Feb 8, 2017

Ok, I get that this might not be the most rousing, universally-applicable topic to start off the real mom posts I’m doing for the rest of the month, but listen, what I’m about to offer you is a little nugget of gold. Or maybe you won’t care. But if someone could have told me this a month ago when I was desperately searching, I would have been super grateful. So I’m offering it here for whoever it may help.

I give you, comfortable, modest, reasonably-priced, summer-friendly maternity dress recommendations. Or I guess maternity clothes because it’s not all dresses, but you’ll see what I mean. I’m only giving two links here because they’re the only two I’ve found that I love enough to recommend to the masses. And I think you all know I’m not cool enough to have some kind of sneaky paid sponsorship, but just to be clear, I wasn’t paid to say any of this. This is just a real life recommendation for things I bought with my own money, the same info (but better because there are direct links) that I told my pregnant friend at the park earlier today.

Both of the links below are to maternity dresses from ASOS, which I finally checked on a recommendation from my friend Marae who heard about it from her sister Elise, who I call Ellianta in spite of the fact that she’s infinitely and effortlessly cooler than I will ever be. But she likes it. I think. Anyway, when Marae and Ellianta recommend something you check it out because they are really down to earth and not big spenders, but also beautiful and the best. So that’s how I found myself one afternoon a couple weeks ago during nap time sifting through the ASOS maternity section with a fine tooth comb. Below are the fruits of my labors.

1. Stripey Linen Dress

This is a shirt dress made of woven fabric (not stretchy). Some things I LOVE, but didn’t realize about the dress until it arrived and I tried it on were that it has pockets (!) and that there’s a little zipper from the bottom of the v-neck collar to the top edge of the waistband, which means I think it’ll be really breastfeeding-friendly. Before getting pregnant this time around I was somewhere between a size 10-12, so after consulting the little sizing chart on their site I went ahead and ordered the size 12. I can’t exactly move my arms to do jumping jacks in it, but it’s not a tight fit. I may not be able to wear it right up until I deliver, but considering the fact that it was on sale, it’s lightweight and breathable (hello summer pregnancy), and that I can still wear it while I’m breastfeeding, I’m happy with it.

I was nervous about the stripes coming off a little clowny, but at least four women and three teenage girls at church told me they liked the dress when I wore it this past Sunday and none of them said it with smirks or clown-induced fear in their eyes, so I think they were all real compliments. Which is basically to say that if I can look normal in this dress then it’s probably fair game for any of my other non-super-trendy friends out there.

Also! I’m 5′ 4″ and this dress is knee-length on me, which is huge for maternity dresses (ok and dresses in general). I’m LDS and I don’t wear anything that’s sleeveless or hits me above the knee, so when I can find things I can wear without having to put a tank top (to hide cleavage) or leggings (to hide booty) or a t-shirt (to cover my shoulders) I just want to hug whoever created it. I’m happy to say that with this dress I can just wear my undies and bra and not have to layer it with anything else to be modest–yes, even with the v-neck. Hip hip!

See? I told you I had gold to offer. And there’s more!

2. Black maternity pack

This one is currently $68 full price, BUT it’s a set of 4 items. All of them are comfy, stretchy, black knit fabric. (And in case you’re wondering I ordered a size 12 in this too and they all fit great.) Here’s what it comes with:

Maternity leggings: full-length leggings (all the way to your ankle) with a full belly panel. I thought I might hate the belly panel, but I’m wearing them right this minute while I type this and I love it. I’ve been having round ligament pain this pregnancy and having clothes come up over my belly hold things in place helps with that a little bit.

Maternity tank top: there’s no ruching on the sides so I thought I might not like this, but it turns out I love it more than the maternity tank tops with ruched sides I bought from Old Navy a while ago. Namely because the neckline sits higher than most maternity shirts/tank tops, making me feel less like a hooch and making it a lot better for layering, and also because I’ll be able to wear it postpartum without it yelling “hey look I’m still in maternity clothes!” to all passers by. Also it’s stretchy so I could pull it down to breastfeed no problem.

Maternity skirt: This skirt fits and looks like a sleek pencil skirt, but it has a full belly panel and comes down below my knees. I’ve only tried it on once so far, but if I remember right it came down more like mid-calf on me, which I like. Super comfy and versatile. I would have worn it this past Sunday if I hadn’t already chosen to wear the stripey dress.

Maternity dress: This dress is like a long, comfortable t-shirt. Regular sleeves, comes down below my knees, and the neckline is normal (i.e. non-hoochie mama scoop or v-neck that all maternity tops are). Again, I haven’t worn this one out yet, but only because I wore the stripey dress this past Sunday and I’m not much for wearing dresses during the week. Though these are all comfortable enough that I could.

Ok that’s all about those two recommendations.

This was my first time ever ordering from ASOS and in general I hate buying clothes (especially for myself) online, but these were some things I really appreciated about this particular experience:

• Each product listing gives the model’s measurements and what size they’re wearing
• There’s a short video clip in each listing of the model walking in the item so you can see how it moves, how it fits, and if there are slits, etc. that you couldn’t see in the pictures
• They have an Amazon-like return policy, making it super easy to return any or all of your order at no cost to you for a full refund

I’ve also previously bought both maternity clothes and kids clothes from Thread-Up (another recommendation from Marae), which is sort of like thrift store shopping online, but everything is in really good condition. They take their own product pictures, so you know exactly what each item looks like in its current state. And it says in the product description if there’s any wear and tear and, if so, what it is. You have to sign up for a free account with them in order to shop their site, but I think when you do it gives you an introductory promo code. Shipping is only free after a certain price point (I think around $75? I don’t remember), but it had been a while in between the two purchases I’d made from them and when I got back on the site they gave me another promo code to get me to buy more stuff. Joke’s on them cuz I was already going to anyway.

So, there you have it. Those are my very limited, but also very hearty recommendations for maternity clothes if you’re pregnant and looking for things to buy/wear right now. What about you guys? Do you have super specific things you look for? Things you love/hate about certain maternity clothes or brands? Other recommendations you’d offer? I’m all ears.