My Maternity Wardrobe
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| Most of my maternity wardrobe |
Here's what I've bought and my thoughts!
Oh, and I linked to something similar when I could. Links are not affiliate - these companies don't even know I exist!
Work Appropriate - 19 items for $298
1 pre-maternity cardigan
2 tank tops - $20 (worn with pre-maternity cardigan)
6 short sleeve blouses - $70 (1 from a yard sale, 1 from a thrift shop, the others buy 3, get 1 free)
4 long sleeve shirts - $25 (1 from a yard sale, 1 from a thrift shop, 2 from Pink Blush end of season clearance)
1 formal dress - $88 (worn with pre-maternity cardigan, needed for 3 formal work events this fall)
3 dresses - $55 (2 from Pink Blush end of season clearance, 1 from Target)
1 pair of black capris - $20
1 pair of black pants - $20
Casual/Weekend Wear - 17 items for $101
2 pre-maternity tank tops
5 tee shirts - $30 (1 free from discarded clothes given to my dad, the others buy 1, get one 50% off)
2 pre-maternity dresses (only good for around the house, and won't be able to wear either one for much longer)
2 pairs of maternity shorts - $20 (1 free from discarded clothes given to my dad, 1 pair from Old Navy)
2 pairs of jean capris - gift from my mom (they were buy 1, get 1 free so I got regular blue jeans and pink jeans - I do wear these to work on Fridays)
1 pre-maternity super stretchy skirt
1 pair of yoga leggings - $11
1 pair of printed pants - $10 (I could wear them to work on a Friday)
1 bathing suit - $30
Underwear - 13 items for $77
2 bras - $25 (I only buy one each time my size changes and my mom paid for the first one)
bra extender - $2
10 pairs of underwear - $50 ($5 each when bought in groups of 5)
Totals
49 items (6 pre-maternity, 2 free, 4 used, 37 new)
$476 spent
My Thoughts
This seems to be enough clothing for me. Though I will probably be sick of most of it by October, haha. I moved everything that doesn't fit me now to the guest bedroom closet so I can easily glance at my closet and pick an outfit.
Everyone talks about buying used or borrowing from friends to get through the maternity season cheaply, but I didn't find that as easy as it sounds. No one in my family or circle of friends has any maternity stuff to lend/give me. Moms for the win, though - mine generously bought me 3 items. I also received 2 items for free from a large bag of discarded clothing (so nice!), found 2 items at yard sales, and 2 others at a thrift shop. But I couldn't find anything maternity in my size on sites like craigslist and freecycle.
I did try to save money by choosing things that were on sale - and I still spent nearly $500! Could I have done it for less?
- My most expensive purchases was the formal dress from Nordstrom and I bought it fairly early before I knew about the great discount maternity stuff at places like Old Navy and Pink Blush. Live and learn!
- Many women say they could wear a lot of their regular clothing, and for much later than I could (I was uncomfortable by about 12-13 weeks for bottoms and 16-17 weeks for tops) and I didn't think stretching things out made sense.
- I could get away with only 7 pairs of undies, but I got a better price by buying in multiples of 5.
- I wish the Pink Blush sale had been earlier in my pregnancy so I could've shopped more of their deals - seriously some of the lowest prices.
- The buy 3, get 1 free sale on blouses suckered me in - I only had 2 at the time and was looking to buy 1-2 more but ended up with 4 more.
Overall though, I'm happy with my purchases and we could afford the splurge. In a normal year, I barely break $100 on clothes so really I'm just spending the surplus from years gone by ;) The ladies in this thread also made me feel better about what I spent, due to the wide range of experiences there.
You've certainly got a haul. I feel way to decadent and self absorbed in comparison to your $100 a year clothing and Jo at Blueday's no spend.
ReplyDeleteOn an unrelated topic, guess where one of my sons is? In California for a fortnight. It's always been his dream to live in the US, especially California. So he saved and he's spending two weeks with family. Wowing the girls apparently with his accent, skateboarding and playing in a band. And with blond hair and skateboarding ability he fits right into Californian culture.
Yes, it didn't seem like so much until I added it all up! I wouldn't compare your spending to mine - buying clothes doesn't appeal to me like it does to others. I also don't dress very fashionably, ha!
DeleteAhh, California! I'm glad he's loving it and the girls are eating him up. The culture out there is so nice; life is much more pleasant when you're surrounded by laid back people.
What?! I'm so sorry to hear that! How terrifying! I hope he's okay and he can still enjoy the rest of his holiday. An experience like that would unsettle me for days.
ReplyDeleteI think that's fantastic buying - you could easily have got half the items for that cost. Sensible buying and well planned.
ReplyDeleteWhen you're working you can't really just wear oversized mens' tees. You need enough clothes to have some variety. But so true that by the end you get heartily sick of the maternity wardrobe!
Thank you! I tried to limit what I bought, but adding it all up is still quite a shock! A colleague told me she had dressed in her husband's clothes for most of her pregnancies (she didn't have a job at that time though) and I had to laugh. That definitely wouldn't work for me! :)
DeleteI think you got some pretty good deals! I didn't spend much at all on maternity clothes but I did stretch out a lot of my regular clothes! I figured I'd likely want to buy new clothes after having babies anyway and I definitely did lol Although, I always felt more professional, etc. wearing the maternity clothes at work.
ReplyDeleteI did get some good deals, definitely! :) And I agree, maternity clothes make me feel more professional too - especially the blouses!
DeleteYou did great with your purchases Amanda. Back in the day I seem to remember buying quite a bit of maternity clothing for work as nothing seemed to fit me any more and I too didn't want to stretch out all my 'normal' clothing.
ReplyDeleteThanks Laura! I'm hoping to go back to wearing my normal clothing at some point after having the baby so I didn't want to stretch mine either :)
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