Maternity Clothing: Lesson Learned

Here at Red Stick Mom, we offer dozens of ideas from diverse perspectives in our mom hacks, tips and tricks category. From taking road trips from Baton Rouge to meatless meals to natural cold remedies, we’ve written about it. We are here to help everyone as we navigate through this wild ride through motherhood.

A lesson I learned about maternity clothing.

I am currently six-and-a-half-months pregnant with my first baby. I couldn’t wait until I started showing, going around telling my mother, my sister, my friends, “I think I’m showing, don’t I look like I’m showing?” To which they would kindly inform me that no, I didn’t really look pregnant yet; and it was all in my crazy head. I just couldn’t wait to experience having a bump, and I couldn’t wait to dress it! I’m not going to lie: I spent quite a bit of time in the beginning imagining what I would look like with a belly, swearing that I wouldn’t resort to sweats and leggings, and that I would be a “cute” pregnant lady.

finding maternity clothes clothes for pregnancyHow have I done? Well, I don’t know how cute I’ve looked, but I think I’ve done a pretty decent job of picking some clothes that looked okay on me. I have definitely had my days in leggings, especially once the weather started cooling and my baby started growing more rapidly. But I think overall, I’ve done pretty well so far dressing myself. But in order to do that, I had to venture out into the wonderful world of maternity clothing. Here’s what I’ve learned so far:

  1. Maternity clothes can be expensive.  I have been to many maternity clothing stores and bought a few things. I found that most are overpriced for my budget. I have shopped mostly at Target and Old Navy online and have been pretty lucky so far with how they fit taking into account their reasonable prices. Target carries a few maternity items in the stores, but I have not really found many in store at Old Navy. I try to wait for sales and then stock up.
  2. Despite their prices, they don’t always hold up so well: Not to bash some of these designer brand maternity clothing stores too hard, but a few of the pieces I have gotten from them started to show some wear after I wore them a couple of times. Interestingly, I have had more luck with the less expensive brands.
  3. You’ll grow out of them faster than you think: I remember when I ordered a pair of jeans online with the low panel (the stretchy part that still sits below your belly button), thinking I could make that work for my whole pregnancy, or at least most of it. It’s stretchy right? But here’s the thing: as your belly grows, your waist and hips sort of disappear, and if your jeans don’t come up high enough they’ll start to slide right down. Then you end up feeling like you’re back in middle school wearing low rider jeans, worrying every time you sit down that you’re showing someone your business. Be prepared to switch to the full panel. Also, the shirts, while stretchy, can start to look a little tight as you grow. You start walking around feeling like you’re screaming: LOOK AT MY BELLY!!!! And as proud of your belly as you might be, it can make you feel a little conspicuous. So take a good look at how everything is looking before you leave the house – just because you fit in it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s still a good look.

I still have a few months to go, so I will post an update as I continue to grow. With the weather changing, I know I’ll need a few more things to make it to the end, and I’m already on the lookout for some cute fall/winter things!

What are your tips/tricks/thoughts on Maternity Fashion?

 

 

Emma
Emma is mommy to one-year-old William and wife to Bill. She was born and bred in Baton Rouge, attending Episcopal High School, the Manship School of Mass Communication at LSU and the LSU Law Center. Married since 2010, she is loving her new life as a mother. She is an attorney but has limited her practice for now so she can stay home with William full-time, and she feels so fortunate to be able to do that. She is learning as she goes, rejoicing in every milestone and happy moment as well as working her way through the challenges that come with parenting. When she gets a chance, she loves reading, writing, and watching movies. She and Bill are both lucky enough to have their families close by and love spending time with them. She looks forward to seeing her little boy grow and eventually expanding her family. Motherhood has been the most fulfilling role of her life.

6 COMMENTS

  1. It was not too long ago that I was in your shoes. It was
    definitely harder than I thought it would be to find cute and
    affordable maternity clothes. I did happen to luck out a few times
    at the Gap in Towne Center. They have a maternity section which
    seemed to always be on sale. Nice place to pick up some basics.
    Good luck!

  2. Well, I’m a mom on a budget, so I like bargain shopping-
    Abigail’s Best Maternity off of Airline/Jefferson carries like-new
    maternity clothes. It is a pretty small selection, but if you pop
    in every few weeks the clothes are always different! And the prices
    range from $3-$20. Also, borrowing from family and friends if you
    have the option!

  3. The ReFinery is my favorite consignment store in town and
    they have a maternity section. Plus you can check out all the cute
    kids clothes you will be purchasing soon. And there is always
    borrowing from friends. Kind of jealous of the new Baby Bump store.
    To get to shop there for myself I will have to be prepared for baby
    #5 and just not there yet! Happy shopping!

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