Thursday, May 24, 2012

Maternity clothes - eco chic on a budget

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Just discovered you're pregnant, and need to refresh your wardrobe?

The obvious thing about maternity clothes is that you'll only need them for a few months, so it doesn't make sense to spend loads of money.

Even better, wearing pre-loved clothes means you can consider yourself 'eco' and 'chic'.
Try these ideas for free or cheap maternity clothes, you might even strike lucky with some stylish or designer maternity wear. Good luck!

1. Friends
Ask friends who’ve had babies recently, or are a few months more pregnant than you, if they've got any clothes you can borrow or have. Chances are they’ll be only too pleased to pass them on.

2. Affordable Maternity
Great online store for affordable, and designer, maternity wear. They sell ex chainstore surplus, or last season's stock, at around one third of the original price. Includes petite maternity wear and clothes for plus size maternity clothes. Visit Affordable Maternity.

3. Experiment
Try regular clothes in styles you might not usually consider, eg wrap around dresses, stretchy tshirts, leggings, etc. For some inspiration, check popular maternity styles from JoJo Maman Bebe then look for similar when you're out hunting for bargains.

4. Charity shops
OK it’s obvious, but maybe you need to try some new or larger shops to find maternity wear. Find shops near your home or work with this charity shop locator.

5. Accesorise
No, not the shop. Add jewellery, scarves, etc, to distract from the fact you might have a limited range of clothes!

6. NCT sales
Besides maternity wear, you‘ll find all sorts of other useful baby stuff. Find your nearest NCT sale.

7. Ebay
Nuff said. Take a look and pick up some bargains.

8. Adapt
Adapt what you can of your existing clothes. Move buttons so that your trousers or jackets last a bit longer, let out seams if you're handy with a sewing machine, or try one of these adjustable trouser extenders.

9. Freecycle & Freegle
Yep, my old favourite. Post a message, and watch the offers flood into your inbox. Check out Freecycle or Freegle.

10. Netmums
Find clothes either on the ‘the ‘Nearly New’ boards, or if you’re lucky, the ‘Free’ boards. Visit Netmums.

5 comments:

around Britain no plane said...

It may seem obvious but your body is going to change a bit after you've had a baby so instead of making yourself miserable and dieting to fit into your old clothes, my tip is give those items away (eg, rather too tight jeans even pre baby). Then when you're ready to refresh your wardrobe post birth you can make use of many of the sources Green Mummy listed above.Nicola, http://homemadekids.wordpress.com

GreenMummy said...

Thanks, good idea Nicola!

Conceiving after miscarriage said...

Wear stylish maternity clothes and make your pregnancy period more fun. Not all of us can look our glowing best during pregnancy; we can at least try our best to look fabulous wearing trendy maternity clothes. Expectant women have a lot of choices with maternity clothes being available in all price ranges from stylish maternity clothes designed by some of the top names in fashion to off-the-rack affordable maternity clothes.

zameen said...

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Kirsty said...

My Tummy design and create beautiful breastfeeding and maternity clothes in Europe. They're on trend and are great for going out or wearing as maternity wear. Some of the tops have designs on the bump which is so sweet, and the stretchy fabrics mean the clothes can be worn throughout pregnancy without worrying they'll get too tight. The new summer collection features maternity trousers, tops and breastfeeding dresses too.