Beth Wanner jokes that she was part of the “sisterhood of the travelling bra,” when she was pregnant with her daughter about three years ago.
Recently laid off and hunting for her next job, the Regina woman turned to friends to help her minimize costs and look professional while her body changed.
“I borrowed everything from specific nursing tops to pants to dresses to even, bras,” Wanner recalled laughing. “We’re a close group of friends.”
The generosity of Wanner’s friends was just one of the ways she built a wardrobe that would last her through maternity without putting a significant dent in her wallet.
If you have a little one on the way and are trying to be budget conscious, stylists agree it’s worth taking Wanner’s advice, among other budget-friendly approaches.
Suzanne Colmer, a Toronto-based style and image consultant, said women come to her for help dressing during pregnancy all the time. Most of them think building a maternity wardrobe has to be dramatically different than amassing clothing for any other stage of life.
Not so, she said. While you might need different pieces or fits, the fundamentals are the same: set a budget and build a capsule collection of about 10 pieces.
Generally, that means three layering pieces, like cardigans, blazers or jean jackets, which can be worn over top other things or worn open, two bottoms, three tops and four accessories like purses and jewelry, she said.
“Usually, those four great accessories are from before pregnancy and they can last after and then it’s just a matter of buying the six pieces that we can kind of mix and match and multitask with for the rest,” she said.
“The key thing is to just make sure that everything works together. It makes it so much easier to get dressed in the morning.”
Before buying anything, Ottawa-based personal stylist Rebecca Rowe recommends looking at your wardrobe and seeing what pieces will grow with you and which you likely need to pick up.
Pants with very defined waistlines and not much stretch won’t typically see you through pregnancy. Tops with shorter or cropped cuts also don’t often work and sometimes swelling feet mean you need to upsize your shoes.
Look in your wardrobe for dresses, skirts and pants with less of a waistline as well as longer, looser tops that hang off your shoulders and flow straight down.
These items are most likely to fit you as you grow and if they don’t, they may only need a small alteration or two to become useful.
For example, many maternity shops and online stores sell extenders that attach to the fly of your pants and can add a few inches to the waist, Rowe said.
A tailor can also add side panels to a dress to make it roomier or take in the shoulders of an oversized shirt, so it fits your upper torso and offers some give around your belly, Colmer said.
“There’s quite a few things that a magic seamstress can do. That’s why I think they’re worth their weight in gold,” she said.
Once you’ve pulled options from your closet and assessed items friends have lent you, start shopping for what you’re missing.
Colmer recommends making a stop at second-hand stores or websites, where shoppers can sometimes score discounts up to 80 per cent off.
If shopping second-hand isn’t for you, look out for sales.
“I often tell people just to wait for long weekends,” she said. “Trying to find end-of-season sales or holiday sales are another great option.”
No matter where you buy, be intentional, she stressed.
“It’s great to have a jacket that you got on sale or a top or a dress that you got on sale but if you’re bringing it home and it doesn’t go with anything else in your closet, then it’s not that great of a deal,” she said.
“It means that you have to spend a bunch more to make it actually work, which is not a savings at all.”
Wanner, the Saskatchewan mom, said it’s important not to wait for the last minute to look for clothing because good pieces can take time to find.
While you might not be itching to spend big bucks on a pregnancy wardrobe, she said it’s important to identify what items are worth splurging on because you’ll use them a lot and they can see you through many stages of pregnancy.
“I found an elastically stretch pant that I was able to still wear with a belt, when it didn’t quite fit, and then eventually drop that belt,” she said.
“The other thing that was helpful for me was that I was pregnant over summer, so eventually I was able to give up trying to find the perfect pant and switch to dresses, which was much easier.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2025.
