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Sustainable Maternity Wear On A Budget

Sustainable Maternity Wear On A Budget

Posted on: Sunday 26 June 2022

 Amy is stood on a side with her bump showing in a shopping arcade. She is wearing checked leggings, a black vest top and a bright orange open shirt


While sustainable maternity brands do exist, they're expensive. Most sustainable clothing brands are more expensive than the average high street brand, but you tend to get better quality and longevity for your money, making them a more economical investment in the long run. 


However this can't really be applied to maternity wear seeing as you only need it for a limited amount of time (while you're pregnant for 9 months, I only switched to actual maternity clothes at around the 5/6 month mark) so I didn't see the point of investing in maternity clothes. Plus, it kind of defeats the point of sustainability; buying something I wouldn't need or wear for very long.


Me being me, I'm still trying to be as sustainable as possible so here's what I've been doing instead:


Shopping my own wardrobe // As I said, up until month 5/6 I was still in my regular clothes, or at least to a point. I found that my usual leggings, dresses and tops were generally fine up until that point and the only things I'd really ditched were jeans and trousers. 


Even when I had to ditch my usual leggings and was beginning to find that all my tops were fitting a little short, I still (to this day at 7 months pregnant) have floaty summery dresses that will last me probably almost to the end. My wardrobe has definitely narrowed down a lot, but I'm grateful I can at least wear some of it!


Buying second hand // There is so much second hand maternity wear floating around out there, which makes sense seeing as people generally only need it for a few months before it's redundant in their wardrobe. Everything I've bought has been from Vinted (which has definitely overtaken Depop as my favourite second hand buying platform). 


So far I've purchased some maternity leggings, a pair of jeans and an extra floaty dress, which technically wasn't actually maternity but is just super floaty so will hopefully last me afterwards too! Because I wasn't 100% sure on sizing, I actually tried on some maternity jeans in H&M then after finding some that fit and suited me I found them second hand for a quarter of the price!


Cutting myself some slack // I accepted early on that there would be certain things I would have to buy new. And by certain things, I mean underwear. Obviously I never buy this second hand anyway, but I do usually try and buy it sustainably. However, my fave small business where I usually buy from, which is actually pretty afforable, isn't the most maternity/nursing friendly. 


I did a lot of searching online for sustainable maternity underwear brands, but there was nothing within my budget so this is where I cut myself some slack and let myself buy high street for once (I went with H&M). Despite the eco-warrior inside me hating myself a little, there are just certain times where we need to cut ourselves some slack and compromise on our own values and this was one of them for me!


Comments

  1. I switched to maternity stuff from around 8 weeks haha. I was so bloated, it looked like I had a bump! It was lockdown though so I lived in leggings.

    I got a lot of wear out of my maternity stuff after Leo was born, too. So that's also worth considering. I wore it up to a year after as it was comfortable and easy to feed in!

    Corinne x
    https://skinnedcartree.com

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    1. I was out of jeans by then haha, but luckily I have so much loose stuff like leggings which will probably be what I turn back to post-partum too! xx

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  2. I love the outfit you're wearing in these photos Amy! I love how you have gone sustainable with your maternity wear! x

    Lucy Mary

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  3. Loved reading this! And go you for highlighting the cost implementations and just how pricey sustainable maternity wear can be. I was very similar to you in that I didn't really buy anything maternity until around the 6 month mark. I got a few things second hand, but also bought a few bits from new. I'm quite happy though, because what I have bought, I've managed to sell on vinted, so that makes me feel good. Unrelated, but I love your outfit here, that orange shirt is amazing! X

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    1. Add the word 'maternity' onto anything and it's immediately more expensive isn't it! That's great you managed to sell your stuff afterwards, that's my plan too! x

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