What a lovely long weekend.....
It's never quite long enough though is it? Rushing around doing all those chores you don't get to do thanks to working full time. But, I still had managed to squeeze some time in for some much needed shopping of maternity clothes for my holiday in 2 weeks time. I also have a wedding to attend and need two very nice, smart and comfortable outfits so thought I would use this weekend to buy what I need.
I love shopping - that is, I used to before children/prams came into my life. I'm normally fast, I know what I want and don't waste time browsing so going to Oxford Street, I thought 'I'm sure to find all the things I need'.
On Saturday, hubby and Aamir came with me (we drove and parked in Edgware Road - free parking) and started at Marble Arch in the most obvious shop...
Mothercare:
Heading downstairs, there looked to be a good amount of clothing available, but on closer inspection I really wasn't impressed. I'm going to a wedding and need a nice and comfy outfit, but apart from that - I also like to dress smart and most of the clothes were jeans or t-shirts. The things I did think were 'ok' were far too pricey to spend money on considering I'm only going to be wearing them for the next 3 months and I wouldn't spend near £30 on a pair of black work trousers which were not flattering and the quality really didn't justify the cost.
I left, still hopeful of finding what I was looking for.
We went into Next (Marble Arch) to buy a few holiday bits for Aamir. The children's section is located on the ground floor, and they have a lift at the back of the store. I kid you not when I say that I had to push a pram through clothes which were displayed in the aisles and was knocking things in my path, and I had to find my through ladies trying on shoes as the lifts were at the back of the shoe section. Finally, reaching the children's section at the back I couldn't even get my (single) pram though the small aisle in the baby section. If I wanted to look at the clothes, I had to leave my pram in the corner (un attended as hubby was browsing the men section). I decided it really wasn't worth the hassle or the danger of leaving my unattended baby in a very busy store!
The next few shops had NOTHING for Maternity wear ... Next, M&S, New Look, H&M - these are all stores I would expect to stock at least a range of maternity wear given their location and especially the fact that it is the number one street shoppers head to. I was tired, my back was hurting and I was dejected. I'd spent 6 hours walking the length of Oxford Street and the biggest high street chains all said 'we stock our items online'. In M&S I was incensed even further when pointed to the 'baby changing area' and met at the door by a member of staff who told me the facility could only take one baby at a time and that was the only room/toilet available. Walking in, she was right - there was only one baby changing mat and that was in use! I needed the toilet and was stuck - where do I leave my baby? The toilet was barely able to cope with a very pregnant woman. The kind lady saw me struggling and pushed her pram in front of the changing door so that nobody could enter (she commented that if I left the toilet door open and someone came in, everyone outside the door could see me). We were rather perplexed as to how a large store could only offer one measly changing area (?).
After M&S, I waddled into Debenhams, wandering from floor to floor in search of their maternity range, and was soon guided to a VERY small area in the corner... I've seen far better clothing in a charity shop! I was appalled. Seriously? Do they think pregnant mothers JUST wear jeans and t-shirts? Do we not take pride in ourselves? Are we not worthy of wearing trendy, smart clothes JUST because we are 'with child'? . I quite literally had tears in my eyes by this point. I had purchased absolutely nothing. I was aching from head to foot, and my back was in agony from all the walking. I left empty handed and very upset.
I refused to walk all the way to Regent's Street H&M store, so we returned the car, and left feeling rather unimpressed with these all of these high street shops!!!
On Sunday, still needing maternity clothes and bits for Aamir we went shopping in Watford - Dorothy Perkins and New Look are the only stores which do maternity items, albeit t-shirts and jeans again.
Shopping weekend... EPIC FAIL!!
I really would like to know what the reason is for them no longer stocking items for pregnant women! If any body can provide me with the answer, please feel free to leave a comment, or you can follow/tweet me @Mrs_Maroc or email at aamirakanben10@hotmail.co.uk.
I was however, lucky enough to find a really nice company online who have a range of maternity clothing. Some items are rather pricey, but they did have a couple of things in their 'Outlet' section and I purchased this dress (see picture), I'm wearing it at work today and I've had lovely comments. The material is lycra but it's so comfortable, and yesterday, I wore it to my niece' birthday party and accessorised it with a belt and it really looked nice/trendy/flattering... it only cost £10 and was a bargain.
Quality: 9/10
Price: 10/10
Speed of delivery : 8/10 (within 3 days, as promised)
Check out 'Crave' at http://www.cravematernity.co.uk/?gclid=CN-Nt-fK8K8CFaImtAodagNRWw.
I will definitely be doing some more shopping from their website.
