Maternity dressing tips please - very tall, very pregnant, and spring weather coming!

[Anonymous]

Dear tall pregnant DCUMers - please give me tips on how to dress in the third trimester in warm DC spring weather! During my first pregnancy I only started showing in the six month (October), and only developed a maternity wardrobe for the fall/winter. This time around, I'm much bigger much earlier (six months again, but REALLY showing) and it's going to be spring and I have NOTHING to wear. I need wardrobe options that will work for a (somewhat) conservative office environment, and some ideas for weekend wear. I always used to be a classic but stylish dresser, and now I just feel frumpy frumpy frumpy.

And oh yeah - I'm 6' tall with long legs. So most maternity knee-length wraps/dresses hike up around my mid-thigh and look obscene. And frumpy. Please think outside the box, ladies. (I'm frugal too - will happily buy consignment, Goodwill, whatevs, but I'll also invest in quality because hopefully this will not be my last pregnancy.)

So, where should I shop, what should I invest in, what do I absolutely need, what worked for you, etc.?

[Anonymous]

I am 5'8" with long legs and when I was pregnant, these pants were my lifesaver. They have them in long sizes. I bought 2 pairs in black and 2 pairs in khaki and they were the mainstay of my wardrobe. Very comfortable, and stayed on post-partum too. (looks like they have them in black, plus navy and gray pinstripe.) They're not too warm for summer.

http://www.gap.com/browse/product.do?cid=12213&vid=1&pid=761852

I ended up with lots of faux-wrap tops like this, that were really flattering.

http://www.gap.com/browse/product.do?cid=6053&vid=1&pid=812872

unfortunately they don't seem to have any skirts in tall sizes. And I would avoid wrap dresses - I had trouble keeping my skirt from blowing up while walking from Metro to work, and having strangers see my underwear while pregnant was not my idea of fun.

I found a couple of longer dresses that were great. One was at Old Navy and the other was at Japanese weekend, and a third from AT Loft. Check the JW site: http://www.japaneseweekend.com/ and then check ebay for cheaper options. (they have nice tops too.)

[Anonymous]

5'11" and had no problem with dresses from Nordstrom.com. Keep checking the website - they frequently have sales (I got a beautiful red Japanese Weekend cocktail dress for $30!)

Also, some longer stretchy empire west dresses from target non-maternity section did just fine as maternity dresses - I wore one of my "regular" dresses to my 39 week appointment!

[Anonymous]

Seconding the GAP pants in long and the open wrap tops. I'm finding that wrap tops from "normal" (ie non maternity) stores like Express work well, in a size up from normal. I'm 7.5 months, size eight pre-preg, and wearing a lot of size large wrap tops.

I've had no luck anywhere with dresses. I feel like they always look like sacks.

[Anonymous]

13:27 here - also wanted to mention that at nordstrom you can return in store for free, and they had free shipping. I just ordered a bunch of dresses, tried them on, and then returned the ones I didn't like.

[sybersus]

I find the Norstrom dresses are mostly too short for the professional workplace for me -- but I'm six feet so that may not be as much of a concern. I tend to order the tall sizes at the Gap.

[Anonymous]

I'm 6 feet with long legs and was quite large just a few summers ago.

Here's what I did for work: I bought a few pair of black pants in tall (online) and wore them over and over. Motherhood.com brand fit me the best personally. I also had a pair from gap that fit me ok. And then a variety of tops. I couldn't wear the blouse tops that are supposed to blouse out right under your boobs (often with a tie), because the tie would hit me mid-boob. If that makes any sense. Other tall women should know what I'm talking about. My neck to boob length is basically too long for these tops. So I wore lots of nice camisoles or other types of shirts and cardigans.

Casual: capri pants. These I borrowed or bought used. It doesn't matter how long they are. And long dresses. I found a few cute ones through the gap.

All the maternity dresses were always too short on me. I just never wore short dresses.

[Anonymous]

These were the pants I absolutely loved. Stayed up with no tugging for many months and very comfy. Looked decently stylish too (or so I thought). And cheaper than the Gap.

http://www.motherhood.com/Product.asp?Product_Id=930020038&MasterCategory_Id=MC5

[Anonymous]

1656- you made my day! i'm tall too and always thought those tops hit me mid-boob because my boobs were low. now i'm realizing maybe they are relatively normal, just low given th elength of my torso!

[Anonymous]

OP here, thanks for the great tips!

My problems are mostly related to my long legs (35/36 inch inseam) and wide hips - my torso is merely average length. I never considered the long torso concerns - opened my eyes!

I'll check out all the recommendations. I am particularly excited about the Gap pants and the Japanese Weekend suggestions. I have a wedding to attend in April.

[Anonymous]

OP: Gap pants will probably be too short for you. I barely fit into the talls, and I only take a 34 inch inseam. Try tallgirlshop.com, which has 36 inch inseams as the standard. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

You have to go to Apple Seed in OT. www.appleseedboutique.com

[Anonymous]

17:17 here - I didn't mention I am also 5' 11" and Apple Seed definitely had pants that were long enough for me. I ended up with 5 or 6 different pant options. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

I agree with some of the other reviewers who recommended Gap. I think they're by far the best. I've tried pants from Motherhood and Old Navy which are okay but not great. Gap is super-long and the styles hardly look like maternity pants at all. I've also been able to buy a few pairs of cuffed "regular" maternity pants and just let out the cuff. If you find a pair you like on sale, it's a pretty cheap fix.

Being tall is always a challenge looking for pants but even more so in the limited maternity realm - good luck!

[Anonymous]

5'11" here-- and I also recommend Nordstrom and Gap.