maternity clothes?

Question

hey everyone,

i am currently 14 weeks pregnant. i notice that my clothes are starting to get a little tighter, but not tight enough that i need to go buy new clothes yet, but soon i will

i just wanted to ask when everyone on here started buying maternity clothes. at what week during your pregnancy did you start wearing them. yes i know everyone is different and starts wearing them at different times, i was just curious as to when all of you started wearing them.

also do you have any recommendation as to what to buy and where to get it? anything i should avoid? i am not due until december so i will have to buy clothes that can go from the end of sumer into fall and beginning of winter.

thanks for any help or advice you have!!!

take care!

Answer 1

I think what you purchase for maternity clothes really depends on your lifestyle and personal circumstances?

Are you working? Do you have the kind of job that you have to be fashionable or at least well dressed? Then you will need at least a few nice outfits to carry you through the end of your pregnancy (and beyond...it usually takes women a little bit to fit back into their regular clothes).

I was working out of my home when I was pregnant so it really didn't matter what I looked like. I bought my first pregnancy pants (the pants, obviously are more important than anything) at Target and started wearing them around 16 weeks. I bought the ones with the elastic waist that is meant to sit below your belly but without a stretchy tummy panel, too early for that. Target's maternity line does a nice job of labeling at what stage the item of clothing is good for.

Otherwise, I didn't invest too much money on clothes I knew I would want to throw out at the end of my pregnancy. I basically lived in some borrowed Gap maternity jeans and khakis and some oversized sweaters (I was at my biggest in the winter and gave birth in March).

You don't say what kind of budget you are looking at but my philosophy is only to spend the minimum you need to on maternity clothes so Old Navy, Gap, Target are all good choices. The stuff is fashionable enough without breaking the bank. Better yet, borrow stuff from girlfriends who've been there or go to a second-hand shop. You can also just use some oversized shirts or drawstring pants.

If you've got a huge budget, go for it. There are plenty of designer maternity labels out there these days. But even then, I'd say, why not save the money to buy a new wardrobe AFTER the baby is born. You'll have earned it and deserve it. I know a woman who just altered all her old clothes but cutting out the tops of the pants and sewing in stretchy panels just so she'd have an excuse to buy new clothes when it was all over.

Oh and one thing I'd avoid: maternity underwear. Who wants outrageously expensive underwear that goes up to their armpits!!?? I just stuck with my low-slug bikinis and let them sit below my growing belly -- much more comfy.

Answer 2

My best advice is to invest is some cute stretchy low-rise jeans. I was able to wear mine well into the 3rd trimester because they fit under my belly and the material had some "give" to it. I expect I'll be able to get back into them after the birth too, so their longevity and style made them a great investment.

As for maternity clothes... buy items as you need them. You don't know how big you'll get, so wait until you need new clothes before you go wild.

With pants and skirts- the tummy panels make my tummy itch, so if I have to buy them, I roll them under my belly around my hips.

Shirts are definitely the cutest things out there... these are what you'll want to get most of. Buy stuff that's long and won't show your belly if you raise your arms, and I suggest wearing camis underneath. It seems that maternity designers really like to emphasize the bust, which most pregnant women don't need help with. ;)

Don't spend a ton of money... you'll only use these for a few months at best, so see if friends or family members have any gently used items you could have. I found some cute capris at Goodwill (from Motherhood Maternity!) and scour clearance racks.

Buy bras as you need them.

I didn't start wearing maternity clothes until a few weeks into the 3rd trimester, which surprised me. I thought I'd need them by the 2nd for sure!

Answer 3

With my first, I swtiched over at about 20 weeks. Now with my second I started wearing maternity clothes at 16 weeks.

Old Navy is great when you're fully ready to wear maternity clothes. Old Navy has the best casual clothes, while the Gap was better clothes to wear to work.

For the time being, Old Navy has some cute sundresses in regular women's sizes that really don't have a waist. You can wear them now before you turn over to maternitly clothes. I also like to wear Abercrombie or Victoria's Secret "Pink" sweats. They're pretty expensive, but I had them Pre-Pregnancy. Plus I know a lot of people don't want to dress like a 16 year old..haha.

Well..Good Luck! Hope this helped!

Answer 4

I started wearing maternity clothes somewhere around week 20 with the first, week 15 with the second, and week 20 with the third. The best place I found to buy maternity clothes was on eBay-then I could resell what I didn't want and buy more. I also bought clothes from Old Navy and Motherhood.

Good Luck!!

Answer 5

Well, I'm almost 17 weeks now. I bought maternity clothes, & started wearing them along with some of my larger pre-pregnancy items, when I was about 14 weeks because my pants just stopped fitting. By 9 weeks I couldn't wear but 1 pair of my jeans. My first pregnancy, by the time I bought the clothes I'd lost 8lbs but nothing fit. I'm also not showing, but there is obviously some growth going on somewhere.

I considered just buying larger fitting pants, but honestly when I did the math I couldn't justify spending money of larger items, then in a few weeks buy more clothes. The maternity clothes I got will last me from now through my pregnancy. I went to Motherhood & honestly I'm picky about clothes when I'm not pregnant, so I'm still picky now. It will be hard to get things in the summer that will also wear in the winter because 99% of the summer items I found didn't have slevees. I mainly got pants because my shirts all still basically fits & I'm sure most of my fall tops will as well, as most of my items are kinda roomy & have stretch to them. I got a couple skits, one jean & one tan, because I hate wearing shorts. Then I got 4 pairs of pants, 2 jeans, one gray, & one tan, mainly those last two were for work. I'd just buy a few things right now, then be prepared to buy another set when the weather starts to change.

Answer 6

I got some early stage maternity pants at about 6 weeks because I was too bloated to comfortably wear my normal pants...so the pants I've pretty much been wearing all along. My shirts though, I've just kind of slowly phased out. I'm 31 weeks now, and there are still 3 pre-pregnancy shirts that I can still wear (because they were very long and stretchy in the first place).

Yeah, my big staple, has been long stretchy shirts - especially since I have a long torso to begin with. I like the ones you can get from down east outfitter for 10 bucks: http://www.downeastbasics.com/product_info.php?cPath=1&products_id=15

Answer 7

There are some things you can buy that will let you wear your pants until you fit into maternity clothes (sorry i don't know what it is called). I started buying maternity clothes probably at 4 months- but be careful to not buy a lot of clothes b/c the maternity clothes that fit you at 5 months may not fit you at 8... I bought a lot of my clothes at motherhood maternity for work (they are not too expensive) and some at target..I ended up buying a few pants/skirts and more shirts to alternate..now at 37 weeks I just wear gaucho (sp?) pants and wife beaters

Answer 8

The girdle I have no clue on, but I found a very nice selection of plus sized maternity clothes at target. They were a little expensive so most of my maternity clothes were just normal plus sized clothes that had elastic waists. Good luck!

Answer 9

don't spend to much on maternity clothes. get larger sizes of regular clothes if possible so they can be used after you have the baby until you get back to a normal weight. buy a couple of bras but don't go get fancy expensive ones I bought some at the victorias secret semi annual sale back in January and they have carried me through to now (38 weeks). you shouldn't get nursing bras until after baby because you will have no way to tell the size you need. as far as clothes don't by outfits get simple things you can mix and match. a couple pair of pants and a skirt you can dress up or down. then buy cute accessories and get pedicures so you can make your outfits look different every time you wear them. I found stuff at target, old navy, motherhood maternity and kohls.

Answer 10

I wouldnt buy maternity clothes just yet. Maybe go shopping at a cheap place like walmart or kmart and buy bottoms with stretchy waits bands and empire waits shirts or shirts witha little more room. Im 35 weeks and the only maternity clothes I own is 2 pair of capris and 2 shirts.