Tiny Maternity Clothes « Back to Group Discussions

[SomethingAnonymous]

Is anyone else petite in not just height but overall skeleton size? Like small shoulders, etc.... If so, have you been able to find any maternity clothes that fit?  This has been a problem for me for 3 pregnancies now.

XS maternity in most brands is just huge- not because I'm not that pregnant yet, but because the shoulders are giant and it wouldn't fit me 9 months pregnant. I usually have to try to find regular clothes that are styled in a way that they will work for maternity clothes. But even finding regular clothes is such a challenge.

The junior's clothes at Target in XS seem to fit pretty good. So I'm looking online to see if they have anything that would work for a growing stomach.  We don't have a target within like 3 hours of me so I will just have to order things and hope they fit.

Any other ideas? 

[SomethingAnonymous]

I just realized that strategy will only work with tops. I really need a pair of pants, I can't button my jeans and even my PJ pants and sweats are so uncomfortable because they are too tight.  I tried the rubber band trick with my jeans for awhile and it's not really working anymore.

[ithappened]

I actually just wore 'normal' clothes during my first pregnancy with DS1, if I normally wore a size 2, I would just buy a size 6 or 8. I found this worked for me all the way until I gave birth (and I gained 40-45lbs mostly in the stomach/boobs).

With pants/skirts etc- you just want to find fabrics with some stretch and that will carry you the entire pregnancy from my experience.

good luck!

[LilyTiger]

SomethingAnonymous, I was in Forever 21 yesterday (because I was hoping they would have a maternity section... alas...) and they have a lot of cute tunics and such that looked like they would be good for a growing belly.  I have pretty wide shoulders/ribs and such so it wouldn't work for me, but I remember thinking that a tiny pregnant lady would look really cute in that stuff.  Old Navy also has some really cute stretchy skirts (long and short) that can be worn either as pregnancy wear or rolled down as normal skirts. 

[SomethingAnonymous]

Originally Posted by ithappened 

I actually just wore 'normal' clothes during my first pregnancy with DS1, if I normally wore a size 2, I would just buy a size 6 or 8. I found this worked for me all the way until I gave birth (and I gained 40-45lbs mostly in the stomach/boobs).

With pants/skirts etc- you just want to find fabrics with some stretch and that will carry you the entire pregnancy from my experience.

good luck!

The only problem is that I am 5' tall and so a 6 or 8 would be giant on me even very pregnant. Ya know? I did find size 1 jeans in "short" on oldnavy.com. I am going to order a pair and maybe they will work. There were 3 or 4 reviews from people who said the length was perfect for them at 5' 3" or 5' 4" so I might have to have them hemmed.

Originally Posted by LilyTiger 

SomethingAnonymous, I was in Forever 21 yesterday (because I was hoping they would have a maternity section... alas...) and they have a lot of cute tunics and such that looked like they would be good for a growing belly.  I have pretty wide shoulders/ribs and such so it wouldn't work for me, but I remember thinking that a tiny pregnant lady would look really cute in that stuff.  Old Navy also has some really cute stretchy skirts (long and short) that can be worn either as pregnancy wear or rolled down as normal skirts. 

I wonder if they have an online store? I don't have one of those stores near me either - really small town with a "mall" with just a couple clothing stores in it.  Oh ok I just looked it up- they do. Thanks!

[SomethingAnonymous]

So maybe forever 21 isn't for short people either?  I saw this :  http://www.forever21.com/Product/Product.aspx?BR=f21&Category=top_tunic&ProductID=2074201255&VariantID=

And thought it was cute- but then I saw that the model is 5'10" and is wearing the small.... so it would be so long on me! Most women are not 5' 10"- I wonder why they would make the small fit someone that tall.

[Sol_y_Paz]

Right at 5'2 and need most everything hemmed.  Even short and petites.  

Good luck in your search! 

[SomethingAnonymous]

Yeah I hear ya. I am the same way- I usually have pants for going out of the house hemmed- so I don't trip, and then just let them drag on the ground if they are PJ pants or something. My mom felt bad for me and hemmed some PJ pants for me though.  I need to get a sewing machine I think and just learn how to make tiny clothes for myself. 

[rebecca10]

In terms of pants, I love my size 1 maternity jeans from Old Navy, so hopefully those will work for you to. Also on-line you can get down to size 00 (ankle) pants at Gap Maternity. And you can't go wrong with a pair of black leggings, and those don't even have to be maternity as they can sit below the belly. 

[Sol_y_Paz]

Totally step all over and ruin mine too.  It is annoying but you are right there is only so much you can roll up certain things, like PJ and yoga pants.  That is nice your mom sewed them up for you.  I usually tuck mine into my socks for around the house but should just get them hemmed.  I bought my first pair of petite/short jean jeggings last month and they are the first that don't drag without being hemmed.  I do have to roll push them up at the bottom but they don't pose the threat of sweeping the floors when I do this due to the cut, if I let them go the way they want to go they drag the floor so they could definitely stand to be hemmed but I can get by with rolling them up and pushing them up.  Maybe that is an option to try?  I like bootcut best but they always have to be hemmed.  

Edited by Sol_y_Paz - 3/7/12 at 7:14pm

[eleuthia]

One of my favorite shirts right now is from Aerie and I just checked their website & American Eagle's (they're sister stores) and they carry XXS tops and have some things that look belly-friendly:

http://www.ae.com/web/browse/product.jsp?productId=2371_9798_131&catId=cat90030

http://www.ae.com/web/browse/product.jsp?productId=2371_9538_500&catId=cat90030

http://www.ae.com/web/browse/product.jsp?productId=2371_9182_410&catId=cat90030

http://www.ae.com/aerie/browse/product.jsp?productId=5495_5813_552&catId=cat520027

http://www.ae.com/aerie/browse/product.jsp?productId=4497_5317_100&catId=cat5020120

I'm trying to think of other juniors stores that have clothes with a flowy aesthetic. I think Forever21 sizing is too inconsistent for online buying, 

I'm 5'3 and just bought petite pants at Motherhood and... I either need to wear them with a short heel (I'm a flats girl) or get them hemmed. Annoying! 

[Knitting Mama]

I'm not skinny (at all), but at 5' tall I have to get everything hemmed, no matter the brand, no matter how "petite" or "short" it is labeled. I'm so used to it now...

[sallyrae17]

I'm short and small (5' 1) and I've been buying stuff at Target and Old Navy. I prefer the below the belly pants and have had luck getting them at Target and Old Navy. As for shirts, they seem long at first, but as your belly grows, they get shorter and shorter. :) I also found some $5 tank tops at Forever 21 that were pretty long, so I'm using them as maternity tops. 

This summer, you can just rock a skirt. That's what I plan to do, at least. 

[ithappened]

hmm that is hard. I am 5'8 and even then I just need to roll up the pant leg or hem things.. no fun. ..

good luck, keep us posted with the search!

[~Demeter~]

I had a rough time my first 3 pregnancies... then my 4th for some reason all of the maternity clothes were so small on me. I outgrew everything by around 7 mos in. I was pretty upset, lol. I'm 5'1 and prior to my first daughter I was 83 pounds not pregnant... funny what one pregnancy can do to a body, lol.

[ilovetchotchkes]

Hemming pants is easy peasy! so easy I only charge like $8 a pair ! If you ladies want, and if you guys have sewing machines, I can totally throw up a tutorial on youtube or something! ! 

As far as clothes, my son's G-dmother is TEENY. She's about your height and definitely teeny build. I would suggest, just finding clothes in your normal range of sizes, like a 2-4 that are maternity friendly. Like, something with an empire waist. Motherhood also has petite on the web. 

[Thandiwe]

I'm short, and my oldest son needs a larger size in the waist than fits in the length, so I have hemmed...a lot!  A friend of mine shared this link with me, and it's so awesome!!  The hemming looks professional and it's sooooo easy!!!!!

http://www.daciaray.com/?p=38

[hippiekangaroo]

I'm 5'2" (100 pounds pre-pregnancy) and usually wear 0-2 and XS-S both tops and bottoms.  It sucks being petite because I don't really have the option of borrowing maternity clothes from friends since everyone is bigger than me!  We are on a limited budget too and it sort of stresses me out sometimes thinking of buying new maternity wardrobe (and what if I grow out of what I buy?!)

I just went through my closet yesterday since I'm starting to get to the point where my belly is stretching all of my t-shirts and not sure how much longer I can wear them... I guess my taste prior to pregnancy was for loose, flowy tops because most of what I have in there I think I will be able to wear for several more months (the boobs are going to be more of an issue than the belly because if they continue to grow then some of those tops won't work anymore).  So that's what I would suggest for tops is to look for things that are flowy and maybe just get them in a size up from what you normally would get to allow for boob room! 

For pants, I've been scouring the racks at the local second-hand store.  Seems like there are always teens/juniors clothes that I can modify (and by that I mean MOM! can you hem the length up and convert these to maternity pants for me?!)  I've had some decent luck finding $4-$6 hand-me-down pants to use -- you cut the waistband off (a little lower in the front to allow for protruding belly) and then adding elastic in a knit fabric tube so you wind up with a stretchy waistband that sits low on the belly.  Good luck!

[NewMumJoy]

Luckily we're all having summer babies so sundresses and skirts can be an option for us (and we can do without pants!)

I'm 5'1 and small-framed and had purchased a lot of sun/maxi dresses and stretchy pencil skirts from Forever21 last year, prior to pregnancy (they were so cheap I couldn't resist!!)  So far I think I'll still be able to wear most of the longer dresses with the high/empire waistline, and the stretchy straight skirts have a wide waistband so I can wear them as high/low as needed.

Here are the maxi dresses at Forever21 (free shipping on orders over $50):

http://www.forever21.com/Product/Category.aspx?br=f21&category=dress_maxi&pagesize=100&page=1

.... and at one time, Forever21 had maternity wear available online, but I can no longer find it now....  :(

I've also found smaller knits (tees, tanks, yogapants and skirts) at Target and Old Navy, in XS.  With the exception of summer dresses, my wardrobe is pretty basic and minimalist - if I needed dressier tops and pants, I'm not sure how I would fare....

[SomethingAnonymous]

Well I ordered 2 pair of old navy size 1 short pants - one pair jeans and one pair fleece sweatpants.  They looked huge so I tried to shrink them- still huge. I don't think they will fit when I am 9 months pregnant.

So the quest for pants continues. I am so mad that I got rid of the 4 pairs of maternity jeans I used to have. I was convinced I wasn't going to have any more babies. The weird thing is that they were from old navy and size 1. I am convinced their sizes have changed. I used to be able to wear their XS tops too, but now they are huge.

The good news is that I was visiting my grandmother and she lives in a much bigger city that has a Target and I was surprised to find that their XS maternity shirts were only a little big. So I got some, they are a little big in the shoulders but not so much that it won't work. 

Unfortunately I do really need pants, it's still freezing cold here, literally, like 30 degrees and we've had a history of snow in June. After that I will wear skirts. My base layer is getting really uncomfortable too. I tried going out in just jeans and no base layer but it was freezing cold and I was miserable.

I too am thankful I don't need anything formal or work clothes, I would be screwed.

So NewMumJoy, their XS dresses fit you? There's only 4 styles in XS on the website, I clicked on the shortest one - http://www.forever21.com/Product/Product.aspx?BR=f21&Category=dress_maxi&ProductID=2008585929&VariantID=  And it says the model is wearing a small and she's 5' 8". I'm guessing the XS would be taller than me. I really hate being so small sometimes.