Maternity Clothing Shopping List

Those who follow me on Pinterest, might have noticed that I've been pinning maternity looks for quite some time. Even before I was pregnant,  I had an idea of the kind of clothing I wanted to wear.  Some bloggers out there take pride in not buying any maternity clothes. I know that would never be me for a few reasons.

First of all, I wear a lot of form fitting clothing; pencil skirts and sheath dresses are not going to cut it during pregnancy  Secondly, I want to be comfortable and squeezing myself into my old clothes doesn't sound too comfortable. And lastly, the changes to my body are and will take a toll on my self-confidence. New clothes make me feel good!

So I've come up with a plan of what I want to wear over the remaining five months of my pregnancy and thought I'd share my maternity clothes shopping list.

I really have three needs. 1. Work clothes to get me through to the end of the school year in June. They can't be too spring-like because often the tights don't leave until May. 2 A few dresses for special occasions: two weddings,  my baby shower, prom and graduation  3. Casual clothes for the summer when I spend most of my time at home.

Let's start with work clothes. I decided while pursuing Pinterest that I don't like the pregnant pencil skirt look. Since I mostly wear pencil skirts, I knew I had to find a wardrobe replacement. Enter the skinny pants. I really love the look of a skinny pants on a pregnant lady, topped with a flowy blouse or a long form fitting shirt.

I already have purchased the black pair of pants and a similar pair of jeans. Now I'm on the lookout for a nice colorful pair of pants or maybe a crisp white pair without the full belly panel (those scare me!).

To go with my skinny pants, I have a few flowly shirts I can wear for a few more months (hopefully) and have bought some maternity tanks and t-shirts. I plan to wear the tanks under my normal cardigans and blazers.

I already have four tanks and one t-shirt and plan of buying some more (none over $15). I think I will be wearing these tops a lot and want to have some variety.

Next up; school dresses. I have a few normal dresses that will last for a bit longer. I've also been finding a few empire waist dresses at thrift stores. I already bought two maternity dresses and will buy one or two more if I can find them on sale (under $30). 

My favorite part of maternity clothes shopping are the dress up outfits. I already have been eyeing a few at Motherhood Maternity and am excited to see some bright cotton dresses in their inventory.

Lastly, the casual summer wear. I'm hoping I can rely on Old Navy for a lot of my summer needs. I'd like to get a couple maxi dresses and some little jersey skirts to wear around home with my maternity tanks. We have a pool so I think I'll need two bathing suits. RDogs says he can't wait to see my bump in a bikini and I don't think my suits from last year will fit, so I will need to find a bikini with a little more coverage of the, ahem, girls. I'm also shy in front of friends so I will need a tankini for pool parties.

I hope some of these selections make it to my local Old Navy. The maternity section is very, very small.

That's the biggest problem with maternity clothes shopping; the selection is really limited. Locally, I have H&M, Old Navy, Motherhood Maternity, Thyme Maternity and maybe Walmart (I haven't yet checked it out). Online, I've found that ASOS is the only place that ships to Canada.

So that's the plan so far. Does anyone have any maternity clothes shopping tips (especially if you are in Canada)?