Maternity clothes in store?

[Ilikecakes]

Fourth pregnancy, only 16 weeks but bloody enormous bump already! Struggling to find maternity clothes anywhere in store and my last massive online order yielded precisely one successful item. I'd much rather spend an afternoon or two trawling the shops and trying stuff on but very few shops seem to have maternity ranges in store anymore.

I'm ok for casual wear and will be living in H+M skinny jeans and longline tops, but it's work clothes I'm finding it hard to get hold of.

I'm about 5ft 8, size 10-12, generally stick to black, grey and white palette with pops of colour in shoes and bags - dull, but I know it suits me. If I do venture into colour, strong yellow or mid blues is as adventurous as I'll get....possibly not bright yellows when preg though! Happy to wear heels still, and did do right up to the end with the other pregnancies. Love wide legged cropped trousers and tighter top combos, like patterned (although still monochrome!) trousers too - houndstooth stylie! Work full time, financial services but business casual dress code.

Any ideas for where I can shop?! If not in store, then anywhere other than ASOS (which is v uninspiring at the mo!) or boring sodding Mothercare! It's definitely the last pregnancy and want to enjoy looking good for it.

Thanks in advance, wise ladies of S+B

H&M in store but better on line.
Seraphine on line
Jojo Maman Bebe in store and online
M&S for tights etc on line

Best bet is to look on eBay as most maternity stuff is good quality and cheaper that way

HTH

www.seraphine.com/maternity-clothes/maternity-trousers/charcoal-maternity-trousers.html

I really liked Gap Maternity, not expensive and fitted and washed really well. Good work trousers and stripey tops and jumpers.

I'm having this exact issue. I've bought a few dresses from eBay. For summer when I'll be super pregnant I'm ditching the "business" side of "business casual" I have midi length jersey skirts from asos and will wear these with a vest top and if necessary for meeting clients will chuck a jacket on top.

I lived in the same 3 pairs of leggings and 3 tops my whole pregnancy! Like you, I ordered tonnes of stuff online and it all went back. I couldn't find anything that fitted me as I'm only 5ft and I found everything really dowdy.
I see these pregnant woman who look better dressed than I do now and I'm not am totally jealous

I've also found some of the tops on asos are hideous. Is it the designers mission to make pregnant women look super huge and stupid???

I don't want bows and ruffles. I want clothes that look like my "normal" clothes.

I think seraphine has a bricks and mortar store in London...?

www.seraphine.com/stores/

I used new look maternity trousers when I was pregnant. Very comfy and they fot me really nicely.

I liked gap maternity too. Also next maternity was frumptastic but was actually good for work trousers and basics eg vests etc. TopShop maternity has some nicer bits and bobs and often has a small instore section if you are near a big store.

Seraphine is great but expensive. There is a concession in John Lewis on Oxford St if you're in London. Also there's jojo maman Bebe- most of my mat clothes are from there.

Thanks all and am very excited about Gap maternity - never knew they did a range and most of my usual work clothes are from there anyhow! Yy to whoever upthread said they just wanted mat clothes to look like their normal clothes - now is hardly the time to start experimenting with bows, ruffles and crazy patterns!

Seraphine lovely but expensive, will keep an eye on the sale/concession too.

Thanks again

Hi, my thoughts exactly when I was pregnant. I bought quite a bit from
Isabella Oliver and Seraphine. Returned a lot but kept quite a bit too. Corporate work wear and I like some nice casual pieces for the weekend that made me feel somewhat like myself. If you see anything on either site I may have ordered it so can advise on fit / degree of awfulness!

Larger New Looks usually have a decent sized selection in store. It's not high end quality but I got some decent dresses, few cheap vests etc.

I was looking for my sister recently and of all places found a big maternity range in a large Peacocks store.

www.peacocks.co.uk/womens/maternity.html

I did all my maternity clothes shopping online because there's nothing in the shops. Only in Mothercare and JoJo Maman Bébé, and they have a limited selection.

I got some good stuff from Asos, Zalando and Debenhams. Didn't have much luck with Gap although I shopped there pre-pregnancy. Usually hate Next but got a couple of good things from there. M&S maternity leggings were the best quality and most comfy, compared to others I tried.

PS I got an oversize shirt from Asos, not maternity just regular fit, but because of the style it accommodated my bump for most of my pregnancy. It was smart and stylish and with a pair of maternity chinos it was my favourite outfit (because it didn't look like a maternity outfit).

I loved Topshop maternity. They have a big mat section in their Oxford St store.

Topshop , definitely. Really good quality dresses.

If you're in the mood for a bit of online bargain hunting , there's lots of second hand topshop bits on eBay that look like they're worth a bid.

Thanks all, I'm actually up in my London office tomorrow so might see if I can sneak a trip to Oxford St in, desperately need trousers now!

As I'm here, can I also ask a really dim question (especially given that this is baby #4!): what the flip are the bump bands/maternity bands etc for?! I don't understand!

So you can wear non maternity tops. Most of your tops will fit but just be too short. You could also wear a long line vest top.

tea you're brilliant, thanks! Have always just worn long vests underneath normal tops when needed, that makes sense now!

Seraphine has flag ship store on Kensington high street. It's best one to go to. They often have good online sales though (u could always try on). Harrods stock maternity wear. It's pricey but not as pricey as designer stuff. They stock Isabella Oliver which is gorgeous and usually on line only. Again try on only then order on line - they always have on line codes. They also stock ag maternity jeans which are expensive but are the most flattering jeans ever. Made me feel good even when I looked like a whale.