You know me – I love a good bargain, but I’ll be honest with you – I find maternity clothing sizes, prices and styles really annoying. Firstly the sizing is always a bit iffy for my body shape; I am usually a UK 12 and have slim legs, but when I buy a maternity 12’s in trousers or jeans, they rarely fit around my butt and thighs and are generally quite baggy and dreadful! I often think that those designing them must assume we fill out everywhere when having babies? I don’t know but guaranteed, maternity jeans tend to be way bigger fitting than regular ones are for me! And then, on top of that dilemma, I find it pretty hard to find stuff that is my usual style as a lot of it seems to be either floral or basic and a bit dull. Don’t get me wrong, basics are obviously really useful for any wardrobe, but generally I love bright colours and patterns (outside of floral) to pair up with them.
I have found when shopping over the last few weeks for maternity wear, that I have seen a few things that tick my style box, but then the price tag isn’t as welcoming as the style is (I don’t like paying a lot for clothing I will only wear for a few months), so with those issues and my general pickiness and tightness, it’s clear to see why I find it annoying and a bit of a struggle to create a cool maternity wardrobe whilst being true to my bargain instincts!
And then throw in the fact we are tied to online shopping at the moment, it has been a flipping minefield to find lovely, budget friendly maternity pieces for this pregnancy.
Recently however there has been a silver lining found in eBay! I have fallen back in love with eBay for clothing and have been lucky to have bagged myself some really great things to begin building my maternity wardrobe on a budget. Put together with the free T shirts a friend gave me (thank you!) and a couple of bigger buys, I am beginning to really enjoy wearing maternity clothes this time and dressing for my new shape!
Here are my recent budget buys that I have bought to build my maternity wardrobe, that I wanted to share to show you how lovely and cheap you can dress in pregnancy. Firstly from eBay:
Waxy jeans and black/grey check shirt – Both New Look Maternity – £6.20
Asos Maternity Jumper dress – Love the green and the lace (more “me”) – £1.90
Asos Maternity Jersey Dress (not pictured) – £2.90 / 3 x H&M Mama Basic tees – £4.99 / Asos Maternity coulottes – £1.90
I then also found a beaut of an oversized denim shirt in ASDA for £4. I bought it in a 14 for extra room and love it with my leggings and ankle boots! Will look great with converse too. And then I found a cool animal print dress from H&M which was more pricey, but still only £12 – I like this with my boots or high tops and a chunky cardi! And on that shopping trip, I also found some checked maternity trousers which were only £8 in the sale.
I did also splash out on some ASOS jersey dungarees and Love leggings maternity leggings for work, but the more I scroll through Ebay, the more I just love it and realise that it is possible to continue to look great in pregnancy whilst still being on a budget (and helping the environment in the process too). I can find all my faves – Asos, H&M, New look and Topshop, just much cheaper!
I am always saying it, but never underestimate shopping secondhand – it is fab, fun and I personally am so pleased with the things I have already got and how they interchange with my normal knitwear and looser fitting dresses. Back in the day I would let myself go when pregnant (still time right?) but this time I am enjoying looking on eBay (and FB Marketplace) for some lovely secondhand pieces to continue to look and feel like me!
High 5 for budget buys for a good maternity wardrobe!
