Maggie Maternity, a savior for maternity wear buyers

I've written previously about how difficult it is to buy maternity clothes for a pregnant woman, stating the dangers inherent to the giver of such a gift. One rogue decision on sizing and she could either explode at you (too big: "How big do you think I am?") or implode in tears (too small: "I'm getting huge!"). It is a challenge for men to buy clothing for women when their bodies are not undergoing a myriad of changes, but throw in altered physical appearance and a limited selection of styles and you're setting yourself up for gift giving failure.

As difficult as it is to find something fashionable in the realm of maternity clothing, it's equally difficult to find something that is well made and fits well. A standard, ill-fitting maternity smock won't cut it for women in professional environments, nor will it make the expectant mother feel good about herself either. (If you pick nothing else up from this blog, note this: it is paramount that you make expectant mothers feel good about themselves.)

This puts expectant fathers at a distinct disadvantage; buy nothing and you look like you don't care, buy the wrong thing and you may fall flat on your face.

Finally, there is a solution in the form of Maggie Maternity clothing. Not only does it make it easy for a guy to buy clothing for an expectant woman, it's something she actually wants! For the first time in either of my wife's two pregnancies, she has clothing that makes her feel good about herself and that she didn't have to describe using the adjectives "tent", "scratchy" or "cheap". My wife called me at work when it arrived in the mail and exclaimed "It's fantastic!"

When I got home I realized why she was so excited, she looked absolutely beautiful in her new clothes. They're simple, classic and elegant and make her look more like she's going into a restaurant than into labor. I asked my wife what she liked about the pieces and she began to ramble off quite a few. I only typed fast enough to catch some sentence fragments, but they paint a clear picture:

... comfortable, easy to wear, versatile....

... mix and match, easy to incorporate with other styles and pieces...

... something, something, easy care, something, something, lay flat to dry...

... a nice change style wise because everything else is empire waisted and it's nice to have one nice fluid silhouette from top to bottom, not just a uni-boob or boob shelf and a belly.

... there is an elastic quality to it that stretches to fit a body but isn't clingy at all. It's great because the combination of the material and the side ruching grows with you. It doesn't make you look too large early on and is flattering throughout the entire pregnancy.

While the clothes themselves solve the issue of what an expectant mother would want, the website itself does a great job of helping you select appropriate sizing, providing style tips and suggesting predefined clothing combos. I got the four piece Classic Maggie Box for my wife which includes two tops, a skirt and pants, all of which she loves. My wife is about 6 feet tall and they even have long sizes to accommodate.

For those of you looking to buy maternity wear, expecting father or mother, I'd highly recommend Maggie Maternity.

The good folks at Maggie Maternity were kind enough to extend a discount coupon good for 20% off of any full-price merchandise through the end of August, 2009. (Excludes sale items and boxes).

Enter the code Aug20 on the shopping cart page to redeem the discount. (It's never to early to think about the holidays!)

Visit the Almost A Dad Amazon store!

For those of you looking for gifts for pregnant women and expectant dads, including books, maternity aides and baby gear, look no further than the Almost A Dad Amazon store!

With items suggested by real live pregnant women, the Almost A Dad store has everything you'll need to keep the pregnant women in your life informed, comfortable and happy.

My pregnant wife says: L'Occitane organic shea butter helps prevent stretch marks

Fear of stretch marks ranks high with many expectant mothers on their list of concerns about pregnancy; my wife is no exception. As soon as she found out she was pregnant she began moisturizing her belly with religious fervor, as though it were made of gator hide. Not only was she concerned about stretch marks, but as her tummy grew larger her skin in that area began to itch and become more sensitive.

While waiting for a train home from a New York business trip, I stopped in to L'Occitane in Grand Central Station to pick her up a small gift before my return. She loves that brand and as a newly invigorated skin care addict, I thought something from there would be an appropriate present. I set out to find shea butter as that was the one product I actually recalled her mentioning. However, when I first saw the price on the tin I was sure that it must include a personal masseuse to apply the moisturizer. That was not the case.

In spite of my initial sticker shock I ended up buying the shea butter because I wanted to get something for her and thought this was a fairly practical choice. (She loved it, so it was worth it.) I must say, while I would normally consider $39 for a tin of moisturizer to be high, it has lasted for six months and counting, and has preserved her tummy with baby's-bottom smoothness. (I talk to it all the time, so I know.) It's also organic, which is especially comforting during pregnancy to know that she's not slathering herself in potentially harmfully chemicals.

My wife strongly suggests the L'Occitane Pure Organic Shea Butter, and has added it to her Christmas wish list. So, if any of you guys are looking for a gift idea, there it is. It's available through Amazon for $39.

Pregnancy double takes: yes she's pregnant

On our babymoon this weekend my wife and I both noticed that passers-by would look at her face, then at her belly. They would then look back at her face, and back down to her belly. Yes, she's pregnant.

My wife's face does not look pregnant and her 6-foot frame hides a lot of the baby weight, so I think when people notice a bump, they can't tell if she's expecting or just loves beer. The first time she pointed it out that people's eyes would ping-pong back and forth between her face and belly, I thought she was exaggerating because, well, she's pregnant. That's what they do, they exaggerate and then blame it on you and cry. But after a while I thought, "holy crap people, she's pregnant. Is that so unbelievable?!"

Regardless, I have a solution. Through the magic of Cafe Press, I've designed some "pregnant" maternity shirts. Available in black or white, they state in no uncertain terms that the wearer is in fact pregnant. I also made up a hat to the same end.

Pregnancy Magazines, inexpensive and thoughtful

If you're looking for an inexpensive, relatively thoughtful gift for a pregnant woman, a pregnancy-related magazine subscription is a no-brainer.

A gift like this has multiple benefits:
1. Any gift is thoughtful, this one happens to be useful as well.
2. They are a great informational resource.
3. It is automated gifting; one subscription gets you 6-12 separate little gifts.
4. They are inexpensive, between $12 and $15. One magazine in the store would run about 5 bucks.
5. Each time one arrives, she'll remember how thoughtful you were. She'll probably burst in to tears then.

A couple of magazines my wife reads are Fit Pregnancy ($15) and Pregnancy ($12). Granted, they may be an enticement to her to spend more money, but as long as she finds them a worthwhile read then they've served their purpose.

The magic of gift cards, the curse of maternity clothes

It can be especially difficult to buy clothing for pregnant women. You take your life in your hands when guessing sizes for non-pregnant women, and they often don't care for the styles that their partner chooses. Adding hormones and weight gain sensitivity into the mix turns purchasing maternity clothes into a game of Russian Roulette.

She may take an improperly sized garment as an insinuation that you are calling her fat. She may be annoyed by a pattern or scratchy fabrics which make her irritable. Maternity clothes are already a big bone of contention for women, which makes it difficult for men to make an informed decision. A very simple way to circumvent this by giving her a gift card or gift certificate instead of selecting and actual item.

Maternity clothes are often not fashionable, uncomfortable or poorly made. Letting her make her own selection transfers the onus for bad clothing from a poor decision on your part to the fault of the manufacturer for not making something she likes.

Gift cards show consideration while treading lightly around these other issues, but if you absolutely must buy something, a few tips to keep in mind:
1. Comfort comes first.
2. Stick to the maternity equivalent of her normal size. Here's a sizing chart from iMaternity.com
3. Natural fabrics feel better against the skin.
4. Patterns hide size best, however can easily go from fashionable to tacky. (Don't think this means Hawaiian shirts or lumberjack plaid.)


Accessories like scarves, hats, jewelry, bags, etc. should match her pre-maternity styles. You might want to stay away from shoes and pregnant women's feet often grow.