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Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

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Original poster

Maternity clothes @ 14 weeks

19 replies

Paperchains1986 · 09/12/2017 09:26

Hi all

I am starting to feel very constricted in my clothes and would like to buy maternity clothes but looking online, they are (obviously) designed and modelled for people with much larger bumps.

If I bought some jeans, tops and a dress or two for work, are they going to look baggy until I get a 7 month bump? The jeans seem to have a stretchy material which looks as if it'll grow with the bump but some of the dresses don't look like you can wear them at this early stage.

Can someone give me advice? I'm definitely straining in my usual 14 and if I buy 16 then in a few months I'm not going to be able to wear them either.

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MaisyPops · 09/12/2017 09:30

No first hand experienve but a friend of mine went for maternity leggings and then sized up in floaty shirts/tunics and found that kept her comfy and smart.
On trousers she got a bump band
That seemed to get her through the transition to maternity clothes phase.

NerNerNerNerBATMAN · 09/12/2017 09:32

You'll be fine in normal maternity clothes. I started wearing them around 10 weeks and they just grow with you. For jumpers I just buy baggy or a size bigger. Cba wasting money on maternity knitwear.

Imaginosity · 09/12/2017 09:36

I wear jeggings (not maternity ones) from Primark that sit low, so don't press on my bump (which is not that big)

LikeTheShoes · 09/12/2017 09:37

I bought a few pairs of jeans at 10 weeks (!) But I've had to sew elastic into the waistband (at the back) so they don't fall down. (But I have to do that with non maternity jeans too sometimes)
Some maternity stuff has adjustable elastic so you can have them tighter now and let them out as you need to.

BareBum · 09/12/2017 09:38

Maternity clothes will be fine - they are usually very stretchy. I wore them from very early on.

Original poster

Paperchains1986 · 09/12/2017 09:45

Thanks everyone. I'm not sure about leggings at work but definitely at the weekend!

I'm looking on ASOS and H&M: are they decent enough to last?

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LivLemler · 09/12/2017 09:47

I bought a couple of pairs of jeans in a size up at 10 weeks and moved to maternity at about 15 weeks I think.

I'm 23 weeks now and my bump is huge, everything I wear is maternity and there is no denying I'm pregnant.

Whereas others on my due date thread are only starting to strain their normal clothes now!

It's very individual, but I've found maternity jeans grow with you so I'd just go straight to them at 14 weeks tbh.

A friend advised that over the bump jeans are better as her under the bump ones kept rolling down.

Timefor2 · 09/12/2017 09:49

You might want to grab a pair of size 16 jeans as well as some maternity stuff as it'll be nice to have something later but not Maternity to wear soon after you have the baby?

MistyKnightsTwistout · 09/12/2017 09:49

Under bump jeans are better for early stages (for me). Topshop do nice ones and they are good for the jelly belly after delivery.

INeedNewShoes · 09/12/2017 09:54

I bought a bump band to expand my jeans from JoJo Maman. It gave a nice layered look with a top over it as well and meant I could wear my normal jeans until around 32 weeks!

Original poster

Paperchains1986 · 09/12/2017 09:59

I've got £50 to spend (an early gift from my mum) but it's not going very far unfortunately. Essentially one pair of jeans, and two tops from H&M. I think I'll go straight to maternity as though I can definitely see me wearing sz16 after the baby (at least!) I probably couldn't afford to then buy a different size in another couple of months.

What I'd really like to do is bloody try them on but nowhere in my highstreet sticks mat gear! I went yesterday.

My birthday is end of the month so if I get any money, I can put toward a dress or two for work maybe...?

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NerNerNerNerBATMAN · 09/12/2017 11:42

My H&M maternity jeans are great and still going strong for DC2. eBay is fabulous for maternity clothes

Phryne · 09/12/2017 12:15

It depends a bit on your size and shape, but in my experience, no. If you're very small and slight it might be more of an issue? I'm not either and I find most maternity clothes look fine even if you're not pregnant. There is a risk that, if you're wearing something with plenty of space around the middle, that you might look pregnant even if you weren't but you could maybe chuck a high or loose belt on at this point if you're hiding it?

I did, in fact, wear maternity bits before getting PG as I was shopping in charity shops and didn't realise the brand (label just said M2B) until a friend pointed it out and, well, they were nice dresses!

Also, a lot of maternity trousers have extra hidden elastic that you can use to tighten or loosen the waistband while the bump grows. I've just bought some jeans like that.

There are some really cheap bits that are often decent quality on Amazon/ebay - like £3/t-shirt? I quite liked the Purpless range last time.

DinoSn0re · 09/12/2017 12:23

I made the mistake with my first pregnancy of thinking that I would get a big bump reasonably quickly, but I had a small baby and my bump never did really get massive, people were always surprised to hear how far on I was. I just lived in leggings and oversized shirts/jumpers/tunics, all the maternity dresses I had excitedly spent a lot of money on ended up being given to a friend. However I was gifted some stretchy band JoJo maternity jeans for this pregnancy and they’re reasonably comfortable, do tend to fall down a bit though!

Girlwiththearabstrap · 09/12/2017 12:30

Bump bands are really good for jeans. Maternity jeans are enormous! I'm not even really in them at almost 20 weeks and it's my second. Dresses are fine but they do tend to have a lot of excess fabric around the middle before your bump gets big.

Original poster

Paperchains1986 · 09/12/2017 13:21

Does anyone know where I can actually try some on? Bluewater, or Westfield etc?

OP posts:

Phryne · 09/12/2017 13:45

A lot of shops don't have much maternity stuff in. Our local H&M and Next do - I'd be tempted to ring ahead and check a few places in a local shopping centre so you've got choice. I think Asda and the other supermarkets never do no matter how big the shop.

Phryne · 09/12/2017 13:46

The lack of in-store stuff is an utter pain in the arse though I agree particularly as sizing varies so much. You could also order some bits in to try on there as well as look around?

Lulublu · 09/12/2017 14:45

This doesn’t help with the trying clothes on issue, but I found eBay to be great for maternity clothes. I bought all mine from there and they’ve lasted me 2 pregnancies (mixture of more expensive brands such as seraphine as well as cheaper such as H&M and asda). Saved me a fortune and easy to find clothes in very good condition as they haven’t been worn for very long.

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