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maternity clothes...

13 replies

helloitsme · 13/06/2013 22:49

know it's been done before, but wondering if anyone can give me some tips on where to get well priced and nice maternity clothes. I am especially looking for things i can get online, and an additional benefit if they can also be born post-partum (have put on loads of weight and think i will be in maternity stuff for quite a while after giving birth)...all tips gratefully appreciated :-)

OP posts:
Havingkittens · 14/06/2013 07:00

I wore a lot of non maternity jersey dresses which I already owned. Wrap dresses or tops, whether they are maternity ones or not, are particularly useful if you're planning on breast feeding.

Aetae · 14/06/2013 07:20

eBay. If you look for the better quality brands (ie avoid the supermarket brands and fast fashion high street like H&M) you can get lots of lovely things. And if they don't fit when you get them, you can sell them again!

Pretty Pregnant is a good place to look to get an idea of brands. I also found that non-UK maternity brands tend to go for less as people don't know about them (I just did a lot of searches for 'designer maternity' and made a list of brands).

ChocolateCremeEggBag · 14/06/2013 07:22

Ok

Isabella Oliver does a lot of jersey pieces where it's good enough quality fabric that it will "ping" back into pre Pregancy shape (even if it takes you a while to "ping"). It's£££ though but has good resale on eBay. There are often codes about - mumsner has a 15% one at the very least.

I wore a lot of my pre preg stuff with DS and it stretched too much to wear for long afterwards.

New Look, Asos, Topshop & Next all have decent online ranges and mostly free del and returns so you can bulk buy and throw back.

You will need decent bras through out.

Once you've worn a small set of maternity clothes in rotation for a few months and in the first few weeks of baby even if you havn't yet lost all the weight, you'll be ready for a change anyway.

newbiefrugalgal · 14/06/2013 07:32

I wish I had invested in maternity jeans as cheap were just that cheap!

Might get a flaming but primark have good stretchy dresses/tops etc

ivanapoo · 14/06/2013 07:57

I had a lot of non maternity stuff I could still wear for most of preg (jersey tops and dresses, slouchy knits, maxi dresses etc. My favourite actual maternity bits were all from Topshop and H&M - a jersey dress, white t-shirt, swimming costume and a pair of below the bump jeggings.

Leviticus · 14/06/2013 09:45

Topshop is online and has nice stuff. Plus I've made about half the value back when I've sold it afterwards on eBay as their stuff is so popular. It goes without saying therefore that eBay is a good place to look too.

I had a lot of good long stretchy vests and tops from H&M but I bought those in store.

I wore my usual cardigans and jackets open with a scarf on cold days and never bought maternity undies - what's the point?

libertychick · 14/06/2013 09:57

I found Gap and H&M best. If I was pregnant again I would consider a pair of high end jeans. Lots of scarfs for some colour.

Spoutlet · 14/06/2013 10:34

Boden's maternity range is good and some things can be worn afterwards; I'm still wearing a top and tunic 8 months post partum as they work well for breastfeeding.

iMe · 14/06/2013 10:45

Have you looked at mamas&papas? I'm still wearing 2 maternity cardis from there and my youngest is 20 months old! Quality is good, practical design. Haven't looked at range recently, but I got lots there 5 years ago, wore for 2 pregs & still wearing some! Look at John Lewis online too, as they do free delivery & returns if you spend over £40 (I think).

Laquila · 14/06/2013 11:03

Personally I prefer to buy new from places like H&M rather than buy higher-end stuff on eBay (then you can return it if it doesn't fit or you don't like it). I find H&M vest tops (scoop neck and camisole-type ones) to be excellent, and also have three pairs of their trousers (chinos and linen ones). I've also had a BRiLLIANT pair of grey skinny over the bump jeans from there, although they don't seem to have them any more, and very good over the bump leggings. A word of warning, though - all their pairs of leggings seem to be of wildly differing length, with no correlation to the label size, so it's worth trying these on instore if poss.

Other than that I've had some nice bits from Mamas and Papas in the sale (great shorts) and am wearing jersey dresses that I had pre-pregnancy, as well as some short-sleeved non-fitted tops that still fit me.

Someone pointed out to me when I first got pregnant that you may as well buy maternity clothes relatively early on in your pregnancy and get good wear out of them, as you're pretty certain to end up needing them for the last couple of months (and maybe after the birth) anyway, and I do think this is a good point.

Also, bras: I bought a couple of cheap underwired t-shirts bras at around 3/4months but am now feeling the need for proper maternity/nursing bras. Following a couple of recommendations I ordered a Bravado Silk Nursing bra (around £27) and it is super-comfy, although I'm swapping it for black as the "Latte" colour is a ridiculous colour that no-one's flesh actually is, so doesn't work as nude.

Hope this helps a bit!

P.S. It's worth flagging up that there are very few places that do mat wear instore - most of it is online - the only places I can think of that also have it instore are H&M (varying selections) and Topshop (fairly terrible selection, IME), and of course specialist places like M&P, Jojo Maman Bebe etc.

Havingkittens · 14/06/2013 11:10

I did have a few good things from Seraphine. I'm still wearing one of their maternity wrap dresses for feeding my 2 month old.

Jojo Maman Bebe is also worth a look.

Boden's maternity leggings were great. Seriously comfy and no sagging.

The choice of maternity wear on the high street is extremely limited so I invariably ended up buying online and ordering a couple of sizes with a view to returning what wasn't suitable. Don't forget to check whether companies charge for returns though if you do that. Very annoying to have to pay when ordering online is the only alternative.

ivanapoo · 14/06/2013 13:01

YY to H&M being better in store, and Topshop being MUCH better online unless you go to Oxford Circus.

The other thing to think about as HavingKittens suggests is nursing if you plan to breast feed. Most maternity clothes don't seem to take it into account! I would try to buy at least one maternity dress or top that is also suitable for nursing. I didn't buy anything suitable for both and slightly regretted it, although I only bought one nursing top in the end (which I wore a lot in the early days).

From about 3-4 months I found it just as easy to wear a loose-ish or stretchy top or shirt over a strappy vest which I could pull up or down as needed. I miss wearing dresses though.

helloitsme · 14/06/2013 22:43

thanks all. will search online and maaaybe venture into a real shop if very motivated. i've found i seem to loose so much on ebay when i get stuff that doesn't look good or fit, but maybe i should be motivated and actually sell the stuff back! anyway, this was all very very helpful and i hope to widen my selection from about two tops and see how i go :-)

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