There are a few things maternity that you will inevitable have to buy; mainly jeans, if you want to wear them, you have to buy maternity jeans. If you are going to spend money on one item my suggestion would be this one. Pick out a pair or two of really stylish well-fitting jeans you love and buy them because you will wear them a lot.  You can pair different tops with them and get a lot of use out of a pair or two.

I personally live in sunny South Florida so the weather was hot for most of my pregnancy. I wore a ton of dresses; I found them to be the most comfortable. I would buy maxi dresses and empire waist dresses. I found Old Navy and Gap to carry a ton of non-maternity style dresses that were inexpensive, comfortable, and functional. I will tell you that if you wear them as much as I did, they will have to be thrown away after your pregnancy, because they won’t look so good anymore. However, they serve their purpose and won’t break the bank. I personally found small boutiques that carried these types of dresses that were not only super cute, but affordable and easy to wear.

I highly recommend drawstring anything. I wore a lot of drawstring pants, my favorites were the Lilly Pulitzer Beach Pant and Beach Short, but there are a lot more affordable pants out there.  I loved linen drawstring pants and shorts; they were comfortable and gave the ability to dress up or down.

I used to work for lululemon, so I happen to have 4 pairs of Still Pants. They were wonderful during my pregnancy. I’ll tell you a secret; I always wore these pants to work.  If you wore a longer shirt that covered the pockets, they totally passed as dress pants! The only problem is the logo on the back of the leg. People will stop you all day long to tell you that you have something stuck to your pants. It’s actually their reflective logo in case you are jogging at night, so no one runs you over, great idea in theory, not so much in practice when you are trying to wear workout clothes as work clothes.  But, regardless these pants are awesome because you can fold them over; pull the drawstring through and feel and look great. Pair these pants with the Portofino shirt from my last post and you are ready to go. The down side of these pants is the price, at $98 they are crazy expensive for “workout” wear.

Also, while we are talking about pants, let’s talk about those bands that go over your pants. The purpose is to be able to continue to wear your normal pants by leaving them unbuttoned or unzipped with this band over top. It was a total waste of money for me. However, I have friends who swear by them. My understanding is that it depends on the person and pregnancy. It could work great for one pregnancy and not at all for the next one for the same person! I don’t know, I bought one, spent about $25 bucks and it didn’t work at all. I suggest trying a hair band first. Simply loop the band through the button hole and then attach both loops to the button. Wah-La you can now leave your pants unbutton/unzipped with more room. If that doesn’t work maybe try an old tube top you have laying around, and if all else fails, try the bands they sell for this purpose, but eventually you’ll have to break down and buy new pants or elastic/drawstring waist pants. But in the interim this should help.

I highly suggest long tank tops, maternity or non- maternity. They are awesome for layering or wearing alone. I personally like Liz Lange for Target cotton shirts and tanks. They were affordable, stylish, and comfortable. I like them for before and after pregnancy also because I love long tops.

Belts and necklaces are your friends. I wore tons of longer necklaces when I pregnant, I don’t know what it was about them, but I felt they pulled outfits together when you have a belly. Belts were my friends also, especially wide ones. I used them with empire waist maxi dresses to break up the color or pattern and look really pulled together.

The last tip I have is for bras. I had to buy new bras at least three times during my pregnancy. What a pain. I don’t care who you are, what size you are, or how much or how little weight you gain. Your rib cage will expand! I bought a bra extender, this helped to eliminate having to constantly buy larger bras. I highly suggest investing in one of these, you won’t regret it! I personally got mine at Nordstrom, but I’m sure Amazon has a plethora of options to choose from.

I hope you find my tips and tricks helpful! Several of my suggestions can be worn before and after pregnancy as well. I am all about spending money on things you can continue to use after your pregnancy and sometimes that means spending a little bit more for quality products.

Please feel free to comment with your tips and tricks and any questions you may have. Happy Shopping! 

www.gap.com

www.oldnavy.com

http://www.lillypulitzer.com/catalog/search.cmd?form_state=searchForm&keyword=beach+pants

http://search.lululemon.com/search?region=us&asug=&w=Still%20Pants

http://www.express.com/clothing/Apparel/Portofino+Shirts/cat/cat1040025

http://www.target.com/p/liz-lange-reg-for-target-reg-maternity-long-lean-basic-tank-top-assorted-colors/-/A-14592209#prodSlot=large_1_6&term=Liz+Lange

http://shop.nordstrom.com/sr?origin=keywordsearch&contextualcategoryid=2375500&keyword=bra+extender

*This post was originally featured on TheFancyPantsMom.com