Maternity Clothes Shopping in Brisbane

seraphine.com

When I was pregnant with Maggie, I remember waking up one morning, and having NOTHING to wear.  It was like somehow overnight I'd grown out of every single piece of clothing in my wardrobe!!  I was a little bit devastated.  I started trying to put outfits together over the next few weeks, buying a random larger-sized item here and there, and obviously I wasn't doing a great job of it, because Mum (bless her) started shopping 'maternity' for me.  

I remember putting on the first pair of maternity pants she bought me.  I pulled them up around my waist, and when I went to do up the button, they stretched at the side panels to allow me to do so.  They fit!!  They allowed for my belly!!!  Wow!  I remember pulling on a nice shirt, and it feeling comfortable - not restrictive around my belly.  It just... fit.  I was in heaven.  I couldn't believe it - these clothes were insanely good!  They were great, and wonderful, and fabulous, and MADE for me to have a giant belly (and I think they generally allow for a little extra bit of something else too :P) in them!!  They looked a lot better, and I felt WAY better about myself.

Seraphine.com

Imagine, ladies, wearing a close fitting men's tshirt.  It would sit weirdly and awkwardly, especially considering there is no allowance for a bust-line at all, and unlike the man it was made for, you have one!  That's how I feel walking around in non-maternity clothing when pregnant.  There's no allowance for my belly, so I look, and feel awkward and extra fat.  Even if I buy up a size.  There's nothing like putting on a pair of maternity jeans and pulling that giant belly bit over my belly - SO comfortable, and made for my body shape NOW, so they fit nicely (don't worry - there are plenty of jeans WITHOUT a giant belly belt - I just LOVE the belly bits :))You won't believe the difference if you've been trying to get through pregnancy in your everyday jeans.  It rocks.

Photo from Denim Diary

The problems with purchasing maternity clothing:

1. Ever been married?!  Specialist 'things' cost more.  'Wedding' flowers cost way more than 'flowers'.  'Maternity' clothing, is generally a LOT more expensive than 'clothing'.  I think a lot of women who are only planning on a small family avoid buying much maternity for that reason, but we're planning on a big family, so I figure I'm going to get a lot of wear out of them!  (and seriously, have you tried going for even just 6 months feeling like you can't really fit into any of your clothes?)
2. Where do you find it??  My fabulous friend Stacey has told me that when she was living in England, she noticed maternity clothing in most stores there - normal stores just have maternity sections.  Here, apparently either women don't have as many babies, or are a lot better than me at squeezing their bump into non-bump-friendly clothing, but there aren't so many places to look!  Having shopped maternity for about 2 years over the last 3 or 4...

Here's what I've learnt:

• For the basics, go to BigW and Kmart.  When my little sister Bethany was pregnant, I dragged her excitedly to Kmart, only to find they'd 'stopped stocking' maternity wear!!  I was devastated!!  So imagine my delight when this pregnancy, Mum went to Kmart just to see, and they've brought it back in!!!  They sell everyday t-shirts, skirts, shorts, pants and dresses for normal prices!  Mum bought me a couple of tops on sale for $5 and they're so awesome, she went back and stocked up my sisters!!  Normally the tops are maybe $10-$12, pants maybe $15-$20, etc. - not bad at all for maternity!!  I also have some favourites from the BigW maternity range - again, basics.  The clothes I have from BigW and Kmart I wear almost every day.  Bless!

• FOR THE BEST MATERNITY JEANS EVER, shop at Jeans West.  In fact, here's a link to their maternity online store - they've just brought out brightly coloured maternity capris, and they make most of their normal styled jeans, in maternity - with those giant belly belts :)  I went instore to try them on - I find buying maternity online without trying it on is VERY risky, because the sizing differs greatly.  These rock my socks, I don't know what I did the last 2 pregnancies without them!!

Jeans West new range

• Pumpkin patch have a maternity section.  You can view it here.  While you're there, you can gush over the newborn range, awww! :)  The maternity range is not huge, and it's super expensive.  This season I'm unimpressed, but have purchased/received from Mum (thanks Mum!) some cute items in the past.  I guess just check out the range at the time, and wait for it to go on sale!! :)

• Target maternity I am loving this pregnancy!!!  Here's a link.  Some comfortable, not to pricey items, and they often have sales also - how great is that? :)

• For the biggest in-store maternity range in Brisbane, go to Maternity Revolution.  Here's their website, but only use that to look up their address - it's not a great website, and judging by it, you probably won't think the store is any good.  But in store they have everything from swimwear and underwear to everyday wear and formal wear.  The full price clothing is expensive, but they have $15 racks, $20 racks, etc on sale up the back.  I bought a gorgeous formal dress for $15 down from $200.  It's a little small (early pregnancy next time maybe!) but I couldn't resist the bargain!!  Near the change rooms is a couch (James thought this was a GREAT idea), and next to that is a nice big play area for the children with lots of toys!  It kept Maggie and Ana entertained for quite a while, while I tried on a bunch of things, and when Maggie suddenly needed to go to the bathroom, no worries - they have one of those in store too!  - Great set up for Mums and Pregnant Mums :)  I wouldn't plan to buy all of my everyday clothes here (unless I were super rich) - definitely to Kmart and BigW for most of those - but for any nicer pieces - a couple of things for going out, etc., it rocks.

Seraphine.com

• There are also some great online stores, like queenbee.com.au, and seraphine.com (Queen Bee stocks Seraphine clothing, but it can be cheaper direct from seraphine.com - just got some maternity togs from there, yay!), but I do worry about buying maternity online - the number of times I've tried on something I thought would fit/look good and been miserably wrong makes it a shaky business!! :)  Seraphine have a beautiful 'evening wear' selection though! 

• There's always eBay - and there's always a lot of maternity on there!  I haven't really explored this option so much, having been scarred by eBay sizing issues in the past, but some people swear by it!

• Oh, and last tip:  DEFINITELY go bra shopping a couple of times during pregnancy, and get someone professional to fit you!  I go to Mothercare for this - cause they specialise in maternity - the bras are designed to grow and then nurse in, and, well, you'll need them to work with your changing-ness! :)

So that's me.  Does anyone know of some other great places around Brisbane to pick up great maternity wear?  Any other tips for dressing that belly?? :)

Photo: Fashionchoice.org