{Baby}: Maternity Fashion.

Maternity clothes.

I knew that having a baby would be expensive but one thing that did not cross my mind was that having to buy basically a new wardrobe would be expensive too!

At about 10 weeks I decided to get some "transition" pieces for my closet. Eager and excited, we hauled it out to the mall and went to a maternity store. I ended up getting two swimsuits (on sale) and two pairs of work pants but the biggest thing I got was sticker shock. This (frankly sub-par) maternity store was charging ridiculous prices for their clothes!

Then and there I decided to engage my inner frugalista. Over the next months, I learned quite a bit about maternity fashion - how to use your existing wardrobe, where to buy cute clothes at reasonable prices.

At first, I wore my regular clothes (for a good while - especially tops) - with jeggings and such in style, it made pants stretch with the growing bump. Here I am at my brothers' graduation party (plural possessive intended, as it was for both brothers). A flowy longer tunic over black stretch pants and a cardigan - my go to outfit for those early weeks.

With summer arriving, knit maxi dresses were a great addition to the wardrobe. I got this black and white striped one and a black one just like it from Burlington Coat Factory. Did you know they have a (small) maternity section? I didn't. It is very hit or miss but the prices were worth looking. I got several knit t-shirts, four maxi dresses, and a few work tops there.

The parentals at my gender reveal party:

Top from Burlington:

 T-shirt from Burlington, paired with TJMaxx sweater and my trusty knit black pants from Target maternity.. I wore those things all through my pregnancy.

Dress from Burlington:

T-shirt from Burlington maternity:

Another go-to was Sears - their maternity selection was a hidden treasure. This button up dress was great for work and will also be good for nursing.

Sweater from Sears with Target maternity black pants:

Dress from Sears maternity:

Cowl neck sweater from Sears maternity:

Top from Sears maternity:

Sears knit top and khaki skinny leg pants: 

I also got a few items from Stitch Fix that worked as maternity, like this dress I wore to my shower:

Stitch Fix started offering maternity clothes towards the end of my pregnancy but I was already well stocked by then - but super glad they added that service.

Here are the two swimsuits I mentioned at the start of this post - both from Motherhood Maternity.

Another favorite was Old Navy for maternity. Our location had a small maternity section but the best part was people could return their online maternity purchases in store and those were usually discounted. 

This Old Navy sweater is actually a regular size, I just put a maternity tank under it:

I loved this Old Navy maternity dress:

I got this maternity dress at Old Navy for something like $5 because it was an online return. I paired it with a vest from TJ Maxx for a wedding and an engagement party (pardon the bathroom selfie, you do what you have to do).

 I also wore the heck out of my Old Navy maternity knit tops. Here's one of my go-to's with my Old Navy regular size puffy vest.

Old Navy dress:

Another place I loved for maternity fashion was Target - I got two pairs of black pants, several long tanks, and this purple knit long sleeve tshirt that I wore legitimately every day at home for a while: 

 There are a lot of great maternity websites as well, but most that I found were pretty pricey. So if you're looking to be stylish while preggo without breaking the bank, my recommendations:

• Old Navy
• Target
• Sears
• Burlington Coat Factory

Hope this helps any frugalista pregnant women out there!

In saving money,