Conservative maternity wear for poor ppl

amother

Burgundy

Mon, Mar 23 2015, 1:23 pm

I recently moved to NY and this is my first pregnancy. I need maternity clothing and really don't have any money. Already buying food is a trick. I also dress very conservative and not fashionable. Any advice regarding NY or online stores? Do I really need maternity clothing or can I buy a couple of sizes up? I'm clueless about maternity issues. TIA!

Delores

Mon, Mar 23 2015, 1:27 pm

Try second hand. Why would you buy a large size of regular clothing? If it won't fit you after the birth you're not saving anything. Instead of buying new regular bras maybe buy nursing bras now so you can also use them after the birth. Good luck.

pesek zman

Mon, Mar 23 2015, 1:50 pm

I found amazing deals on motherhood maternity (sale) lots of basics like lost sleeve tshirts for $5 and knit tops for $15. I found that you really don't need a lot of maternity clothes. Buy a few basics and mix and match.

nyer1

Mon, Mar 23 2015, 2:54 pm

I'm sure u can find a maternity gemach if u live in or around a large jewish community. u can maybe even have things shipped to u for less than what you would pay to buy new.
if u own some already elastic waist skirts or larger shirts u might be able to get by with those items for a bit, but it gets harder as the pregnancy progresses.
stores where u can get sale items or very low cost - old navy, target. online. nice stuff for inexpensive.

I would offer for you to borrow some of my stuff but I'm in the middle of using it myself. maybe you have friends in a similar size who aren't currently pregnant that you can borrow from? it's a pretty normal thing to ask - many people only buy for themselves a few staple maternity items so it's VERY normal IMO to share!

baschabad

Mon, Mar 23 2015, 2:59 pm

Maternity wear is made to accommodate a large growing bump on your midsection. Getting larger size clothing will give you disproportionate length and fit all over.
Go for the gemachs, target and WalMart and the clearance sections of stores like destination maternity. (you can also shop online.)
Oh, and maybe check Craigslist?

spring13

Mon, Mar 23 2015, 3:14 pm

Try eBay: you can narrow your searches by style enough to specify longer skirts or crewneck tops. If you have a local Facebook or yahoo group, look for people posting stuff to sell/give away - or post a request for tznius items in your size.

Assume you'll need proper maternity clothes. You don't just get bigger overall, you get bigger in the belly and eventually maybe the chest. You're not likely to grow a lot in other dimensions, you'll still need the same skirt length and shoulder width and so on.

My advice is to get at least a couple of skirts as soon as your own seem tight. Even if you can still wear stretchy foldover waist things (if you wear those at all) for a while, you'll probably hit a point where they stop working - but that might be with only a month or so to go. Better to spend the money sooner and get several months' use than to dither over buying something when you won't need it for long.

mille

Mon, Mar 23 2015, 3:17 pm

aro wrote:

Thredup- its a online second hand store with maternity clothing

Not for maternity, but I've had incredible luck and only good experiences with Thredup. All of the clothing is in very very good condition, they allow returns (other than final sale items), and you can get some great bargains! They recently had a 99 cent sale, where a lot of items were 99 cents plus shipping... I got 12 clothing items for $23 total!

Ebay is also great but you have to browse a lot of listings or know what you're looking for.

amother

Bronze

Mon, Mar 23 2015, 8:47 pm

OP, if you live in Washington Heights call the JCC at 212-568-5450. Their maternity gmach disbanded but they may know people who have stuff to lend or give. Also ask about posting on the Maalot Washington online bulletin board where people post stuff to give away or looking for stuff.

amother

Orchid

Mon, Mar 23 2015, 8:57 pm

Hi I also just had my first and I went to a cheap clothing store and bought some larger size tops. I took them in by hand and let it out as I grew! They looked great! Much Hatzlocha

seeker

Mon, Mar 23 2015, 9:34 pm

Try Freecycle or Craigslist. NY is a big place, many people have kids, most of whom have only 1-2 kids and therefore like-new high quality maternity clothes to dump. I got a bunch of maternity clothes from freecycle (alas most didn't end up fitting and I passed them along... I only took them because they came with the crib Wink

) and sold a lot of mine as one lot for about $20 on Craigslist.

I found some nice tops at good prices at I think Kohl's. It was their version of Motherhood maternity; lower prices and I found the quality comparable, I was never too impressed with Motherhood maternity quality.

Fave

Mon, Mar 23 2015, 10:33 pm

seeker wrote:

Try Freecycle or Craigslist.

I just want to add that you need to be careful shopping through craigslist and the like...

There was a terrible story last week: A a pregnant mom responded to a Craigslust ad for baby layette. She went to the "seller's" house to pick up the stuff, and the ending wasn't pretty.... (Seller was really a mentally ill woman who wanted to steal unborn child)

Never go to a strangers house alone- no matter how cheap the stuff is being advertised for.

mille

Mon, Mar 23 2015, 11:11 pm

Fave wrote:

I haven't traded on craigslist in years, but when I did, I was a fan of meeting in front of a police station. Honest people won't mind, and dishonest people generally aren't going to do anything too stupid in front of a police station.

amother

Slategray

Mon, Mar 23 2015, 11:31 pm

I've actually had a lot of success buying clothes for maternity wear in the regular section. You have to look for swingy or other styles that will accommodate a growing belly. I just bought a couple of tops at Marshalls for $20 each which will be great for maternity wear. Not free, but much cheaper than you'll find in a frum maternity store! The last month of my last pregnancy, when none of my Shabbos maternity clothes fit, I bought a non-maternity long swingy sweater which worked great both in my 9th month and postpartum (I closed it with a pretty pin). I actually feel that maternity clothes these days are made to accentuate the stomach (a tznius concern), while some non-maternity styles (perhaps made for heavier women not looking to accentuate their size) fit well for maternity and are more tzanuah.

Good luck and b'shaa tova!