"Business" maternity clothes?

[Deleted]

I need help finding formalish maternity clothes. I start a new job December 7 which will be working with a variety of business owners on economic development in a certain area of town. I'll be 18 weeks pregnant. It's important that I make good first impressions and then continue to give off a professional vibe through the rest of my pregnancy.

Where do I go for nicer maternity clothes? I don't really care about cost.

Last time I loved on Gap stuff, but it was a very informal office setting where I gave no fucks about first impressions...

Susie @starry since you guys work in fairly formal settings.

[mlt]

Japanese weekend had some nice work appropriate stuff.

[dottyblue]

All of my work pants and pencil skirts were from Gap maternity. They were really really nice. I just bought all neutrals, paired them with my normal jackets (maternity jackets are a waste of $$$. You don't close them anyway) and wore colorful maternity shells.

[SJ]

Our office is formal and suits are the norm, although we have become a tad more relaxed lately. I wore tons of dresses with Blazers. I just wore my regular jackets and left them open. Maternity dresses from Gap, Japanese Werkend, Pink Blush, and tons from Local BST group.

I did have two pairs of maternity black pants from Gap that I wore to work often, even though I never wear pants when not pregnant.

[yourmother]

ASOS has some nice dresses. Also, (surprisingly), Walmart.com had some nice blouses that looked polished and professional.

[miamigirl]

By the end of my pregnancy I basically lived in Seraphine dresses, they look really good and are good quality. You can find them at A Pea in the Pod or online.

Other great staples for me were my J Crew maternity mini and pixie pants. You can pair them with a blazer and a nice shirt and they look awesome.
Ingrid and isabel has a couple maternity skirts that work great for business attire.

[boiler717]

I much prefer dresses for this stage. I have some from motherhood, target, ON, and Gap.

[notoriousmeg]

I had pants and pencil skirts from gap. And I bought a few dresses and tops at a pea in the pod. They were pricey but worth it. Thankfully by the time I needed them we had given up wearing suits in my office but still had to dress professionally. Maternity suits were $$$ and I looked hideous in them.

[auntie]

If you don't care about price, Pea in a Pod has some very nice business appropriate dresses.

[Deleted]

Oct 10, 2015 12:30:03 GMT -5 @starry said:

Just saw your update on MM. Is it a totally done deal?

Well, I just had an email that clarified things. The hiring person is going back to the board early Monday morning to get an approval vote on the revised terms. So it's not totally a done deal.

Which is awkward since I'm having dinner with one of the board members tonight...

[Deleted]

I wore a non-maternity jacket with plain knit top and pencil skirt or slacks--just plain black, so again nothing special. I could wear regular pencil skirts one size up still at 20 weeks as well.

[kate1482]

I really like Isabella Oliver for tops & dresses and jcrew for maternity pixie and Minnie pants. Ingrid & Isabel (the regular line not target) also for dresses. Best maternity tights I found were by assets. (Gap, preggers & Ingrid & Isabel were awlful!)

[Mushe]

Check out Seraphine online. I just ordered a bump starter kit that comes with a very simple black dress and skirt, as well as leggings and a tank. Last time, I did lots of shells from Pea in the Pod with a nice pencil skirt from Asos or the Gap plain pants. Seraphine has a bunch of gorgeous dresses, and I think I'll buy a few, but with distinctive styles and colors, I think I'll get bored rewearing them. Ditto the regular jackets, not maternity.

[Myrrhine]

I thought Loft online had some nice options for work

[jeaniebueller]

This was the worst when I was pregnant. I had a black suit jacket from motherhood I rotated with various skirts and pants. I bought one suit from pea in the pod as well.

[Deleted]

Seraphine also has an outlet link where I bought a few nicer business-y pieces. I honestly think you can go a long was woth black pants, nice shoes/handbag, accessories and tops/blazers/sweaters.

[Susie]

I didn't buy much $$$ stuff. Some of my basics were:
- faux wrap dresses from Motherhood Maternity
- a black jersey material dress from Target that I could dress up with silk scarves of lots of colors.
- a very blousy box pleated shell from Banana Republic that, although not maternity, still fits at 34 weeks. I bought it in 2 colors. Under-suit jacket appropriate.
- a couple dresses from Old Navy that I dressed up with patent leather skinny belts.

I basically bought a TON of stuff from Asos, Gap, ON, and Target, and returned like 75% of it. There were some big hits and big misses across price points. Where ever possible I tried to buy basic, inexpensive, boring color maternity clothes (black, navy, gray) and then awesome "one size fits all" accessories for use now and later.

I also splurged on a pair of 40mm (i.e. comfortable pregnancy height) black patent Cole Haan open toe wedges, a half size up from my normal size. (OT since I was pg all summer.) I felt instantly more polished and put together in new patent leather shoes that fit comfortably, and one pair went with basically everything.

Pants are my nemesis so I have no recs there.  Under belly didn't last much past 6-7 months, and I hate over belly with a passion.  So, dresses!