Now that I’m starting to show and wearing more of my maternity clothes, I figured that it was high time to show them off a bit. No, I wasn’t adventurous enough to model these all for you...Maid Britney...but I did take a picture of some of the things that I’ve found and thought that I would share with you where I got them in case there are other pregnant women out there reading this blog...or you know someone else who’s pregnant and want to pass on the information.
I should probably start off by explaining a little bit about my “shopping style” in case you or whomever you might share this with isn’t a match for my style. I think that I can sum it up with just a few words. Target. Ross. Marshalls. Old Navy. Oh, and one more...SALE racks.
Those are the places that I shop. I don’t pay full retail price on ANYTHING (like meaning department store prices) unless I absolutely love it and can’t live without it, which more often than not ends up not being the case. I can live without lots of things. And living in between Austin and San Marcos, you can bet that I love that Outlet Mall in San Marcos! I seriously haven’t paid more than $50 for a pair of regular jeans in I couldn’t tell you how long. And $50 might be a stretch...
So I won’t be offended if you’re not as excited as I am about my finds. That’s my style, it works for me, and I’m ok with the fact that you may not like it.
With that being said, the first place that I loaded up on maternity clothes was the Outlet Mall in San Marcos. I was all excited to go to the Old Navy there and stock up on their maternity jeans that I had heard so much about...but come to find out, the Outlet version of Old Navy doesn’t carry maternity clothes. Neither does The Gap. Or any other store that I could think to check. Color me frustrated much. Until my wonderful, fantastic super-supportive and determined-to-not-leave-the-Outlet-Mall-without-some-maternity-clothes husband spotted a little store down at the end called Maternity Works. It’s an Outlet store for several maternity brands, such as Pea in a Pod, Motherhood Maternity, etc. You get the idea, not just one store, but several mini-stores all in one place.
And since it’s at the Outlet Mall, the prices were reasonable. Although I still think that $40 for maternity jeans is a little steep...but you can’t put a price tag on comfort, right? Right. So, spending my Christmas money that he had set aside for this purpose, my hubbie took me shopping. Here’s what I got:
Two pairs of below-the-belly maternity jeans (bought two different kinds, returned one a week later and snagged another pair of the $40 ones…they were worth the extra $$). Sorry – there’s no picture of these, but I think that
this link will get you to them...they are SO comfy! The picture there looks sort of like there is still a belly panel, but there's NOT! So great. (They're the jeans I take my belly shots in each week, so I've sort of already shown them to you!)
A LBD...because every woman needs one for each stage in her life, even pregnancy!
A cute summer dress that I CANNOT wait to slip into...
A little summer top
A plain white tee
You might have noticed a pattern to those clothes. Other than the jeans, everything that we purchased was for the summer. Yes, I was thinking ahead and staying positive that I wouldn’t show until further along in my pregnancy and wouldn’t need long-sleeved winter clothes...and we know that I’ve worried about this some as I grew out of my regular shirts a “little” faster than I thought that I would...oh well.
Anyway, we got all of that for under $200. Like closer to the $150-160 range. Good deals. All of it, except for the jeans, were on sale on the clearance rack – left overs from last summer’s styles, I’m sure. But all pieces that still looked good enough to make me fit in this summer as well...my friends might call them “timeless classics.” :)
Then I found the motherload of all maternity internet shopping stores the very next week. It’s a site called
emommie.com and you can click that link to find it, if you’re interested. Really a great site. They’re based out of the Virginia area, I think, but the clothes got to Texas SUPER fast with great shipping options.
A word of warning: the clothes are ALL used. You might luck out and find something that they’re selling that was never worn, but I doubt it. I was a little hesitant at first, but the site claims to only purchase clothes in good condition with no stains, abnormal wear/tear, so I took a chance. And I was MORE than impressed with what I got for the money.
A pair of low-belly black work pants
Sleeveless casual tops
Some dressier "work" tops
And I also got two maternity tank tops to sleep in, which I didn’t take a picture of. Now, here’s a question for you...are you sitting down? Be sure that you are. Comparing what I bought at the maternity OUTLET store with what I got at
emommie.com, how much would you think that I spent?
$150?
$100?
Try $80, shipping included. Yep, you read that right. ALL of that for $80. Mainly because it’s used. But if you think about it, who doesn’t borrow maternity clothes while they’re pregnant? And isn’t this basically the same thing? Except for the part where you don’t know the person that you “borrowing” them from...it’s the same concept.
I was lucky enough to have a sister who was my size during my last pregnancy who had already had a baby and she gave me all of her maternity clothes, so I didn’t have to buy that much last time around. But this time, I don’t have that luxury. It’s been seven years since I had my daughter so I don’t still have anything left from then, and it would be outdated anyway if I did have something left. My only friends who might have maternity clothes that I could maybe borrow are using them right now. So if you’re lucky enough to have lots of pregnant friends, then great. Use their clothes. Save the money.
But if you’re not that lucky...like me...then check out
emommie.com. The quality of the clothes was impressive, and I was VERY skeptical when I bought them. Great, great, great prices - great deal...try it out! Or pass on the word...and as an extra incentive, they send you a 15% off coupon on your next purchase...I haven’t used mine yet, but I will be using it soon!
(A word of warning – when you’re on their site looking for clothes, filter the clothes down by size. Their inventory is pretty big, and changes daily, and I just found that it was MUCH easier to shop using the filters for my size. Just a helpful hint!)
Have fun shopping!
Yep - I like to "rock" the bump! And no, that's not a maternity shirt...but doesn't my bump look HUGE in this picture! Compared to the weekly pictures, it really seems to stand out a bit more...must be the outfit.
