Monday Moan: Maternity jeans shopping

Last week my moan was about maternity tights so I thought I'd keep up the fashion theme by moaning about my other pregnancy nemesis: maternity jeans. Now this rant isn't about the jeans themselves, they are one of the best things about pregnancy - afterall they have elasticated waists - this is about maternity jeans shopping.

This time round I appear to be a completely different shape because my old maternity jeans just don't fit me. Either that or I stretched them so much at the end of the last pregnancy they will only fit at the very end of this one! So off I trott this weekend to buy some new ones. Or so I thought. It turns out that most high street stores do not stock their maternity ranges instore. You have to order online. Now whilst this is fine for lots of maternity items it just doesn't work for jeans. During the average jeans shopping trip I estimate i try on about 40 pairs to find some that fit me. The combination of a small waist but large bum and reasonably long legs means that finding the exact right pair with just the right amount of stretch and the correct length is a minefield. I take each pair into the chainging room in a size 12,14 and 16 as i find the sizing fluctuates between designs and styles so much i can often buy a size either side of my usual size 14 bottom half (my top half is a size 10-12 but my mismatched body is another moan for another day...) Can you imagine how many pairs I would need to order online and the upfront cost of such a online frenzy! Not realistic.

So my trip to the pretty large shopping centre near home was marked by most stores telling me they didn't stock the maternity range in-store. Even the large Next on the retail park. I was left with two shops H&M and Red Herring at Debenhams. The range was small but beggers can't be choosers and I did find one pair of jeans (well, a cross beween jeans and jeggings) in Debenhams which fit well and at £25 were a reasonable price. So I have one pair! Come on shops, start stocking more for expectant mums and those that do keep the stock levels up so our size is there when we come to buy!