Why Is It So Hard To Find Cheap Maternity Wear?

It would seem that the majority of the the population have pre-conceived ideas about maternity wear. The misconceptions include:

It's not fashionable
It's expensive
You only wear it for a short time
You don't really need it

Strangely, many of these ideas have been formed through here say and not through actual experience. In fact many of the people that hold these beliefs may never have walked into a maternity wear store, or perhaps they have been into one or two and formed from that a judgement about the whole industry that they are more than happy to pass on to anyone that will listen.

I have argued the point of how long you wear maternity clothes for in my previous blog "Think Eternity Wear, not Maternity Wear."

I will deal with "Do I really Need Maternity Wear?" in a future blog but I have touched on this in the blog "Do I Really Need Nursing Wear?"

As for arguments about it not being fashionable, well I defy anyone to walk into my store and tell me the clothes aren't fashionable but I do agree that if you walk into your local discount department store and see the 5 or 6 items of maternity wear that they stock, you could well come away with the idea that maternity wear is not fashionable.

The big question here though is "WHY CAN'T WE BUY CHEAP MATERNITY WEAR?"

The answer is surprisingly simple and trust me, it has nothing to do with greedy store owners.

Let me ask you this. "How many maternity stores are there in Australia?"

I don't know the answer but I know there are only about 3 dedicated maternity stores in Brisbane and about 4 stores that do a bit of baby wear/products and a bit of maternity as well. This is probably the same across most the states of Australia.

So now I ask you this. " How many women's clothes stores are there in Australia?" Again I don't know the answer but I would think there are 100's.

So the answer to "Why can't we buy cheap maternity wear" is QUANTITY.

If a major chain store like Katies produces a T-shirt they can probably sell thousands of them. If a maternity wear manufacturer produces a t-shirt they might sell 500 at best.  If you approach a Chinese factory and ask them to make 5000 of one t-shirt and 500 of another, which do you think will be cheaper? It's not rocket science.

Sometimes the quantities are either too small or the turn around time will be too long for a Chinese made product to be viable. An example is that a manufacturer runs out of size 12's and 14's in a work pant but they have plenty of the other sizes. To re-stock the pant with a Chinese made product is not viable because they don't need hundreds of 12's and 14's and besides, the turn around time can be several months. So often making the products in Australia is the only answer but again this adds to the price.

Another point for discussion is cheap price vs cheap quality. In order to get a product as cheap as possible in price the quality is also the cheapest possible. A good example of this is a current 3/4 cargo pant that one of the major cheap department stores is selling in its maternity range. The pant looks great and every second pregnant woman seems to own a pair. Every one of those pregnant women that I have met complains about the same thing. The rib fabric they have used in the waistband has no memory to it so once it stretches it stays stretched and your pants fall down! So that cheap pair of pants are now pretty much worthless. In my store, we know that rib waistbands don't work and we wouldn't have bought them in the first place.

So that leads me to another hidden cost. Someone has to pay for my expertise. I could set up a cash register at the front of the store and sit behind it like a check out chick at one of the major chains. I could let you fend for yourself and just come to me when you are ready to pay. In fact if I were to do that I could reduce my costs by employing young people whom I don't have to pay adult wages as opposed to only employing women that have had children themselves and know what it's all about. Instead, when you walk into a maternity store you have, in most cases, the undivided attention of the staff member on duty. Someone to help select styles and sizes, to bring other sizes to the fitting room, to give advice on the fit, and to order something for you if we happen to be missing it.

It's a vicious circle really. If more women purchased maternity wear and supported independent maternity wear stores, then more stores would open and the manufacturers would have to produce more of each item so hence the price would come down. There is also the quantity vs price argument for the retailer. If we could sell 100 of something in a week rather than 10 we could afford a lower margin. You see if we sell something for $50 and we only sell 10 a week we may try reducing the price to $40 and seeing if we can sell 15 a week. Our profit margin might be down but our cashflow and actual gross profit is up.

So the end story is that while people continue to make do, rather than buying specialised maternity wear, and while they continue to buy something because it is cheap rather than good quality, the major chain stores will continue to get bigger. The consumer is the ultimate loser because the items they buy are unlikely to make it all the way through the pregnancy in any fit state and meanwhile the independent stores continue to close their doors. Eventually the manufacturers also have to start closing their doors and maternity wear will disappear completely. We will be left with the meagre pickings at the chain stores and no service. Of course overseas players may come in and try to fill the gap but Mothercare has already tried that and they only lasted a few years before going broke.

This is a familiar story in Australia. The same battle is raging throughout our farming communities and local food manufacturers. Same too in the automotive industry and I know there are many other industries but one day we are all going to wake up with no industry left in Australia. We will be totally reliant on imports for everything and it will all be because we were too cheap to spend the extra money on Australian products and local businesses.

Really I don't think we should have a choice. There shouldn't be imports of things we can produce ourselves. In this way local production would go up and prices of everything would come down but apparently that's a simplistic view of the world and economics and while I know precious little about economics, I do know abut maternity wear and if you want CHEAP MATERNITY WEAR then buy more of it from local businesses and over time, it will happen.

Thanks for listening.

Lisa Hovar
www.maternityrevolution.com.au

DO I REALLY NEED TO BUY NURSING WEAR?

OK, my really honest answer to this is NO!

Then again I could aslo say "No"  if you asked me if you really need a dishwasher, washing machine or microwave oven.

There are alternatives and our mothers and grandmothers made do without both nursing wear and perhaps dishwashers etc but if given the choice, most people opt for the ease and convenience of nursing wear.

I am one of those that made do without any nursing tops in my wardrobe. Instead I had lots of loose fitting tops that were easy to lift up to gain access for breastfeeding. As there were no alternatives, I did what I had to do and most times the baby would cover my tummy and I would throw a nappy over my shoulder.

Nowadays there are all manner of feeding tops. Ones with built in bras, ones that you wear your own bra with but there is a discreet access point and some that just have stretchy fabrics and crossover bodices that again make access easy. There are tops, dresses, sleepwear and sleep bras. The choice is endless.

Now the one big advantage of a garment designed specifically for breastfeeding is that it is usually also made with pregnancy in mind. The designer knows that the person buying it will want to wear it while pregnant and while feeding and the garment is made accordingly. Often this is done through the use of stretchy fabrics and clever designs.

Most ladies need to buy at least a few pieces of maternity clothing so why not be savvy and look for maternity wear that you can also use for breastfeeding?

Best of all, many breastfeeding garments don't look like feeding tops at all and are great to be worn even after you have finished with breastfeeding. Crazy to think that I have several feeding garments in my wardrobe now yet I had nothing while I was actually breastfeeding!

Below are a few examples of popular yet versatile styles. I will include links to the website in case you are interested but as we are at the end of season now, sizes are limited. The Winter stock will soon be on its way. If you click on a link and it doesn't take you anywhere you will know the product is sold out.

Cake Lingerie Cotton Candy Sleep Bra $54.95

Cake Lingerie Dark Toffee Seamless Nursing Cami $59.95

Cantaloop Nursing Tank $54.95

Ninth Moon Maxi Feeding Dress With Belt $98.95

Ninth Moon Slouch Feeding Tank $61.95

 

Mothers en Vogue Chiffon Trim PJ Set $84.95

As for "When to Buy Nursing Wear" I think the best idea is to make sure the maternity wear you buy will serve you for both purposes as I have stated above but with all the lovely maternity fashion around there may be lots of lovely things out there that can't be used for feeding. If you do end up with a wardrobe full of non feeding friendly maternity garments then it may be best to wait until after you have had the baby to shop for nursing wear. There are 2 reasons for this. Firstly, there is no guarantee you will be able to breastfeed and secondly, the way a top looks when you are heavily pregnant is very different to how if will look in the early stages post baby when the belly is big and flabby.

You will however need a few nursing items for hospital so if you can shop for these before your belly gets too big, that would be the best idea.

As a general guide you will need 3 nursing bras, 2 sleep bras or feeding camis with built in bra (remember you need something to keep your breast pads in place when you sleep), and then some sleepwear and day clothes but for hospital you could get away with your sleep bras or cami, some sleepwear that allows access from the neckline and a few basic tees or lounge dresses. You can worry about the rest later.

I hope this has been helpful but if you have any unanswered questions, please feel free to contact me at Maternity Revolution, 1/124 South Pine Road, Brendale, QLD, 4500 on 07 3205 1818 or lisa@maternityrevolution.com.au

Our website is www.maternityrevolution.com.au