Years ago when I was studying clothing production, I did a week of work experience at the clothing label One Teaspoon. I spent most of the time counting buttons and trims which for anyone who has worked in the fashion industry is a pretty honest summary of how unglamorous the fashion industry really is. I didn’t care I was so ecstatic to be there and grateful to spend a week soaking it all in and enthusiastically counting buttons. During my week there the owner/Head Designer Jamie was only in the office once as she was quite heavily pregnant. When she did come in I was struck by how good she made pregnancy look because I had never seen anyone do that before, I had never anyone make pregnancy look cool. She was wearing a raglan tee and boyfriend jeans, a relatively simplistic outfit but it looked amazing. This was at the time when the only jeans anyone was wearing was black supa tubes, the boyfriend jean trend was about 10 years off, so it was simplistic but also super fashion forward in an effortless way. I remember thinking, one day when I am pregnant I want to do everything she was doing with her pregnancy style.
So one of the first things I bought when I was pregnant was a three pack of men’s raglans tee’s in pastel colours. They showed up and the colours weren’t how they looked online and when I put them on instead of being magically transformed into this super cool pregnant person I looked like a frumpy person wearing an ill fitting raglan tee... disappointing. I don’t think at any point during my pregnancy that I achieve Jamie level of fashion but here is a little video of what I did wear.
TOPS
Oversized tees - I've always been a fan of an oversized tee, pregnancy gives you an opportunity to see what all your oversized tee's look like as fitted tees.
Tunics and stretchy mini dresses - Maybe not the best option for anything too expensive because it might go a bit out of shape but the wider hip section on stretch mini dresses and tunics are great over the bump, extra points for length as well.
Mens Singlets/Tees/Tall Tees - Mens Tees are basically what you will get from a maternity, size/length but for about half the price. Pastels being on trend for men mean a better variety of cute colours!
DRESSES -
Slip dress - These are essential, layer things over and under these using what you already own. Really great for adding length to dresses that have become a bit short as a result of your bump.
Vintages Dresses - Think 80's - bit more over sized and elastic waist that you can sit above your belly and below your bust.
Asos Maternity - There is always a really good range of pieces on sale in the Asos maternity range and I got some of my most worn things from there including
0:05 - ASOS Maternity Nursing Scallop Wrap dress - super comfy, great colour, looks good during and after pregnancy, practical for breast feeding.
0:17 - ASOS Maternity T-shirt Midi dress in rainbow stripe - This is something I'd buy as a non maternity piece, got lots of wear out of it and loved the rainbow stripes - there is not enough colour in maternity wear! Unfortunately totally useless for breastfeeding :(
0:21 - ASOS Cami smock Dress - You can get these in all sorts of colours, I grabbed the pink and yellow, easiest throw on dress especially if you having a baby over summer.
BOTTOMS
0:08 - These gingham pants from asos are super cute but they are the ones that sit low and have a bit of elastic that stretches at the front. I wasn't a fan of these as I found that when I wasn't very pregnant they fell down and then when I was super pregnant they also didn't sit right.
Over the bump jeans: I love these and had a pair I wore to work all the time. They have a stretch material band that sits nearly under your bust, also excellent for after pregnancy when heading out for all you can eat dinner. There is a good range on asos but i'd recommend doling what I did and buy them second hand on ebay.
Elastic waisted skirts are your best friend and also mid length stretchy tube skirts, I bought a cute pastel pink one from supre.
In my video you'll notice a pair of pink and a pair of lilac pants pop up a few times. These are chinos from Cotton On, I bought the pink pair a few sizes up (yay elastic waists) and end up going back and getting the lilac ones as well. Absolutely loved them.
BRA'S - I tried both cotton on bras and bonds. The verdict was that cotton on had a lot more of a cute range but not nearly as comfy as bonds. They had underwear in a maternity bra..... terrible terrible idea. I've now hit a point where I am too large for bonds maternity so if anyone has any suggestions for G/H cup bras please comment below!
UNDIES - Again tried both the cotton on and bonds maternity both were great. I would recommend going with cotton. But by the end the best underwear you can wear is men's, like the cotton boy leg ones, they just fit so much better and are so much comfier.
FOOTWEAR - If you have read more than one of my blog posts you will be pretty familiar with the fact that I love shoes, particularly sneakers. Something absolutely devastating happened during my pregnancy, my shoes did not fit.... My feet were so hot and swollen and the only thing that I could cram them in and not feel 100 degrees were my slides. I lived in them my whole pregnancy.
Here are some cute ones :
HOT TIP
You might not have your pre pregnancy body back for a while, might never have it back, might not want it back. It is good to factor in whether or not you can feed (if you are planning on breast feeding) in the pregnancy clothing you purchase so that you can get more longevity out of them.
xx
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