Is it possible to get maternity wear in larger sizes...

[MissusH]

...or are us larger ladies not allowed to have anything nice when pg?

I am a size 24ish (have lost a bit if weight - well 2st - due to morning sickness) and am only 16wks so not ready for maternity wear yet.

I would like to get a few pieces later on when my "fat bird" clothes don't fit anymore but I don't want to get larger size fat bird clothes when just my belly is getting bigger (especially trousers/jeans)

All the usual suspects in the maternity wear market seem to only go up to a size 18 (or 20 at most).

Any ideas?

[OatcakeCravings]

Hi,

I had a similar problem and found Simply be and Fashion World to be a god send. They have larger sized maternity clothes but I've mainly ended up buying dresses in bigger sizes. I've bought a few jersey dresses which strech over my bump but look absolutely fine elsewhere even though they are 3 sizes bigger than I'd normally buy. I wear my dresses with boots for work and I've bought a few pairs of trousers for the weekends.

[tinkplus1]

next go up to a 22. bumps and beyond go up to a 26. hope this helps

[dawnybabes]

I bought a lot from ebay USA - apparently "big" people are allowed to be pregnant there !!!

[Unfitmother]

Bloomin Marvellous, shops and on-line.
I got a lovely wool skirt, size 24 from them. It was great (still got it)

[Amberc]

Evans do maternity now - and they are meant for bigger girls and so will fit properly as opposed to smaller women's clothes just made bigger.

[hockeypuck]

Don't worry about buying too much stuff. I was a similar size to you when I got pregnant and then was so sick that I never actually got bigger - of course I showed a bump, so I got bigger in some places but others got smaller so the clothes fitted fine. Particularly over the summer, you might want a stretchy skirt or cropped trousers or something but mostly you'll just be in normal "fat birds" tshirts and normal clothes and look fine.

I didn't end up buying anything maternity at all for either pregnancy - except feeding bras from Mothercare after the event.

You might well find you weigh less full term than you did at the start of the pregnancy - I did. Unfortunately then I got the real hunger desires when bfeeding and ate my body weight in biscuits making me right back where I started from!.

Definitely worth getting the catalogues for Simply Be, Evans etc but bear in mind you might well not need anything you don't already have.

Hope the sickness goes soon!

[wastingmyeducation]

Now I'm 38 weeks I find that Evans do maternity!? Grrr... not at my local shop they don't.
I'm a 22(ish) and have found that a lot of my normal clothes still fit. Smock/kaftan style stuff has been in fashion, so tops or dresses in that style might do for a few months. I bought some leggings from Vertbaudet, which have been alright, though 22 is the largest size they do in them. Every pair of maternity trousers I tried on made me angry, but I've found that my long skirts are fine, as you just wear them higher up your bump as you go along!
I wouldn't worry about buying loads of maternity stuff, if you can get something cheaper that does the job without that expensive 'maternity' tag. However, as soon as my bump even slightly began to show, I bought a nice dress that emphasised it - yes I'm Fat AND Pregnant!

xx

[CantSleepWontSleep]

Who says Evans do maternity wear? Can't see any on their website.

I was smaller in last pregnancy than I am now, but hoping I can just survive in some normal stretchy clothes from Simply Be this time, as their mat range is somewhat limited.

[Hersetta]

I am a 24-26 and managed last summer (had baby in August) by just buying smock tops from my local 'yours' or evans and they lasted me the whole pregnancy. They were so smocky though that no-one knew i was pregnant!

As for trousers I bought a couple of pairs from JD williams. In ther web site search maternity and it only brings up a couple of options (including bump bands up to a size 28/30). Click on these and for some reason it then brings up more options in the 'may we also suggest' column - things that don't appear on the main search page.

[MissusH]

Thanks ladies - loads of ideas here (especially the bump band from JD Williams), seems I am allowed to be pregnant after all

I already have some smocky tops from last summer so I reckon they'll do fine, it's just bottoms I was concerned about...

Although saying that, when I had my dd six years ago I did manage without much maternity stuff, so I'm sure I will again!

[CantSleepWontSleep]

You might be out of luck with the bump band MissusH. I tried to order it in 24/26 (in fact the site is exactly the same as Simply Be, so I've tried to order it twice) and they say it isn't available any more - not just out of stock, but actually not available .