It’s a pretty exciting time once your pregnancy transitions from feeling bloated to celebrating the moment when your little bump starts to show. You can finally look as pregnant as you feel. Not only that, but it’s a fun excuse to go shopping! On the other hand, you’re investing in a wardrobe that has a definite expiration date. To keep your budget and your maternity outfit choices on point, here’s a list of where to shop and save to maintain your fresh style.
Best Places to Borrow
Your maternity style won’t be a permanent part of your wardrobe, so why spend like it is? Kill your commitment issues and sign up to rent clothes instead.
1. Le Tote: For a monthly fee, you can have a stylist hand-select items for your maternity wardrobe. Once your selections are ready, you can view what was picked and swap out items as you like. You can wear what you receive for as long as you like and then send items back when you’re ready for something new. If you like anything enough to keep it forever, you can purchase it outright for a discounted price. Bonus: Shipping is free both ways.
2. Mine for Nine: Do you have a formal event, job interview, or big presentation on the agenda while you’re expecting? Skip buying something that you’ll truly never wear again, and rent an outfit instead. From casual to formal, this rental service for expectant mamas offers a huge selection of sizes and styles for rent and purchase.
3. Borrow for Your Bump: This service offers one-time rentals for formal wear and a subscription option for stylist-selected outfits. If you opt in to the subscription service, you can cycle through clothes as often or as infrequently as you like. You can purchase items from your style kit as well, in case you end up liking something enough to keep it.
Best Places to Thrift
Love second-hand deals, but not sure where to start when searching for maternity sizes? Luckily you can browse the racks of thrifty maternity treasures from the comfort of your couch. Here are some favorites to get you saving and styling in no time.
1. ThredUP: This online consignment shop is a great place to buy or sell maternity and baby clothes. That’s right — you can shop for you and your little one in a single online bargain hunt. And if you’re looking for something to complete your outfit, you can also snag a deal or two on items like handbags, shoes, and non-maternity styles. Even better, if your maternity duds are still in like-new condition once you’re done with them, you can consign them yourself and make a little money back.
2. Motherhood Closet: You can buy, borrow, sell, or sign up for a grab bag of stylist-selected gently used clothes, all from this one site. Size options range from x-small to xxx-large, and the selection ranges from style basics to designer threads.
3. Swap.com: Impatient thrifters, rejoice! A major perk of this site is that it allows you to filter your search by size, season, brand, and clothing condition and type. If sifting through pages of clothes isn’t your jam, but saving a lot of money is, you’ll find a good fashion sidekick here.
4. Tradesy: Do you have a designer denim fetish, but you can’t bring yourself to pay full retail for jeans you’ll only wear for a short amount of time? Then Tradesy is your jackpot. Best of all, this thrift site offers a generous return policy. If you buy something and don’t love it, you can send it back via free shipping to receive credit toward your next purchase.
Best Deals to Buy New
Bargain hunting isn’t limited to borrowed or thrifted selections. You can score a pretty good deal on a brand-spanking-new wardrobe too. Take a look at these favorites to treat yourself to a little something without crushing your credit card balance.
1. H&M Maternity: This fast-fashion favorite will keep you on trend for all nine months without breaking the bank. Also, everything you buy online can be returned in store. So if you have an H&M nearby, you can shop and try on clothes at home without the risk of forgetting to ship something back in time for a refund or exchange.
2. ASOS Maternity: From super-casual brunch outfits all the way to dresses for special events, ASOS offers pages of options to dress your bump in style. The prices range from crazy budget-friendly to a little on the high-end side of shopping. So you can save on some items and splurge a little too, if you’re really feeling it. You can also find a good variety of affordable post-baby nursing options for your Insta-ready #OOTD.
3. Gap Maternity: Stock up on style basics, sweaters, denim, and super-cozy loungewear to snuggle up in, all from one familiar store. Also, Gap cycles through pretty hefty sales nearly every month of the year, so your chances of scoring an affordable outfit or two on the cheap are pretty good! Word to the wise: Not every maternity item purchased online is eligible for return in a Gap store. However, the online return eligibility is noted on each product page, so be sure to look for it if you’re on the fence about whether or not those pants will fit.
4. Old Navy Maternity: Shop by the trimester, or click on the maternity starter kit to browse layer-ready basics that will give your maternity style a kick-start without busting the budget. Warning: There’s also a huge selection of hard-to-resist baby clothes that may tempt you to spend a little more than you intended.
5. Pink Blush: From effortless boho-cool to edgy street style, this site offers a variety of options to keep your maternity look and your bank account in check through every trimester. And if you’re cruising for the perfect getup for your shower, you can easily narrow down the selection by browsing through the “baby shower” category on the site, where you’ll find a variety of options for an effortlessly cool look.
6. Target Maternity: Here’s a tip for saving the most money on maternity clothes from Target: Shop online. Save yourself the temptation of wandering into every other department by keeping your focus on the task at hand. You’ll be able to stock up on everything from nursing bras and exercise clothes to work-ready outfits all while staying within your intended spending limit. Bonus: If you have the Target Redcard, you’ll be able to score free shipping and five percent off your entire order (including sale items).
Where are you finding the best prices on maternity clothes? Tell us where you’re scoring deals @BritandCo.
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