Maternity brands?

[BeccaB.]

Which maternity brands do you think are the best and most worth the price? We have motherhood maternity nearby but when I bought that brand for my last pregnancy the shirts didn't seem to hold up in the wash well. I bought a pair of jeans from Old Navy. Anyone have an opinion on their maternity clothes?

[mikala]

Some of my favorite items last time around were from great sales at Gap and Pea in the Pod.

Motherhood Maternity quality is hit or miss. I generally try to avoid them because of their return policy and because they usually try to do an annoying hard sell. No, really, I do just want one pair of jeans and I don't want to give you my phone number, email address, due date and blood type to get on a million mailing lists.

That said, some Macy's stores also sell a smaller selection of Motherhood and Pea in the Pod stuff without the annoying salespeople and sometimes better sales.

Old Navy quality has also been hit or miss for me and is similar to the quality of their regular clothes and probably comparable to Motherhood. It generally holds up one season and anything more than that is a pleasant surprise.

Oddly enough JC Penney also had some cute stuff that wore well. Target is hit or miss but also had a few good pieces. Kohl's has a line made by Motherhood that tended to be hit or miss and similar to Old Navy quality.

[Liziz]

The cost was higher than I would have liked, but I really liked the Gap maternity pants I bought. I've managed to get to a month before my due date with only one pair of maternity pants for work (thank you, bella band!), so I've definitely gotten my money's worth out of the one pair I bought from Gap. They've worn well and quality has been good. I've also found that although it's very hit or miss, you can get some really good deals on the clearance racks there (the only thing I bought full-price from Gap was the pants).

[MamaSnoo]

I have bought motherhood on clearance from Macy's. The quality is only fair IMO, but the clearance pricing was good (less than $20 per top for work clothes).

I just ordered a few clearance items from Pea in a Pod. They are very nice, but the full retail was waaaaaayyyy too much IMO for maternity, esp as this will be my last kiddo.

I have been satisfied with my ON denim (1 pair BJs, 1 skirt). My other ON maternity clothes have been disappointing.

I think JCP must be hit or miss because my local store has nothing (literally a very tiny department), but I hear positive things from others about different stores. The quality on the few things I have picked up from JCP (mostly tees) has been good.

Gap has been great for work clothes- I really like my perfect pants and a couple dresses I got there. I think their casual stuff is too $$.

[TxCat]

I loved the Gap for maternity. I thought it held up really, really well and was super comfy too.

[vludmilla]

Isabella Oliver. It was expensive but the clothes were beautiful and didn't fade, pill, or stretch out. I always felt fantastic when I wore those clothes.

[mommylamb]

Most of the new stuff I got this pregnancy came from Next. I really love their kids clothes, and figured I'd try their maternity line and I really like it. It's pretty reasonable price wise, and more stylish than a lot of other maternity brands (I hate motherhood). http://www.nextdirect.com/us/en/shopping/women-maternity/maternity/1

[goldenpig]

Japanese Weekend! It's on the expensive side but stylish and held up well through two pregnancies (I even wore it in between because I liked it so much) :bag If I ever had another baby I could still wear them a third time.
I also got things from Gap too. They seemed a cut above Old Navy in terms of quality.

[BDKmom]

My stuff seems to be a hodge-podge of all of the above. From Gap, most of what I have is tops, as those seem to go on sale often. Their long-sleeved tees are my favorite. Very comfortable, hold up to washes and reasonably priced ($12 each on sale). Have some LS tees from target that shrunk pretty badly. I found some great jeans at Kohl's. My JCP doesn't seem to have a very good selection, or at least the stuff is NMS. I do like shopping at Macy's b/c you get the pea in a pod and motherhood stuff without the sales people. My motherhood dresses from last pregnancy were great, inexpensive and held up well, but I hate the pants from there. I like the casual, cargo-style pants from ON, but that is all I have gotten from there.

I find that I am well-stocked in casual wear, but have a hard time finding nicer things to wear to work or church, especially for winter. Thankfully, my workplace is pretty casual and easy-going. I can get away with nice jeans, tanks and cardigans, stuff like that. May have to try out some of the Next stuff that mommylamb linked to.

[wallawala]

If your looking for higher end, nice work clothes...

Ann Taylor Loft- variable, some great stuff and some crap

Japanese Weekend- has a lot of nice options. Good nursing clothes

Olian-a bit pricey, but high quality, unique, and my favorite!!

I used these mainly for work where people tend to dress UP! High heels almost exculsively, and no such thing as casual fridays. Most people were not in suits, but there is nothing at old navy maternity I could wear to work without being called out...

I found a lot of variety at consignment shops, and definately found all the maternity clothes in a season tended to blend a bit too much, so consignment offered clothes from other years... and I mean that in a good way.

Jeans.. Serfontaine were my favorite maternity purchase. Yes I spent $200 on maternity jeans, and they were SOO worth it. Nothing like being hot, huge, and miserable, and have your husband ask "what jeans are those? You look great!". They lasted through 2 pregnancies and I wore them from about 12 weeks all the way through the end. Great for those weeks post-partum when you belly hasn't shrunk back yet. I wore them after work instead of sweatpants, and every day on the weekend. LOVED those!!

[pomegranate]

I liked Gap Maternity a lot. Japanese Weekend for work. Also some Old Navy and Motherhood, but these didn't hold up as well.

[AnnieW625]

Most of my stuff came from The Gap, Liz Lange (Target), and Japanese Weekend. My favorite jeans were $100 from Japanese Weekend. I bought two pairs and they lasted through 2/1/2 pregnancies. Nothing from Pea In A Pod worked, it was just sized funny. I did find a few things each time like cotton sweaters at Motherhood, and are both still wearable now if they needed to be. Old Navy had some nice tee shirts.

[lizzywednesday]

I lived in my dresses from ON and Gap though I had a lot of l/s tees from ON ... and my MIL gave me tops from Motherhood for Christmas. I bought tights by Assets at Target.

I was able to hand everything down to a friend, except for one cardigan because it was THE lintiest thing I have ever worn. (Black, open cascade style from Motherhood at Macy's.)

I bought 2 pairs of jeans from Motherhood online because they carried tall (I can't wear regular length pants) with full panel (I was more comfy in full-panel pants) but I ended up wearing a lot of long tees and yoga pants through the early part of my pregnancy, so YMMV.

I'm pretty sure I won't be able to get away with yoga pants for 6 months with the next kid, but I think I'll try. (I wore 4 pairs of C9 by Champion from Target.)

The one "nice" item I had was the dress I bought for my brother's wedding - on sale, free shipping from Nordstrom's - that was by Ripe Maternity.

[sntm]

Japanese weekend is very comfortable and enduring. I like my Rosie Pope stuff too but early to tell. The Isabella Oliver stuff is great, but pricey and their customer service sucks. Bodensee has gorgeous maternity stuff, trying to keep from buying it.

[mimi2008]

I wasn't willing to spend much on maternity clothes since it was only going to be used for <1yr. I bought stuff from Target, Ann Taylor loft maternity (on sale), and gap/oN maternity as people suggested. I also bought tops from the juniors department (shirts with empire waist were in back then-- perfect for growing belly) in macy's and kohl's. I agree, motherhood clothing was very flimsy/thin material, not worth the money.

I used the maternity band a lot so I could still get away with my regular pants until 3rd trimester hit.

[hoodlims]

GAP for jeans. I got a great deal on them. The GAP maternity by my house is inside the GAP Kids store, so when GAP kids was running their "Buy one jean, get the other for $10", I jumped on it. They honored that deal for their maternity jeans too, because it was in store. I believe the jeans ran around $70 or $80 each, and I got the second for $10.

On my second pregnancy I did split the crotch on one of them at about 36 weeks. Yah, that was sad, but I am going to blame it on the friend who borrowed them in between for twins. Except, she bounced back with her flat stomach about 3 weeks post partum. :)

[Kira's Mommy]

Isabella Oliver. It was expensive but the clothes were beautiful and didn't fade, pill, or stretch out. I always felt fantastic when I wore those clothes.

Yeah that.

They are insanely expensive so I had to come up with several reasons as to why I 'deserved it' :D:
- I only bought stuff that I could imagine myself wearing after pregnancy
- I have to look reasonably nice for work, even when pregnant
- I didn't buy any nice maternity pieces for myself when I was pregnant with DD and felt like the poor quality maternity clothes made it even more uncomfortable to be pregnant