Baby Mama Wear

The world of maternity clothes is a scary world to be thrown into. You spend the first months feeling smug that you still fit into your pre pregnant skinnies, the next couple months laughing at how you only have to add a rubber band to extend your waist band, and the final months desperately trying to find clothes with the right amount of elastic to hold everything in and up without looking like you're wearing a trash bag.

I hated the idea of spending a ton of money on clothes I would only wear for a few months but didn't want to fall down the slippery slope of yoga pants and over sized t-shirts. I searched the internet for my mama wardrobe and mostly found 1. they all looked like soccer mom wear from 1996 or 2. they were really really expensive. I lusted after the gorgeous line at Hatch but I just wasn't ready to pay that much on temporary clothing.

I did buy the occasional basic piece from Target, but didn't have much luck. Although their cotton tees are nice, I've found their nursing bras and tank tops to be really uncomfortable and the elastic/wire is always in just the wrong place.

After a lot of research- by research I mean dragging my coworkers around on our lunch break to stores with a maternity section and reading blogs- here's my top 3 picks for your mama wardrobe.

 

TOPSHOP. I love Topshop for normal shopping and couldn't believe they had a maternity section. I purchased my absolute FAVORITE nursing bras from there (see picture). I refused to buy bras that looked like they belong to your grandmother (assuming you don't have a super hot grandma) and these are lovely. They are feminine and still functional and most importantly, very very comfortable. Topshop is also great for trendy pieces for reasonable prices. I'm still wearing most of the maternity clothes I bought there, post pregnancy because I love them so much.

H&M. While they don't offer anything cutting edge or even really trendy, it's a great place for basics AND jeans. I had a tough time finding jeans that fit me right- Topshop jeans just didn't cut it- but I wore the same pair from H&M from month 3 to month 9 (and post preggo too). The best part about this place is it's really inexpensive but the quality (at least for the jeans) is good.

ASOS.  ASOS has always been hit and miss because a good 80% of their stuff is just a little too trendy (ok fine, too YOUNG) for me BUT they have a fantastic maternity section. I was on their website at least once a week as they are constantly adding new stuff. The price range varies and sometimes the quality isn't amazing- but you won't need the clothes for too terribly long anyway. If you have any qualms about ordering online, they have a pretty solid return policy, you just have to deal with the hassle of sending it back. Their skinny jeans are pretty great and they have a huge selection of nice dresses for all those baby showers you'll be having.

In addition to these I've heard from friends that Old Navy and Gap have a pretty good selection too, I just never tried it out and instead just bought bigger sizes, which worked fine for me.

Do you have any fav shops to share with mamas to be?

H xx