Maternity clothes needs

[simpsongal]

There's been a lot of discussion of materinty brands but what about needs?  I've placed 3 orders for clothes and I think I need to make sure I have enough of the right key pieces.  For instance, I couldn't find my knee-length black skirt this morning so I had no skirt to wear with my desired non-maternity top.  I think I need at least 2 knee-length skirts. 

I guess this question is for the third tri ladies and new moms.  What pieces do you need and in what quatities? (particularly if you work in an office). 

[Jalapeñomel]

I have two skirts, 1 pair of pants, 1 pair of shorts, 1 pair of leggings and 2 pairs of jeans. I have four maternity tops. That's it.

[mellimel19]

This is a good question I'd also like to hear people's thoughts on.

I also have another question about ordering maternity clothes. simpsongal, you're only a few weeks ahead of me, so you might be a good person to answer. How did you go about ordering clothes when you start to need maternity items, but aren't quite sure yet how you'll be gaining weight (i.e- all belly, or gaining everywhere)? Do you just order a few things each time as you go? I guess this mostly applies to pants.

[annabear07]

I work in an office too and have been spending the hot DC weekends in maxi dresses. So here is what I have:
For Work-
2 Skirts
2 Dress Pants
3-4 Warm weather Dresses
7-8 Warm weather Tops
Casual
2 Pair shorts
4-5 Warm weather Tops

I'm going to order another work skirt and 2-3 fall work dresses along with 4-5 cooler weather tops (work). I'm hoping that will bring me all the way until Christmas (my EDD). I fully admit to "needing" more clothes as I really detest wearing the same thing again and again, so it might be a few more things than absolutely necessary, but I did get 80% of it handed down from friends.
HTH!

[sookie]

This is going to greatly depend on where you live, but I'm in Texas so my maternity clothes consist of:

2 jeans
1 capri
3 shorts
3 maxi skirts
6-8 dresses
1 black work pant
1 khaki work pant
10ish business tops
5 casual tops

I also had a decent amount of empire waisted clothes pre-pregnancy so at 30 weeks I'm still wearing non-maternity.

[soozy87]

2 pairs of dress pants, 1 pair of jeans, and 10 shirts. I work at an office, and pretty much rotate though these items

[2curlydogs]

I have:

3 work slacks (khaki, brown, black)
1 pair jeans
3 pair shorts (khaki, black, denim)
1 skirt
1 maxi dress (black)
1 long-sleeve cocktail dress (black)
6 short-sleeve "casual but work appropriate" tops
2 long-sleeve sweater-y type tops
and maybe 4 other "fall" tops?

[browneyedgirl9]

1 pair of black dress pants, 1 pair of grey dress pants, 1 pair of black capris (Still hot here), 3 pairs of jeans in different colors/ styles (which I wear on weekends, my office has a no jeans plicy), and about 12 maternity tops. I also have still been wearing many of the dresses I wore pre-pregnancy and they still fit fine.

I bought all my stuff on sale at Motherhood, Target, and at consignment shops.

[simpsongal]

Aug 29, 2013 15:37:34 GMT -5 @callmefia said:

Aug 29, 2013 15:09:23 GMT -5 mellimel19 said:

This is a good question I'd also like to hear people's thoughts on.

I also have another question about ordering maternity clothes. simpsongal, you're only a few weeks ahead of me, so you might be a good person to answer. How did you go about ordering clothes when you start to need maternity items, but aren't quite sure yet how you'll be gaining weight (i.e- all belly, or gaining everywhere)? Do you just order a few things each time as you go? I guess this mostly applies to pants.

They are all basically stretchy, so buy your current size. They stretch as you go. Some of my shirts with side ruching are still a little loose now.

I don't think how you gain really matters, unless areas like your arms and legs get heavy (so you might want to cover those up).  I just ordered 4-5 pieces at a time from Gap and Old Navy. Look at the reviews for an indication of how big things run.  Some things tend to fit big, especially in the bra region.  I might stay away from pants b/c they tend to be a hard fit when I'm not pregnant (I'm tall and hippy). 

Maternity clothes look a little big on me, but it's just a fact of the in between stage. I bought a couple dresses at TJMaxx that are big but non-maternity. I'm also pairing maternity skirts with blousy regular tops.

Here's what I have for maternity so far:
2 skirts (one long, one short)
2 tanks tops (gym)
1 pair jeans
3-4 dresses
2-3 tops

I might have to break down and buy trousers, especially since I'm not due until January.

ETA: Seeing the above responses, I definitely need more clothes.  I wish I had hand-me-downs, I have to buy it all

[rex]

The only actual maternity clothes I have are shirts and one dress. I hated maternity jeans, so I've been wearing non-maternity leggings and non-maternity maxi dresses all summer.

I am so bored of them though.

[vmars]

My sister gave me a ton of clothes. Not all of them fit, but they help fill in the gaps. For work I live in dresses, skirts, and 1 pair of pants. Once fall arrives I will get 1 more pair of dress pants, leggings and probably a fall dress.

[winemaker06]

Have you looked at consignment or other thrift stores? The only reason I have as many clothes as I do is getting them for $4/item. It makes it less painful if I grow out of them later, at least that's the idea.

[Yankees21]

Aug 29, 2013 20:04:56 GMT -5 winemaker06 said:

Have you looked at consignment or other thrift stores? The only reason I have as many clothes as I do is getting them for $4/item. It makes it less painful if I grow out of them later, at least that's the idea.

I did this last weekend, and got a ridiculous amount of stuff for a really reasonable price.

[redpenmama]

I'm a work-at-home mom, so I might not be the best to answer, but... I buy as the pregnancy goes (especially for pants; I feel like I stay the same size in tops generally). My DD was born in June, so I had a decent supply of spring/summer maternity clothes but have absolutely nothing for cooler weather. I have probably 10-15 casual tops and 4 pairs of shorts that have gotten me through the summer.

I think I need 2 pairs of jeans, perhaps one other pair of pants, like some black capris/ankle pants, and 1-2 pairs of leggings to get me through December. I'm going to try to layer maternity shirts with non-maternity cardigans to avoid investing in too many winter maternity tops.

Not to hijack the thread, but does anyone have recommendations on decent maternity jeans that aren't outrageously expensive? I hate to spend too much for just a few months of wear.

[Deleted]

Aug 29, 2013 21:22:58 GMT -5 swizz said:

Aug 29, 2013 21:05:09 GMT -5 redpenmama said:

.

Not to hijack the thread, but does anyone have recommendations on decent maternity jeans that aren't outrageously expensive? I hate to spend too much for just a few months of wear.

I was hesitant to drop money on nice jeans but my $$$ jeans have been worth every penny. I've also been able to wear full panel from pretty early on and work in a casual office so I've definitely gotten good use out of them.

What jeans do you have? I need another pair.

[Jalapeñomel]

I have Target maternity jeans that fit perfectly.

[Cheesecake]

Wow, you all have so much!

I just do very regular laundry and have :
1 jeans
1 black slacks
1 black leggings (to wear under dresses generally)
1 jeans leggings
4 dresses/tunics
3 shirts

There are a few non maternity items that due to the cut still work, but this is what I wear 99% of the time.


Sent from my Xperia Z, please don't mind typos!

[simpsongal]

Aug 29, 2013 20:04:56 GMT -5 winemaker06 said:

Have you looked at consignment or other thrift stores? The only reason I have as many clothes as I do is getting them for $4/item. It makes it less painful if I grow out of them later, at least that's the idea.

There's a consignment store near me, maybe I'll check it out!

[simpsongal]

Aug 29, 2013 21:05:09 GMT -5 redpenmama said:

I'm a work-at-home mom, so I might not be the best to answer, but... I buy as the pregnancy goes (especially for pants; I feel like I stay the same size in tops generally). My DD was born in June, so I had a decent supply of spring/summer maternity clothes but have absolutely nothing for cooler weather. I have probably 10-15 casual tops and 4 pairs of shorts that have gotten me through the summer.

I think I need 2 pairs of jeans, perhaps one other pair of pants, like some black capris/ankle pants, and 1-2 pairs of leggings to get me through December. I'm going to try to layer maternity shirts with non-maternity cardigans to avoid investing in too many winter maternity tops.

Not to hijack the thread, but does anyone have recommendations on decent maternity jeans that aren't outrageously expensive? I hate to spend too much for just a few months of wear.

I ordered the GAP 1969 demi panel sexy boot cut jeans, medium wash, at 40% off ($41.97).  They fit very nicely.  In fact, I think I like the fit more than my regular jeans.  I could probably wear them now, but the waist is a little big, so I'll go with the pony tail trick a while longer.

[mellimel19]

Aug 29, 2013 21:05:09 GMT -5 redpenmama said:

Not to hijack the thread, but does anyone have recommendations on decent maternity jeans that aren't outrageously expensive? I hate to spend too much for just a few months of wear.

I've heard many raves for Gap maternity jeans.

[crispnclean]

I have purchased a lot of clothes on consignment. Most pieces were $4-6 each. The vast majority are in excellent condition, presumably because they haven't been worn for more than a few months. I have always been one to have excessive amounts of clothes, and I guess it's no different for me with maternity clothes. I work in a casual office, so I don't have to dress up often. I probably have:

3 pair jeans
2 pair capri jeans
2 pair black capris
1 pair khakis
2 pair dress pants
5 pair shorts
1 pair leggings
1 dressy skirt
1 denim skirt

6 solid colored short sleeve tops
6 dressier tops
2 tunics
5 maternity dresses

I have also been able to wear a lot of my non-maternity dresses that have an empire waist. Until about 32 weeks, I could still wear some of my regular shirts too.

[cincodemayo]

I got by with very little. 2 pair of black work pants, 1 grey. 3 work appropriate dresses. Probably 6 work tops? Then I had a weekend dress, a pair of shorts, 1 pair jeans, 1 pair capris. I could wear loose regular shirts up until the end for the most part.

[annabear07]

Aug 30, 2013 8:01:42 GMT -5 simpsongal said:

Aug 29, 2013 20:04:56 GMT -5 winemaker06 said:

Have you looked at consignment or other thrift stores? The only reason I have as many clothes as I do is getting them for $4/item. It makes it less painful if I grow out of them later, at least that's the idea.

There's a consignment store near me, maybe I'll check it out!

I would also check on Craig's list and ebay.  A friend of mine got a lot of her wardrobe from ebay.  And I can't remember how far along you are but I got my hand me downs when I announced on facebook and a somewhat distant friend offered up her maternity clothes since she knew we were about the same size.  So you never know where they can come from!

[osulori]

My work dress code is either business casual or work logo shirts and scrub pants, and this is even more relaxed for pg women (basically anything goes within reason). For most of my pregnancy, I had two pairs of maternity dress pants from Kohl's (one dark gray and one black) and a pair of nice VSX yoga pants that were able to pass as dress pants and fit just right to accommodate my growing belly (and still fit now, thank god), and a variety of nice but casual tops from Old Navy, Kohl's, Target, and Shade Maternity before they went out of business. For outside of work, I had the same tops plus ON maternity tanks, a few maternity dresses, and three pairs of jeans.

Yeah, its kind of a lot of clothes...I needed variety though, especially at the end when I felt freaking HUGE.

[lilybeth12]

I wear jeans to work, so I have 2 pairs of ON full panel jeans, a pair of motherhood maternity full panel, and 1 demi panel from ON. The demi panel stuff isnt really working for me anymore, and hasnt since 27 weeks.
shirts I have a mix of handme downs, off season purchases from motherhood maternity, and last minute purchases from ON.
sundresses have been my very best friend this summer, and ON quality is pretty good. I would definitely buy some leggings if you are pg over the fall winter, i'm planning on them being a staple in the coming months.

[changedname]

I have been buying at consignment sales and also the Target clearance section. I am only in maternity bottoms right now, regular tops are still ok but I buy them as I see them to be prepared.

2 x target jeans
2 x black work pants
1 x H & M shorts
1 x denim skirt
5 x target liz lange tanks (for under regular cardigans and blazers)
1 dress
10 other random tops, some dressier than others - all about $3 each from the consignment (Motherhood)
1 sweater

Almost everything is from Motherhood or Thyme (canadian store) I have spent a total of $150 so far on everything.
I need some long sleeve jersey tops and a couple more sweaters. Plus I wouldn't mind some sweater dresses and leggings for the winter.