First timer, 12 weeks preggers, what maternity clothes to buy!

[mumtobe23]

Hi all, I'm 12 weeks and 4 days, I'm not showing too much but am definatly starting to fill out now.
I'm quite petite and so I'm not expecting to properly show for a few more weeks yet, anyhow, I'm going shopping tonight & I work in an office enviroment so will need new office clothes to buy.
As I'm still "normal" size can any one advise me on a few bits to get so that when I do get bigger I have things to wear? Thanks!

For quite a while I just bought 'normal' clothes in bigger sizes then got some nice maternity trousers fom Asda - they've got a really nice maternity range (both office & casual)

Wrap dresses are smart for the office, and will see you through for quite a while!

Oh - and congatulations by the way!

thank you! x

Do your normal trousers up with a hairband and then wear a longer length, tunic top to cover this. Nice and smart in the office and kept me going til about 24 weeks!

My favourite maternity range was Gap - particularly as they had a sale about once a month.

from my experience maternity clothes are hideous so the only thing i bought was a pair of maternity jeans

Isabella Oliver wrap tops are pretty so long as you stand perfectly still. If you move you end up with bits of tummy/back gaping through
Wrap dresses on the other hand are brilliant and you can still wear them afterwards - good for bf.
Top SHop jeans are really good.
If you're looking at tshirts etc just make sure they are really loooong.
Formes do some really nice things, but you need to try them on as lots look dreadful on the hanger but fab on.
Make sure you have plenty of tracksuit pants-there will be days when nothing else works.
I loved being pregnant the first time - enjoy!

Brilliant, thanks for you ideas! x

Formes are expensive, but last forever - one pair of drapey black trousers have seen me through 3 pregnancies and the post-birth stage too.

I liked H&M Mama too, but not all H&M have that on the shop floor and going online is a pain when you don't know what size you are!

Try to find things with adjustable waistbands, as you can start wearing them earlier and they'll still fit when you're the size of a house towards the end of your pregnancy.

Topshop maternity trousers I found great, and I bought a bunch of their long vests and wore these under all my normal jumpers and jackets to give the extra length - I lasted for ages on this as I didn't really show until 24 weeks!

The one thing I couldn't possibly have done without was a pair of over bump plain black work trousers from Dorothy Perkins. I also bought a couple of maternity vests - one black, one white and put cardigans over them. And (I never thought I'd say this.....) leggings! Under a long top with knee high boots look quite smart.

Congrats !

It might be worth waiting a bit....I was dead keen to buy maternity clothes but to be honest until you have a bump you wont know what is comfy and what size you will need (despite what they say you dont just buy the same size as normal....i have found that I have to buy a size smaller).

I bought black trousers and a pair of jeans from New Look at about 19 weeks.

You will be surprised at how slowly the bump grows. I am over 26 weeks and I can still get into loads of my non maternity tops (not anything with buttons though) and 2 pairs of my normal jeans (admittedly these are the 'boyfriend' ones which sit low down on your hips)

If you are petite you will also find a lot of the maternity tops are too long and swamp you. I have bought a couple of stretchy tops from M+S in my normal size and I think they will last for another month or so (and can be worn afterwards).

www.marksandspencer.com/gp/product/B001HOJZFY/sr=1-135/qid=1235492737/ref=sr_1_135/277-2948796-18123 01?ie=UTF8&node=&m=A2BO0OYVBKIQJM&keywords=&mnSBrand=core&size=9&rh=n%3A73433031&page=15

Depends on your work dress code I guess, mine is pretty informal. I was about 12 wks pg this time last year and I mostly wore -

Jeans
Black Trousers
A smart white shirt
A few stretchy tops (I bought t's from Primark in a larger size at 5 months, then bigger at 7 months, they only cost a couple of quid). Maternity tops swamped me, and I a normally a 14, 36D!
A nice jersey dress (Isaabella Oliver lovely, but I got mine from Blooming Marvellous).
A wrap cardi.
A pair of flat, lace up shoes (I ended up with 3 pairs of Converse by the end of last summer)
Decent, well fitted maternity bras.
A whatever was on the Gap maternity sale rail!
And I lived in a pair of 3/4 length pg jeans, a linen maternity skirt and a couple of tunic tops all summer.

My most useful thing has been two big long stretchy skirts - not maternity just large sizes - I'm short so can wear them over the bump and they still look long enough. Much more comfortable than any of the maternity trousers I've tried. In fact I haven't really found any trousers that stay up properly and aren't stupidly long on me.

Mothercare do a petite/short fit in a lot of their maternity clothes, I've had some trousers from there. they do some quite nice smart office-type clothes as well as casual stuff.
I echo what others have said about the length of tops, red herring maternity in debenhams do long vests with a bit of lace on the top and I wear them under loads of things as they cover my bump.

I'm quite envious that you will be big in the summer and wont have to fight with maternity tights!! It has been a trial,lol.

Topshop does a good line in black trousers and pretty dresses which are good for work. I also found Seraphine had nice stuff which was good for work - and Jojomamanbebe have nice basics which you can use for work too.

Maternity clothes are overpriced and hideous most of the time!! Im a reasonably young mum to be and im quite petite and found it really hard to find anyhting i could actually wear throughout the preganncy.. remeber when your really showing the weather will probably be quite warm fingers crossed and you will probably be able to get away with lose flowy dresses in a biger size the onl maternity cothes i bought were-

2 pirs of maternity jeans
maternity support bras (make sure you get measured properly for these)
you will need a pair of maternity work pants
wrap over dresses look quite nice but smart

all the dresses iv worn sice iv been pregannt have been size 10-12 and the tops iv been wearing have been about a size 12 too and i have quite a big bump i wouldnt go out and buy a load of maternity clothes youll probably never wear them.

oh and for comfort i found night dresses more comfortable than pjs and some loungewear is essential i dont know where id be without my big baggy slouchy pants now haha

congradulations and good luck hun xxxx

Blooming Marvellous (online) have a 75% off sale at the moment - might be worth checking that out. Buy one or two decent work shirts if that's the dress code, then you can make any bottoms look dressy.
With my first baby I could pull up my jeans/trousers but just not do them up. used elastic bands through the button holes then looped them over the button!

Second child was a totally different story - I'm sure that your body remembers so by 12 weeks I was in maternity stuff already!

Just found out I'm pg with #3 so give it another week or two and I'll be out of my current clothes!!

Hi mumtobe23, congratulations!

I'm 31 weeks and have only just now started wearing a few maternity tops. In the beginning i found them all too big and flowery and expensive! I'm quite short and big long tops don't do me any favours. At the moment it's quite easy to find t-shirts and jumpers you can fit a small bump into (M&S has been good to me). That means you can still wear them after the baby is born so feel less guilty about a bit of a shopping spree.

As soon as i was 3-4 mths pregnant i couldn't even do the zip up on my favourite jeans so it's been well worth investing in a few decent looking maternity trousers (mamas & papas, gap). Ill fitting jeans are just too depressing and uncomfortable to put up with.

Happy shopping and good luck!

Congratulations!

My most useful buys have been:

Very stretchy long t-shirts from Primark in 2 - 3 sizes bigger (they are very tight fitting, but stretch over the bump) which I've been able to wear under my non-maternity tops as they've got too short and also wear them under sleeveless maternity tops for layered effect which I really like - doesn't swamp the bump if you're small, but does give good 'coverage'

A Bump Band (a wide stretchy bandeau) has the same use of filling the gap when things don't cover the bump any more - mine came from Topshop maternity.

Maternity Jeans - lots of threads on here about which ones are best. I liked JoJoMamanBebe (10% off for MNers) which come in petite lengths. NB, depending on where you are, JoJo has sale shops where they send end of line clothing very very cheap e.g. £5 a garment. I bought lots of work clothes on this basis.

Maternity tights - a must if you are going to wear skirts at all. I like the M&S ones as they have a proper gusset (lots of the other ones I tried did not and had seams that dug into groin in very uncomfortable fashion)

For work, I kept wearing 2 non-maternity dresses which had an empire line shape (Boden) in my usual size.

Don't buy too much to early - you won't know what shape you are going to be or what feels most comfortable for a while.

HTH

Hello and congratulations!!

My maternity wear purchases have been:

• TopShop maternity Eva jeans (avoid the Next jeans and trousers - ill fitting and too big)

• TopShop maternity skirt and dress

• H&M and Primark stretchy long sleeved as well as wrap around tops, and also some cardis in 1 or 2 sizes up from normal

• bump band in each of black and white

• Primark bras (have gone up 2 sizes and apparently more to come). I personally don't want maternity bras

• ASOS maternity jersey dress and navy evening dress - I would check out their range.

Annoyingly, you can't get H&M or Primark online so that means a trip to their biggest shops. I think Next are rubbish, Dorothy Perkins are OK, but ASOS and TopShop do good maternity wear. I have only read great things about Isabella Oliver, but think you may have to go down a size.

I would buy as and when you need - hard to predict what size you will be and when... Happy shopping!

Ive not needed much but my essentials were/are (im 34 week)-

Bump bands from new look (so can wear my normal clothes-tops espec)

Jeans from Topshop and Debenhams

Leggings from New look and Debenhams

Casual tops/bottoms from Asda and Peac.ocks

Got some nice going out tops/dresses from ASOS

Ive got quite a small bump so most tops still fit, still in same Pj's etc

I went mad in early days then sold, New on ebay so wrth a look there..

Gap maternity wear is genuinely pretty, in nice fabrics.

Kew sell nice wrap and empire line dresses - larger sizes work well until you're enormous!

Sweaty Betty yoga trousers are such good quality, with so much elastane, that they lasted me throughout.

Keep in mind that what you really need will be summer clothes, especially if you are not even really showing yet.

My advice would be to postpone purchases for as long as you can (i.e. don't go shopping just yet). A simple elastic hair band on the button can keep your trousers going for at least a month, for example. With a bit of luck, you will only need to buy summer clothes.

If I find something I like in Next, Dorothy Perkins etc, I've found it's worth checking Ebay to see if I can find someone selling last seasons version. You can try on in store to see what size you'll need first.
Maternity clothes are worn for such a short time that I've found that I can pick up barely worn bits for a lot less. Depends how you feel about second hand though.