STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

rar210 · Marc Jacobs

Question on Maternity Clothes

Cortney1982 · Chanel

I don't think she will have to worry about maternity clothes for another 4 months.

Newme · Nine West

I am pregnant and here's what I learned in maternity shopping.

Beware of maternity sizing, especially with Liz Lange! (Target carries some of the inexpensive foundation pieces, but the more pricey and presumably nicer stuff is at Nordstrom, etc.) Everyone tells you to buy your pre-pregnancy size and it will translate into the maternity size. This is so not true. I would ordinarily be a medium in most tops and with Liz Lange, some mediums are huge on me and some are so tight I can't get them over my neck. I am going to order from Mimi next and see what that's like. Gap has some cute stuff, but limited selection.

Instead of maternity, I have had better success in shopping regular clothes and buying one size up. This is easy because there are so many empire waist styles of tops out there, and you can buy good quality from your preferred designers. (Check Bluefly.) The only thing to watch out for is plunging v-necks - if you go up a size, the plunge can get pretty extreme. (This is a personal preference thing regarding cleavage - I'm not comfortable with that much chest showing without a tank or or cami underneath, but other girls might be fine with it.)

As for jeans, etc., I know a lot of pregnant women who swear by Sevens maternity jeans. I haven't tried them, but I would think you would get consistent sizing from them.

When in doubt, buy shoes! I had a problem because I had all these beautiful new pumps and heeled sandals and got yelled at by the doctor for wearing them. Cute flats are a must. A few pairs of closed toe shoes are important too - at least in the first trimester, many doctors will forbid you from painting your nails as a safety precaution. If it is a high risk pregnancy, the doctor may forbid nail polish for the duration. I am one of those who doesn't feel right with open toe shoes without nail polish, so I had to run out and get lots of new flat, closed toe shoes.

HTH.

blink · Coach

I just kind of bought as the pregnancy went along. I didn't know if I would need full panel jeans, so I bought some of those banded Seven's in my second trimester. And it turned out that those worked all the way up until my stroll into the hospital. What I didn't anticipate was how big the bustline gets during pregnancy, so my advice is to leave a little room if buying button down shirts.

For work, Noppies brand has great trousers. They can be found in specialty boutiques. I bought a lot of clothes from all over, but most of my maternity clothes were from Gap.