice dresses in new look x

Oh and ASOS!