Buying Maternity Swimwear - Tips and Style Guide



I think there is a collective thought out there that Maternity Swimwear is ugly! It's not, truly. It's just so different to what you are used to looking at. Most fashion swimsuits you look at have bright prints, padded or wired bras, power mesh tummy panels etc. Let's face it, for most pregnant ladies the last thing they want to do is make there bulging busts look any bigger and something designed to flatten the tummy is not exactly ideal in a maternity swimsuit. "Well that's pretty obvious" I hear you all say but what then is it you expect a maternity swimsuit to look like?

I think it is a little like the first time you walk into a maternity store to buy a pair of maternity pants. You see the big knot band and think "Grandma pants!" Then you try them on and instantly the comfort takes your breath away and you don't want to ever take them off again. Actually, I digress slightly when I tell you that many women continue to wear maternity pants long after they have finished having children, simply because they are so comfortable and nobody would ever be able to tell that they were maternity pants, so why not?

The same can be said of a maternity swimsuit. I twist and contort to try and put my everyday swimsuit on because of all the power mesh etc. Getting it off once its wet is a very funny sight indeed.  What a nice change to be able to easily slip a maternity swimsuit on.

So what I am saying is that maternity swimsuits look much better on you than on a hanger and they feel incredibly comfy.

OK, so now that I have convinced you to give them a go you are wondering where to start.

Probably the best thing you can do is ask the experts. At Maternity Revolution we are happy help you select the style best suited to you and we can even post out a selection for you to try.

As a general rule it's best to decide first what you are using the swimsuit for. Will you be doing laps or simply lying on the beach? If you need it for laps then most pregnant ladies prefer a one piece maternity swimsuit for a more streamlined shape in the pool. This can be tricky because in order to cut a one piece swimsuit that will suit early stages and late stages of pregnancy without giving you a wedgie or having your boobs fall out the side is no easy feat. Having said that, we believe that the ones pieces we stock do accomplish this, although still some styles are better suited to later stages.



One you have decided on one piece or tankini you need to decide on whether you will be wearing the swimsuit in mainly chlorine or fresh and salt water. Chlorine is really hard on fabric and will break down the Lycra fairly quickly. I'm sure we are all familiar with the bagging pants look you get once the Lycra breaks down in your swimmers. It looks like you've had an accident in your pants...not very flattering. The fabric loses its stretch and becomes see through. Even when you are careful and rinse them after every swim, they are still going to break down.

The answer if you intend to swim in chlorine on a regular basis is a chlorine resistant or even better, a chlorine proof fabric. The Lycra used in our Ilant swimsuits is a top quality Italian fabric that is 4 1/2 times more chlorine resistant than most other Lycras but still it won't last as long as a chlorine proof fabric. A chlorine proof fabric is 100% polyester and has no Lycra in it.

So why wouldn't they make all swimsuits chlorine proof? Unfortunately chlorine proof fabric is a lot duller and coarser than the smooth, shiny appearance of Lycra and it isn't available in a range of colours or prints like Lycra is. So if it is fashion and looks you are after then it might have to be Lycra but if you don't mind plain black then there is a fair choice of styles available in chlorine proof.

The next thing to consider is support.

Not many maternity swimsuits have built in bras, as this is what brings the price up considerably in a swimsuit. I will let you in on a little secret, some manufacturers are currently working on styles with built in bras and seem to have been able to keep them at a reasonable price so what this space.

The best style of maternity swimsuit I have found from a support perspective, is the muscle back style, in particular, the Ilant Maternity Muscle back tankini and one piece. I think because it spreads the loan and doesn't make the shoulders carry so much of the weight. Avoid skinny straps (unless they are crossover) if you have a larger bust.



What about maternity bikinis? Well Ilant did try this once but really, what's the difference between a maternity bikini and a normal bikini other than the fact that many pregnant ladies have a larger bust than normal and bikinis are ofter the territory of ladies with smaller busts or those that don't mind having much more than their nipples covered. Bikinis designed for a larger bust often have underwire and that rules them out for pregnant ladies. So a maternity bikini has a fuller bra top than a normal bikini (much like a crop top). Overall they weren't all that popular because you do have to be very confident to wear a bikini while pregnant.

Most maternity tankini briefs sit under the belly and have an adjustable drawstring waist but there are some styles that have over belly briefs and others that have boyleg briefs.

If you love the swimsuit but don't feel comfortable showing so much leg, there are maternity boardshorts. One style is in a chlorine proof swimsuit fabric (long and short style) and the other option is the typical quick dry fabric boardshort that most major brands use. The chlorine proof ones are much comfier but the quick dry ones are most popular because they look like normal boardshorts.



Unless you only plan to wear your swimsuit a few times, I don't suggest you buy a cheap swimsuit from one of the major discount chainstores. Even if you do rinse it out after every swim, you will be lucky if it lasts more than 3 months. Could end up being false economy of you have to buy 2 swimsuits each pregnancy.

Well I think that covers just about everything but if you need more info or advice on anything to do with buying a maternity swimsuit, please don't hesitate to contact me.

Bye for now.

Lisa Hovar
Maternity Revolution
Ph: (07) 3205 1818
lisa@maternityrevolution.com.au
www.maternityrevolution.com.au



Maternity Evening Wear Sale

As much as it breaks my heart to do it, I have had to mark down much of our maternity evening dresses to cost or below below the new season stock is almost upon us and put quite simply, I don't have room!

Crazy that I can have such a huge store and still say that I don't have room but it's true.

Below are some of the great bargains so be sure to check them out before they sell out.

 Egg Maternity Goddess Gown Was $249.90 Now $150

 Egg Maternity Beyonce Dress Was $238.95 Now $150

 Szabo Maternity Pippa Formal Dress Was $198.95 Now $65

 Szabo Maternity Paris Nights Cocktail Dress Was $158.95 Now $85

 Szabo Maternity Pippa Cocktail Dress Was $148.95 Now $40

 Szabo Maternity Ballerina Evening Dress Was $178.95 Now $99.95

Pea in a Pod Chiffon Formal Evening Dress Was $196.95 Now $99.95

This is just a sample of what's available so check out the evening wear dresses page on our website. Click here

While stocks last so hurry!

Regards,

Lisa Hovar

Maternity Revolution

Winter Maternity Wear Coming Soon!

Hard to believe but Summer has finished for another year and soon we will have the shop filling up with Winter Maternity Wear.

Being Queenslanders we won;t be having anything to hot and heavy, in fact I'm quite excited about the Winter range. Lots of lovely tunics that can be layered with a skivvy and worn with comfy tights. For a bit of fun there are pants with embossed prints and Ripe Maternity has a fantastic knitwear range this season.

Many of the pieces you will be able to wear pregnant or not.

Below are some pictures of a few things you can expect.

If you want any more information about prices or arrival dates, feel free to contact me lisa@maternityrevolution.com.au or phone (07) 3205 1818

Regards,

Lisa Hovar
Maternity Revolution

Ripe Maternity

Szabo Maternity

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

What Size do I Buy in Maternity Clothes?

This may seem a funny question but it is asked by many ladies pregnant for the first time.

The answer is not a simple one.

In general, you buy the same size as you were pre pregnancy. In many cases, the only thing growing is your bust and belly so is you were a size 12 previously, a size 12 pair of maternity pants will still fit you if your bottom and thighs aren't expanding. The waistband on a pair of maternity pants is designed to expand with your belly but the rest of the pant is cut to fit a size 12 body.

Some ladies are prone to putting on weight in the hips and thighs from very early on in the pregnancy. Others are unlucky enough to put on weight everywhere. Some are very lucky and only expand in the belly and bust. So if it's your first pregnancy you may not know which category you fit into.

There are also those unlucky ladies with morning sickness severe enough to cause them to lose weight while pregnant.

I find that usually if a lady is going to gain weight, she does so from the moment she finds out she is pregnant (and it often has nothing to do with how much or what she eats). So if you make it to about 16 weeks and haven't found yourself gaining any weight in unwanted places then I think you will be pretty safe.

For a first timer, it is unlikely you will need maternity wear until around 16 weeks anyway so by then you should have a fair idea of what your body is up to, and whether you will need to go up a size in your clothes or not.

The next most popular question is "How long will it fit me for?" or "Will this get me through the entire pregnancy?"

When in store at Maternity Revolution we try and help you to answer this question as best we can based on best judgement and experience but it can be trickier to describe in words.

No one knows how big they will get (that goes for bust, belly and every other part of your body) and each pregnancy is different. You can't buy your clothes too big otherwise they will be ill fitting and you are unlikey to wear them. Instead you will sit them in your wardrobe waiting to grow into them. This may never happen and even if it does, it will be towards the end of your pregnancy and that's just silly. Far better to have clothes that fit well that you can wear now and if they don't fit later on, there is a good chance they will fit after you have had the baby. Remember, you are unlikely to shrink back to your pre-pregnancy size and shape overnight. It could take weeks. After all, it took 9 months to get this way!

When you are judging how long clothes will fit you, try using a pillow or balloon, (we have special one in the changerooms), to imagine how the garment will fit with a pregnant belly. Where the waistband meets the pant or skirt there should be enough room to comfortably fit your hand down your pants, but not so much room that your pants will fall down. How the pant fits will also depend on the fabric. A pair of jeans has to be firm to start with in the bottom and thighs because the fabric will quickly start to give. A pair of work pants in a suiting fabric is less likely to give. With tops, make sure that there is no pulling across the bust and that it doesn't feel tight under the arms.

I suppose it is a little tricker buying maternity clothes to normal clothes because of the unknown factor of your changing body but perhaps the best advice is to buy little bits at a time, rather than a full wardrobe. This way, if your body changes you can just buy a few new pieces. If you are planning more than one child you'll get to use them next time and as I said earlier, once you have had your baby you start working your way back through maternity wardrobe from the larger sized pieces to the smaller sized pieces until you hopefully make it back to your original size.

One last thing, just as with non maternity clothes, sizes in maternity wear can vary greatly from brand to brand, style to style and between different fabrics. When you place an order with Maternity Revolution, we will contact you if we feel the sizing is small or large and advise you on the best size for you. If the size is wrong and you need a different size, we post it out no charge so you can compare with the one you already have and then once you have decided on what works best you can return the unwanted size or sizes. We also offer full refunds up to 2 weeks after purchase, not just an exchange.

I hope this has been helpful in some way but feel free to call me if you have any concerns.

Lisa Hovar
www.maternityrevolution.com.au
1/124 South Pine Rd, Brendale, QLD, 4500
(07) 3205 1818
lisa@maternityrevolution.com.au

The Slow Death of Maternity Wear

The Slow Death of Maternity Wear

It seems we are living in a world where the only thing that matters is the price! It's killing retail in Australia and I am writing this blog in the hope that people start to heed the warnings.

You've all heard the arguments as to why we shouldn't by Home Brand milk and if you have been living under a rock and you haven't heard, Home Brand milk is sending our farmers broke! If we continue to think only of saving a few dollars today we will end up having to import milk tomorrow. Imagine if all we could buy was long life milk from China???

The same argument applies to to buying SPC over Heinz or Ardmona over Homebrand. If we don't start supporting Australian owned companies who produce their product in Australia we are going to end up playing right into the hands of Woolies and Coles. There will be no choice other than to buy their brands because everyone else will have gone broke and they will be free to raise the price however high they like. What's more is that while they are using Australian product in a lot of their Homebrand products, they screw the farmers right down on price and once the farmers go broke the product will have to be sourced from overseas.

So what has this got to do with maternity wear?

It's exactly the same. Everyone is being conditioned by the big players (Target, Big W etc) to not paying more than about $30 for any item of clothing. They can do this because of the sheer volume of stock they can have produced at any one time in China. Small businesses cannot compete!

A few years ago there were several maternity wear stores across Australia. In Brisbane alone, when I started in the industry in 2000, there were at least 11 around Brisbane and the Gold and Sunshine Coasts. Now there are none on the Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Ipswich or Toowoomba and there are only 4 dedicated maternity stores in Brisbane. There are a few little boutiques that do a bit of everything (baby clothes, furniture, maternity etc) but still only about another 2. David Jones and Myers don't sell maternity and the range in Big W, Target, etc is small and ugly to say the least.

So why are maternity stores not thriving if they have little or no competition?

The big players realised a long time ago that selling to niche markets is not their thing. For them it is too much time and money for too little return, besides many people tend to just buy normal clothes that are a bit stretchier or more flowy than normal.

Back in 2000, prices on Maternity Wear weren't nearly as high as they are today but they weren't very fashionable either. Styles started to improve but that conincided with the downturn of our economy and a series of years where normal fashion looked more like maternity fashion. Many small businesses in all industries started to falter and slowly maternity stores started to disappear.

Thie left the suppliers with no option but to open their own retail stores and go into direct competition with their wholesale clients.

Prices started to increase as suppliers were unable to have clothes made in large enough quantities to secure prices in China anywhere near what the larger stores could do. In many cases, maternity wear is still made in Australia because the suppliers can't afford to have them made in China. That's great for Australia of course but not if the price of the garment is more than people are prepared to pay.

Ideally, we need more Maternity Stores so that the suppliers can have garments made in larger quantities and that would bring the price down. At the same time this would increase awareness amongst the pregnant community. So many times I have a customer walk into the store and say "Wow, I wish I had known you were here earlier!" It seems the reason they don't know we exist is they don't look. For some reason, many people don't know that specialty maternity stores exist and if things keep going the way they are, pretty soon they won't exist.

I know, I know! I can hear you all saying that it's fine to ask you to spend an extra few dollars on milk but with maternity it's a lot more than a few dollars. This is true but again, its a catch 22. If more people buy maternity wear from specialty maternity wear stores, then more stores will open. Demand will increase and price will come down. Choice will also increase.

Now the maternity industry is not totally blameless. Some people in this industry have been around since the dinosaurs existed and they firmly believe that they must get a certain mark up to survive. The suppliers hold the same therories as true. What they fail to see is that just maybe, if the suppliers dropped their margins and the retailers in turn dropped their margins we could make a significant change to the average price of maternity wear. As long as the number of sales increased as a result of this, we could all be better off but it is something that all of us in the industry need to work together on and I can't ever see that happening.

Anyway, this is why you will see so many of the prices at Maternity Revolution are well below anyone else's. It's not that I get them at a better price than anyone else but I'm just trying to move more stock faster at a lower markup than everyone else. But its still are hard slog. People have pre-conceived ideas that you don't wear maternity for long, or you can only wear it when you are pregnant. As I said earlier, anything over $30 is considered expensive and there is no way we can ever get prices down to these sorts of levels.

There is also the matter of quality. When you buy a $30 top from a major store, if it lasts a few months you are satisfied. With maternity most people by minimal pieces and wear them day after day after day for months and sometimes for several pregnancies. So sure, the top cost you $60 instead of $30 but you are probably going to get double the wear out of it.

The bottom line is we need more pregnant ladies to support us or we will all dispappear. The size 8 - 16 ladies will be fine as long as they don't mind choosing from the meager pickings at Target and Big W and as long as they don't need work wear or evening wear. The very small and very large ladies will have no other choice than to have their clothes made and as for maternity bras. well if you are bigger than a DD cup it will be very slim pickings. Those over an F cup will have to have their bras made or look overseas. Online shopping will become your only choice and as much of this will be overseas it won't be a quick or easy process.

Above all else, the one thing that a specialty maternity wear store can offer that you can't get from a major chain is service!  When you come into my store you are greeted, we can help you with every last detail or we can leave you alone to wander freely and try on as much as you like. The choice is yours. If we don't have something in store we will try to order it. We give advice, have a firendly returns policy, have toilets in store, somewhere for your children to play and your partner to sit.

Do you really want to live in a country that produces nothing for itself and has no more farms, no more country towns, no more small businesses?

Sure there are some people that financially just don't have a choice but to buy the cheapest of everything but the rest of you are just being cheap and in the end, you are just cheating yourselves.

Lisa Hovar
Maternity Revolution