Why are maternity clothes so ugly?

[Coffeepants]

Hello, I’m 19 weeks pregnant and growing rapidly. Have scoured the internet for maternity clothes but they’re either ones that are skin tight made to show a huge bump or really frilly and frumpy. Am thinking I would be better off buying regular clothes in larger sizes (have a pair of decent maternity jeans and a couple basic t shirts from asos).

Suggestions please, more jeans and casual than dresses and into showing off the bump.

[BlueSky8]

I used new look maternity for jeans/work trousers and just sized up in tops etc

[BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz]

Maternity leggings and jeans, then a few oversized shirts

[BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz]

Also, H&M maternity wear is nice and not overly fitted

[Chuchali]

Agreed H&M and also ASOS are good for normal maternity clothes

[husbandcallsmepickle]

Throughout my pregnancy I wore Primark leggings one size up. Very cheap and they stretched as I grew. I was still wearing them when my waters broke!

[AwkwardPaws27]

I got a few new bits from H&M & New Look, plus some from ebay & vinted. I don't do frills - generally wear dark colours or stripey tops.
Best buys were probably jeans - a Topshop pair, new with tags on ebay for £12, & skinny leather look pair from New Look. Couple of pairs of leggings. I like an oversized jumper so my regular ones are fine so far. Few plain & stripey tops & vest tops for layering. Got a black v neck dress on vinted for about £7.

[HardbackWriter]

It's always really popular on MN but personally I think sizing up rather than buying maternity clothes looks really frumpy and scruffy (and massively elongates the period where you look fat rather than pregnant!).

My advice would be to buy expensive maternity brands second hand rather than spending the same on cheap stuff - there's loads of secondhand maternity stuff on sale on vinted/ebay, it's mostly hardly worn and you can get some really nice stuff without spending all that much.

[Lifeisnteasy]

They are aren’t they, it’s either Breton tops or t shirts with snoopy on them 🙄 I found mamalicious, ASOS & H&M to be good

[Lifeisnteasy]

Just had a look and mamalicious has a big sale on, very reasonable prices

[Danikm151]

Maternity jeans for the win and then I got some tshirts online fir work/ a line fit rather than tight.
I did have a fair few dresses as I like wearing them with leggings but all ebay

[DillDanding]

I am another than eschewed maternity clothes in favour of sizing up. I'm normally a 10/12, so just bought 14s.

[Haudyourwheesht]

You'd maybe be ok just now as so much is oversized anyway. I got by with slightly larger shirts and blouses layered over long vests, with maternity skinny jeans. ASOS and H&M had some alright maternity 'tunics' but I found that most maternity clothes were pretty huge, and made for the last couple of months.

[BrambleRoses]

Seraphine is lovely. Not cheap, but as above you can get good deals second hand and they often have 20% off offers too.

[mowglika]

I find with sizing up, the shoulders sag and the overall fit is not great. I agree with a pp, buy second hand more expensive maternity brands. Also asos and H&M are generally ok, especially for basics. Asos good for dresses.

[Hoppinggreen]

I had some beautiful maternity clothes.
Isabella oliver, jojo maman Bebe and mammas and papas mainly

[SliceOfCakeCupOfTea]

I was adamant I wanted maternity clothes as was my first and only pregnancy. Wish I had of just sized up now...

[BakeOffRewatch]

UK maternity brands didn’t appeal to me. I ended up getting a huge bulk order from preggicentral.com/ which stocks a few Australian brands. I got the Ripe maternity knit dress and loads of the Lego Heritage nursing t shirts. I really like these two brands and plan to order again if I’m pregnant, they’re good thick natural materials. Not sweaty viscose and polyester. They’re stocked by other retailers too like USA, at the time preggi central provided the best exchange rate and delivery option.

I got the Seraphine basic set that has a dress and leggings, I got a lot of use out of them towards the end because they are super soft. I bought crop tops from ASOS to wear over the dress and got lots of compliments. ASOS super stretchy scuba dresses are good too, wore one when I was 10 months pregnant and full term.

Congratulations on your pregnancy!

[Tibtab]

I bought mine from JoJo, they were useful for breastfeeding as a lot of them have the nursing access panels.

[BakeOffRewatch]

I didn’t find sizing up worked, your shoulders and other parts aren’t getting bigger.

[KittenKong]

I bought some work trousers and skirts and a couple of ‘fancy’ outfits for events (k find these very comfy towards the end) but bought ‘boyfriend cut’ shirts (so they fitted across the shoulders but had bump room). I ended up passing them on to other mums.

[trulyconfuseddotcom]

Yes to buying some good maternity separates secondhand online, Isabella Oliver etc. but I also found buying a few jersey wrap dresses a size bigger from charity shops was a godsend! They are stretchy and quite forgiving but still have a shape, if you know what I mean. And can be dressed up or down; they often had nice patterns on the fabric too.

[CatsEatDogs]

I think sizing up can work if you’re already thin and willowy. But if you’re like me (size 14 anyway) the sizing up thing just made me look much bigger all over. Maternity clothes at least showed that I still had a figure and a defined bump.

[Lullabies2Paralyze]

My biggest issue was most shops were maternity clothes online only so I didn’t know if they’d fit/look ok. new look are pretty good as they have stuff in stores in bigger shops rather than all online.

Oversized T-shirts are better than maternity T-shirts.

you will want some maternity jeans at some point but for now you can probably get a pair of jeans a size up if they’re cheaper.

asda do some cheap matternity leggings. I was WFH so I lived in mine. Both pairs had holes by the end but I didn’t care

if you think you might want to breastfeed it’s worth considering getting maternity/nursing clothes to get more wear out of them (particularly dresses, I still prefer larger T-shirts than nursing tops for breastfeeding)

[FayCarew]

Go with (maternity) leggings and a man's shirt.
Avoid dungarees unless they are loose. They might be cute but can be a pita when you go to the loo a lot.