One aspect of pregnancy that you may have given very little (or maybe a lot!) of thought about is your maternity wardrobe.
It doesn’t matter how your clothes fit now — early in your pregnancy. But at some point, you’ll need to make some adjustments to your wardrobe so you can dress for two without sacrificing your comfort and style.
Following is my best advice for finding cheap maternity clothes in stores and online. Here’s how to make each dollar count by shopping frugally…
Buy Or Rent Used Maternity Clothes
You could shop locally or online for gently used maternity clothes at consignment stores — if you don’t mind wearing hand-me-downs:
You can always hit up your local Goodwill or Salvation Army. Although their maternity stock can be pretty picked over, you can get lucky and find things like new maternity pants with the tags still on for $4. Most thrift stores have half-price days, although you’ll be battling crowds more than usual. Check TheThriftShopper.com, a national directory, for places near you that you might not even know about. Source
Find Cheap Maternity Clothes Online
If current styles are important to you, then there are plenty of places where you can shop for new maternity clothes online:
- The Best Places To Shop In Stores & Online For Maternity Clothes
- Amazon Maternity Clothing
- XL Before Pregnancy? Best Places To Buy Plus Size Maternity Clothing
- 7 Places To Find Fashion-Forward Maternity Clothes Online
- Where To Buy Plus Size Maternity Clothes & How To Look Great
Steer clear of bright colors, satin (it’s not a forgiving fabric), and loud prints. Instead, look for dark, solid-color tops, and dresses. Heidi Klum knows how to dress a baby bump — because you can’t go wrong with black. Source
Before You Buy Maternity Clothes
These are my 3 best tips for getting the most for your money if you’re going to buy cheap maternity clothes:
#1 – Cheap Maternity Pants
You probably already have some yoga pants, jogging pants, or leggings. If not, it wouldn’t cost much money to invest in a few pairs of each.
Not only are they comfortable (and non-restricting), but they are also incredibly affordable, stylish, and they can be worn with practically anything.
Throw on a longer tunic-length top, and you’re all set!
I see so many women wear their sweatpants everywhere — or even worse, their husband’s clothes — because they fit and they’re comfortable. There are so many other alternatives: leggings, jeans, dresses! Jersey knits are the best. Source
#2 – Cheap Maternity Dresses
Dresses are another must-have for a pregnant woman — even if you aren’t normally the type to wear dresses.
Dresses with an empire waist or with pleating around the belt-line are very flattering to the pregnant figure. Source
Chances are you’ve already got a few maxi dresses in your closet. If not, look for some on sale — I’ve seen them as low as $10 apiece.
Maxi dresses come in so many different styles — which can make it very easy for you to find the right thing to wear for any occasion, while still achieving the right amount of comfort and style.
The best part: maxi dresses can easily be worn after you’ve given birth!
Early in your pregnancy, you can get away with a maxi dress that’s a size or two larger than your normal size. But by your third trimester, you may want to look for a couple of maternity maxi dresses.
The maternity clearance racks at Kohl’s and Macy’s can yield great bargains, like dresses for $16 marked down from $80, and work blouses for $3 each. To sweeten the deals, look for coupons in the Saturday newspaper on the store’s website. Source
#3 – Everything Else
Depending on your size, you may be able to get by with purchasing the next size up in regular clothing. For example, if you’re a small- to medium-sized person, you’d be surprised at how stylish and accommodating large clothing sizes can be during your pregnancy! (I know, because I did it.)
Personally, I lived in leggings, large clothing sizes, dresses, and my husband’s t-shirts for all of my pregnancies.
Raid your existing wardrobe for pieces that can fit your new shape. Any open cardigans, long stretchy tunics, and tees will continue to work for you. Source
It wasn’t that I couldn’t afford to purchase new maternity clothes, I just couldn’t stomach the prices — because I tend to be pretty frugal when it comes to clothing. There were far too many other things I wanted to spend my money on — like things for the baby.
I also found that many maternity clothes did not fit as comfortably as I thought they should. I had a hard time finding pants:
- that were comfortable enough
- that would expand enough to support my growing belly
- that were sufficient enough to properly cover my rear end
So, those are the tips that I personally used when I was pregnant to save money on maternity clothes. Here are 2 other things you can do to hack your current wardrobe during pregnancy so you won’t have to buy as many maternity items.
