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Style while pregnant

Ellen

Hi ladies,

It's been weeks since I was active on the forum, though I've been catching up on my reading it every so often and following the blog, of course! We were travelling for a while and then had a lot going on, so I haven't been able to take a lot of photos to post for opinions (though I am experimenting still.

I just found out that I am pregnant with my second baby (due November). My last pregnancy wasn't horrific style-wise, but it wasn't great either. I'm hoping to gain less weight this time and hopefully be a little more graceful.

My question is: do you have any style tips/ideas/rules that helped you or friends in maintaining your personal style during pregnancy? Keeping in mind that I'll being growing a lot curing the summer months, which I found hardest to be stylish in last time (overheating).

I'm open and interested in anything you ladies have to say! Thanks so much!

Ellen

General

21 replies

Latest reply was from mag19866

Ellen

P.S. I am also crossing my fingers that I will be given some of Angie's magical advice!

For those of you who don't know me, I'm a 5'10 rectangle with a bust. Even during pregnancy, I don't gain any weight in my thighs and little in my hips. Pretty much all belly, bust, and face (grr).

Kari

Veteran

Congratulations! I haven't been pregnant, but I've been really impressed at how E. on http://www.academichic.com and Allie on http://www.mywardrobetoday.com have looked amazing and stylish during pregnancy. (Apologies if you're already a reader of these links.)

Ellen

Kari, I just spent the last many minutes looking through E's archives... this is amazing. She's so inspiring. I'm not as thin as her, so some of those looks wouldn't work on me, but I can't wait to try a lot of it.

Thanks so much! I'll explore the other link too!

shana

Veteran

Congratulations Ellen! I was way more stylish this last pregnancy ( due Dec. 2007) than the first one. The selection has improved vastly in the past few years and it was helpful that empire tops/dresses were in style which meant that there was quite a bit of selection. I wore tons of dresses this time which was so much fun and so comfy too. I found lots of great items at various price points -everything from Japanese Weekend & Babystyle (which sadly is out of business I believe) to Old Navy & Target. The bulk of my maternity wardrobe came from the Gap and Target. I second Kari's recommendations - if you read back a little on academic chic, E. has a post in which she links to a whole bunch of other maternity fashion blogs.

Kari

Veteran

I know, E. and the other Academichic girls have such amazing style. I love how they are able to make inexpensive accessories from Target and Forever21 and Old Navy look so chic. I have a much larger frame than any of those girls so wouldn't be able to wear the same outfits as they do, but I'm trying to mimic their color schemes.

Ellen, I totally forgot to mention Fia at http://thelaundrynarrative.blogspot.com (who just had her baby) as another resource.

Ariadne

Veteran

I've never been pregnant so I have no advice to offer, but I did want to say CONGRATULATIONS to you, Ellen!

Ellen

Thank you for the congratulations! You are all so sweet.

I have some very good pieces from Gap from my last pregnancy. Unfortunately, this time they discountinued Gap Maternity in Canada - GRRR! But I am planning a maternity shopping trip to the US in a couple months so that I can take advantage of it there, and Target too. I was at a Target a month ago but didn't know I was pregnant, or I would have stocked up! I love Target, though, and seeing E's outfits from Target pieces is inspiring.

Fia's style is probably quite a bit more funky than my own, but it's good for ideas, thanks again, Kari!!!

I will definitely have to do some outfit posts as I grow, to get opinions.

anne

Veteran

Ellen Congratulations! That is such good news!! What will the gap be between the your first and second? And how are you feeling right now?

I don't have much style advice - I joined YLF after my last baby - but I can tell you something Angie probably won't agree with. I last saw a fashionable friend of mine who was 20 weeks pregnant in the middle of the summer with a maxi-dress on, and I actually thought she looked pretty good.

I love dresses for pregnancy and for warm summer weather they are great.

Ellen

Thanks Anne! My first and second will be 22 months apart. I wasn't sure I was ready to be pregnant again, but I'm pretty happy about it now! How many children do you have? I'm feeling very well, though tired. I had very little sickness with my daughter and I'm hoping to repeat that trend!

I love the maxi dress idea! I really like the look, though I haven't really worn it because, as Angie says, it's hard to feel casual in a dress like that. But I can see it being perfect for pregnancy in the right patterns/shades and SO cool on those days when that belly feels like a space heater. Also, I have several weddings this summer, so if I get one in the right fabric that might work perfectly. Thanks!

lala

Congratulations Ellen! What a wonderful time in your life!

With all 3 of my pregnancies I had "custom" clothes made. I went through my closet and took out some of my favorite pieces that may be on their way out (getting a little too worn) and took them to my seamstress. She cut the front out of pants and skirts and put maternity panels in them. I then looked for the best tops I could find that still fit my personal style. Keep in mind that putting panels in bottoms will only work with pants and skirts - can't work with dresses. My favorite piece is a tan butter-soft suede skirt that I picked up off the clearance rack at Nordstrom for a fraction of it's original cost. I wore that skirt to death!!! Your clothes can't be restored to original after having the panels put in so make sure it's something you can part with after baby arrives!

PS - have you tried the Bella Band? Works great up until the 4th or 5th month of pregnancy. You wear it with your regular bottoms - just keep them unbuttoned to accommodate your growing tummy and put the Bella Band over the waistband of your bottoms and have a tunic or maternity top over to cover the band!

Best of luck and hope you're feeling well!

anne

Veteran

Thanks Ellen. I have 3 kids, all girls. 5 1/2, 3 and 15 months. I was 22 monthsapart from my sister and it's not a bad gap

I had a long black dress that I loved and wore maybe 3 times a week when I was pregnant the first time, with differents jackets and cardis. Not sure if I'd wear it so frequently with YLF knowledge though, but I loved it then!

Glad you aren't suffering with morning sickness! (I didn't much either, just the tiredness too)

kels1

Member

I second the dress idea. I did wear one maxi dress and it was uber comfortable during the warm summer months. It was actually a maternity dress from Target. I also found sleeveless v neck jersey dresses at NY and co last year in different colors and I just went a size up to accomodate my tummy. I also wore them with various jackets and cardigans.

Target was my BFF during pregnancy.

Congratulations!

Antje

Veteran

Congrats, Ellen! I immediately thought of acdemichic as well (they also post a roundup of other stylish pregnant bloggers: http://www.academichic.com/200.....ers-recap/)

bella

(website)

Veteran

Congratulations! Some of the wardrobe bloggers I follow have also been recently pregnant but I see that they have already been mentioned by other ladies. Keep us posted and if I come across any good sources of inspiration, I will post them for you!
Oh, here is one:
http://pregnancyfashion.sheknows.com/

Ellen

Thanks ladies! Good ideas.

Lala, I do a lot of my own alterations, so I will have to try being a bit more creative about making use of my current wardrobe. Those panels are a good idea. The problem is, I don't have a lot of pieces that I would be willing to permanently sacrifice. I can probably find a couple, though, and a little goes a long way in a pregnancy wardrobe.

I wore a Bella-Band type of thing SO much during my last pregnancy and it was terrific.

I'm definitely going to try more dresses this time around, especially to survive the heat. I sometimes find they look funny because I have chicken legs to begin with and when they stay small and the rest of me grows, proportions are off. But longer dresses would help with that and leggings will be a big thing for me this time, I think.

Thank you all for the websites! I'm home with a cold today and I've been looking at so many preg-style photos that I'm swimming with inspiration!

carissa

(website)

I agree with Lala, I turned my jeans into maternity jeans by adding a panel. Which I had to replace to a bigger panel toward the end. Not only does one's body change but often so does the style so it was a great move for me. I did it with exercise pants as well.

I think a key is to know how you carry your baby. This just being your second pregnancy it may be hard for you to determine. I carry extremely high so a must was the over the belly panel, the low-riders just start pinching and then fall off.

Congratulations, pregnancy is a fun & blessed time.

HannahC

Hi Ellen,

Just wanted to chime in and add my congratulations on your pregnancy!

22 months is a great gap between kids. My second and third kids are 21 month apart, and while it was very hard when the little one was born, now it is getting easier and easier and I can really see the benefits of them being so close in age (the youngest one is now 2 years and 7 months old).

I don't have much to offer style-wise I was quite a disaster, especially during my third pregnancy, when I gave birth at the end of August, so had to endure the extreme heat of August being almost 9 months pregnant. I was quite miserable.

I think dresses can be great, but should be worn with leggings if there is any chance that your thighs will chafe. I had terrible chafing towards the end of all my pregnancies, so had to resort to pants. Also, while many pregnant gals love the low-slung pants, they just didn't work for me at all - only the hideous over-the-belly panels (but they were covered by tunics, so it was ok).

Congratulations again!

Inge

(website)

This is exciting news, congratulations Ellen!!

I don't know how you feel about second-hand clothing, but I've heard many pregnant friends say that maternity wear is expensive and that it's a pity you can only wear most items for a few months. Some of them found really cute things at consignment stores, that's why I thought of this site:

http://www.bellybundles.com/index.php

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Congratulations, Ellen! How are you feeling?

Today, maternity wear is stellar. I have a pregnant client at the moment and she looks better now than she ever did! You’ve received amazing advice from everyone and I have little to add. Keep it tailored and show off that bump. If you need help along the way, you know where to find us :0)

Ellen

Thank you all again. I've been home sick today so I've had lots of time to gather inspiration and get organized! I'm approaching this like a serious project.

I was at the mall tonight and picked up a couple of colourful scarves and a cardi (which I'm going to have to run past you all - it's a tad odd, but I can see some possibilities). I know that I have several great pieces in a box in the basement, so I'm going to get that up here soon and sort everything. At the moment, I'm enjoying every minute in 'normal' clothes!

I have the bottoms part mainly taken care of because as a stay at home mom I can basically live in jeans. There's this cheap teen store in Canada called Stitches and last pregnancy I got great pairs of low-rise jeans with some stretch that worked perfectly... for $25. Can't beat that for preg pants. I also have a couple of good denim skirts as well as a jersey one and some cargo pants for very casual at home.

My creativity is going to focus on tops and accessories. I also want to round out my dress options, especially since I have 7 weddings this summer, 3 of them in the family (you heard me - crazy!). Wedding wear while pregnant... GRR.

Anyway, I'll start posting photos as the bump shows up. Thanks for all the direction, ladies! I appreciate the advice and the links and thanks for the congratulations!!! I'm feeling well, thank you Angie... I seem to be blessed with pregnancies that affect me physically as little as can be expected.

mag19866

Member

Hi Ellen,
I am also pregnant and had some issues with chosing the right maternity clothes until i found Seraphine! I bought a lot of clothes from them . They have a great range of very fashionable and unique maternity clothing. If you need tips and advice they are very helpful in their shop as well. Have a look on their website http://www.seraphine.com and if you fancy ordering online i have a discount code which gives you 10% off, LKM09UK. Hope it helps x