Okay, I’ll be honest here. When I was expecting baby A., I wasn’t exactly a fashion maven. Most of my maternity clothes came from graciously donated and loved maternity wear from co-workers and family members. There were functional pieces in there and even some beautiful dresses, but I still didn’t really have a maternity wear flow. Since I was more interested with comfort than fashion, I kind of allowed my wardrobe to diminish. Even a supervisor commented how he missed the business suits and flair I was known for when I became pregnant. I felt no insult because so did I. When I confirmed that S. and I were expecting this baby, I made a decision that I was going to find cute, functional, and budget friendly maternity pieces that would flatter my bump and keep my moods high. Thankfully, the Internet is filled with great suggestions and I’ve been having a great time sensibly stocking up!
So, let’s be clear. It doesn’t make sense to me to spend gobs of money on clothing that I will only be wearing for a few months or more. (Seriously, I can’t justify spending $115 on a maxi dress when I can find an equally cute one from Amazon for $30.) While I popped EARLY last time, I’ve managed to hit 18 weeks this time and a lot of people are still giving me the quizzical eye as to whether I’m just gaining weight or am preggers. I recently started searching for cute and functional pieces and haven’t been disappointed.
Burlington (formerly Burlington Coat Factory)
This was one of my first stops. I really like Burlington clothes. The clothes lasts for quite a while and are great quality. The clothes are stylish and very budget-friendly. I have purchased clothes for all of my family here, so it was a no brainer to drop by their site to see if there was anything that caught my eye.
I tend to wear a lot of pant suits and pant separates at work. I’ve been fortunate to have business pants that still fit, as well as a few maternity pants that work well in business attire. However, I had very few down time attire. You know what I mean. Things to wear to choir rehearsal, to take the kids to the park, to run errands in. I’ve been doing pretty well in oversized shirts, but when I saw these, I absolutely had to have them. Add that they were on sale and I received rebates from Ebates.com and I was sold. I bought two cute runaround shirts and a pair of maternity panel jeans for $34. That’s not bad at all!
Amazon
I know a lot of people aren’t fans of purchasing clothes online without trying them on first, but Amazon has been pretty great to me about the choices I’ve made. However, they do have an option now that will allow you to “try before you buy” for 5 days. You pick out the clothes, have them sent to you see, send back what you don’t like or doesn’t fit and pay for/keep what you do. I haven’t tried this feature yet, but it’s a nice idea.
Anyway, remember when I mentioned wearing business suit pants. I saw these and fell head over heels in love with them.
