Maternity clothes?? Indispensable item? Where did you buy?

[gypsymoon]

Pregnant with DC3 and showing much earlier....can't help with all the rubbish I'm eating....but that's not why I'm posting! (mmm...fried fast food....)

I'm from OZ and maternity clothes over there were either HIDEOUS or ridiculously expensive - I just bought clothes a wee bit bigger and flowing tops. I looked a bit of a mess to be honest and did nothing to enhance the beauty of pregnancy but just managed to look like a walking kaftan.

So...from a purely superficial and vain perspective where can I get all those lovely maternity clothes I see women in the UK wearing? That obviously won't cost me a bundle...

And what was your most live in item and where did you get it? bear in mind that comfort is a big thing for me and I don't work so I don't need suits etc.

Agree with mogend77. M & S (normal range) wide leg black stretchy trousers with a soft waistband. Hideous when not pregnant - a gift when you are.

Normally a size 12 - when pregnant I had a pair in a 16 and a pair in size 18. They were my pregnancy staples - wore them for work every day with various floaty tops. Smart when teamed with a good top but casual as well.

Also really good for the first few weeks post pregnancy. Would really suggest thinking through a few things in your normal wardrobe or pregnancy wardrobe that you would be happy to waer the first few weeks post pregnancy.

Hated all pregnancy jeans - could never keep a single pair from falling down.

bump bands cheap

nice dress

oh yes, wrap dresses and cardigans v good.

Deffo go for maternity clothes rather than big "normal" clothes - you will then look properly pregnant and not just like you've had a big curry.

I lived in DP at home and Red Herring (Debenhams) at work - Red Herring really good for cheap smarter stuff (e.g. if you have a wedding to go to at 8 mths or similar). Also Next v good.

I never understood why some enterprising soul doesn't create a maternity outlet in the big shopping centres (Bluewater et al) so we don't have to traipse round every chuffing shop looking for the two racks of maternity wear in each. I'd easily pay a £1 premium per item to save my poor cankles from that job...

To add my tuppence worth:

I'm 30 wks now and so far have lived in a pair of khaki shorts, jeans and vest tops from H&M Mama.

Mamas and Papas jeans - do a long length and actually stay up.

H&M long sleeve t shirts - had some shaped ones that were great

wrap cardis

Hi,

came across a great range of maternity girdles from www.weightworld.co.uk - I bought the Silver one and it's so comfortable it's unbelievable! I wear it underneath my khakis and top and really takes the strain off my back.

Check it out )

Bump bands are just bands of material that go round your middle - like a really stretchy jersey belt - only they are only one piece of material. See here for New Look cheapy ones. I think they are ok, though early on in my pregnancy they had a tendency to ride up or or down, and show off my unbuttoned skirt. So prefered the long cami tops from New Look, Blooming Marvelous or H&M for better coverage. Blooming Marvelous had a sale on a few of these things so I got a handful to see me through. I too am obsessed by eBay and have bought a few Isabella Oliver dresses and wrap tops from there - IO stuff is lovely but too expensive new.

I am loving my Next linen blend maternity trousers. I also live in my Blooming Marvellous jeans and would put an honorable mention in for Seraphine. Their boat neck white top was worth getting pregnant again for! Decathlon also do a decent maternity swimming costume which, as a fellow aussie, i found indispensible. Enjoy!

Agree with Lisianthus about the maternity skirts and dresses, I ebayed my Isabella Oliver dresses weeks before the baby was due as my cankles looked hideous!

Check eBay for Isabella Oliver and Seraphine or they often have discounts, their tops are fab. I bought a great pair of Sevens, expensive but worth it as I wore them loads and made almost all the money back afterwards by selling them on eBay.

For me no underwear was comfier than XL boxer shorts . Covered my bum, bump and bits - plus they were miles cheaper than specialist maternity underwear

Ikbloo I read that as not wearing underwear was more comfortable than wearing XL boxer shorts!

Next, Blooming Marvellous, Top Shop, Dorothy Perkins, JoJoMamanBebe & Mothercare maternity wear is all good ime - and all of it is available online! Yippee.

Get at least a weeks'-worth of maternity tops, to minimise ironing when you're heavily pregnant (I don't iron much anyway, but I am aware that lots of people do!).

Bump bands, one black and one white. Vests and tee shirts also in black and white. This meant I could wear my normal clothes for much longer, zips/buttons undone and covered over with the bump band. I got a load of stuff from Isabella Oliver a bit expensive but they lasted really well and grew with me right up to the end of my pregnancy.

Jeans - the best one's I got were from Next.

I also used Blooming Marvellous, Crave and Gap maternity.

Oh yes - when I was pregnant I wish I had known about those little elastic patches that you just button into the fly of your regular denims for the early stages.

Later on, I got an amazing pair of maternity jeans from Next with stretchy bands above the pockets and a big fancy belt that helped stop them falling down when I was walking.

I found the trousers with the elastic band in the waist that you just button looser and looser were absolute sh!te TBH.

Also, I found 3 maternity tops in the Dorothy Perkins sale for £3 each which were great. Ruched sides and really long so covered the whole bump and looked nice too.

Also, I just got quite a few tops out of H&M n New Look that were prob meant to be tunic tops but I used them as maternity since they were so much less expensive and looked good.

H&M Maternity Leggings, the shorter ones. Brilliant, also got them in New Look.

Are maternity bras essential? I'm not pregnant but already thinking about the next one and post ds my boobs can't do without an underwire!

Topshop was great for really cheap and comfortable basics when I was pregnant last year. Long vests £6 and bump band £5.
H&M usually has great bargains too. Get trousers and skirts with the large banding that goes over the bump, they are far more comfortable than elastic that sits under and stay up much better too! High street fashion a couple of sizes up make for cheap alternatives. I had tunic tops from Tesco and Next. M&S tracksuit bottoms a couple of sizes up are cheap ad comfy.

I thought New Look was great, got some nice but cheap tops. Also bump bands 3 for a £10! Worthwhile investment - used them with ordinary t-shirts in the early days and now to hold up my jeans and with maternity tops that are struggling to stretch over the more advanced bump. Dorothy Perkins also good.

First time I went shopping for maternity clothes I felt brilliant. Went from looking fat to thin but pregnant (think larger belly makes my bum look smaller in comparison).

I didnt buy bumpbands because they didnt sit right. I bought some cheap boob tubes from primark and used them instead

New look combat type jeans, gap mini denim skirt, loads of leggings, long line vests from sainsburys.

I am a bit a hippy boho chick and dont put on a lot of weight so I got away with just a few bits of mat wear.

I have to admit to buying LOADS though as I can never resist a sale (I live in London so loads of shopping opportunities). I sold it all on ebay and made my money back and the buyers still got a bargain!

Hi T

If you google "bump band" you will see what they are - a bit like a big stretchy hair band which goes round your middle. It covers the gap between the hem of a normal top and the top of your trousers or jeans, although to the end of my 1st pregnancy I used it for the developing gap between the hem of my maternity tops and the top of my jeans! They are a godsend - New Look do a pack of 3 reduced to £5 but I have just looked and (not surprisingly) they are out of stock. I think loads of other places do them too. Last time I got one free with a magazine.

I found out recently that I am pg with my 2nd and I sold all my maternity clothes as I didn't think we'd have another (IVF baby and all that)so am desperately on the hunt for some cheap decent maternity clothes. One money saving idea I've had is to buy a maternity "tank top" and just wear my normal long sleeved tops under it come autumn/winter. I couldn't find any on-line so just bought a black sleeveless maternity t-shirt instead.

Hope we can keep this thread going as I have got a whole wardrobe to buy on the cheap! Will def be ordering those Next trousers - I had some Jojo Maman ones last time and they were fantastic both during the pregnancy and just after.

Anjelika

I would echo most of the suggestions on here - especially topshop.

I would definitely recommend buying a lovely dress or other outfit that makes you feel as good as you can. I lived in jeans vests and cardigans most of the time but I bought a black jersey one from topshop last year that was fairly plain and not too dressy but a beautiful shape and every time I put it on I felt like a blooming mother to be rather than frumpy whale.

A comfy pair of maternity leggings, a lovely loose tunic/dress/long top that covers your bum type thing, and some lovely flat shoes. I lived in variations on that for most of pregnancy. I had a lovely black jersey tunic type thing from Zara which I wore on hols with bare legs and gold flip flops and back at work with leggings and pumps and a cardi. It was comfy and pretty. I also had a nice Topshop maternity wrap dress which was indispensible.

I bought a great over-the-bump black mini from Formes and wore it with fitted and floaty tops and big necklaces. Their trousers are also very flattering, esp if you're tall - I'm 6ft. Danish brand Day Birger et Mikkelsen had some beautiful non-pregnancy ruched and floaty tops last winter that I bought on sale at the Oxford St House of Fraser, and I found Isabella Oliver pieces very, very flattering, though the ruched pieces worked better than the wrap-overs.

M&S maternity is hideous. Bought a top online and never wore it.

H&M vest tops. Great for layering with other things when pg, they are really soft stretchy and long. Then brill for after to layer for bfeeding. And am currently sat in one as a pj top!!!