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I'm not TTC yet either, but I've browsed maternity clothes on various websites for next year when I am.
6pm.com and OldNavy.com have some cute, affordable options.
I've bought a lot of my work clothes from Old Navy and Motherhood Maternity. I haven't had any success with finding maternity pants that are long enough for me yet, but am only planning to get a pair of tan and a pair of black. Dresses seem to be the easiest for me, and I have 4 maternity dresses so far. I'll probably get a few more because I have a feeling that when I hit 8 months, that's what I'll live in at work.
I'm almost 5 months and am still wearing my "fat" work pants, with a be band to hold them up. And have been trying to buy tops that can do double-duty for work and casual (plain ts or tanks that I can cover with a work-appropriate cardigan).
I have probably spent $1,000 on maternity clothing - it's a lot, but unfortunately I was in a bella band/ maternity pants at 9 weeks and work in a law office where I needed to look put together and professional. None of my pre-pregnancy styles worked on me either so i needed to get lots of new long tops and sweaters, etc. The $1,000 includes clothing that my mother purchased for me (around $250 worth) - I think I have 5 pants, 2 skirts, 2 dresses, 7 long tops/blouses, 7 thin sweaters, and some long tshirts/camisoles to wear under stuff. I need to wear suits for work occasionally, but I usually just wear a dress with a blazer over it (unbottoned). I am able to wear some of my long open cardigan sweaters with long tops. I didn't make an effort to go to consignment stores or anything but I bet I could have done it for cheaper. I did buy everything on sale (Gap, Old Navy, Destination Maternity, Target). Also, I didn't really buy "work" and casual clothes - pretty much everything I bought (with the exception of jeans) I wear on the weekends too. I'm 5 monhts pregnant and am probably set through pregnancy.
everybody's pregnancy is different. I was able to wear my regular clothes until about 19 weeks. I stuck to low rise pants that I could buttong under my belly and I used an elastic band in the button hole. I am currently 27 weeks and have only purchased on pair of maternity pants for work because two of my pre-pregnancy pants still fit me if I wear my bella band. I bought a few long shirts in a couple of sizes up from kohls and target and those fit me fine even though they arent maternity shirts. Overall I havent spen much on maternity work clothes.
I've been wearing my regular suit jackets, open, with maternity pants. The maternity blouses (which are longer and bump-friendly have also been key in bridging the gap. I also have belly bands and wear about 2 pairs of my old work pants with that, but maternity pants are MUCH more comfortable. IF you can afford 5 pairs of pants and 5 blouses that would be great. For me, I got most of my clothes from my aunt, so you just might even get some maternity hand-me-downs. (So I've only spent $100 but I have much more than that).
PS. If you start to buy longer shirts that you like from regular stores now, they will be great through your pregnancy. On the weekend I live in leggings and long sweaters.
Maybe about $100? I am pretty lucky in that my office is business casual. I bought a pair of black maternity pants that I hated. My SIL loaned me three pairs of black maternity pants and I wore those instead, along with one pair of relaxed fit pre-pregnancy work pants that made it through the entire 9 months, so I just rotated the four pairs. On top I just wore non maternity button up shirts and polos in larger sizes. I had to buy those, but since they were non maternity and from Old Navy/Target sale racks, they were under $10 each. We have casual fridays where we could wear jeans.
FYI- this was in no way a good look for me and I didn't stick to non maternity clothing because I was too proud. Probably just biting the bullet and wearing maternity tops would have been much more flattering than an XL polo. But I was (and still am) super, super cheap.
I was fortunate enough to borrow clothes from friends who have had babies recently. Most of the clothes weren't my style, but it definitely helped to have them instead of spending tons of money on the clothes.
I bought my pants (2 jeans, 2 dressy/work) from Motherhood and I bought most of my shirts from Motherhood or Old Navy. Walmart also has some maternity clothes online and they're much cheapert than the other places. Keep in mind, your belly doesn't "really" come in until around 5 months. Until then, you can probably get away with using a Bella Band or maternity pants and a bigger shirt.
I think it depends on the office. Mine is more of a business casual environment. I've been getting away with purchasing one pair of black maternity work pants, 1 pair of maternity jeans, 2 pairs of maternity leggings.
My typical work outfit are the black pants with tank tops and open cardigans, non maternity empire dresses with maternity leggings.
In addition to how formal your office is, I think it also depends on the season. In summertime, I think you can get by with more sundresses with cardigans, etc. In the winter, you might need more tops.
As for me, I bought 1 pair of jeans, 1 pair of black pants, adn 1 pair of gray pants, which I will alternate at work. (I can wear jeans if I dress them up.). I think I'll probably buy one more pair of jeans since I'll be waring them to work and on the weekends.
As for tops, I'm buying a few maternity clothes, but will also be wearing regular tops too, in larger sizes. Luckily, the oversized, drape look is in style!
I will definitely be buying some non-maternity sundresses for March-July (I'm due in July). That way they will be comfortable and I will be able to wear them post-baby too!
@Goldilocks1107: I know that A Pea in the Pod is expensive, but they have super long jeans there. And they have jeans that go on sale for about $49 or $59. You might want to look into that if you can't find jeans/pants that are long enough.
Oh, and make sure to buy things that are super flexible and useable, like maternity leggings. These are great to wear with long tops AND with dresses, so you get a lot of use out of them. And cardigans- you can wear them over most tops.
And I decided to buy maternity clothes early. I'm 14.5 weeks and I can still fit into my "fat" jeans when they are unbuttoned with a rubberband. But they get uncomfortable when I sit at my desk all day. So I will be wearing my maternity clothes soon. That way, I get as much use out of them as possible. I think it is worse when you buy them at 7 months, because then you REALLY don't get much use!
One thing I'd recommend is to start investing now in some wrap and empire waisted dresses, if that's appropriate for your office. Wrap dresses are so versatile, and a lot of mine I could wear from the beginning of pregnancy all the way through the end. I also don't like maternity collared work shirts very much (I feel like, by the end, the bottoms are always too short), but flowy/empire waisted tops should also cover you through the majority of your pregnancy.
I'd say I spent about $150 on maternity clothes with my daughter (mostly from Motherhood Maternity and Old Navy). With this second pregnancy, I was lucky enough to get a ton of hand-me-downs form a couple girlfriends, so I ended up with a whole new wardrobe for $0.
Do you have any friends who have been pregnant recently? Then you might be able to borrow some of their maternity clothes. Unfortunately, that didn't work for me b/c the friend who I was counting on got pregnant again right when I did. So far I've gotten away with only purchasing 2 pairs of work pants, 2 pencil skirts, a pair of trouser jeans, and one button-down blouse. Many of my old shirts and sweaters still work, and I've been wearing a lot of dresses in non-maternity sizes that are either empire waist or don't have a defined waist line.
Unfortunately, now that I'm hitting 30 weeks I think I'm going to need to purchase a few more tops, but I can probably just get away with maternity t-shirts and wear my regular cardigans over them. I dress business casual for work btw, so you might need to invest some more $$ if your office is more formal.
I work in a business casual office and I'll probably end up spending around $1,000. The bella band didn't work for me so I'll probably end up spending more than most. I have gotten jeans, brown and black work pants, dresses, and shirts. I agree with the earlier poster and start picking up longer shirts earlier. Most of the maternity shirts are too big early on and you are better off with longer regular shirts. I'm officially in maternity clothes at week 14. My BFF was able to extend the life of most of her pants by using the bella band. So, it really depends on what works for you and what is comfortable.
I'm not even pregnant and I worry about this all the time! I have to wear a suit everyday, so I know when the time comes I'll have to spend a bunch of money on maternity suits that I won't wear for very long... SO annoying!
I guess I could just buy maternity pants and use the jackets I already have, but then I feel like people would judge me for not having matching tops and bottoms. I don't know what I'm going to do!
Oh, I've probably spent around $400 so far on my maternity clothes (including work, casual and a swimsuit). Since I still need work pants (or at least skirts or more dresses) I figure I'll end up spending around $800 total.
Agree with other people's votes to get longer flowier non maternity tops. I was able to wear these until I was about 16 weeks (then had to switch to full on maternity tops). Also, agree that the season makes a big difference. If it were summer I think many of my tops and dresses would have worked and I wouldn't have needed so much maternity clothing.
It also kind of depends on what your style of dress is. I bought 2 pairs of jeans, a pair of grey, black, and brown dress pants (I work in a school). I did not buy any maternity tops as I was able to wear regular, longer tops in a bigger size (I had to accommodate a much larger chest as well), but that's mainly because I was ok with belly hugging, accentuating tops. I did not want anything flowy as I felt like it made me look much bigger than I wanted. I waited until I needed clothes rather than buy ahead of the time because you just never know what is going to fit or how you are going to expand. Also, if you have resale shops (like a Clothes Mentor) you can find maternity clothes in great shape or with tags still attached. I found several items on Ebay, new with tags.
Thank you so much everyone for offering your experiences and giving me a great idea of what to shop for when I am buying maternity clothes for the office.
I also didn't even think to start stocking up on longer, non-maternity tops. I do have a few dresses and longer sweaters and blouses that likely would double as maternity wear. I have a smaller chest, so I doubt my chest would expand so significantly that they wouldn't fit (hopefully).
Anyone else have maternity wear shopping experiences to share? Most of the women I personally know in the past several years who have been pregnant either stay at home or work in casual environments, so they likely wouldn't have much for me to borrow, unfortunately :(.
I have had a lot of luck at Savers, which is a department thrift store. The one near me ALWAYS has maternity tops, and they are usually brand new from Old Navy or Motherhood. I've gotten most of my tops there for under $7. I also got a black Motherhood dress from there. Most of the tops that I buy can be worn at work or on the weekend. I can wear a t-shirt with a sweater or blazer over it at work and that it's usually fine.
As for pants, I bought 2 pairs of black pants from Motherhood, and I switch them out during the week and then wash them on the weekend. If you find an Old Navy near you that has maternity in the store, you can usually find good things on clearance. All in all, I haven't spent all that much and most of the things that I've bought have been pretty simple and can be worn again in my next pregnancy!
@bluebonnet: The non-matching jacket-pant thing you might get over when you're like "I need something to wear". There were a few jackets of mine that I couldn't figure out how to match with the more-specific-looking jackets. I wear some of my black jackets twice in a week because of this. Horray for black jackets and black pants. (And yes, my standards for 'matching' have dropped significantly. I am sure people understand. )
I didn't read everyone's comments so I apologize if this is redundant but I have spent probably about $300-$500, plus I borrowed some clothes from a friend. I have to look professional every day for work though, so it was a necessity. I did buy most stuff from Gap, on sale, as well as Old Navy and Motherhood Maternity/Pee in the Pod (sale items). I don't recommend Motherhood, most of my stuff from there has been poorly-made. I've done a lot of sewing to my maternity clothes already. Gap's been the best quality. I also try to wear as much non-maternity as I can, which at 33.5 weeks, mostly only now includes a few long shirts I had, and a few sweater dresses that I now wear as regular sweaters. I also do wear some non-maternity cardigans. Oh yeah, I also bought some stuff at a yard sale. Unfortunately, I thought I was done, but my pants have all gotten kind of tight and uncomfortable, so I recently just bought 2 pairs of work pants in huge sizes from Target. They are so much more comfortable and should last the rest of the pregnancy. I'd recommend buying looser pants than you think you need, even though it sucks, at least you won't have to have multiple sizes within your pregnancy wardrobe.
Like previous posters have said, I think everyone is different.
I am almost six months pregnant and have not had to buy a single pair of maternity pants. I wear my bella band with everything (it was only like 14 bucks). I do own a pair of maternity leggings, though.
I have maybe spent $40 on maternity shirts, like two sweaters and one shirt from H&M. Everything else still fits me. Don't get me wrong, I definitely have a bump, but for some reason I can still fit in all my stuff.
Take a look at thrift stores! I thrift alot to re-sell, and most stores will have a seperate spot for maternity. And since most women wear the stuff for such a short amout of time, it looks brand new! Also, look around for children's resale shops (once upon a child, kid to kid, etc) some of them carry maternity clothes used, so you won't spend a fortune!
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I feel a little stupid asking this, since we're not technically TTC yet. But I will likely be interning when we are TTC, and I am trying to get a rough idea of how much we should budget for/save.
For those of you who work in an office/professional setting, how much do you think you spent on maternity clothes for work? How far along were you when you could no longer wear your regular work clothing? And approximately what did you buy (since I'd be wearing the clothes for such a short length of time, it seems like I wouldn't need very many separates - maybe just a few pairs of black or brown slacks and several shirts/blouses? I doubt I would invest in maternity pant suits)?
I'm more concerned about budgeting for appropriate work clothing, because I'm sure I could be more thrifty when shopping for casual/sportswear stuff for home.