My best friend is pregnant and out of pure desperation last week asked me to take her shopping to find some clothes to fit her ever expanding body.

In my mind there are two types of pregnant women. The lucky few aka Heidi Klum who sport a perfectly formed baby bump that doesn’t show until the twentieth week, when you are half way to the finish line and just need a few cute singlets to cover the gorgeous thing. And then there is the second category, the women who start expanding from week five. These women work out they are pregnant not from a missing period but from a draw full of bras that they can no longer fit into.

My friend falls into the second group. The poor dear had worked her way through her regular clothes, fat clothes and all the jersey she had lying around before calling me in tears begging me to PLEASE HELP! Day after day she had been putting together the same combination of black top, blue jeans and was well and truly fed up.

I had full confidence that I was up to the challenge and agreed immediately. We hit Westfield Bondi Junction, home of the Yummy Mummy. I naively thought I would build a capsule maternity wardrobe that would expand and last her the whole way.

We started in some of the well known maternity stores, Pumpkin Patch and Fragile. Each store had a tiny rack filled with polyester pants and foul printed tops. Since when did my friend need to wear palm prints mixed with large hibiscus flowers? Remember the black mesh over lycra trend of the early nineties? Alive and well here.

If it wasn’t awful it was expensive. We paid $300 for a basic black wool jersey dress that should normally cost around $120. And since when was it decreed that pregnant women can only wear blue jeans?

We decided to hit some of the chain stores to see if we couldn’t purchase some well priced pieces that could easily do the job now and after pregnancy.

Country Road had some great items that mixed and matched to create a great little ensemble. My friend is blessed with great legs so we picked up the black silk shift with plenty of room to spare for the final months. We added some of their cotton volume tops in black and white for over jeans and picked out some long ribbed tops and cardis in great classic colours and brilliant prices for the quality - $34.95 as apposed to $89.95 from the maternity stores. No longer did my friend have to wear blue jeans with black tops, she had a full colour range to select from.

I had been recommended to Supre’ for their long boob tubes with build in bra by many a pregnant friend and decided to hit them next. Not only did we purchase a boob tube in every colour for $15 that when pulled right down covers belly and butt, we picked out a stretchy maxi dress in a great print for $20 with several more styles to choose from once summer hits. My friend will layer this dress over her boob tubes with a pair of sparkly thongs for casual summer chic. We grabbed leggings in black and grey for layering under the Country Road pieces and some fabulous extra long belts for cinching in extra long jumpers.

Cotton On Body had a great selection of stylish around the house pieces, we grabbed a short baby pink wool dressing gown and matching tracky pants for those days when its hard to get off the couch.

Last but not least we headed into Sportsgirl for accessories to distract the eye and picked up colourful resin bangles and necklaces to throw over the boob tubes and long line cotton tops. A much better option than awful prints that bring on morning sickness!

We headed home and cleaned out my friend’s wardrobe of all the items that couldn’t be worn any longer. It’s best to have easy styling access on those days you can’t be bothered. Rifling through too many pairs of pants that don’t fit and skirts that no longer do up won’t do much for your body confidence. We photographed plenty of wardrobe combinations and put together a pregnancy wish list that included:

White jeans with a belly belt (can actually be flattering in the right cut and so much more interesting that boring blue jeans).

Diane von Furstenberg printed wrap dress (maternity designers seem to think the more colours in a print the better. Best to stick to two).

Lacy underwear (we found gorgeous pieces from hotmilk at Fillyboo online)

Singlets with wide straps to hide maternity bras (category two pregnant women do not tend to suit the chesty bond).


Where can I get it? Top left and middle images both from Country Road. Pink bathrobe going cheap at Supre. Bottom right Jersey Boob Turb from Asos.com (yes the deliver to Oz). Bottom right - Hotmilk lingerie available online at Fillyboo. Bottom Middle - whole ensemble from Ripe Maternity.