Plus size fashion and pregnancy. Part 1.

A little while back I wrote about maternity wear, and one of the key issues highlighted was the shortfall of maternity clothes for plus size women. This is the first of a two part interview with Nadine Newell and how her experience inspired her to help other women.

Q) Tell us about your experience in finding maternity wear when you were pregnant and how it inspired you.

As a first time mum to be I was so excited to finally see my baby bump and couldn’t wait to hit the shops and buy some fantastic maternity wear to show off in.

Unfortunately, as a plus size mum to be I wasn’t able to find any plus size maternity wear whilst I was pregnant, all that was available where some tops that had been badly upsized & didn’t fit in any of the right places was about as good as it got. I was lucky that my mum could sew, so a trip to Spotlight for fabric was as exciting maternity wear shopping got for me.

I did buy some jeans online out of the USA, they fitted me fantastically @ 19 weeks, not sure that I would have fitted into them at 21 weeks, as for making it in them to 40 weeks, no chance…….the difference in sizing between countries can be very tricky to get right first time.

I remember so clearly walking into the local maternity wear store to ask about a swimming cossie as I was enrolled to start pre natal aqua fitness classes at the hospital I was having my daughter at, it was September, so the start of spring and swimming cossie season, and I was looking forward to the class and swimming in our pool over summer. I asked the sales lady about maternity cossies, oh, for you??? yes, for me, I was looking for a size 20/22 maybe? oh, no I’d have to talk to our suppliers about THAT size, leave me your number and I’ll call you – she never called. It was then that I decided that no other plus size mum should be made to feel that way – like they didn’t matter at all. Every mum to be should be able to find fashionable, functional pieces to wear whilst pregnant.

Plus Maternity, is a range of maternity wear, designed in Australia by a mum who understands the requirements of a plus sized mum to be & manufactured here also using Australian premium fabric where possible.

All of our garments feature important details especially for plus size girls; tops that are longer line, busts with a little more room, pants with stretch, nightwear that has easy opening fronts for breastfeeding bub once they arrive and breastfeeding tops that accommodate larger boobs.

In Part 2 I’m going to get Nadine to share her fashion tips and advice with us.
What have been your experiences in finding clothes while you’re pregnant?