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Monday, March 15, 2010

Maternity Clothes, Oh My!



For those of you who have been pregnant, you know there's an exciting moment in your life when you realize you've been handed a guaranteed shopping spree. That is, unless you plan on living your life in sweats and hubby's t-shirts.

I remember that moment when I was pregnant with my first child. I was 18 weeks pregnant, and hubby walked into my office one day, looked at me, and said, "You look like a hoochy. Buy some maternity clothes."

Well, after I had myself a good cry, that's exactly what I did. I headed off to JC Penny's, credit card in hand. I brought my little sister along, b/c a girl doesn't like to shop alone. And I love shopping!
Two hours later, we left, frustrated. I had two sweaters and two shirts to show for my efforts, and they didn't fit very well. See, there's this problem: I'm small. I look like a pregnant teenager. And guess what? They don't make junior-size maternity clothes. I checked.

I needed clothes for work, so I ended up buying a bunch of the generic V-neck, blocky, tie-in-the-back shirts. I rotated between about five of them, enough to get me through the work week. They worked fine. I made it through that pregnancy.

With my second pregnancy, I wanted more clothes. Fresher clothes. I won a $100 gift card to Motherhood Maternity, and I thought that would be the place for me.

WRONG. Do they think every pregnant woman has a D cup??? Well, they don't. I spent all of my gift card, but avoided those clothes for the majority of the pregnancy. Pity.

Then I discovered this awesome store. It's called Generation X, and guess what--they have junior-size maternity clothes!!! At decent prices! I'm not sure who their target clientele is, but I was one of them.
We moved away from Utah, away from Generation X and its fabulous clothes. And now I'm in my third pregnancy. I unpacked my pregnancy clothes and decided all the blocky clothes from pregnancy #1 were out. Bye-bye. And Motherhood Maternity? Yikes. No go.

Time for new clothes! My mom and I hit the road, determined to find a store that had great clothes for small women.

We didn't. The closest we came to was Kohl's, which had some cute clothes for Motherhood prices ($25-$30 a top--not a bargain). I bought two. Everyone said Old Navy had some, but not the one in my town. Even Gap Maternity was too--matronly.

A bit discouraged, I turned to the internet. I always hesitate to buy clothes online because I can't try them on. But I did a search, and found Kiki's fashions.

The prices were great. And the clothes were darling. Still, I hesitated to buy. I sent them an email, and they emailed me back, saying anything that doesn't fit is returnable within 14 days with tags still on it.
So I did it. I bought. As soon as the clothes arrived, I tried them on. Not only did they all fit, but they are darling!!! I couldn't be happier. Here's a dress I got for $10.



and this shirt, only in black, for $16.

Keep in mind, the inventory is always changing. I shouldn't have gone back to find those pictures. Now I want to shop some more!

Anyone else have a hard time finding cute maternity clothes? Or is it just me?


20 comments:

Mary Gray said...

OH the D cup issue at Motherhood drives me nuts. I LOVE that gray top. Bring it to the conference!!

Tamara Hart Heiner said...

I'm sure I will! I'll be bringing my best clothes!

Carolina M. Valdez Schneider said...

Shopping for maternity clothes was always a nightmare for me. I have similar issues being smaller. Not fun. These clothes are really cute, though.

But why are these people so shiny??

Unknown said...

I have a hard time finding cute normal clothes. I LOVE my maternity clothes. I'm glad you found something you like and congrats on pregnancy #3!!

sarahjayne smythe said...

That grey top is great. It's been twenty years since I was pregnant, and I just remember taking whatever I could find to get me through. There definitely wasn't anything cute going on.

Tamara Hart Heiner said...

Carolina, LOL. They're mannequins!

Sarahjayne--the wonders of our day and age!

Jordan said...

I've found that most Target maternity tops run a bit small (for me anyway), and they're not super expensive. Their pants also ran really short (but maybe it was just during that stupid low-rise craze that I was shopping there).

You might have to look really hard, but Ross also has some cute stuff (shopped there for maternity clothes in NC and UT with some luck).

Good luck!

Tamara Hart Heiner said...

Jordan--I've heard that Target has nice maternity clothes. I will definitely have to check there--when I need another shopping fix!

Kate said...

I have the opposite problem. I'm on the tall side (for maternity clothes anyway). Everything is too short. Do I really want to show off the nice stretchy tummy panel on my pants? The dresses get shorter and shorter the closer I get to my due date. And where can I find pants/capris that stay up?

I'm definitely checking out that website. Thanks!

Tamara Hart Heiner said...

oh Kate! I'm laughing at the thought of you showing off your maternity mid-riff. Even on me, the dresses are too short! It's hard to find long ones. I think I ordered the only long one on the site! I stay away from maternity pants. Never had any luck. I didn't order any from this site, but if you do and they work, let me know!

I hope you find some tops that work!

Amber said...

So, Tamara, do you still have those Motherhood Maternity clothes?? Cuz...they DO fit me. ;) I LOVE that store! They're just so pricy! I actually out grew their clothes...lol. But good luck to you! You are a tiny girl!

Mary E Campbell said...

I have the opposite problem. I'm too big even for the maternity clothes. To me - all the maternity clothes look like they're made for tiny little pregnant teenagers.

Tana said...

I'm SO glad you found cute and affordable maternity clothes! My first pregnancy I had two dresses by the end!! I'll never forget that I still cringe when I see pictures.

Tamara Hart Heiner said...

Amber--Mother and I actually talked about that! She said they might fit you. I was like, "Does Amber want maternity clothes right now?" Sure, girl! You can have them!

Really, Mary? This website I used has plus sizes. Maybe there would be something for you?

That's how I am looking back at those old clothes from pregnancy #1, T. Anne. Yuck!

Lothiriel said...

I shopped at Motherhood formy clothes, and they were expensive. this website looks awesome!!

Unknown said...

oh man, I'm in the "D cup is too small for pregnancy" category. all those maternity clothes fit fine at first, but as I got bigger, I could barely get them over my chest. Especially when i started nursing; I couldn't wear ANY of my cute maternity clothes because they all squished me! Way to go on finding some cute things! I'd love to see belly pics... hint hint...

Tamara Hart Heiner said...

I don't have any belly pics yet! Nobody's even guessed I'm pregnant!

Dianna said...

You and I are very similar builds so I know EXACTLY how you feel. The only difference is that by 8 weeks, you can tell I'm pregnant and by 10 weeks I'm in maternity jeans for the long haul. By 20 weeks I start getting questions like, "How many more weeks?" Yeah, 5 months. I'll have to send you a link to my post about maternity clothes drama. Oh, and a D cup? I'm barely a B and thats breast feeding! I always have to special order nursing bras online. Do they thing every mom is a double E?

Tamara Hart Heiner said...

Amen, Dianna! You and I are so the same! I had to special order the 'A' cup for my Medella pump when I was nursing Jacen b/c the B cup was killing me! I'm a B when nursing and love it. I maintain my teeny little A the whole pregnancy! ha ha!

Tamara Hart Heiner said...

Hi Carina! I'd love to take a look at your clothes! Thanks for the link!

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