What size maternity clothing?

[wombats]

I can't button my trousers anymore but tried some maternity and the panel was too loose for my current bump at 16 weeks. Have gained half a stone already so not sure if I should size up and have looser legs and hipps or just buy what fits now? My office is too formal so can't get away with leggings unfortunately.

H and M have some good stretchy pencil-leg trousers in lots of patterns, smart enough for work. I’d size up one or two in those for a month or two.

Or try a belly band-you can leave top button undone (or use a hair bobble threaded through buttonhole and over button to extend it!) and then cover with belly band and a long top.

When you start needed mat stuff you should just buy normal dress size

Or try under bump styles and long tops! They often have extendable sides you can let out as you grow

Thank you! Tried the bobble but then my zipper falls-any tips for keeping that up? Was thinking of buying only full panel as baby due in winter, thought I might want extra warmth?

I found certain makes of maternity clothes had an elasticated bit under and over the stretchy panel - so even if the bump wasn't big enough to hold up the top one, the bottom one would hold it up, iyswim. Found some Isabel Oliver ones on eBay for a fairly reasonable price, and they were fab.

I got a bump band from jojo maman bebe and to be honest that has kept me going got a few maternity jeans from h and m all size 10 2 I can't fit in anymore and 1 pair are so comfy I did the bobble trick under bump band as it doesn't matter if zip falls. also you can get jersey skirts from h&m get a couple sizes bigger and it's a very cheap belly band xx

@wombats paper clip to hold up the zipper. Hooked around the hair band!

I bought a pack of bump bands from New Look to cover the open fly. Initially I folded them in half, then used the full height of them any time I needed to cover the gap between my top and my trousers. Or use maternity vest tops under your work top, depending on temperature.

@jellyfish2210, very creative!

Thanks for the bump band suggestion, will try those too.

Can you find any over-bump stuff? In my experience that fits better especially earlier on in pregnancy. I don't know about work wear though as my office changed its dress-code to casual whilst I was in early pregnancy so I luckily never had to find actual work wear. I bought a few pairs of bottoms in a size up in early pregnancy but they were all elasticated waists too because I had HG at the time and couldn't have anything else around my abdomen as it felt awful to me.

Tbh I'm 39 weeks and the under-bump Topshop jeans I bought still don't fit me, they fall down even though I bought my regular pre-pregnancy jeans size in them . I thought I would grow into them and now I'm huge but still they fall down. If I had known this would be the case I would have exclusively bought over-bump mat stuff, I love my over-bump jeans.

Maternity leggings I bought in my regular pre-pregnancy size from Debenhams, under-bump ones, also still fall down at 39 weeks . So yeah, I am an over-bump fan.