Shopping For Maternity Clothing

January 1, 2007 | Filed under Money, Style

As someone who works in a maternity wear store, I obviously know a fair bit about how maternity wear works. This will be a guide to how to get the best use out of your existing wardrobe, and what items you will most definitely need to buy to get you through your nine months.

Do note though, that every woman will experience a different type of pregnancy. While some gain a lot of weight in the earlier months, others don’t start showing until the last three months. Nevertheless, this guide should be flexible enough to fit most women.

Jump To A Particular Section

Everyday Essentials

Belly Bands

This is perhaps the most versatile item that you will need to purchase. It will seamlessly integrate with both your working and casual wardrobe, and will prove useful post-birth when breast-feeding as well (if you so choose). At a retail price of about $20 AUD (convert?) as well, this is the best buy you will ever make in your whole pregnancy.

Resembling a ‘boob tube’, the belly band is a wide tube of material that should be at least 50cm in length. Widths will vary of course, depending on what size you take. I recommend buying belly bands in spandex/lycra rather than cotton. That way there will be more stretch to them, and it’s more likely that they’ll last your whole pregnancy. It is preferable that you buy at least three belly bands, two in neutral colours (black and white), and another in a fashion colour.

In the early stages of your pregnancy, you wear the belly band underneath your normal tops just like a boob tube. Once your normal tops start getting too short though (as they start gaping at the bottom), then you’ll move the belly band down below your bust to only cover your expanding belly. This will mean that you can continue wearing your normal tops, because the belly band will cover the skin that would otherwise be showing.

After you’ve given birth, you can continue wearing the belly bands as per usual (underneath your bust). You won’t have to buy special breast-feeding tops, you can simply wear your normal tops, and have the belly band underneath. That way, you can simply pull up your top to breastfeed, and the belly band will keep you warm and covered from prying eyes!

Maternity Underwear and Nursing Bras

Funnily enough, a lot of pregnant women seem to continue wearing their normal lingerie when pregnant. While this is fine in the earlier months of the pregnancies, by the last three to four months, you will definitely need maternity underwear and nursing bras. It’s an anatomical thing. As the baby grows larger in your womb, it will begin to push down on your bladder and you will find that you’ll need to go to the toilet at least once every two hours. The proper firm support maternity underwear (with a cotton gusset for expanding bellies) can help control these urges better than normal underwear…and won’t start cutting into you because of tightness either!

Regarding nursing bras, this is really something that becomes essential in the last few months as your body starts getting ready for breastfeeding. You’ll find that your bust will go up at least one cup size, as a result of this. I would recommend nursing bras rather than simply buying bras one cup size larger, because that way, you can continue wearing them after giving birth. As you will find that you will leak breastmilk as well, nursing bras are more convenient for hiding nursing pads too.

Return to Top

For Work: From Your Existing Wardrobe

A Belted Coat

A cream-coloured mid-length trench coat works best in this instance. Leave all the buttons undone (believe me, you won’t be feeling the cold, pregnant women get very hot easily), and simply tie the belt loosely. This will fit over your belly nicely, and depending what stage of your pregnancy you’re at, you can always tighten or loosen the belt.

While technically any colour could work, it is advised that you purchase cream. A black coat, teamed with other dark colours won’t give you enough colour and will make you look like you’re going to a funeral. Cream on the other hand, is versatile enough to go with any of the neutral colours of a working wardrobe: blacks, whites, browns, creams. A black trench coat simply won’t look that good with brown pants now, will it?

Shirts

Combined with one of our essentials (the belly band), you can most definitely go on wearing your normal work shirts. While you obviously won’t be able to fit into skin-tight shirts, a nice fairly fitted shirt should still fit you up until you take maternity leave in the last month.

You may have to take some liberties with your existing shirts (leaving the bottom one/two buttons undone, etc.), but I wouldn’t worry too much about what management might say. Generally speaking, larger corporations would hesitate to come down too hard about wardrobe on anyone who is pregnant, for fear of discrimination.

Orthopaedic Shoes

This is a must, especially if you find yourself pregnant in summer. Most pregnant women find that their feet tend to swell up dramatically in the hotter months. A decent pair of flat, padded insole, shoes that cover your whole foot, in a neutral shade like black or brown, will be the must-have pair of shoes in these cases, providing just the right amount of support and comfort for your feet without being too tight or constricting.

Return to Top

For Work: What You’ll Need To Buy

Pants

Sorry, as much as you might want to continue wearing your normal formal work pants, they simply just won’t do. For a first pregnancy, you can expect to stop fitting into your normal pants at about three/four months into your pregnancy (give or take). What will you wear then, for the next four months that you can expect to work before taking maternity leave? The answer: A good versatile pair of maternity work pants. You could of course, buy the next size up in non-maternity clothing, but the downside of that is, the pants won’t fit you anywhere else. It may fit right around the belly, but it’ll be too big and baggy around your legs and buttocks, and the pant legs will probably be too long as well. No, proper maternity pants are the answer.

When buying a pair of work pants however, don’t be fooled by shop assistants trying to sell you “revolutionary” fold-over two-way pants where the natural stretch of the material is what will take you until the end of the pregnancy, where you can wear them either up high over the belly, or down low as hipsters. More often than not, these pants are made of incredibly stiff material that will never be comfortable. You’ll spend your entire working day rushing to the toilet, as this type of pant puts quite a bit of pressure on the bladder.

Your best option is to go for a pair of thicker pants (a wool blend preferably), that have an adjustable elastic waist. The important thing is to remember that when you’re trying this type of pant on, it’s imperative that you tighten the adjustable elastic to the tightest possible point (or close to the tightest). That way, you can ensure that the pants will last you until the very end of your pregnancy as you let the elastic out little by little as you get larger.

I recommend a pair of black pants. Black is the most versatile colour, and dressed up with a nice top, you could even wear it for an evening out or a special occasion. If you’re looking for two pairs of pants, I’d suggest a charcoal gray as the second most versatile colour, followed closely by a camel/mocha shade.

Skirts

As crucial as it is, a good maternity skirt is a bit harder to come by. Your best bet would be to go for a skirt that has a elasticised cotton waist connected to the normal skirt. This type of skirt does tend to sit a bit higher than normal however (about halfway up a seven month belly), so may not suit those who prefer a lower waist. Materials may vary from boucle to stretch drill, even to linen or wool. The material itself doesn’t really matter, you can match that to whatever season you find yourself in. It’s the reinforced elasticised cotton waist that really matters.

As cotton does tend to stretch quite a bit, it’s a good idea to always buy a little tighter than usual…once you wear and wash it twice, it’ll be the perfect fit. Colour-wise, I do suggest a gray skirt, rather than black, just so you won’t be wearing black all the time…it can be somewhat depressing. Gray is still versatile enough to fit in with most other colours without clashing.

Pantyhose

Normal pantyhose will simple not last you. The gusset will, by three to four months of pregnancy, end up just cutting into you, and you’ll be in pain every time you try to force yourself into them. You must buy maternity pantyhose. This is not negotiable. All styles of maternity pantyhose will have a reinforced cotton gusset which allows for a pregnant belly at any stage of pregnancy. You’ll find them so comfortable that it’s quite likely you’ll even want to wear them for support under pants!

Return to Top

Neat Casual: From Your Existing Wardrobe

Floaty Dresses

This is mainly a summer staple (you’ll be hardpressed to find floaty winter dresses), but even so, a good chiffon dress will last you throughout your pregnancy. Worn with leggings and a tight long-sleeved top underneath the dress for a more layered bohemian look, you might even be able to extend your summer dresses into winter!

Ideally, these dresses have shoestring straps, and are either: a) gathered underneath the bust (like an empire-line dress), or b) aren’t gathered anywhere at all. Both styles, combined with the chiffon material, will allow you enough room for your belly throughout any stage of your pregnancy. Don’t believe me? Check out all the pregnant starlets at movie premieres, they’ll all be wearing some version of a floaty chiffon summer dress, and believe me, they’re not maternity dresses!

Empire Line Tops

As mentioned above, empire line tops are the pregnant woman’s friend. Gathered underneath the bust, they generally allow you enough room to grow into. The ruching of the material underneath the bust means that there’s just that much more extra material in the front, which means that there’s just that much more material to cover your future belly. Wonderful!

Return to Top

Neat Casual: What You’ll Need To Buy

A-Line Skirt

Well, this is really just a wardrobe essential that everyone should have anyway, whether they’re pregnant or not. In a plain versatile colour like black, a good A-line skirt can be teamed with a pair of high boots for winter warmth, with kitten heels and embroided stockings for a bit of naughty sauce, and simple ballet flats for timeless chic.

Like your work skirt, it’s best to find a skirt with an elasticised cotton waist. These really are the best style that are guaranteed to last you until the end of your pregnancy. The best length for this style of skirt is probably knee-length…anything longer and you’ll look like a reject from the fifties. Anything shorter, and it’s simply indecent…pregnant women do get varicose veins quite often and you don’t want them on show for everyone to see do you?

Return to Top

Casual: From Your Existing Wardrobe

Singlet Tops, Tank Tops, T-shirts

Teamed with your belly band (see above), all your normal simple cotton/lycra based tops (basically of any type of stretchy material) will last you throughout your pregnancy. The belly band will cover any skin around your stomach that you would see otherwise (due to the tops riding up), and really, it’s just the tightness around the bust that you should worry about. Your breasts will start growing quite substantially by the seventh month in preparation for breast-feeding, and you’ll find that your normal tops will get quite tight across the bust.

For that reason, it’s best that you stick with tops that weren’t too form-fitting to begin with. Fitted and shaped to your figure, yes, but not skin-tight. Believe me, there is a distinct difference that most people seem to ignore!

Return to Top

Casual: What You’ll Need To Buy

Jeans

I’m always astounded by the number of people who think that they could possibly continue wearing their normal jeans simply by unzipping the fly and safety-pinning the fly together. No, sorry, do not collect $200, do not pass Go. It doesn’t work that way, jeans are probably one of the most crucial items of a maternity wardrobe (of any wardrobe!), and it’s important to find one that fits you properly.

When it comes to maternity jeans, there are two main different styles that you’ll encounter. The first don’t have any zips or buttons whatsoever, instead they have a huge elastic waistband which is intended to be stretchy enough to last you until the end of your pregnancy. The second style is like a normal pair of jeans with a zipper and buttons. The only difference is that these, like the work pants that I suggested earlier, will have adjustable elastic straps inside.

I definitely recommend the second style with the adjustable elastic. Most customers I get complain that the elastic waist of the first style tends to get very loose quickly, and don’t fit as well after a few washes. The second style however, is superb. As long as you try them on with the elastic drawn as tight as possible, that will definitely allow you enough room to grow, and will last you until the end of your pregnancy.

Return to Top

Summary

Well, I certainly hope that this guide has helped you! If you follow it properly, it will almost definitely save you money as you’ll only really have to buy about half the items that you would otherwise have been convinced to buy by the deviously sly shop assistants (believe me, I’m one of them!).

Good luck with your pregnancy and have fun shopping!

3 Responses to Shopping For Maternity Clothing

  1. i live in new jersy cherry hill , you think you can help me finding those adjustable jeans, the ones with a regular zip not with the bands, they are not very common.

    thank you so much you saved me with those valuble advices , will be waiting for your advice about this jeans that you recommended

    nadeen

    Nadeen on March 26, 2008 #

  2. Thanks a lot for the wonderful information. Specially designed maternity pantyhose are required by expecting woman.

    Fertile Mind on August 13, 2009 #

  3. Thank youuuuu! I know this is an older post, but thanks for sending me the link! My workplace (or department, I guess) is pretty casual (jeans + tees) so I won’t have to worry about having a “work wardrobe” and a “casual wardrobe” but both suggestions are super useful. I will def. buy some maternity leggings/tights for wearing dresses through the winter.

    Meggan on October 24, 2009 #

Trackback URI | Comments RSS

Leave a Reply

I reserve the right to edit or delete your comment as I see fit, though I only delete comments from anonymous commenters, or people with multiple aliases. Using a genuine name/email combination will ensure that your comment is approved.