When to Buy Maternity Clothes

Strangely enough many ladies feel there is a designated time that one should start wearing maternity clothes or maternity bras but there are no rules. Infact I know many people that wear maternity clothes all the time and they're not even pregnant. Even my 15 year old has several pieces of maternity wear in her wardrobe and she looks great in them. Nobody would ever know!

Once upon a time, maternity pants and skirts used to have a huge panel sewn into the belly and it not only made them ugly but it made them hard to wear in early stages of pregnancy. Maternity Tops and dresses used to be full and floaty and would make you look pregnant if you weren't already.

Thankfully those days are long gone and today, maternity pants and skirts have soft knit waistbands that can expand and contract and be worn up over the belly or folded down. They give a much more flattering silhouette and are far comfier than most non maternity waistbands.

Today's maternity tops and dresses are still available in full and floaty but mostly they are quite fitted and the less fitted styles are usually only floaty over the belly rather than from the neck down. Many maternity tops and dresses are even designed with breastfeeding in mind so you get double the value for money.

So my best advice is to wait until your own clothes are feeling a bit snug and then head on  in to your nearest maternity store. Don't ever feel embarrassed about visiting a maternity store too early. No one is going to judge you and as I said earlier, many of my customers aren't even pregnant.

You will hear and read all sorts of advice about how you don't need to buy maternity wear but honestly, all this advice is utter rubbish. Even if you make do with normal tops and dresses you will definitely need maternity pants and skirts. If you try and buy normal pants in a bigger size they are still going to be ill fitting unless you happen to have gone up a size everywhere on your bottom half. Even if you have put on weight and find going a size up works for you, it won't work for long. Eventually your belly will be totally out of proportion to the rest of you and buying pants to fit your belly will result in them being huge everywhere else.

Trying to put off the inevitable by making do with larger sizes in normal clothes seems silly to me. Eventually you will have to bite the bullet and buy maternity wear so instead of buying one pair of good maternity pants and wearing them your entire pregnancy, you end up buying 2 pair of pants (one normal pair and one maternity pair).

What about Belly Belts etc???

Some people buy a Belly Belt or similar and love it. Others hate it but even those that love it will rarely use it for the entire pregnancy. Try wearing your pants done up with a hair elastic and see how comfortable it is and what sort of line it gives you under tops. The only time I can see the point of a Belly Belt is if you are at the end of a season. Perhaps Winter is nearly over and you don't want to have to go and buy a pair of maternity jeans for only a few weeks. In such a case a Belly Belt might be the answer.

I think there are 3 reasons that people are hesitant to buy maternity wear;

1) They think they will only wear it for a short time
2) They feel it is too expensive
3) They have no maternity store close to them and would have to buy online

I have tackled the first to arguments in previous blogs (Think Eternity Wear not Maternity Wear 4/10/12 and Why Can't I find Cheap Maternity Clothes? 20/2/13), so I won't go into too much detail but just briefly:

If you buy your maternity clothes early in the pregnancy you get the most use from them and if you chosse wisely, you can use them for breastfeeding and this could be anywhere from 6 weeks to 2 years plus. Even if you don't feed, your chances of springing back to your original size in less than a few months is unlikely. If this is your first pregnancy then you will also be able to use the clothes for subsequent pregnancies and in the unlikely event that you don;t wear them for long, second hand maternity always fetches good prices on Ebay and at markets.

As for the price, you can't expect to buy a pair of maternity pants that you will wear every second day for the next year or more to last if they only cost you $20. Still I admit that some maternity wear is over the top in price so it is a matter of shopping around. You must remember that many of the designer labels still make most of their range in Australia so of course it is going to be more expensive but the quality is amazing.

At Maternity Revolution we are always on the look out for reasonale prices and good specials but at the end of the day, we still need to eat and to pay our rent.

The final argument of there not being any maternity stores close by is probably the most valid of all 3 arguments.

Let's face it, Target , Big W and  Kmart don't have a very nice maternity range so if there is no specialty maternity store close to you then you may have no choice but to buy online. Just make sure that the store has a returns policy that will allow you get a refund if you don't like the clothes. It's sounds crazy, but not all stores do. Some only offer a credit note. Also a good idea to check how they handle exchanges. At Maternity Revolution we will post exchanges within Australia at no cost to you. We also allow you to hold onto the original purchase until you receive the exchange as sometimes you will want to compare the 2 sizes before deciding which one to keep. It also saves you time and postage on returning the items because you only have to go to the Post Office once. If you are ever unsure what size to buy we are only a phone call away.

Bye for now.

Lisa Hovar
Maternity Revolution
1/124 South Pine Rd, Brendale, QLD, 4500, Australia
Ph: 07 3205 1818
Email: lisa@maternityrevolution.com.au
www.maternityrevolution.com.au

Maternity Jeans - Style Guide

Just about everbody owns a pair of jeans and while pregnancy might be a joyous time in life, the day that your own jeans cease to fit is a sad day indeed. It's not all doom and gloom though. In fact, many ladies find their maternity jeans so comfy they never go back to their old jeans.

"So what is so hard about buying a pair of maternity jeans?" I hear you ask.

Well it's not so much that it's hard but there are several things you need to be aware of and it's going to be a lot harder if you are buying online so you need to pick a store that allows refunds, doesn't charge postage to send out exchanges, and that is prepared to post you several pairs at a time (preferably without charging for them until you have decided what to keep) so you can compare styles. Maternity Revolution is one such store.

Below is a break down of some of the things you should be looking for in a pair of maternity jeans.

STYLE OF WAISTBAND

There are several different waistbands available but the main 5 are:

Over belly with Knit Waistband



Mid Belly with Knit Waistband



Underbelly with Knit Waistband at Front and Adjustable Elastic at the Back



Underbelly with Button and Fly and Adjustable Elastic in the Pockets

Underbelly with Button and Fly and Adjustable Elastic in the Complete Waistband




WHICH WAISTBAND SHOULD YOU CHOOSE?

The maternity jeans that most people are drawn too is the Underbelly with the Button and Fly becuase they look "normal" but these are probably the least comfortable. Conversely, the highwaisted ones look pretty ugly on the hanger but are usually the most comfortable.

Let's go through each waistband individually.

Overbelly with Knit Waistband

• Offers a smooth line under your tops.
• Feels supportive as the belly gets bigger
• Helps to keep your pant up.
• Can be folded over if you prefer the feel of underbelly.
• Helps hide the post baby jelly belly and gives a nicer line in the early stages of pregnancy when many women haven't popped out yet and just feel fat as opposed to pregnant.
• Suitable for any size.

Mid Belly with Knit Waistband

• Sits in a comfortable spot on the belly and still offers some support.
• Better for shorter ladies that feel the high waisted bands sit almost under their bust.
• For most ladies it still offers a smooth line under clothes but not quite as good for holding in a post baby belly.
• Not as good for holding up your pants.
• Easy to wear even when not pregnant without feeling that you are wearing a maternity jean.
• Suitable for any size

Underbelly with Knit Waistband at the Front and Adjustable Elastic at the Back

• More comfortable than button and fly in later stages of pregnancy but not as comfy as the mid and overbelly waistbands.
• Tends to give a muffin cup look in some people.
• Buttons tend to pop off the adjustable elastic.
• Popular with very small framed people who find both mid and over belly sit too high.
• Not good for people with larger bottoms as the plumber's crack issue raises it's ugly head.
• Best for size 4-12

Button and Fly with Elastic in the Pockets or Elastic in the Complete Waistband

• They look and feel like you are wearing your normal jeans and in early stages of pregnancy that great but in the later stages they will start to get very uncomfortable if you are carrying low.
• They will give a muffin cup look unless you are stick thin because they sit low.
• Plumber's crack is a definite possibilty.
• Best for size 4 - 12

THINGS TO CONSIDER IN CHOOSING THE RIGHT SIZE OF MATERNITY JEAN

The type of denim is important because the more stretch it has, the more it will give and the more it gives, the more chance you have of your pants falling down after an hour or so of wearing them.

In normal jeans, this is why you have belt loops but wearing a belt when you are pregnant is neither comfortable or even possible for some ladies. You are relying on the waistband to be able to hold the pants up once the denim gives and remember that denim is a heavy fabric so it has gravity on its side.

Make sure that if it is a stretchy denim you buy them so they are a snug fit on you bottom and thighs. You may be thinking they are too small but trust me, the biggest mistake people make is to buy them too big and you will regret it.

The one place where you don't want the jeans to be too tight though is in the waistband (where baby is). The point where the jean meets the knit waistband should sit about the level of your pubic bone. You should be able to comfortably fit your hands inside the jeans at this point. If there is no room for anything to move, they are going to dig in (particularly when you sit down). If there is too much room then you know that once the denim gives the pants will start to slip.

In shorter people the point where the jean meets the band sit almost at belly button level and this is no good because it won't be long before you grow out of them.

It is also important to look at the fabric used in the waistband. If it is too soft it won't hold your pants up and won't offer any support. If the fabric has no memory it won't bounce back after it has been stretched, making them unwearable post pregnancy.

OK, let's summarise all this info.

1. Short and/or petite framed ladies are better with underbelly styles while taller and/or larger framed ladies are better with overbelly.
2. Make sure the jeans are firm enough that they won't fall down once they give.
3. Check the point where the jean meets the waistband that it's not too tight ot too loose.
4. Make sure that if it has a knit waistband that the fabric is firm with good stretch.
5. Make sure that if you are buying online that you can return them and wear them around for 10 or 15 mins before making your decision.

I haven't touched on the different cuts of maternity jeans in this blog because I feel this is more personal preference but basically you have skinny legs, straight legs (most popoular at the time of writing this blog), bootleg, relaxed fit and flare leg.