CUTE maternity clothes for plus-sized mamas?

[HeatherB]

Anyone have good places to get plus-sized maternity clothes that are actually good looking, perhaps somewhat fashionable?

I am so bummed that Lane Bryant no longer carries maternity. I was glad to be able to wear some of theirs last time. Motherhood is okay, but I have a major problem with their policies. Too, I'm just not finding much, at least on their site. It seems like Old Navy might work for skirts, but I'm not so sure on shirts.

One issue for me, in particular, is I really want TRUE short sleeves - ie., half sleeves or even three-quarter sleeves. I don't want cap sleeves or sleeveless shirts, even though it's summer.

Anybody have a great site to find the perfect maternity clothes at?

[lifeguard]

For tops I never bought maternity tops - when I did find them they never fit over my boobs. I just chose plus size tops that normally I would have avoided 'cause they tend to look like maternity imo. You know the ones that have all the gathering above the breast so they hang down from there?

[HeatherB]

Yeah, my problem is I'm already fairly long-torsoed, so all my shirts get short too fast. Thankfully I don't have to worry about being too well-endowed. That can be a blessing, right?

[tarasattva]

I wish I had an answer for you.

I am long torsoed and small chested and I am having such a hard time w/ finding clothes that I am down to one "will wear it out in public" shirt and a single bra.

I'm going to go look around and see what I can find.

I'll report back if I find anything.

[tarasattva]

Ok, I had some luck at Old Navy. (5 tops and a dress for $92 including two day shipping ($17 ouch! But I'm feeling desperate.))

At first I wasn't seeing anything that caught my eye, but then I went through all the tops one by one and thinking about how the pieces I have now fit and how these compared to those, and I ended up finding several that I think will work. Not show stopping gorgeous, but I think they'll work as separates, and maybe I'll go dig out some chunky necklaces to dress them up.

They aren't plus-size per say, but they have XXL and several of their tops are marked by customers as running large (and/or being "too long" which should be great for us long-torsoed people).

I should have them by Wed. I'll let you know how it goes.

[MaerynPearl]

I love love love love love my old navy maternity clothes

I dont usually shop there but man these clothes are good (being a bit obese, with a large chest and long torso makes it all that much harder)

I also like Targets maternity... though I should have sized down by one there... and Walmart has very nice LONG maternity t-shirts. Just plain cotton t-shirts that actually go down and cover my belly

Of course, if nothing else, a bella band does wonders to cover the belly too!

[HeatherB]

Thanks! I am eager to see your reviews of Old Navy. A friend gave me a couple of their fold-over skirts in XXL and they are great! I don't wear skirts much so they will be good for special occasions, but I need more tops for daily wear. I am wondering if their pants will fit at all, given that the skirts do.

I wish they had more longer-sleeved tops, but I may just end up layering. I may even see if I can find a local ON that has maternity so I can try things on without the hassle of making returns.

[SeattleRain]

I'm not plus sized, but I'm a size 12-14 and I have LOVED ModBod tees throughout my pregnancy. They are extremely long. I am 8 1/2 months pregnant, really short waisted so I'm pretty much enormous and these shirts have room to spare in the length. They make a great 3/4 length v-neck and a great tee that is a classic, true t-shirt. Before I got pregnant I bought a size L in their shirts which still totally fit. Just recently I bought some more of them and I ordered them in an XL to give me a little more length towards the end of my pregnancy and this has been quite comfortable so I would suggest going up a size in their shirts.

http://www.themodbod.com/Departments/Basics.aspx

I have the long sleeved shirt, the v-neck shirt, tank, and camisoles. I love them ALL. And they go up to 3X so you should be covered.

[Joyster]

I've recently found a bunch of nice shirts and comfy pants at Motherhood Maternity. There is only one store in my area, but I'm glad I made the stop, I'm so much more comfortable and looking pretty stylish if I do say so myself.

[LaydieBugs]

I tried Motherhood first, and agree that their return policies are terrible -- particularly since almost every item I got there was defective!

Old Navy and Gap were a bust for me, it was all so thin, badly cut, badly proportioned ... it just looked cheap.

Target was my saving grace. I was hitting maternity size during the winter and especially needed jeans that looked more classy (i.e. not the tight thigh thing). Their boot cut and trouser jeans were good. Not fantastic but hitting them with an iron keeps them looking pretty good.

And their tops were very long, with some fun prints. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the Liz Lange scoop neck T-shirt. It is indeed a true short sleeved T-shirt, I'm just disappointed it doesn't come in many colors. I'd avoid their T-shirts that are folded on the shelf, they are WAY too thin and lose their shape fast. But the V-neck empire waist styles were flattering on me from the "I'm not fat, I'm pregnant" stage to now ("very very due").

The other biggie was camisoles from Costco. They weren't maternity, just regular Cotton-Modal camis in bright colors, in a 2-pack. The large fit me just right and I'm a 16, bra size 38F. I'm sure the XL would be fine on a size 18-20 woman. They're pretty long, and mixing the colors under the Target V-necks brightened everything up. Plus it was cheap to get 8 different colors. (Most maternity camis come in a few colors and they're expensive).

I am loving Target's maternity dresses this week (modal ones, not poly - the poly I sweat in and stink!). I'm so huge I can hardly dress myself, and it's getting hot here this week. Even at 80 degrees I'm OK with the long sleeves and now that their spring stuff is out I'm sure they have short.

My guy helped too ... all his favorites come from the Target stuff.

Lane Bryant was good for bras (maternity bras are a waste, it's too early to get nursing ones, and Motherhood bras are expensive and crappy). I'm sad they don't have nursing bras, even the expensive G/H-cup nursing bras I found at Nordstrom aren't nearly as nice a bra as the Cacique. Some bra strap extenders (from a sewing store, not a department store - the price difference is huge) were very important once baby got high enough to expand my rib cage.

I wasn't sorry Lane Bryant didn't have maternity -- so much of their stuff now is synthetic fibers, which to me at least are uncomfortable even while not pregnant. I notice a lot of women don't notice, body odor gets strong fast in synthetics, and in the summer you're going to need breathable fabrics.

(also my complaint about Target jeans - the thick poly tops - here Motherhood's "Secret Fit Belly" in a straight leg or boot cut were a little more comfy even though on every single pair, the fabric unhemmed and unraveled at the top).

And did anyone mention to you, tucking the top of the stretchy tube into the bottom of your bra keeps the maternity pants up? I wish I'd known that sooner!

And get some pretty scarves ... those you don't need a maternity size!

[reneeisorym]

I finally gave up and decided to stick with Motherhood. I spent over a hundred bucks and got crap with Old Navy - It was thin and really didn't fit right. I gave some of the tops to a pregnant coworker who is really tall (over 6'?) and it fit her great. I'm 5'8" and the shirts were too long from shoulders to empire waist. I can't seem to find anything at Target.
Has anyone noticed that if you wear an undershirt, you can tuck it IN your maternity pants and they will stay up wonderfully?

[Magali]

I've bought from Motherhood.ca a couple of times now. I had to order everything online cause the closest retailer is about 4 hours away. I thought the return policy was reasonable . I am so happy I found the store too because I found with my last pg, that being plus sized and pregnant made for some pretty ugly, frumpy and uncomfortable clothing.

[7swans]

Originally Posted by reneeisorym

Has anyone noticed that if you wear an undershirt, you can tuck it IN your maternity pants and they will stay up wonderfully?

I wish I had read that 6 months ago! DH was actually telling me the other day that he saw a woman on the bus who looked like she might be pregnant and he wanted to congratulate her, but he wasn't sure. Then she got up and he recognized the maternity pants shuffle. I must do it 20x a day.

Also, I found that the options for plus-size maternity stuff are really limited in Canada (or at least my area). I found a couple of items at Old Navy and Walmart, but most of my stuff is from Motherhood. I wouldn't give them any personal information, though, as they seem to sell it to formula companies.

[HeatherB]

The one time I've worn a maternity skirt thus far (a fold over skirt from Old Navy), I wore it with an under shirt tucked into it and it was great! Later that day, after a nap, I put it back on without the extra layer and the skirt wouldn't stay up! Definitely think you've got a point there!

I think I'm going to end up making a trip to our local outlet where there's both a Motherhood that has some plus and Old Navy with maternity. Hopefully, between the two, I can find what I need! I do like the look of some of the Target tops, though I'm not sure they'd fit.

[StarMama]

Motherhood is the best place I've found (even though the selling your name to the formula companies sucks), with target a follow up. Luckily I've hung onto all of my maternity clothes since I was pregnant with Orion, so I've got some decent selections there. I am waiting for the shorts I ordered from motherhood to arrive, I never got maternity pants with Fiona and summertime was hell (I lived in oversized short overalls). Not doing that this time!

I have found that Motherhood plus sized clothing is sized way bigger than what I'd wear at a Lane Bryant or other stores. I usually wear a 22-24, and I'm a 1x at Motherhood. Wacky.

[jillmamma]

If you are looking for camis under the shirts, I bought the Target nursing camis (I saw they had them in black, brown, grey, blue, dark pink and white I think) and wore them while still preggo and they had plenty of stretch and length to work then and of course now that my baby is here and nursing. Just a thought if you want to save some $$$ and be able to use them later...

[thebigfam]

thanks for all the tips! When do you all start wearing maternity clothes?

bigmomma

[HeatherB]

I'm 13.5 weeks with #4 and am going to need to find my maternity clothes very soon. I discovered today that my regular jeans are just NOT comfortable anymore! So I'll dig out what I have and may be making that shopping spree sooner than later!

[tarasattva]

Got my order from Old Navy - Looks good!

Several of the shirts are of a *very* thin material. This is fine with me (and expected based on other customer's comments online) as I work from home and don't have AC - so no need to be dressy and appreciate not having heavy fabric.

I am borderline size-wise about whether an XXL will fit and look good. I can try on 3 XXL shirts and 1 will look great and the other two will not fit at all. I chose shirts that other customers had mentioned as running large or tall (long torso) and all are plenty big.

I did find that most of the shirts are too large in the chest - this is also expected since I'm barely a C cup and most plus size mums are more well endowed.

All in all I would say that the quality is medium (thin materials, not awesome cuts, etc) but more than fair for the price. Since I was able to get 5 shirts and a dress with two day shipping ($17) for a total price of $93.49 I am more than happy.

[HeatherB]

Tara, thanks so much for the review! It sounds like it's definitely worth checking out Old Navy, in person, if possible. I'm also barely a C cup so have the issue of shirts not fitting so well in the chest, but that's a daily battle! So far, pregnancy isn't helping any, either. Hopefully, in a couple of weeks I can go stock up!