The hunt for maternity clothes

By Sarah

Being pregnant the second time around brings some practical joy: it is nice to know you have all the stuff you need for the baby. With a few exceptions, I don't need to spend a lot of money, time or energy getting everything ready. Our only challenges are gender and weather.

My daughter was born in May and this baby is due in January. If we have another girl we are all set with clothes and even if it is a boy, we're OK because we have plenty of gender-neutral clothing for the first few weeks, if not longer. Of course, we have had to invest in a few long-sleeve onesies, a couple sleep sacks and some warm newborn socks, but acquiring all this has been easy and relatively cheap. (I have learned, in the past few years what to buy used and what to buy new, as well as where to get reliable quality things that fit in our budget).

Like I said, we're basically set.

Wait, let me rephrase that: the baby is all set. 

The baby has nice warm clothes waiting for it, a place to sleep, a car seat, a stroller, slings and wraps and all kinds of other necessary and unnecessary baby accoutrements just waiting for his or her arrival. It is me who needs some help.

I was happy that this time around I wouldn't need to comparison shop for co-sleepers and car seats, I wouldn't have to research cloth versus disposable diapers. And, I thought, I would be spared the humiliation of shopping for maternity clothes because I kept all mine neatly stored away. But, here I am in my seventh month, hunting all around for just a simple pair of maternity pants that will get me through the next 11 or so weeks. Who would've thought this search could be so involved and so frustrating?

I do have a few strikes against me. First, though I did save all my maternity clothes, the last time I was pregnant I started to show in the middle of the winter and delivered in the spring. So, all my pants from my early pregnancy, which would be weather appropriate now, are just a teensy bit (OK, quite a bit) too tight. Second, I started this pregnancy heavier than the last, so the clothes that did fit this time around fit for a significantly shorter period of time. Third, by this point last time I was on maternity leave so I could really get by with one pair of pants and a few shirts since I would just wear sweats or big pajamas around the house. And, fourth, I have to admit I am very cheap. I really don't want to pay much for clothes I will wear for a few months at best, and maybe for just a few weeks. Four strikes and I am, in baseball parlance, very much out.    

I find myself with about seven weeks of work left before I go on leave and while I have plenty of appropriate shirts, I am down to two pairs of pants, both brown, both a little too tight for comfort.  I have been hitting the most reliable used clothing stores with no luck; it's easy to find shirts, but to find decent pants that fit is proving impossible. So, I decided to buy a new pair of pants.

I had two places in mind but only 40 minutes to accomplish my task. I headed to (gasp) the mall. I decided on jeans because you can wear them longer without washing them and because they are warm and luckily I can wear jeans to work. I tried on three pairs. The second and third pairs actually fit.  One pair actually fit well, but, they cost just over $40. Forty dollars for a pair of pants I will wear for the next three or four months if I wear them post-partum. The final pair were less than flattering, but they did fit and were on sale for $16, and so they came home with me. 

It is hard enough for most women to shop for everyday clothes but hunting for maternity clothes seems often to be a futile sport as well. I am short, a bit overweight, but I think my body is not unlike many American women's bodies. Yet when shopping for maternity pants, as in shopping for regular pants, I often find everything is just way too small. Despite the fact that I am only maybe 15 pounds overweight at the most (not something I am proud of, but not at all unusual) the pants I bought today were XL. How on earth do pregnant women who are more overweight than me find anything to fit them?  What about women who put on a lot of pregnancy weight, even though they are otherwise small? 

The cost is another issue. Maternity clothes are very expensive. I planned to have some talented seamstresses I know help me make some skirts or pants but never got around to it and now that I need pants for tomorrow I am faced with having to spend what is, to me, a lot of money. 

Perhaps it is the hormones talking, but it seems there are not that many affordable, functional, and still at least slightly stylish maternity clothing options available. Perhaps I am just picky and pessimistic. 

How does everyone else go about shopping for maternity clothes? Is anyone else frustrated or do some women look upon the hunt as an exhilarating sport?

Sarah Rachel Egelman is a community college instructor and freelance book reviewer who lives in New Mexico with her husband and daughter.

Comments

[Sam]

We shopped online and found jeans with a stretchy elastic "top part". They work great!

[Josie]

While I was pregnant, I went to many maternity stores. I am not the average shape. I am 5'8 and slim, and people believe clothes are made to fit women my size. WRONG! I couldn't find anything worth paying for. Nothing cheap fit and anything that did cost approx as much as my delivery at the hospital. So I ended up trying on clothes in the store, THEN going and buying the exact same thing on ebay. You always get more for your money if you buy in lots and from the same seller. Good luck with the shopping!

[kim]

This is exactly why I tried to have my kids on about the same timetable. I was lucky and I'm now pregnant and about two weeks "behind" where I was two years ago with my first pregnancy. People laughed when I said, "But I have all the seasonally appropriate maternity wear!" Now I can just point them at this post!

I second the recommendation for eBay. It's the only place I found pants that fit. Most stores and catalogs I tried last time seem to think women under 5'4" don't get pregnant. This time I have not needed much but I haven't even bothered looking anywhere else.

[abogada]

I bought all my maternity clothes in one of two places. The first was a second hand store that specialized in maternity clothes. The second? E-bay. There are tons of clothes listed, and you can always e-mail the seller to ask for the precise measurements before you bid on the item. I saved a LOT of money that way, and I was able to buy professional as well as casual clothes.

[Teresa]

you should check out old navy maternity,they have affordable comfortable clothes,thats where I went plus I'm short too and most of their pants and skirts come in a short version so you aren't hemming or walking off the excess of your jeans, plus their kids section is great they sell warm clothes alot cheaper than some other places and if you know how their sizing runs you can shop online and save yourself the hassle of lines and the mall

[maria]

Okay - first off - I agree with you. But, let's take a different approach. If you buy two pairs of pants - that you like and are comfortable - and wear then 3x/week for the next 11 weeks - that's 33 times. As yourself as you're in the $16 but not as comfortable pants - would you pay 50 cents today - to feel better (either in how they look or comfort...)

I'm all about being frugal - and I'm the last mom to really be good about making time for myself (I have long hair b/c I haven't been able to escape to get it cut for 6 mos) - BUT - I do believe that time, feelings and comfort have a definite value and sometimes we're being overly frugal.

Just a thought. Hang in there - and good luck with #2

Maria - mom to 3

[Nicole]

During my first pregnancy, I was only about 3 months pregnant but my mom took me out for an afternoon of maternity clothes shopping, which was so lovely because it turned something which I would have dreaded into a nice way for us to spend time together. We went to Pea in a Pod and she very generously bought me a pair of courderoy trousers that cost a fortune- I think they were $175. But in the end they were cut so well and the fabric was so comfortably stretchy, I wore them from the 4th month all the way through til the delivery and then for the next 3 months. I even kept them in my closet this winter because they do not look pregnancy at all, since there are no elastic panels, etc. My point is, there is probably a lot of sense in buying something that fits really well even if it costs more because you will use it longer.

[erica]

yes, i was just going to mention eBay, too....it is a GREAT place to find nice stuff without paying too much....

[pink]

Oh, I feel for you. In fact, I wrote about this very subject during my first pregnancy (http://www.typepad.com/t/trackback/688607). And now I'm pregnant with #2 and, like you, giving birth at a different time of year so the summery stuff I wore early in my pregnancy the first time won't work for me when I'm in my third trimester this time. I've heard that eBay is a good source, so that's where I'm headed next. Good luck!