To my non pregnant friends (and ones without kids): Maternity clothes are expensive.
Here are a few tips that I have assembled that will save you quite a bit of money.
Here are a few tips that I have assembled that will save you quite a bit of money.
- Shop the maternity racks for dresses and tops now (and pants and shorts if you are brave). I have at least 5 or 6 dresses that I bought on clearance racks for $5 of $6, that would have cost me $35 or $40 if I bought them full price. The Target clearance rack is a jackpot of beautiful clothing. Kohl’s can also have some sales; they are hit or miss.
- Buy dresses that are roomy in the waist and chest. I have 4 or 5 dresses that are non maternity that I still wear and will for a few more months.
- Buy shirts that are a little bit roomy, but also make sure they are long. Roomy short shirts will not work as your stomach expands; they also need to be long. Empire waist shirts are wonderful.
- Find pregnancy leggings on sale or else roll the tops down (or buy low rise) normal leggings. $24 for maternity leggings is not happening!!
- Motherhood Maternity has the best (super comfy) nursing bras (and they are cheap on sale). They have sales at department stores and at the outlets.
- Lastly, borrow if you can. Jeanne lent me a pair of maternity jeans, which are so comfortable (I have worn them every Friday for casual Friday (the last 3 weeks) because the GAP jeans I bought are a bit too big still). Linnea sent me her maternity pea coat (in purple, my favorite color) and Jeanne lent me her pea coat (in black, so classy). So, I will be warm this winter. Bring on the snow.
I should have been buying maternity clothes before hand! I can't stand having to wear maternity clothes. I never find ANYTHING that fits me or flatters me. I definitely liked being BIG pregnant in the winter opposed to being BIG pregnant in the summer. Finding cute pregnant clothes for hot weather is next to impossible!
ReplyDeleteJcpenney has really comfortable long sleeve maternity shirts. They were $8 last year and I think I had one for every day of the week! I wore several non maternity dresses my whole pregnancy.
ReplyDeleteJcpenney has really comfortable long sleeve maternity shirts. They were $8 last year and I think I had one for every day of the week! I wore several non maternity dresses my whole pregnancy.
ReplyDeletethat's good optimistic thinking, and I'm so glad you were doing it. But I tend to try and always be prepared for the worst case scenario, so although I always thought it would be smart to stock up on maternity clothes in advance, there was always a chance God wouldn't give us kids, you know? you never know until you try :) and I didn't want to not only waste money but also deal with heartbreaking disappointment of having all these cute baby bump clothes and not be able to use them... but it's just me and my weird philosophy... On the brighter side, I'm so glad God gave us a baby :)))
ReplyDeleteoh, and I didn't pay full price for any of the few maternity items that I bought. I was able to wear a lot of my regular clothes, especially roll up skirts and stretchy t-shirts. Regular leggins from Target for $8 or smth like that worked great. JCPenney, Boscov's and Sears have great deals if you're lucky. Got a maternity swimsuit top for under $2 and a few cute shirts for under $5. That's for the next one. Now I'm allowing myself to be more optimistic :)
ReplyDeleteDasha I had the same philosophy!! but I should have also done that for baby clothes!! They were really depressing to have around after we lost the first
ReplyDelete-linnea
But God was so gracious towards us with the birth of TWO precious girls!!! PTL
ReplyDelete-linnea
good knowledge to store away
ReplyDelete