Stretchy work dress to see me through early pregnancy

[Myneaux]

I am 8 weeks pregnant with DC2....am definately bigger everywhere and very few of my work clothes fit without straining at the seams or digging in. due to christmas overeating rather than baby.

Im still far too small for proper maternity stuff and dont really want to waste my money buying bigger sizes that will only last for a few weeks.

I wondered if you could help me find some kind of stretchy jersey type dress which will help me get through these early weeks and maybe accomodate a small bump. It would need to be fitted at the top but have some room at the bottom to hide my increasing belly (maybe a wrap dress?)

not bothered about what colour but would prefer not to spend too much if possible.

many thanks

I've just bought a lovely green wrap dress from Phase Eight in the sale, they had quite a few jersey dresses.

Or perhaps one from Isabella Oliver? Not cheap but would see you all the way through your pregnancy. I got one on eBay whilst pg.

Congratulations

marking a place to see what people come up with!
congrats op! I'm currently 9wks with my first and struggling with clothing same as you. mine is mostly Xmas weight too

thanks for the suggestions and congratulations (also congrats to you too cartoontrickster !).

Had a quick google and the phase eight green dress with seagulls is down to £55 but thats still a bit pricey for me.

There are a few possibles on M&S website but I think you would definitely have to see them in the flesh as they do look a bit frumpsville...might have a mooch on my lunch break.

Am managing fine with casual clothes as baggy tops and jumpers and leggings are comfy and hide everything.....just work stuff is a nightmare.

my major problem is jeans! my office is very casual and I wear jeans most days. I think this would be an easier problem to deal with if we were a bit more dressy! because I think jersey dresses are the way to go.

Could you get away with dresses and thick tights/boots...or leggings and tunics? This is my off duty wardrobe and most things still look ok when I breathe in. I think a plain jersey dress could look smart or casual depending on shoes and accessories.

Last time I managed to get through most of my pregnancy wearing a lot of my normal stuff (though did have to get maternity jeans at about 18 weeks when the boyfriend jeans I had wouldnt do up). Just a tip....if you are looking for jeans consider buying the over the bump ones. Even though they look awful they are the only ones that stay up!

Think its going to be harder this time...not looking forward to being havily pregnant in August/Sept.

I could yes. I'm paranoid people will guess though since I rarely wear stuff like that to work. but since its mostly men I doubt they'd actually notice thinking about it!
with the over the bump jeans are there any that are better than others?

DS1 is now 3.5 so it was quite a while ago but i found H&M jeans the best (also had some Gap ones - always wait for the sale with these). It really is trial and error though....and you can never trust sizes at all. I am an average size 10 and ended up getting size 6 jeans from gap WTF.

Topshop jeans were awful on me.....they seem to assume you are going to grow an arse as big as your bump!.

It is really worth getting 2 decent pairs though as you will live in them and wear them for sometime after too.

It also depends on what shape you are....my friend was pregnant at the same time as me and despite being the same size before pregnancy we were completely different shapes...my bump was all out front hers was all around. She could wear under bump jeans unlike me.

By the way....blokes wont notice. I got to 16 weeks last time without telling anyone at work !

I found H&M brilliant for maternity wear. There were loads of different dresses and tunics, that could be dressed up or down. They were also really comfy for first couple of weeks after birth, I didn't want to be sat about feeding in pj's all day so these were great for easy to wear comfort! Their over bump maternity jeans were just great, so comfy, so easy to wear and lasted me from 24-41 weeks! The only problem was that you had to go to a big store or buy online, smaller stores only seem to stock a few items. Also the stuff wasn't expensive, actually really cheap when there's a sale on!

Hi, congrat both

I've been looking at occassion dresses but noticed some bargain jersey dresses at Alexon which may be good? If you can't find your size House of Fraser stock them too.

I agree, if you work in an office full of men they won't notice! It wasn't until I moved locations at about 14/15 weeks (with twins) where there were women who knew me that anyone noticed! Tunics/leggings/wrap dresses are comfortable. best wishes.

It's been a LONG time since I was PG (youngest is 5.5), but I wore under the bump jeans for the longest time in early pregnancy. I think mine were Next bought first time round (eldest is 7.5 ), and I never found such a good pair again.

I also wore a lot of H&M stretchy tops and tunic things and wrap dresses.

I wish I'd invested in Isabella Oliver TBH, as the resale value is good, but like you, worked in a casual environment, and I didn't realise how long I'd be wearing them for!

I got put off of wearing 'nicer' stuff to work as some of the guys were abit pervy and made comments if you wore a dress or skirt. even in a smart/casual way. thankfully none of them work there any more.
sod it I need to be comfortable!
thanks for all the help with the bump jeans I can't wait to get some!

Didnt get to M&S at lunchtime to check out the dresses as it is now bucketing down with snow here....off with DS now for 2 days so shopping out of the window til next week.

Everyone seems to swear by the Isabella Oliver dresses but this will be my last DC so want to try and manage with what I have and a few new budget bits (although dreading getting the maternity clothes out of the loft...felt like burning them by the end of the last pregnancy). Even on ebay they seem to go for £50+.

Boden sell a lot of tunics and dresses that are more empire line than cut on the waist. The White Co sell some like this too. I found they were good until about 24 weeks.