What am I supposed to wear?

[Karenn]

I'm in that awkward stage where my regular clothes don't fit, but my maternity clothes are way to big. Last time, I borrowed a bunch of clothes one size up from my very fashionable friend who had just lost a bunch of weight. Well, this time, I STARTED one size up so I don't have that option! :(

I have minimal fashion sense. Please help me. I don't need to look professional since I'm at home with DS, but I'd like to at least look presentable. I tend to dress fairly conservativly- boot cut jeans are still a "new" fashion thing for me. I have one pair that I wear when I'm feeling especially bold. I'm willing to branch out though- I just want to look decent. Can I look decent in sweats? Any other suggestions?

[August Mom]

LOL. Karen, you and I have the same hipness factor, I think. I just got my first pair of boot cut jeans.

I found that pants/skirts with an elasticized waist were great for this stage. I bought some fleece pants with elastic and a drawstring for casual wear and had a few decent pairs of slacks and two skirts with elastic waists for work. I also just wore regular sweaters and blazers but didn't button them all the way down. And, for tops, I just wore extra strechy ones. It worked! For spring, I've noticed quite a few drawstring/elastic pants and capris in the stores BTW.

Good luck!

ETA Sweatsuits seem very in this year, especially ones in fun colors and with hooded jackets.

[tarahsolazy]

I bought a few pairs of casual pants two sizes bigger than usual, and now I'm wearing them again, post-partum. I also wore french terry, strechy kind of cargo sweats with straight legs. These were great, I wore them all the way through pregnancy, and can still wear them now.

[amp]

I don't know that I look "decent" in sweats, but I do wear knit pants, yoga pants, sweat pants most days. I barely even wear jeans anymore. Anything with a flexible elastic waist is my friend. Has been that way since I was pregnant, and I ain't changin' it now! I live in knit pants and short or long sleeve knit tees.

[trumansmom]

What worked for me:

Liz Lange at Target - very reasonable, but a bit trendy.

Gap Maternity - I've lived in the yoga pants from about 8 weeks on.

Lands End- more conservative and GREAT quality. Many of their pants don't have panels, so it's easy to adjust the elastic to a smaller size. Their stretch twills are WONDERFUL! And I've been surprised how well their shirts have worked for me. They were among the first maternity shirts I started wearing, but still fit great now at 38 weeks.

Babystyle.com - they usually have a lot of transitional clothing, and while they can be spendy, their outlet page is usually pretty good.

Good luck!
Jeanne
Mom to Truman 11/29/01 and EDD 4/23/04!

[tinkerbell1217]

Well, Gap maternity has great jeans and styles for the beginning with no panel or a demi panel that is really comfy. They can get expensive so look for whats on sale or clearance. I love the demi panels, I have been wearing them since about 8 wks and they fit great and look great! Babystyle also has some transitional styles too with no panel or just stretchy material instead of a panel that goes over the tummy like regular pants. Phooey on low rise, let my stomach be covered up!!! Gap is truly my favorite though. I want to be comfortable so I will spend a little extra. BUT, I almost always buy on sale or clearance from these places. Motherhood also has a few styles that are no panel and drawstrings (the linen ones are great!). Plain polo style tops are nice and they have nice shorts too with drawstrings. Or plain vneck tees and solid color tanks. Lands End also makes nice clothes too. I haven't actually bought anything from them yet though.

Hope that helps!

Kelly

[Vajrastorm]

Nicer than sweats but still very casual - Land's End Yoga pants. I wore them pre-pg, all through pg, post pg and now that I'm back to pre-pg size. They are easy to "scooch" down as the belly grows, and they wash wonderfully (mine still look great over a year later, I have several pairs)

[Karenn]

OK, now I feel much better! Thank you for pointing me in the right direction. For some reason, (probably the same reason that I added 24 + 24 yesterday and got 24, *pregnancy brain!*) I hadn't really considered elastic waistband pants. My Land's End catalog came yesterday and there does seem to be a bunch of stuff that would work. I'm off to peruse their website!

[Momof3Labs]

I had a pair of non-maternity knit pants in one size up that tied at the waist (had a bit of elastic, too) and they literally fit me until I had Colin (unlike most of my maternity pants), so I highly recommend that style for the in-between stage - they are great for post-partum, too!

[hellosmiletoday]

At the beginning I would wear my jeans and khakis with the top button undone with the rubberband trip...I'm short so most of my shirts easily covered up the button. I had this one pair of black pants from Limited that zipped on the side...but I didnt zip them all the way ...I wore those even after my 4th month. Then I used a pair of black and gray "yoga" pants from Oldnavy Maternity that are nice b/c they are made out of more dressy material, and dont look like jogging pants at all.

[C99]

Oh I remember this stage well. When you have the compulsion to tell complete strangers that you are "pregnant -- not fat"! When I was in this stage, I started wearing the OK maternity pants from Japanese Weekend. (Everyone carries that style now so you'll have more options than paying $68 for JWO pants to wear around the house.) The wide elastic band was so comfortable when nothing else fit and I didn't have enough of a belly for regular maternity pants!