style: the thing about maternity clothes

Advance warning: this post may contain content of a ranty nature!

Why do shops make maternity clothes shopping so difficult? And why is it all so dull?

Honestly, it seems the majority of high street stores don’t stock their maternity collection in store and most of the time it is so limited and so dull. I’m all for creating a capsule maternity wardrobe that revolves around a few core pieces with a lot of basic essentials to mix and match but most maternity collections seem to be just the basics.

Unless I want to spend a fortune on more bespoke pregnancy wear brands who seem to have a little more imagination, I end up with the same jeans, leggings, nursing vest and wrap top combos. Yawn.

Why is it so difficult for retailers to create pieces that women actually want to wear? I’m a huge fan of H&M. I also need to shout out to them because they do actually stock some maternity wear in some of their stores. But they don’t follow through the designs of their core collection to their maternity range. For example, this dress (below) would be great for a pregnant body but just needs a little alteration in the design to make it fit properly. I have considered buying it up a size but then the arms and shoulders are too big.

So this is my appeal to stores like H&M and New Look to create maternity pieces that reflect the core collections and don't just offer the boring basics. Obviously there is a place for the basics and I don't want these stores to stop stocking them too, but expand and offer something a bit more exciting than another wrap nursing top. Just because we're pregnant doesn't mean we've lost all sense of style.

While we're on the subject of maternity dressing, I spotted this post over at Dress Like A Mum which has some super handy tips for dressing through pregnancy and beyond.