Last week when I posted about maternity clothes, a commenter recommended shopping Old Navy Maternity online. So I spent a bit of time on the Old Navy website and found some things that I thought looked worth trying out. They have free shipping on returns, after all. And even better, right now I’m still not huge, but I will be much larger in the fall and winter, and Old Navy Maternity had a lot of long-sleeved clothing on sale. In fact, they had a lot of clothing on sale period. I only ended up paying full price for one item.
I am sure that many of you have had interesting online shopping experiences. When you shop online, you can only see the item of clothing on the model or mannequin. You have to pay for it, wait for it, and then try it on. After receiving my clothing shipment and trying on the pieces with varying results, I decided to document my experience for all of you because I’m sure that most of you can relate.
Luckily, my husband works at a professional studio so we had access to a white studio and great camera equipment. And so, here is the experience of an XL gal buying maternity clothes online.
This is the only item I paid full price for. I still absolutely love Old Navy’s picture of it. Unfortunately, it is humongous on me. You might not be able to see how big it really is, but if you could also see all the extra fabric in the back… This might be a great shirt if I were full-term RIGHT NOW but since it’s a summer shirt and I’m not going to be huge while it’s still hot, I’ll be returning this item. I might exchange it for a L, because I do think it’s cute.
Here is a short-sleeved sweatshirt that I thought would be cozy in the winter. Unfortunately, it’s not that cozy on the inside, and it’s the kind of clothing that makes you feel enormous. It is not flattering on me now, and I don’t plan to keep it to see how it will fit when I have a bigger belly.
This is a pretty simple black long sleeved faux wrap, and I really do like it. It is definitely too big for right now, but I will keep it for the fall and winter in the hopes that at that point, I can look classy, but feel comfortable. Besides, it’s way too hot right now to wear long sleeves. I also bought it in fuchsia, pictured below.
As you can see, though, the sleeves are a tad too long on it. I’ll probably end up pushing them up when I wear it. There is a LOT of extra fabric in the midsection, so lots of room to grow.
This piece demonstrates the importance of looking at all of the pictures before making the purchase. I only looked at the front view. I think it’s cute, and I thought it might be nice to have a pattern. Unfortunately, unless I’m wearing an undershirt, the keyhole is a window to my cleavage. Also? Who gets the job of smoothing these shirts out on the mannequins? Where’s my photo stylist when I need one?
And yeah. Here’s the back of this shirt. This may be someone else’s style, but it’s not at all my style. Besides, I was trying to make purchases that weren’t summer-only and this low (and ugly) back makes this a summer-only shirt. I’m definitely returning it.
I feel like I should be a beautician in this shirt. Do you need highlights? Not my style. I’m returning it.
So I do think this shirt looks better on the mannequin than it does on me, but I didn’t have a mirror during the photo shoot and I think I might be wearing it a little too far up or too high back or something. I have decided to keep this shirt. My husband Mike tells me that it is a little too moo-moo-ish for his tastes, but I really think that when I’m huge, this will be something nice and flowy to wear. It’s definitely something that I could only get away with wearing when it’s obvious that I’m pregnant and people know why I’m wearing it.
And finally, here are the inside tags of the pair of jeans pictured at the beginning of this post. I
ordered an XL. The tags sewn into the jeans say that it is both XXL and XS, neither of which size I ordered. And the jeans? They’re definitely XS. I’d show you a picture of me wearing them, but that would be obscene.
So even though I’m keeping only three items and maybe reordering one, I felt this was a pretty successful online shopping venture. I wish that I’d bought something that I could wear right away, though, instead of having to wait till late September or October when things cool down.
What online maternity store should I try next?
(Yes, I am ready to launch my modeling career. Please no direct inquiries; contact my agent.)
You are far more cheerful about your maternity shopping experiences than I ever was! BTW: the Old Navy at Jordan Landing in West Jordan (7800 and Bangerter-ish) carries (or used to carry) maternity. Those wrap tops are definite keepers!
Some Old Navy’s have maternity available in store now. I know the one at Fort Union has a small selection. I bought most of my maternity clothes online from Old Navy after going in to the store and getting a feel for what their sizes are like. I mostly just bought their t-shirts and managed to score a pair of maternity capris for $6.99 last summer.
I bought most of my other maternity clothes at Target. I think you posted earlier about not really liking their selection. I loved Target’s maternity stuff.
The only other place I got anything maternity from was Motherhood Maternity. I bought my jeans from there because they were the only place that had jeans long enough for me. (I’m small in the waist but tall so it’s hard to find jeans anyway, let alone maternity jeans.) I felt like Motherhood was way overpriced and was like a racket for pregnant women. I mean honestly, I felt that what I paid for was not up to par with what I bought. I didn’t feel like their stuff was quality for the price I paid.
have you checked out hot mama??
http://www.shopmama.com
i love their (expensive) styles. but for a good outfit (or two)…it was a fun place to go. and occasionally you can run across some great deals.
my favorite maternity clothing was actually the non-maternity longer shirts that were all of a sudden popular at the end of my pregnancy.
it was really tough for me not being a size little with a cute little baby bump.
target has a decent maternity section too. but, that’s not news to anyone! (but, online is better…)
Thanks for the post, Alma! I’ve been through 2 kids and I have enjoyed most of my maternity clothes. I really only like them when I actually have a belly that looks nice and cute poking out of my body. The pregnant belly is a wonderful time for me because I don’t have to suck in my gut! By the way, I found some good stuff at Old Navy too. GAP was pretty good. And, very rarely Target. I would even buy non-maternity clothes in an XL or something and it would look really fitted and cute around my belly.
Wrap tees are the best and most flattering when pregnant—I also loved Gap’s Roll Panel jeans and University mall carries the maternity line.
Yeah, I find that the L in Old Navy and Gap usually fit better when pregnant. That being said, you do get a lot bigger so I did need the XL in some styles, it’s just hard to predict.
When the Liz Lange maternity at Target is on, it’s adorable; when it’s not, it’s abysmal.
Last time I found some really cute stuff in JC Penny’s maternity section. Their website had even more of a selection.
you are hilarious! I love the play by play…I hate going to stores to try things on, so I’m more of an online shopper and love your post!
My old navy has a maternity section! Right next to their ginormous baby girl section. And adjacent to their one microbe-of-a-rack of baby boy clothing.
Just sayin’.
Good luck with the shopping. I’ve had friends who have had LOTS of luck going and buying XL or XXL tops in the JUNIORS department of department stores–especially since empire-waisted (and no-waisted) things are so *in*
The grey shirt looks like a hospital gown. Not cute. At all.
For both pregnancies, I found good maternity shirts at an unexpected place: ShopKo. Yeah, I’m almost embarrassed even writing it. But they had a large selection, great prices, and flattering clothes. Of course, I went back to ShopKo at the end of my pregnancy and found absolutely nothing worth buying then, so maybe they only have a good winter selection. I bought a few things at JC Penney, basics at Old Navy, and nothing from Motherhood. Mimi Maternity is adorable but expensive.
I’ve found some cute stuff on JC Penney’s site. I ordered a pair of jeans (tall) and loved the length and fit, yoga pants (so cozy) and two shirts. One is too big but I’m expecting twins so it should fit me in a month or two and then another shirt that fits now. The clothes run a little more expensive than Old Navy, I think, so that might be an issue. Also, Ross often has cute maternity clothes. I found some knee length shorts that are seriously the best things ever. Good luck!
You can't shop them online, but if you can find an H&M; out there I think you'd be pleasantly surprised. It's nice stuff that is relatively inexpensive. Plus, it's European, so you can feel cool about that. I love their maternity section. Lots of basics like jeans and little black dresses. If you don't have H&M;, well, I'm sorry for you.
With my first two preg’s I gained over 60 lb, my third, well, they stopped weighing me. Let’s just say clothes were a problem.
Gap is a complete waste in my opinion for real pregnant bodies. I outgrew my gap stuff by 3 or 4 months. Old Navy really fit me the best but it would be worth it for you to find the closest Old Navy store that carries maternity and do a road trip.
If you can find any Lilly Pulitizer (especially on ebay), I had a couple of dresses by her and they fit the entire pg.
If you’re looking for jeans, my absolute favorites are the secret fit from Motherhood. As for online shopping (and I know I’ve mentioned it a million times) my favorite is Ann Taylor Loft. If you would rather just try stuff on than order it, I have several styles in tops and bottoms, in sizes 14-18 and XL and XXL. You know where to find me. :) Good luck in your search.
Motherhood's secret fit pants were nice, but the jeans fit me strange–super tight through the legs, so I stuck with pants. I liked the roll panel pants & jeans from Old Navy. I also have that moo-moo esque top and I like it. I also have the basic tees from Old Navy. Target only occasionally has good maternity in stock. Their website has more. One thing that bugs me about maternity clothes is that often the shirts are not long enough to cover the stretchy panel belly. When I'm huge and preggo, I do not want to have to think about wearing one more layer even in winter.
I had an awful time trying on stuff in the Motherhood maternity store – I had to get large sizes and for some reason, people assume that if you're not a small, you're tall and have giant proportions. I hate, HATE how armpits hang down low and are 5 inches too long. One pair of pants I tried on was 10" too long. Just because I'm chubby does not mean I'm a moose, people! (Of course, I was modeling this outfit for my mom in the store and the arms were 5" too long and the pants covered my feet and my mom started snorting with laughter, which made all the tall, lanky model-type mamas-to-be stare at me . . . I ducked back in the dressing room and cried.)
My favorite places were Ross & TJ Maxx. There you have a pretty good selection of actually pretty nice things at decent prices, and you can try them all on right there. I got a great pair of khakis for $8. Then go find a tailor. I hear BYU does a great job. Good luck.
I kinda liked the short sleeved sweatshirt on you :)
Target maternity is super good when I was pregnant! I really liked their button down shirts and they fit well.
maybe being pregnant in europe changed my viewpoint on maternity dressing, but the tighter the better. When I wore some of my target maternity stuff to work the brits flat out told me that i looked huge and ugly. Then I wore a non-maternity shade shirt that stretched tightly across my belly and got rave reviews from all my co-workers. I found that H&M; had the cutest maternity clothes…so sad you can't buy online and there isn't a store nearby. I say pony up the cash for some great things and then wear them to death! You'll have nicer stuff that makes you feel cute and then not have as many clothes to store once you're done being pregnant.
I think most of those styles are cute. The main problem is you should have ordered a L instead of XL. If your a L in non-pregnant life you are still a L when pregnant except maybe in the very last month. Too bad about the miss marked jean though!
ha ha, what a great article!! i have a friend that recently told me about how hard it is to find good plus size maternity stuff. *lame* and shame on you, maternity companies!! I love that magenta wrap. you make me raff.
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