Wanted: Maternity Wardrobe

Shabby Apple Maternity Dresses

I have been checking the maternity rack at our local Goodwill for causal maternity skirts.   Every time I see a pregnant lady in a nice casual skirt I always ask, “Where did you find it?” and they always answer, “consignment shop/thrift store/garage sale”.  I have been lucky in the past finding dresses that fit a pregnant form.  But with the weather turning cooler I can no longer wear a light weight dress alone.  I have been in the need for casual maternity skirts and can’t seem to find the right ones.

Taking the original advice from others I kept an eye out at our Goodwill.  I started looking way before the cool set in, but had no luck.  I even tried on a few pairs of maternity jeans but they did not fit well, so I waited.  Waited. Waited.  Finally I went online, thinking that I know I could find little family run shops that make long (according to the lady at Motherhood Maternity, anything knee-length or lower is “long”) maternity skirts.  I found one shop (New Creation Apparel) that had nice casual skirts but every skirt I picked out wasn’t in my size!  They pricing was perfect, but I was also worried about ordering online.  What if it didn’t fit right?  How could I know before ordering it?  And what about the issue of trying to return it and paying for shipping? Ugh.  Even with my cautiousness over online ordering, I went ahead and checked out another custom-made shop (The Modest Mom) but their skirts were more pricey and I couldn’t spend that much.  (I really like this skirt and am saving my pennies for when I am no longer pregnant!!)

It seemed like the next round would be the online selection at normal department type stores, (Motherhood, Pea in the Pod, Old Navy, Gap, etc.)  Nope.  No casual skirts.  Even the nicer looking pants were too expensive.  And as weary I am over buying a skirt online, I am 10 times more about buying pants online.

So finally yesterday I went to… the mall. HA.  We checked out Motherhood and I found 3 long skirts (That were seriously long- I am a short person and they were almost touching the ground) but they were all in a jersey-stretch material that show every curve and dip- not leaving much to the imagination!  The kind sales lady informed me that it was either those or skirts above the knee.  No in-between.  I did try on a few dresses but I was not on the hunt for dresses so I had to put them back.  I had even worse luck at Target.  Their maternity section was lost between the regular section and plus size.  It was very small and they had nothing but jeans, khakis, and a few sweaters.  I tried on a pair of khakis in shere desperation but they did not fit well either.  I was starting to lose all hope in having winter bottoms.

Finally I thought we could stop by Old Navy after dinner.  They were closed but a Kohls was right down the way and I went in.  They had a small maternity section so I tried on a pair of corduroy pants.  They actually fit nicely (and were 40% off).  I checked through their sales racks and found a long brown cotton skirt as well, so I got that too.  I finally had some cool weather bottoms.

I was checking out the rest of Kohls and was really pleased with a few of their designers.  Their Croft and Barrow brand had many lined fall skirts that I would have purchased in a heartbeat had I been my regular size.  I also liked their Chaps selection.  Who knew? (Obviously not me…)

With all of the options women have to choose from in picking out their clothing, I wonder why maternity is so limited.  I feel like every place has the same type of tight jeans-stretch tops-one button sweaters.  I’m still on the lookout for a nice maternity jean skirt and will probably continue to visit Goodwill in hope.  At least now I have something to wear to Goodwill!