A few more pointers on maternity clothes:
1. Avoid the stores that sell maternity clothes exclusively (like Motherhood, etc). The clothes may look cute at first, but they're often very poorly made (seams that come loose, poor draping that make you look even frumpier than you feel already). They're never 'on sale' enough, and they usually don't last past a single pregnancy.
JC Penney's and Sears have good sales, the clothes are made fairly well, and they have a liberal return policy if you find that an item just won't work (you probably will have to try a few different styles before finding one that works). I especially recommend the 'maternity duo' brand that they sell - my girlfriends and I have been passing along a few pairs of their pants for years now.
Consignment stores and thrift shops are great for pregnancy clothes if they have a decent selection. But unfortunately, these can be pretty picked over (especially in my neck of the woods). I found I wasted more time, energy, and gas than the trips were worth.....
2. Consider buying corduroy maternity pants, rather than the jeans or dress pants. They fit much better than jeans, look reasonably dressy for the office, and will stretch with you throughout the pregnancy (unlike the dress pants). Maternity jeans have a bad habit of being too tight for half the day, then way to loose for the rest of the day....
3. Remember that your tummy will eventually take up a lot of square mileage in your T-shirts. And you'll find that shirts may just no longer cover enough once the baby drops in the last month. Buy them LONG. Old Navy has great pregnancy T-shirts (cute, lightweight but not too cheaply made), and they're easy to find in the clearance rack.
4. Sketcher's shoes! The newer slip on styles will work instead of dress shoes, they are very forgiving on swelling feet (and can be worn without stockings or socks), most are closed-toe (a must at my job), there is no heel (a big deal if you plan to spend alot of time on your feet while pregnant), and they are well made enough to last even after the pregnancy despite some abuse. Flip flops are great, too....if you can get away with them at work.
5. Try on clothes before you buy. I had to try on 4-5 items before one that actually fit well (it's amazing how differently women can 'carry' their babies!). This meant my Ebay purchases didn't pan out well......most of them were relegated to the back of the closet because I was uncomfortable in them.
6. Yoga pants! Frankly, most pregnancy clothes aren't that comfortable. Yoga pants (especially the type you can get at Target for $15 a pair) fit snugly below the belly so you have no fabric over the belly (I'm definately a fan of 'under belly' rather than 'mid' or 'over belly' pregnancy styles), but fairly loosely through the thigh. They were my clothing mainstay during the evening and weekends!
7. Bella bands. They look just like the belts from 'UNITS' 20 years ago. Very nice for trying to stretch the time you can wear certain pieces. But by all means just sew your own!! They run over $20 new......
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