There is no doubt that maternity clothes can be very expensive. In fairness, this is probably for the simple reason that most styles require quite a bit of additional fabric to accommodate your rapidly growing belly. However there are ways to get affordable maternity clothes without breaking the bank, or looking unfashionable and frumpy.
The very fact that you are expecting, is in itself probably one of the most important times in your life, and the last thing that you want to happen is to lose taste in yourself. I do think though, that particularly in these times of the credit crunch, and all the news of financial doom and gloom everywhere, you should keep a sense of perspective, when shopping for your maternity outfits.
Everything does depend on your own personal financial situation of course, but regardless of that, I do not myself think that it is necessary to buy a lot of maternity clothes at top prices. My own feeling is that if you avoid those ultra stylish, and ultra expensive maternity clothes boutiques, you will have more money to spend on your new baby after it has been born.
That is only my personal view of course, but you should remember that you will only be wearing your maternity clothes for a fairly short period of time. As well as this, most women do not even need specially made maternity clothes until they have reached the fifth or sometimes even the sixth month of their pregnancy!
There most certainly are places where you can buy affordable maternity clothes, but if you are quite resourceful you could maybe even get some for free, and that is even better, at least in my book it is. I am sure that your husband will almost certainly be larger than you are, so have a sneaky raid in his closet, because you might be able to "borrow" his jeans and his shirts to tide you over for a few weeks. His dress shirts will almost certainly be much roomier, and as such will give you a longer length than your own regular tops or blouses.
You could also ask friends and relatives if they happen to have some maternity clothes which they could lend you, but if you do decide to ask them, you must be prepared not to be too picky. Some of the styles might not be what you would normally wear, but possibly you might be able to modify them with a change of buttons or some different accessories.
You do not need to limit yourself just to borrowing maternity clothes, because plus size fashions can also work throughout your pregnancy, if you have a bone frame that is large enough that is. Plus size shirts work exceptionally well, although plus size pants might not fit very well, and could be baggy in all the wrong places if you are not normally a plus size woman.
You should also consider clothes like stretch pants and baggy shirts, and dresses which do not have a waistline. What you are looking for here, are clothes which you can use to get you through that awkward stage, where you are too big for your regular clothes, but at the same time you are not big enough to fill out maternity clothes properly.
There are probably very few pregnant women who actually wear their maternity clothes out before the end of their pregnancies. It is probably a good idea therefore, to have a look round the thrift stores and the consignment shops to see if you can find some really good deals on cheap womens workout clothing.
Sometimes consignment shops for children will also have a small section filled with maternity clothes, as well as their normal stock items. You should always check out the plus sizes and the clothing for men in any department store, because you might well find a decent item on sale that you could wear during your pregnancy.
To give you just one example of this, if you are a businesswoman, a male sports jacket might just be the ideal solution to looking crisp and professional while your tummy expands. Who knows, you might well get some other clever ideas while you are browsing around, so looking good throughout your pregnancy need not be expensive.
I hope that I have given you some thoughts to mull over, because I think that With a little imagination and just a bit of planning, you can get an excellent looking maternity wardrobe on a pretty reasonable budget.
