A pregnancy capsule wardrobe: is this possible? What would you have?

[SallyStarbuck]

Last pregnancy I looked a mess, I'm sure. I just bought stuff as I saw it, rather than planning, and most of the stuff wasn't even my style or taste anyway (I am very short, and struggled to find much that fit properly).

This time around I'd rather plan the outfits, look decent, and most importantly, not waste money on clothes I won't really wear. It's only a few months, after all, and will be my last pregnancy.

What do you think someone would need in a pregnancy wardrobe?

I am hoping to get through the first 6 months or so wearing normal tops with maternity bottoms. I have quite a lot of jersey skirts/mini skirts which should work for a long time, and then some maternity skinnies for the weekend. Then would it work to put maternity vests under normal sweaters and cardigans for a layered look?

For work I need to be smart, though fortunately not full business wear. Again, I was hoping that a couple of dresses, a good pair of smart black trousers, maybe one smart pencil skirt, and a few decent tops (paired with normal size cardigans).

Is it possible to get through 9 months without spending much money? Or are you likely to just bored with clothes? Will layering normal jumpers even work?

Any words of wisdom and what other people would buy (and actually wore!) would be great.

Buy a few maternity items that the style/colour you like enough to wear when you're not pregnant, and get them in a good enough quality that's worth getting them taken in/altered after the pregnancy. That way you don;t feel it's money up in smoke. Don't do that with everything, just two or three things so you don't feel like everything has to be really cheap/disposable, so you end up buying stuff you don't like.

A line tunic dresses can be worn on top of leggings , skirts, pants etc. Buy 1 size up.

I would try and get things that would work outside of the workplace as well. Black trousers you mentioned would work well, some long non maternity camisole tops to wear underneath tops or non maternity cardigans. You could get a couple of non maternity cross over dresses ? Have a look at what is in your wardrobe now and see if anything can work while you are pregnant and build your maternity wardrobe around those pieces. I would get more tops than bottoms.

Two pairs of black trousers, two black skirts, five tops plus one posh one. Job done. If you're good with scarves, accessorise with those. You only really have to wear maternity clothes for three or four months - you just wear the roomier end of your wardrobe up until that point.

Thank you, this is really helpful. Lala, that was what I was hoping I could get away with for a long time with a bit of judicious layering. I need to remember it's not a fashion parade of new clothes all the time, rather things that are flattering and actually suit me horrible flashbacks to floral Peacocks tops last time

That's a good idea about dresses being altered afterwards, I will remember that if something is more expensive.

I had H&m black skinny trousers, 2 mothercare tea dresses, 1 white maternity t shirt, 1 black maternity t shirt, 1 white tunic top, 1 mulberry tunic top, 1 pair of jeans, and a cheap new look hoody for snuggling in over maternity pyjamas. Also pregnancy underwear.
I wore my normal cardigans/scarves/jewellery over the tops and dresses so I never felt restricted. I was my normal size over winter so never needed a coat.

I think Seraphine do a maternity essentials bundle which would be very good for work - I have the skirt from that which was fab.

It depends a bit on what time of year your due date falls on. I had autumn babies, and my maternity wardrobe was a pair of really comfy maternity jeans, a pair of black trousers, a pair of camel trousers, a long black skirt, a black dress, 4 long layering vests (black, black, brown, cream), 1 T-shirt, 2 long-sleeved tops, 2 wrap-around cardigans, 1 pair yoga pants.

DD is 9 and I still wear the vests and wore a lot of the rest until they wore out.

I had 5 or 6 jersey dresses from asos, which I could dress up with non pg suit jackets if needed, and a couple of pairs of smarties trousers for work. That did me, although it did get rather boring!

With DC2, I had a couple of pairs of skinnies and leggings, and a couple of tunics from JoJo. Not the height of style, and it did get boring towards the end, but v easy.
And a fab maternity coat (via ebay as they aren't worn for long, so 2nd hand tends to be great quality).

You can definitely wear non-mat cardigans. Also long H&M vests, all the way through pregnancy. High-waisted non-mat leggings should work for most of it as you're short (I'm 5'3" and they worked for me). Get some maternity tights, though.

Capsule wardrobe - get some black cotton maternity dresses. Black/grey cardigan for work, brighter ones at weekends - done! Topshop does nice maternity stuff.

I found maternity jeans really difficult because they just would not stay up. In 3 pregnancies I had Topshop jeans, Gap and Asos and they were all the same. Tried both over and under bump ones but no. So I wound up in dresses most of the time.

I fancy a Seraphine bump kit next time round. I have to say I got scruffier as time went on, ending up at Watk in maternity cords and jumpers towards the end!

You can definitely have a sort of capsule wardrobe during pregnancy. It's worth having a couple of dresses for the second trimester which you can layer up or wear alone depending on the season, but really it's easier to just buy as you really need to.

I'm in my third trimester and so far my maternity wardrobe has been about 12 items of clothing, not all of which are even maternity.

3 maternity dresses:

• One smartish sleeveless knee length dress (it's lovely actually, and also suitable for breast feeding). Can be dressed up or down.
• One shorter casual t shirt dress (although in hindsight, a dress a bit more like the first one would have been nicer). It's a bit warmer than the first one though which is nice now.
• One definitely smart knee length dress with 3/4 length sleeves.

2 pairs of plain black maternity leggings

1 thin maternity skirt, which I got for when it was hot.

3 non maternity long sleeve cotton tops (which are stretchy enough to accommodate the bump and were super cheap!)

1 non maternity long line vest top (in hindsight I'd strongly recommend getting nursing vest tops from the get go)

1 pair of maternity jeans that I bought last week as it was getting too cold

1 really thick comfortable non maternity cardigan.

I'd really love another thick woolly cardigan, but will wait.

You just have to avoid patterns, and make sure you buy in colours that work with your exciting wardrobe (you can still use your non maternity cardigans and stuff). Makes it much easier to mix and match.

Yes, you will get totally sick of your clothes, but it's only for a few months!

I hadn't even thought of this to be honest. I have 2 pairs of maternity jeans from last pregnancy and a few t-shirts. I'm a SAHM so don't need anything dressy. I LOVE mothercares yoga pants.

I want to save my money for building a capsule wardrobe for after pregnancy!

I'm in my third trimester and have bought 2 pairs of mat jeans, 1 pair of leggings, 1 black stretch midi skirt, 1 blouse, 1 jumper (eBay), 1 blue shirt (eBay) a couple of long line long sleeve tshirts and a couple of long line vests.

A mate's given me some of her old maternity clothes too - so another jumper, 2 dresses and some more vests.

TBH I still wear loads of my pre preg stuff - it just looks a bit bumpier. There are a bunch of pins and boards on pinterest of you need some visual inspiration