Maternity wear in the city

[WorkingBling]

I am fed up and have to buy more clothes. Please can anyone tell me of some actual stores, in the City (London) where I can go at lunch time. I hate online shopping for maternity but may be forced to go that route soon I am so desperate.

Not in the city - but even the big stores that sell maternity clothes rarely have them available to look at in their shops. It was a real bug bear for me as I like to touch and feel clothes before I buy them.
I was shocked that in the Trafford Centre I think the only places with actual maternity clothes to try on were mamas and papas and H&M.

I'm not in London but if you look on the websites of the stores you are thinking of you can check if they sell mat clothes by going to the store directory/locator bit. Although I think if h&m has a kids section they generally have a mat wear section but don't put it on website. If that makes sense?

For the record I too am amazed at how few shops sell mat clothes in store!

Good luck! X

I work in central London and have found nearby shops that stock mat wear are Top Shop and New Look (NL quality a bit dubious but ok for vest tops etc). Otherwise, they all seem to just stock online - very annoying!

There's nothing in the city other than a couple of rails at Top Shop in One New Change... Best bet is a cab to Marylebone High Street - Blossom Mother & Child and Seraphine. Annoyingly, nearly everything is online these days.

There is a Seraphine store in South Ken and Clapham. Topshop at OC has maternity stuff in store.

I found lots of useful stuff in Cos (not maternity but was really useful none the less).

Most of it has to be ordered on line - exceeding painful. IO is good (if pricey).

h&m stocks in store (ours is in the Childrenswear shop which is separate to the Adults h&m), and last time I was in GAP they had Matwear in, but Im not in London.

Definetly try hm.

Bumpsadaisy in Covent Garden - not actually the City I know but just about doable in a long lunch hour or straight from work (late opening on ThursdaY):

www.covent-garden.co.uk/SITES/bumpsadaisy/

There is nothing in the City as others have said. Topshop and H&M on Oxford & Regent Sts have some in store, but it is mostly casual wear. I ended up mostly wearing jersey dresses from Asos and smartening them up with smart shoes and non-mat blazers. I still felt most of my pregnancy feeling fairly scruffy though. I tried the work wear from IO and Seraphine but it was all wrong for my shape.

The big Primark on Oxford street has maternity.

However, to locate it in the score is a spy mission. After asking several SAs who had no clue I finally spotted it. My 2 visits later, the section got moved and since then I had no luck of finding it.

They have some underwear, leggings, etc in the underwear section currently.

Do you need formal work wear? My one absolute fail-safe was an Isabella Oliver pinstripe dress. They don't do that any more, but in my experience they were the only brand who did clothes that did not look seriously cheapo.

Most maternity lines are online only or mostly, there's FAR better stuff online than in stores. I would just suck it up and order a load of stuff and return what you don't like. HOnestly it's worth it.

My top tip is jojomamanbebe for nice smart-ish work tops, trousers from New Look, and then wearing non-maternity jackets just not buttoned.

Big new look on Oxford Circus and H&M on regent street have maternity wear (the H&M has it in the basement I think), also Debenhams has some. There was Push in Islington that did maternity wear and Seraphine over at Marylebone High Street (the one in Hampstead has closed). Topshop on the corner of Oxford Circus also has maternity wear.

I managed to pick up an emergency bit or two. The top shop at one new change had a small section and I realised the wallis next door is quite pregnancy friendly even though it's not proper maternity wear. I now have three new tops, all wearable for the next few months.

I will also do a Jojo order.

Seraphie are also on Marylebone high street, walking distance from Baker Street and Oxford Street

Another vote for Seraphine here, I hate online shopping but free returns that are quick and easy and the clothes are really good quality (they dont always have everything in the stores)

I have been to Seraphine and have stuff from there. But it's expensive and I resent paying a lot for tops etc. Also, I don't like buying online for clothes. Last time, I wanted a pregnancy dress. I looked online at Pretty Pregnant (which has now become part of Seraphine) and saw loads I liked. But when I went into the store the ones I'd liked online were awful and the one I bought was one I would never have picked online ever. So that's a problem too.

What about the new New Look near monument - would that have a mat section?

Try Hobbs (store in One New Change). The staff are helpful and will suggest things for you and bring them to the changing room. Not maternity wear per se but I bought a couple of smart work dresses that have lasted me up to 30 weeks.

I found some really nice dresses on Zalando.co.uk - lots of European brands, good for work - and more casual stuff from Asos and H&M, as well as Isabella Oliver and Seraphine on eBay. Had to return more than I kept though.

I have just discovered that normal Phase Eight empire line dresses in my usual size, or one size up, do a good job of skimming over my bump. They don't have that many in that style in stock right now but they do have a few plus some more stretchy body-conscious ones. I think they have a shop on Old Broad Street and also a concession in the House of Fraser at Monument.