is it a waste to buy maternity clothes?

[knittykat]

[HeatherC]

I had to buy maternity clothes because I had to have work clothes that fit me. I did luck out in one aspect, though - no trials after I got really big, so I didn't have to buy a maternity suit. I was not looking forward to spending $300 on something I would wear maybe five times.

All in all, I spent about $400. I don't wear pants other than blue jeans, so I bought one pair of blue jeans and the rest was dresses, skirts and tops. All of my weight is right in front with the baby (thank goodness), so well-fitting tops became important pretty early on. If you're anywhere near an outlet mall that has a Motherhood store, I HIGHLY recommend going that route. I've managed to throw together a pretty comprehensive wardrobe for that $400, mainly due to the Motherhood outlet.

Now I'm sad because all the cute fall clothes are out, and I can't justify buying anything else since I've only got two weeks to go! (And since I don't, you know, leave the house these days.)

[kate]

this thread made me remember this... a tutorial on turning a regular pair of jeans into maternity. http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=28377.0
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[kittyroc]

Thanks for posting Kate, I think I may have to try that! =)

[jasmineT]

Maternity pants and one basic black/neutral dress are a must I think. There's nothing worse than having something tight around your stretching tummy. I've been able to wear many of my "normal" clothes with a few tricks.

I layer almost everything. I usually start with a long tank (Target has some Liz Lange ones on clearance right now for under $3) and then add my normal sized shirt or cardigan over top. Sometimes I'll wrap a cute scarf around my belly like a belly band to cover the maternity panel on the pants. You can get a lot of looks out of a basic dress by changing accessories. I have a sleeveless one that I wore during the summer but can still wear now with tights and a cardigan. You'd probably need some other things if you worked in an office though.

I'm still wearing my old coat. I can't zip it up anymore but if I wear a large men's vest underneath the front stays warm. If I was due in March I'd probably spring for a maternity coat but I can't justify spending that much when I only have a month left. I'd rather spend the money on a cute one after the baby's born.
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[Martita]

I never was happy with the fit of much maternity stuff...especially that from Motherhood and especially pants...I was so happy once I gave birth to be instuff I wasn't constantly hiking up! The last few weeks I lived in X-L yoga pants from old navy with t shirts and fancy scarves.
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[knittykat]

I wanted to bump this up and give a tutorial review.

Due to whatever confluence of events I am not going to be one of those "in one size larger until 7 months" gals...my regular pants didn't fit before I even got the positive test back, and I was limited to 2 pairs of pants until last week....when even those don't fit. :-)

I tried on a pair of mat. jeans at Target but the ones with the low panel cut into me and the ones with the high panel are too big still.

I remembered the Craftster mat. jeans and decided to give it a whirl last night. I had a pair of jeans that were in the donation bag, as well as a top I really really loved but it hadn't fit for a couple of years before I got pregnant.

I followed the tute just the way it's written. The only things I did a little different was that I cut the front even lower than what they had (so they didn't cut into me), and the t-shirt top I used had an elastic band (it used to fit under the boobs like an empire waist) and so I included that when I cut off the body of the t-shirt.

I was so happy when I tried them on! I can scrunch down the top and they stay up but are still really comfy, and I can put the top all the way up later and the elastic band helps hold it in place and keep it from sagging or sticking out or whatever. It's very light elastic, but if it cuts into me when I'm bigger I can remove it later.

The only drawback is that mine are so low in the front (where denim ends and t-shirt begins) that it requires an actual genuine maternity top or it looks like my undies are hanging out :-)

I was able to repurpose a favorite top and save myself $30! And I'm more comfy than I would be in purchased mat. jeans!
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[Chelle]

When I was pregnant I wondered the same thing…..but after wearing frumpy sweats and larger pants that weren’t flattering for work I decided to go out and buy maternity clothes. You can find some great deals at local thrift shops or (and if I had knew how to use a sewing machine at the time I would have) make your own clothes. I found some cool jean expanders at JoAnnes fabrics the other day so that is another option for pants. E-bay is also a good place to find some cool clothes for cheap.

[knittykat]

One of the other major advantages to mat. clothes I have found is that they make me look actually *pregnant*, not just chunky. Clothes a size bigger than usual are bigger everywhere, and make me look and feel frumpy.

Most maternity clothes have common "elements" or "lines" that make them look like maternity clothes. Empire waists, flared out lower bodies, ties in the back or over the tummy, etc. In my mat. clothes I look pregnant even though I'm very early and they make me feel so beautiful! Even when I'm in some of the few larger regular clothes that still fit me I feel like I'm wearing my "fat clothes".

But I am planning to make myself some basics because many of them are very expensive :-)
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[beatafausta]

I'm still wearing my prepreg jeans, and I've got two weeks left. It's not the *most* comfy thing in the world, but it's not terrible either. Early on, I couldn't stand to have anything squishing the belly at all. So I took a couple of old tightish t shirts with stretch in them and cut off the top and sleeves to make a long tube top that I can pull down over my hips and the unzipped zipper. I like this method because early on I could fold it over twice and have the tube show like another tshirt below the belly, but now I can leave it unfolded and it goes over the whole belly for support.
And because I guess I'm clinging unrealistically to the whole swearing I'll never get those huge belly panel jeans thing.
I'm very stubborn.
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[tiggycat]

I just want to add how great it was for me to BORROW maternity clothes, because they are so expensive and I am such a tightwad. I did buy a few things for myself, but I relied on hand-me-downs from friends. I was able to wear a lot of my normal stuff until around the 7th or 8th month, but pants were a big exception. At first, I just seemed to get a little,um, chunky versus developing a bump. I borrowed a couple pairs of regular, non-maternity pants from a friend who's a size or 2 bigger than me, and that got me through until I had a legitimately pregnant-looking belly. So be on the lookout for generous, stylish friends who'd be willing to loan you stuff!

[pudding]

[knittykat]

That's good advice, pudding, I didn't think of not being able to find stuff at the end of the summer--my baby will be born in July or August so that will definitely be something I will take into consideration!
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[skyprincessjo]

I couldn't come close to wearing regular pants past 5 or 6 months and had to come up with work clothes. I did the layering with larger/longer tanks too. Some mat. shirts are still to short as the belly pops. They've been nice post pregnancy, but I'm about done with them since they are kind of stretched now. I found clearance deals at Kohl's and Shopko a good way to get a few pieces. The other place I really liked was Ross. I found nice mat. stuff there. Overall, I got sick of the clothes and wore some strange concoctions at times for variety and comfort. I just mailed all my mat. clothes to a friend. She's happy not to buy as much and I'm happy to help and to know I won't keep wearing them!