Tights While Prego: Ruminations

Posted on | March 11, 2010 | 10 Comments

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One of our readers asked if I wore tights during my pregnancy or if I became strictly a pants and bare legs girl. Because the weather was warming as my bump grew, I actually never had to make that choice. I did, however, wear a couple of pairs of regular tights when the bump was still in its mini stages because I just loved skirts and dresses too much to give them up, even in the cooler months.

I took two approaches to transitional prego-tights wearing. First, I bought some low rise tights from Target, thinking that they could go under my burgeoning bump. While this worked well for the very first stages of the bump, I soon ended up abandoning them for another option (explained below). The low rise led to too much awkward bunching and fears (however irrational) of tights rolling down.

My other option was pair of purple tights from Banana Republic, purchased in their “Tall” size. That gave me extra fabric in the rise that could stretch over the bump. This actually worked really well for me, as demonstrated in the pictures above and below, taken at about five months pregnant. I actually liked the support of having something stretched over the bump, but that’s a personal preference.

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Had I been more pregnant during the cooler months, I’m pretty sure that I would have sprung for some maternity tights. Motherhood Maternity offers affordable maternity tights, though the color selection is certainly not as varied as non-maternity options. And Target has recently begun carrying a new line of maternity hosiery that’s received some good online reviews.

Do any of our readers have recommendations for maternity tights, especially in fun colors?

Category: Preggers

Comments

10 Responses to “Tights While Prego: Ruminations”

Becky
March 11th, 2010 @ 8:21 am

I wore queen size tights. They worked really well and like you, I thought the support felt good. Queen size come in lots of colors.
Kathy
March 11th, 2010 @ 9:44 am

Yay! Thanks for covering this for me! I’ve tried low-rise tights once (not pregnant), and like you, lived in fear of them rolling down.
Kristen
March 11th, 2010 @ 10:28 am

I wore thigh highs. I work in a REALLY professional environment where tights/hose is required with a skirt/dress. Thigh highs. :)
Marina
March 11th, 2010 @ 10:53 am

I found maternity tights absolutely necessary, even though the most exciting colour I could find was brown. I tried rolling down regular tights but found that the rolled waistband made me really uncomfortable. For what it’s worth I carried really low.
Sheri
March 11th, 2010 @ 11:31 am

I wore both maternity tights and hosiery–needed them for work! I found them reasonably comfortable, although I had to buy maternity “grandma” briefs to prevent the seams from rubbing.
Nerida
March 11th, 2010 @ 3:01 pm

Compression tights are a good idea to wear during pregnancy, even in summer.
http://www.pregnancy-info.net/exercise_and_well_being_compression_stockings_in_pregnancy.html

They’re not particularly attractive or exciting looking, but in winter could be layered under some nice maternity tights.
Carey
March 12th, 2010 @ 8:00 am

I LOVE tights in the winter, so it’s been tough. I’ve been wearing a pair of my old black tights that are stretched out enough to fit over my belly and I just bought a pair of magenta tights from Motherhood Maternity – they’re not the best quality, but will last me this last month. Got lots of compliments on them too – they add a nice pop of color.
Allison
March 12th, 2010 @ 9:33 am

I wore my usual non-maternity tights and hose up until about week 20 and they worked perfectly. I’m now 34 weeks and being pregnant in the winter has been challenging if I want to wear any skirts or dresses. Reluctantly, I accepted that I would have to buy a pair of mat. tights to get me through. I first bought a pair of Motherhood tights which were awful. Not stretchy and rolled down all day long – I only managed to wear them one. I have to highly recommend the Assets brand tights and hose from Target which are amazing and have helped with round ligament pain. Unfortunately the tight only come in black but its a small price to pay for comfort!
Katie
March 14th, 2010 @ 9:06 am

I wore tights and leggings through a lot of the last part of my pregnancy! I just bought the extra large size. I would recommend buying the nice expensive ones (i think mine were the assets brand from target too) because the cheapo ones just rip and don’t stretch well. I had horrible luck with tights from Motherhood Maternity, but their leggings were nice. I wore leggings with a skirt and flat boots to work all the time during my last trimester: warm, comfy, and not too casual.
Inder
March 15th, 2010 @ 2:58 pm

Great post! I had a fall/winter/spring pregnancy (in the SF Bay Area, which is never freezing, but can be a bit chilly year-round). I love dresses, skirts, and tights, so I tried every possible variation on this theme.

I hated the kind of tights that pull up high on the belly (again, personal preference), so I skipped maternity tights and went for soft thick cotton tights rolled down at the waist, with knit dresses. I also wore a lot of knee-high socks with boots. Thigh-highs were generally too uncomfortable for me. For whatever reason, I was extra sensitive to tight or binding clothes when I was pregnant. I couldn’t tolerate anything too constraining. So I wore soft knits all the time!

I’m a lawyer, so I work in a conservative profession, but I find that people are very forgiving when you are pregnant. I wore a conservative but mismatched non-maternity swing jacket and maternity skirt to meetings, etc., and never bought a maternity suit. My daily work wear was a bit more casual during this time as well.

I often wore soft knit knee-length skirt under my maternity dresses, because my growing belly seemed to make all of my dresses too short! And I wore maternity pants or leggings under my knit dresses on cooler days. These extra layers helped me stay warm. I ran a bit hot when I was pregnant – the little inner furnace/baby helped too!