Maternity smart trousers - is Isabella Oliver worth the money?

[Kif]

I need some black smart maternity trousers for the office.

They will get worn to shreds, so I'm thinking of spending a little more than I normally would.

Are Isabella Oliver trousers nice? What are the ultimate work maternity trousers.

My plan B is Blooming Marvellous. Wasn't too impressed with a feeding top I bought from them, though. Material was thin, and design was fiddly.

Please rescue me from my 'big jersey skirt is the only thing that fits' wardrobe funk!

please please please someone answer.

My finger is hovering over Buy it NowIO at £75

....

Or is an 'elephant sized polyester trouser' an 'elephant sized polyester trouser' and I should get this one from Blooming Marvellous for £37 quid, and spend the balance on Salt and Vinegar crisps?

I swear, if I don't have new trousers by Monday I'm cutting a hole in a sheet, putting it over my head and going to work in a Muumuu.

i had two pairs of isabella oliver (what a pain that is to type) trousers. they were good, comfy but were a bit swishy and jersyish to be really smart (not that i wanted to be). i have noticed there is a lot more maternity wear about generally than when i was pg (2004/5), things like red herring and even m&s so it might be worth looking about more.

imo isabella oliver is def worth the money. they wash and wash and lose little of the lycra. i invested in their black trousers 2 vest tops, 2 scoop neck tops and a wrap round (the wrap round is very fiddly so wouldn't recommend it)and it got me through mixed in with normal clothes. hth

kif quite madly i hadn't looked at link, distracted by postman, they are different to my floppy ones. yes get them they are much more better than the ones i had so they shoudl be great.

I loved the trousers, but found them really really long, so had to be worn with ultra-igh heels (am 5 4)

these are the pair i bought like fishie though i wasn't working but still wanted to look 'put together' so these might not work for you

these vest tops were a god send imo

My trousers lasted once in the wash, and went all baggy and hideous. But I think that was an unusual experience, friends loved theirs. I ended up buying some from Next of all places (I got them for £8 at the outlet ) and I lived in them. So comfy.

But my IO red wrap dress was the best thing EVER. That reminds me, my sister still has it!

no fair! i started off doubtful about spending £80 on trousers - now want loads of other things!

Thank you ladies - i think I'll treat myself to Isabella Oliver.

kif I have the white 3 quarter sleeve wrap top (never worn for more than 2 minutes!). if you want it i'll post it to you. I tried to wear it a couple of times but just couldn't get the wraps to sit well but if you fancy giving it a try i'd be happy to see it go to a good home!

Oooh - that sounds great.

I'm a size 14-ish - but a 12 or a 16 would probably sit fine too, by the look of the top.

My email is kif_ess A T yahoo dot co dot uk

I have some great trousers from Topshop maternity. They are a heavy wool/tweed type material and are very smart, wide leg and so comfy! They adjust and they aren't expensive at £35 a pop, dry clean only the ones I have but they do different ones in different materials and I love mine, have three pairs of different ones now.

I'm wearing the Blooming Marvellous option right now, I've found them good and get lots of wear out of them and they wash really easily. But I work in a school so never spend real money on work clothes on the grounds that I'm only going to sit in chewing gum or get board marker down myself.

I bought the IO turtle necks and they are fab, they fit you when small and grow with you and then will look good when you've had the baby. Very smart black/maroon.

Blooming marvelous - very flared tops -I'm 5" 2" so I appeared to get smaller in height the bigger tummy I got! Also very gaping around boobs and not great quality material.

I bought 2 pais of work black torusers, one pair from Red herring at Debenhams and one pair from next..both are fab..have washed them loads..and press well. Less than half the price too! xx

Ds I bought loads maternity clothes from dorothy perkins - popped in to the oxford street branch and loved the entire range.

My work trousers i bought from mothercare. They were horrible; the bobbbled; they gaped; had to wear them every day to work by the end...urghhh! I htink I burned them . Hated them , but the longer it went, the less I could justify buying more maternity clothes. Hence, why I'm trying to expunge the memory and get some properly nice work trousers.

Topshop... I'm a bit prejudiced because normally they seem to cut for very skinny teenagers.

Blooming marvellouw - I found the top I bought from them was of very poor fabric. I was really dissapointed - I'd expected them to be 'the maternity specialists'.

Isabella Oliver is expensive but worth it if you can afford it. I'm sure I sound very silly when I say that they come in a nice box with orange tissue paper so it's like a gift to yourself! As fishie says they are still swishy rather than incredibly formal but everyone will forgive you if you're pregnant (and dress up your top half!).

Incidentally I was in Crave on the Kings Road on Saturday, and bought huge hideous black jersey skirt to the floor. Not the kind of thing I would usually be seen dead in, but so comfy I knew I'd never take it off (which I haven't- all week). Slim fashionable teenage shop assistant asked how pregnant I was. When I said six and a half months she replied: "Oh yes, when people come in at less than six months they want something stylish, but after six months people just look for anything that is comfortable".

Ahem. How true.

Crave do mail order too. They do lots of great smart stuff, its good quality stuff.

Kif, haven't tried the IO ones, but have lived in my Seraphine trousers - got them at 13 weeks and am still in them at 34 weeks. Best of all they look smart and I still feel like a real person in them!

Was just going to add that red herring at debenhams have some nice black trousers- £25 bargain! Haven't worn them much as still fitting into some others, but they look like they'll last the whole way!
Have some borrowed topshop ones too that are quite nice- esp since they aren't brand new!

sorry kif only getting back on mn now. The top is size 8 (sorry). never thought about sizing. think i left my brain behind in the delivery room!

I ordered quite a few pairs of different styles of trouser from IO and was not happy with any of them. Some looked nice and tailored in the catalogue, but floppy and shapless in real life. Also, the fabrics were not always of nice quality, and stitching was questionable. But, bought lots of tops from there and loved them (especially the off the shoulder one and the portrait one) but trouser-wise, I've stuck to Seraphine www.seraphine.com

Of course, as per the other posters, some loved their IO trousers so maybe I was just unlucky (and I found them always too short)

There's always Formes too www.formes.com for work items but are more expensive than IO and I've only ever bought eveningwear from them (which was really really nice BTW)

Happy trouser hunting!

i loved my isabella oliver trousers, wore them from 6 weeks until after dd was born....... they were jersey though, & not mega formal. but super comfy & didn't get trashed.

Bought a couple of lovely dresses and a few tops from Isabelle Oliver my last pregnancy and was really pleased with them, they wash up really well and feel comfortable.

My disaster purchase was a pair of linen trousers from Blooming Marvellous which still fell down when I was nine months pregnant. Have saved them in case there's a possibility I may have triplets in future.

just seen this MN discount pointed out on another thread for IO www.mumsnet.com/s/mn.Uop?f=g