@geologist Until recently I didn’t have any maternity clothes because I still fit in all my regular clothes minus my jeans.
I’m a personal trainer so my work clothes are leggings and t-shirts. At 30ish weeks I started noticing things were tight, and now at 33 week it’s getting uncomfortable to wear them so we have invested in a couple pieces. But all my shirts are still just fine to wear.
@faithfinder2012 I just responded to this and then accidentally deleted it . So the shorter version of my original comment is that I fully expect to be in your shoes come week 30+ and I think I’ll have to invest in some maternity pants specifically. I think I’ll be okay in terms of tops but I’m wondering if I’ll eventually need some of those pants with the belly band. Did you end up just buying larger sized leggings or did you opt for proper pregnancy pants?
@geologist You’re totally fine! It happens! I have a couple pairs of leggings that are 2 sizes bigger than my normal size they fit in the belly but nowhere else so I don’t really reach for them but I did get a pair of maternity leggings and then a few pairs of lounge pants and they’ve been amazing!!
Kindred bravely for the lounge pants and
Joyspels maternity leggings on Amazon!
@faithfinder2012 Thank you so much!! I’m looking up these brands now. I’m still in the “I want to look cute” stage but I know myself well enough to know that I’m going to be purely about comfort in a few weeks so I’m definitely going to order a couple of pairs now in preparation. I’m actually looking now and some of the kindred bravely lounge pants are pretty cute!
@linlee I bought like five boxy shaped sundresses from target a few months ago that have carried me through. Now that I’m 30 weeks I need to wear bike shorts under them but they saved me.
@linlee I bought what I thought was a lovely flowy dress when I was 15 weeks pregnant. At the time I had the cutest little bump. I tried to wear this dress at 36 weeks and it turns out it was just a big sack
It also had weird loose cap sleeve things that looked great until I started getting fat in my arms and then it just looked like I had pink sausages with little napkins over the top sticking out from said sack.
I stopped trying to look nice towards the end and lived in my maternity leggings and oversized jumpers.
@linlee I bought a variety of oversized maternity tshirts from Asos, mat jeans, tanks and PJs from Old Navy (they have short sizes for us vertically challenged folks), a few pieces from PinkBlush (the most fashionable while still being reasonably priced IMHO), mat sweats and leggings from Gap, and a few Ingrid and Isabel pieces from Madewell using a gift card.
Personally found that wearing clothes made for the bump made me feel a lot better about myself than sizing up in regular clothes. Although one exception: I got a really loose, breezy, non-mat maxi dress from Nordstrom Rack the other day!
But I do miss being able to wear regular clothes! My poor neglected pre-pregnancy wardrobe wahh
@linlee Yes, I was just shopping and even some of the more expensive brands (Madewell, J brand, etc) that offer maternity lines are just so….meh. I bought a few bump friendly dresses from Target to get me by.
@linlee I recommend Vinted, Ebay and Depop for non hideous items! Not sure why we're expected to suddenly like ditsy floral prints as soon as we're pregnant.... loose dresses in the next size up have been my go-to and I figure I'll wear them postpartum as well. Also oversized t shirts and maternity leggings are a staple.
@linlee Maternity leggings, big colourful massively oversized cotton t shirts, open checked shirt. Repeat until this kid pops out! I CBA trying to find fancy clothes, I'm going for comfort. I'll dress it up with jewellery and make up if I want to feel fancy haha. Thank god I've not got a single wedding to go to this year for the first time ever!
@linlee I just want to add as well that when/if you come to look for nursing clothes - you do not need to buy specialist nursing clothes at all! A nursing bra can he helpful. But if you just wear if underneath a strappy vest top, with a t-shirt over the top, this works just as well as a nursing top. You unclip the bra at the front, pull down the vest top and pull up the t-shirt. Absolutely brilliant for nursing in public and is a cheap outfit to put together.
@linlee Hideous and crap quality. Most of the stuff I ordered online came in looking nothing like the pics. I lived in one pair of gap maternity jeans, Henley’s, my own tank tops
@linlee I’m trying to avoid maternity clothing as a whole, with the exception of maybe leggings. For everything else I’m just going to try to find things in larger sizes
@linlee Secondhand is the way to go, that’s how I found my cute maternity clothes and some just bigger looser fitting dresses. Way cheaper than the expensive new stuff that makes you look like a frumpy balloon animal
@linlee I’ve been able to find some decent stuff - definitely don’t think it’s all “hideous”. At least, I hope I’m not walking around looking hideous. I do a Nuuly rental and I’ve been able to find maternity items from brands I already liked at Anthropologie and Free People but I’m not paying full price because I’m renting. Non-maternity midi dresses and skirts are nice too. I’ve personally had a lot of luck with Old Navy. For tops I’ve just been sizing up, but for jeans the sizing up didn’t work after awhile because the jeans didn’t fit right in the legs and thighs and just looked baggy. I ordered a couple maternity pairs from Old Navy to try. I’ve also been living in linen, stretchy pants from all different stores.
Leggings and biker shorts from Amazon have also been a staple with oversized t shirts or button downs.
. So the shorter version of my original comment is that I fully expect to be in your shoes come week 30+ and I think I’ll have to invest in some maternity pants specifically. I think I’ll be okay in terms of tops but I’m wondering if I’ll eventually need some of those pants with the belly band. Did you end up just buying larger sized leggings or did you opt for proper pregnancy pants?