When I was pregnant with LilZ I only owned three maternity items. (1)A pair of jeans I wore at least three days a week, (2) a pair of nasty green knit pants, and (3) a hideous floral top. The rest was me in sweats and t-shirts. And remember - I gained 65lbs with LilZ - they were big sweats and t-shirts.
With NikkiZ, I went a wee crazy with the maternity clothes. First of all - I had money that time - unlike when I was pregnant with LilZ. Also - I had an office job as opposed to classes on a college campus. I kinda had to find something other than sweats and t-shirts to wear. Also - I was just excited and wanted to be wearing the cute maternity clothes from the mall. By the time NikkiZ entered the world, I had almost two full Rubbermaid totes of clothes to store in the attic.
This time around, I’m not doing it either way. Well, I am wearing my track pants and MrZ’s t-shirts around the house and on casual errands. I’m also wearing some of the maternity clothes from NikkiZ. I can’t wear a lot of them because they’re too dressy or too warm-weather right now. So, instead of buying maternity clothes, I’m buying XL items of clothing off clearance racks. I don’t really want to look like slob and wear the track pants and t-shirt everywhere, but I also have no desire to spend a lot of money on maternity clothes again. So, my solution is to buy decent items of clothing that are affordable. Right now? I’m wearing a cute Target clearance XXL shirt that I bought for $3.98.
So - I’m curious - where have you fallen on the maternity clothes scale? I’ve obviously covered the entire range of options spread between my three full-term pregnancies. Did you sample a bit of each like I have or do you embrace one or the other all the way with every pregnancy? And how much do you wish that someone would quit making so many maternity clothes with patterns on them? BAH. I’m the size of a house right now, WHY DO YOU THINK I WANT TO BE COVERED IN DAISIES?
I am more leaning to the pre-pregnancy clothes.
I’ve bought about 5 pairs of pants to get my through the work week and I wear regular pre-pregnancy shirts with those half tank tops thingies underneath. They’ve been a lifesaver to keep the belly covered and save me some moola.
I loved my maternity clothes. Most I bought but some were pass-ons. Everything from cocktail not-so-little-black dresses to shorts and tank tops.
I had 4 bins by the time it was all said and done but I told myself that was okay because in between my two turns my girlfriend wore them. Then when it was all over I gave them away for good to another girlfried with instructions to keep sending them on to others.
Maturnity clothes just seem to be that one type of clothing that you don’t feel weird giving or receiving from another adult women.
At 16 weeks {my first and only} I’m still in my normal clothing with at least a few weeks of wear left in them. I’ve bought a single lot of eBay maternity wear which is work appropriate and will average about $8/each if everything fits. Only about 3 pieces are … ugly. My hope is to get a couple pairs of gym shorts, a swimsuit {due in Aug in GA - BAH!} and to a couple shirts on cafepress and call it a day.
I am with melizzard. Although I only have one kid. I wasn’t really all that comfortable in big sweats. I bought a few but most of my maternity clothes cames from other people. The clothes I did buy all came from the clearance racks at varies stores. I think Sears had the best clearance. And then I passed them on to another friend when I was done with them.
I was ALL sweats and t-shirts through both my pregnancies…I was the Queen of Sloppiness AND I was obsessive about cocoa butter, so it was was greasy and sloppy…gross and my husband hated it, but I couldn’t force myself to spend money on clothes I hated when I could be spending it on postpartum weight loss rewards to self.
I probably spent too much money on maternity clothes. Most of what I got came from the Gap. They were more expensive than the Target and Motherhood options, but I also felt they were much cuter–they looked like my normal clothes but with room for the belly. And I felt that looking cute made me feel better. But by the end, once I was done with work and just enormous and tired, I was wearing some of my husband’s sweatshirts
I leaned more toward the borrow & buy maternity clothes scale. I bought some stuff, borrowed a lot of stuff ended up wearing my regular clothes until about 7 months. I just didn’t get very big and had all these cute maternity clothes that were either worn once or not at all since they looked like sacks when I tried to wear them.
Since they say you get bigger the second time around I am hoping I’ll get more use out of them with my next pregnancy. We’ll see.
I have been pregnant twice and bought regular maternity clothes both times. However, due to the astronomical price of maternity clothes that you only wear for about 6 months, I only had about a weeks’ worth and by the time I delivered I never wanted to lay eyes on those clothes again. EVAH!
I have many older cousins. When they discovered I was pregnant, they presented me with loads of maternity clothes. I didn’t have to buy a thing and I had everything from slobby (yes, that is a word) to dressy.
Would someone please explain to me why maternity clothes are either patterned or have bows or worse yet have both?
Being on the big side before getting pregnant, there was no such thing as getting hand me downs. And I hate all the typical maternity wear, with the bands that are supposed to go under your boobs, but if you already had boobs to begin with and are tall, that is not where they end up…. And I am with Misszoot about the patterns, HATE them, especially the floral ones. So last time I bought a lot of plain maternity T-shirts from Target, and some from JC Penney online, it is hard to find plus size maternity. This time around (only 10 weeks) so far I fit in normal clothes, and since I did not loose all of the babyfat, a lot of my normal clothes should fit for quite a while I think.
Okay, that was definitely enough of a ramble….
Luckily I live close to a Motherhood outlet store, and I was able to catch stuff on the outlet sale rack for decent prices (though it was still more expensive than say target or wal-mart clearance). After Boog arrived, though, I ended up selling the whole lot to another mom-to-be from one of the message boards I posted to at the time.
With the resurgence of empire waist tops, you’re probably on the right track with the clearance/sale racks at your favorite stores. Or, even pull out the summery stuff and just layer it with a larger sized cardigan. Otherwise, my assvice would be to check ebay or craigslist. I bet you could find some good deals, there.
I bought just a few nice pieces of maternity clothes when I was pregnant with our first. I was working to put my husband through grad school at the time, so money was tight.
With our second, I went a little nuts. I still had the stuff from our first, plus I bought quite a few new things — mostly on sale, though. I also borrowed some great maternity stuff from my sister. I’m weird in that I actually liked how I looked when pregnant, so I was sort of inspired to “invest” in nice maternity clothes. Ha.
I ordered a “lot” (well it was also a lot of clothes, but it was all in one “lot”) of clothing on Amazon.com and I was THRILLED with the results. It was about 50 pieces of maternity stuff all in my size/sizes and it cost me $150.00 - which in the scheme of all the stuff I got was SUCH a good deal. Almost a steal. So some days I’m wearing yoga style pants and sometimes I’m all maternity wear. I went about a month in denial of getting bigger and then was just too uncomfortable to deal.
I’m tiny, so there were no hand-me-downs. My SIL tried, but all the pants fell off, even at my biggest. I also went 3 weeks early and only ever gained 18 lbs, so I never got to the “I don’t care how I look, just throw on some sweats” stage.
I worked in a really messy lab at the time, so I had a couple pairs of low-rise jeans in one bigger size than normal and wore those with long T-shirts.
When I have another baby, if I’m at this job or in med school, I’m going to have to invest in serious clothes. What a shame!
Out of three pregnancies, I bought a couple of pieces of clothes with elastic waist bands and wore large t-shirts. I bought one pair of maternity jeans and wore three other pairs of hand-me-downs from my sister-in-law and a maternity shirt handed down from a cousin. I think if I was to get pregnant now, I would probably check goodwill and yard sales for decent maternity clothes.
One word: Goodwill. I have gotten fabulous, name-brand maternity clothes there, CHEAP and in excellent condition. Almost all my maternity clothes have come from there.
I am always buying clothes anyway, but now? Out of control. My sister has a two-year-old, but my train-wreck cousin got to her maternity clothes first. No idea where they are, which is a shame because we’re exactly the same size.
My students last semester told me how lucky I am to be pregnant now- all the clothes just look like regular clothes, just longer in the front. I guess that’s why I have no problem buying new stuff?
I agree stop the patterns.
I got some hand-me-downs from cousins and bought quite a bit on clearance. I noticed someone mentioned Sears–I got so much stuff there on clearance. One thing I spent a little more on was pants that “grow” with you. They have snaps that you let out as you get bigger. I only had 2 pair but I wore them all the time. I also had a pair of overalls I lived in when i wasn’t at work…they are the only thing I kept when I passed my maternity clothes along. Why I don’t know because I can’t wear them now.
I can send you some of my clothes. Wait, I still need them. It is great that you have found a cheap alternative to the maternity clothes dilemma. I will keep that in mind should I ever have the joy of having a baby. Hopefully right now, since I have lost ten pounds (yay me!) I can keep a hold of a few things if and when I need them….
I have spent less this time. I think the not working (in a formal sense) helps.
Um…your blog didn’t “spring forward”
I wore my regular clothes for as long as I could. Then I stopped being able to breath in my jeans. I can still wear most of my sweats and a lot of my tshirts that were loose fitting. I have probably 8 pieces of maternity wear right now. It has come from either clearance racks or ebay. If I had to go into an office everyday I am sure it would be different but since I don’t, I refuse to spend much money on maternity wear.
Oh and the patterns and stripes and horrible polyester fabrics?!? What is wrong with these people?
My sisters and I share about a huge rubbermaid thing of maternity clothes and when I wanted/needed to get something new I went to Target. The maternity clothes are cute, comfy, and cheap! The sale racks usually had a few maternity items too…
With Tyler, I bought 3 semi-dressy maternity shirts for work from Motherhood Maternity since I was working — but was so very sick the entire time that I wore my pre-pregnancy blue jeans out the dinner 2 nights before Tyler was born [and I wondered why no one ever asked about my baby-to-be, LoL].
This time around, since I’m at home during the days, I have a few pairs of larger sized pants and maternity pants that I wear out, but rock the comfy/lounge pants at home.
I must agree with Little Dutch Girl, though…it’s very hard to find maternity shirts that fit us gals with bigger boobs [normally Ds, well into DD status during pregnancy]. All the cute shirts with bows and ribbons and fittings meant to sit right under the boobs wind up cutting them in half — not the look a girl is really going for.
I was able to go with oversized shirts and leggings (hey it was the 90’s) for at least 6 mos with my first. After that I spent alot of money on maternity clothes. One reason was that I had a job that I had to dress for and the other was that even if I was hugely pregnant and feeling totally unglamorous I felt just a little better with a great outfit! Preg #2 was about the same and I had to buy all new because it was 6 yrs between babies and styles changed. Now we are TTC #3 and I don’t think I will go as crazy but I didn’t save anything and it has been another 6 yrs!
I was poor as a churchmouse the first go round and quite young so I had a lot of hand me down clothes. Unfortch the lady who I borrowed from had her kids like ten years before I did (and this was the late 80’s btw) that I was a cross between a hippy and a 50 y/o woman (and I was 21). I was a teller back then so I had to wear office stuff and it was yuck. Even worse, I lived in an apt then and someone left GUM in the dryer so all my ugly clothes were then spotted with green spearment goo. Nice huh?
My one new item was a dress for a friend’s wedding. It had a bow on the stomach. WTF. Like you want draw attention to the fact you’re as big as a house by putting a BOW on it!
Second go round I was 26 and had some more money and I went to some more economical stores for the basics and some more fashionista type stores for the other items and it was better. I ended up having to be enduced at just over 7 months so I didn’t even get to wear them to their full potential. I barely showed yet! Ah well someone else benefited as I passed them on.
I agree with the patterned stuff, especially cutesy crap. You’re HAVING a baby you AREN’T one.
You look so cute all pregnant though
When I was pregnant with my first child back in 1999, I bought some items, but not a lot, a lot of hand-me downs from my cousin who had her kid half a year earlier. Back then maternity clothes were quite ugly. With my 2nd in 2003, maternity clothes totally changed, they were/are so much better looking, they made me look good. So I bought a lot, from jeans to dresses. I remember I was at gap maternity and mimi’s a lot.
I don’t know if I qualify since this is my first pregnancy, but I love the maternity sales rack at the baby gap. I have two pairs of expensive maternity pants for work. The rest of my wardrobe is comprised of gifts (first grandchild = mama-clothes for me!!!), hand-me-downs, and shirts from Target and Old Navy.
I hate Motherhood and it’ll take extreme desperation for me to ever go there again.
I am a haunt at Target’s maternity section, and a LOT of those Liz Lange clothes could pass for non-maternity wear. So when it’s on sale, I snap it up.
This is my second pregnancy, and I have bought a lot o more clothes this time around. I am due at a different time of year, so everything that was for winter is HUGE, and my warm weather stuff is on the smaller side and won’t fit. Last time I used a bunch of hand me down clothes that didn’t fit me right, and looking back in the photos of me I look pretty frumpy. So this go around I am still borrowing clothes, but I am making sure I really like it before I buy it. I buy most of my maternity clothes on sale from Target, Gap, Old Navy, and my new favorite Ann Taylor Loft maternity for work clothes.
I also hate the loud patterns and bows. I’m a big fan of anything stretchy because I can’t stand the tie in the back. It is so uncomfortable to sit at my desk with that stupid tie digging into my back, as if I don’t have enough discomfort with being pregnant.
I went with door #4 actually - I pieced together a basic maternity wardrobe from consignment stores when I was pregnant with Grommet (I was in an office job from the get-go, plus I found that I felt a bit better about blowing up to the size of a small whale if I was at least wearing clothes I liked), and this round I’ve supplemented with loaned clothes from a friend who’d bought a ton of stuff. I’m not sure I paid full price for anything, either time.
Pants are the biggest challenge for me since I wear a 30″ inseam and the standard is usually at least 32″. My solution has been to have a minimal number of pairs of pants (and no, I don’t wear skirts at 20 below), and hope no one notices because I have a decent variety of tops.
When I’m at home though, well, remember the “oversized t-shirt” trend in the 80s and early 90s? Yeah, I’ve still got tons of those and wear them around the house and to bed. They’re good for pregnancy and early post-partum. In fact, I can’t believe I used to wear them when I was a relatively slim teenager, they are SO FRICKIN’ HUGE!
I am 28 weeks with baby#2. I tried to wear pre-pregnancy clothes the first time and then discovered that they were all stretched out when my pregnancy was over (and I thought I was just still slipping into them). Even cooler - my maternity clothes from baby #1 are all stretched out too - you mean you can’t wear pants up until 40 weeks and still expect them to fit at 15 weeks the next time around? BAH! It is a conspiracy by the maternity clothes people to make low-quality stuff that can only be worn once.
I was fortunate enough to have had a friend that saved me all of her adorable maternity clothes….I’m talking Gap and Motherhood Maternity here (stuff out of my pregnancy price range). A coworker also gave me a bunch of SUPER cute stuff from her sister in law (a women I still have never met). I was lucky and very appreciative, since I also had to dress up for my fancy office job.
Sure, I bought a few things for myself…like some AWESOME black slacks. And I bought some great (clearance) items at Target and Old Navy. All in all, I bet I spent less then $100, but looked like a million dollars.
I don’t know what’ll happen if I get pregnant again in the opposite season as the clothes I have!
Like you with LilZ, I didn’t have the money to buy all the maternity clothes that I wanted. I had two pairs of jeans and two tops that were maternity. I mainly just wore babydoll tops because they were the comfiest things ever. I think if I ever got pregnant again, I would definitely treat myself to a decent maternity wardrobe. We would have the cash this time around.
See I lost around 180 pounds in a year..so I have all my big clothes and I’m keeping those for when I get pregnant and praying they keep me through the pregnancy so I don’t have to buy new clothes because I hate buying clothes for something I’m just going to be using for a few months. I’m such a miser.
Anyways down with patterns I totally agree!
I’m pregnant with twins, so I grew out of my regular clothes & even my fat clothes pretty fast. Since I work in an office & have to look presentable, I’ve had to buy several staples. Friends have filled in with hand-me-downs, which is great. My complaint to maternity clothes designers - enough with the bows. I didn’t wear bows before I was pregnant and I don’t want them now. I know some look like they should help give you a little more space, but for the most part, they are just for show and are right up there (in my opinion) with the cutesy daisy prints. I vote for Old Navy maternity - good basics & not too expensive. Plus, most of the clothes look “normal.”
I have 2 sisters-in-law and 3 friends who have (without trying) taken turns being pregnant… one at a time. So, we’ve all passed around a bunch of maternity clothes. I just got back 3 big garbage bags full of clothes from my 1 sister-in-law. After going through it and picking out what I like and what fits (even some of my own clothes that came back from my pregnancy with Zoe are MUCH too small.) I’ve got a pretty decent maternity wardrobe. Of course… a lot of it is more worn than your usually “only been worn a few months” maternity wear.
I have purchases a few new things to replace what wouldn’t fit. A couple pairs of jeans, a few shirts. I’m very turned off by the fact that it seems that pregnant women are supposed to enjoy wearing polka dots right now. I don’t remember seeing so many polka dots when I was pregnant before. Polka dots in all colors. Yikes. And stripes. And florals. The bigger I get the more solid colored I like to be.
I found tons of cool stuff on the Target clearance racks but you already know that secret.
Have you tried looking at those weekend consignment sales? There was just one in Hsv called Kids Kloset (what’s with the K’s??) on Airport Rd. and they always have a rockin maternity rack. I think I got 7 or 8 pieces for maybe $15. There will be more coming to town… Classy Kids Exchange and one other one I can’t remember the name of. I found great stuff for the beasties there too.
So funny about Target! I’m 31 weeks pregnant with my 2nd right now and I am wearing an XXL cable knit sweater from the Target sale rack! In fact, they were so cheap and so cute that I bought FOUR of them. I work from home but I do see clients occasionally - but still pretty casual - so I am wearing a mix of bigger Target clearance clothes and some Gap and Old Navy maternity. I also have two pairs of jeans from one of the maternity stores that I pretty much live in.
But on the weekends I’m all about the Old Navy clearance XL lounge pants and my husband’s t-shirts.
When I was pregnant with #1 the discount stores didn’t carry pregnancy clothes so, with my limited budget I wore hand-me-downs and a few carefully selected items.
With #2 Target, Penneys, and Sears carried more so I had more to choose from and could spend the same amount on more. I also shopped the maternity stores clearance racks for nicer items.