Happy Friday to you!

The next few posts I have for you are baby related so I’m sorry if this isn’t your thing, I do apologise in advance.

Being pregnant for some people is apparently the best thing ever, they get this ‘glow’ supposedly and they’re constantly excited about babies and even when they’re hormonally crying they’re happy on the inside, they just can’t control the tears. However, for others – myself included – being pregnant is a real pain in the bum. Don’t get me wrong it has its perks. For the last few months I’ve had a fab place to rest my hands and my phone and the occasional cup of tea. But I have also had some major problems. One of which has been the simple act of getting dressed.

For me, my go-to outfit that I would happily wear all day every day (besides pyjamas) is jeans and an oversized t-shirt. Now, unless you want to spend an absolute fortune on maternity jeans that you’re only going to use for about six months, this is not an outfit that works with a bump. As you can imagine, this caused me problems on a morning.

So I thought I’d put together a few helpful tips to maybe make your life a little easier if you’re looking for a way to look nice with a bump without breaking the bank.

Oversized jumpers

During winter, I live in oversized jumpers anyway so this was something that I already owned meaning I didn’t have to spend any more money. I was in the early stages of pregnancy during the winter of 2016 which I actually think is one of the worst points of pregnancy because it’s not actually obvious that you’re pregnant, I just looked like I was putting on weight in strange places. This didn’t make me want to wear nice, figure hugging clothing because, at that point, I wasn’t personally happy with my figure.

Please don’t take that as ‘I don’t like bigger people’ as some people would, this is not the case at all. But, in all honesty, I’ve always had a slender ‘dancers’ figure and that is what I like on myself. When this disappeared I wasn’t particularly happy about it. Now, I knew that I wasn’t going to stay skinny during pregnancy, I’m not trying to say I thought I’d be able to keep my figure whilst creating a tiny human in my body, I’m simply stating that – for me – I needed a way to cover up the lumps and bumps that I didn’t like. On me. Gosh, not offending anyone is hard in this day and age.

Anyway, the winter lifesaver for me was oversized jumpers that I knew I would use again when not pregnant.

Leggings leggings leggings 

I love Leggings as much as the next person. As a dancer, I have lived in leggings for a rather long time. I’m okay with that. And, during pregnancy – at all stages – leggings will become your best friend. They are pretty much the only bottoms I wore throughout my pregnancy. I highly missed jeans and I actually missed skirts a little too (unusual – I’m not a massive skirt wearer).

A lot of pregnant women swear by maternity leggings. I do not.

Granted, I only bought one pair and I wasn’t really impressed (still wore them though). I got my pair from Dorothy Perkins in a sale for around the £9 mark. They were really quite see-through and tight which I wasn’t expecting so I could only wear them with long tops. I did appreciate them being really long because I have long legs but I didn’t appreciate how tight the waistband was. So much so that if I wore them all day I would begin to feel fairly winded. Not cool.

BUT one brand of leggings I do swear by are Primark leggings. Any style, any thickness, any colour. I absolutely love these leggings. They are super comfy, super stretchy and, surprisingly, super good quality. I’m pretty sure they’re either £2.50 or £5 a pair depending on whether you go for the regular ones or the thick – sort of fleece lined – ones. I highly recommend both.

Long vest tops

As I’m a stickler for saving money and not buying maternity clothes for the sake of a few months, something I took to pretty much straight away was wearing extra long vest tops under my regular t-shirts. This was due to the fact that for some reason pregnancy suddenly changed how happy I was to have my bum on display (in leggings obviously) I was suddenly very self conscious if my top didn’t cover my back side.

Again, I’m going to suggest taking a trip to Primark. They sell extremely stretchy vests in any colour you need (though I tend to just opt for black and white) for the best price. I don’t know exactly how much but I don’t think they’re any more than £2 a top.

Just pop this top on and you’re covered for wearing any other t-shirt/shirt/blouse over the top.

Men’s shirts

Not for everyone I understand, but for me these are a lifesaver. It started out that I just borrowed one of Tom’s when I was feeling bigger than I had done since the start of my pregnancy and I’d raided my own wardrobe and hated everything. I’d debated not leaving the house at all but come to the conclusion that I did actually need to go to work. So I ended up in Tom’s wardrobe – just in case.

Tom’s not a big person, no bigger than me anyway but men’s shirts somehow just seem to be naturally bigger and longer. Funnily enough, the one I stole was from Primark again so it was probably about £5 I should imagine. It’s actually the shirt in the picture above. The day I ‘borrowed’ Tom’s white Primark shirt was the day I realised I need to start shopping in the men’s section as well when I go shopping.

Baggy t-shirts

As I said right at the beginning, laggy t-shirts are a must have in my life. I literally live in them. My specific favourites are the Hollister ones. They are so soft and last forever. I have several oversized t-shirts from Hollister and I haven’t had to throw one away yet. They wash well, they wear well and they’re exceptionally long lasting.

One of the main reasons I like baggy t-shirts during pregnancy is there is no need to size up. I would advise sizing up in the leggings and the vest tops (maybe even two sizes up, I had a very small bump throughout so I didn’t need to but depending on how big you get, bigger sizes will just provide more comfort). However, with baggy/oversized t-shirts there’s no need to because they’re already – by style – too big for you. To me, this means I can wear them after I’ve given birth and I’m not wasting any money.

Photo by hollisterco.com

So there you have it, my dress the bump tips. I hope some of these are a little helpful if you’re looking for ways to dress your own baby bump without spending way too much money for no reason.