“My maternity pants keep falling down…”

Bellies are my business…and what a fun business at that!  I thought it would be fun to do a series of blog posts about the most common questions and comments that I hear from moms walking through our doors.  Here goes #1…

By a landslide, the #1 thing I hear women saying is that they cannot stand how their maternity pants keep falling down.  I can relate at 28 weeks pregnant myself and I have good news for you!  It doesn’t have to be that way!  Usually, if your maternity pants keep sliding down, they are not fitting you correctly.  There are many clothing options out there for us preggos, but let me give you some insider information…many of these clothing lines miss the mark when it comes to truly fitting a pregnant mama and her growing curves.  Simply making a pant bigger and putting a panel on it does not a maternity pant make!!  The true maternity designers take painstaking measures to make sure their styles are made out of maternity patterns, fit to real pregnant fit models, and have the perfect fabric composition to not only look great, but also fit well, wash well, and grow with you. 

Here are a few rules to live by when buying maternity pants!

1.  Get the opinion of your stylist and ask questions.  Come out of the dressing room and don’t be afraid!  If you don’t get any questions answered, you probably are in the wrong place to buy your clothes. 

2.  Don’t buy a size bigger assuming you will grow into it.  Well-made maternity pants & jeans will grow with you your entire pregnancy.  They will also stretch out a bit after you get them home and wear them.  Your stylist will be able to tell you what size to get so your pants & jeans will last!

3.  Try on lots of different panels.  You never know if you will like overbelly, underbelly, no panel, semi-panel, etc.  There is a fit for everyone!  It takes a little bit of work in the dressing room, but it is worth it!

4.  Revive your Bellaband.  Many women wear theirs to keep their pregnancy pants in place.

5.  Accept a little bit of adjusting!  Gravity takes its toll on pregnant women, myself included.  It is completely normal to have to adjust your waistband a bit throughout your day…as long as your pants are not literally falling down!

A touch of Spring..

We are having so much fun opening new boxes of Resort/Spring merchandise in our stores lately!  Sure, it still might be the coldest week of the year but lets celebrate the upcoming arrival of ‘Retail’ Spring!  We received some great new styles from Olian, including two of the most adorable PJ sets!  Each comes with an adorable matching sleep dress and hat for baby.  I am also loving the new grey twill pants by Olian.  They feel like your ‘comfy’ pants but look nothing like them!  I cannot even tell they are maternity.  We have also received some fabulous tops and skirts, all which can be worn now, too!   I will put up some photos as soon as I can!

The 12 Dates of Christmas

It is always special to give and receive gifts that are sentimental, yet don’t break the bank.  This year, Oprah decided to dedicate her ‘Favorite Things’ episode to thrify gifts.  One of her ideas featured a couple that takes the ’12 Days of Christmas’ to a whole new level.  They do the ’12 Dates of Christmas’ because they believe spending time together is more important than spending money on each other.  Each holiday season, they carve out time to fit in 12 thrifty dates with each other.  How cute is that?  You can check out their ideas here:  http://www.oprah.com/article/oprahshow/20081118_tows_holiday/7

I couldn’t help but think how fun this would be for a couple to do before they have a baby.  When I was pregnant with my first child, a good friend told me to go on as many dates with my husband as we could.  It was wise advice!  We tried to fit in trips to the movies, dinners with friends, and do things that we knew we wouldn’t have time for after our son was born.  I love the 12 Dates idea whether it is for Christmas, before the birth of your baby, or whenever you feel like it!

Dressing Your Bump This Holiday Season

The holiday season is upon us!  I say bring on the family, friends, food, and festive cheer!  Feeling a little confused about how to dress your pregnant bod for all of these holiday events?  Don’t fret.  I have some ideas and tips for you. 

Tip #1:  Keep an open mind when shopping!  Try on things that you normally might shy away from.  Maternity clothes are MUCH cuter on you than they are on the hangar!  Trust me.

Tip #2:  Set some style limits for yourself and be reasonable.  You have the best little holiday present nestled inside you, but you don’t want to look like a fully-adorned Christmas tree on the outside!  Stick to what looks good on you and what you feel good wearing.

Tip #3:  Go for dresses or tops and pants that you can wear beyond your office holiday party.  Let’s be practical, you are going to want to get your money’s worth.  For your holiday events, you can easily add a clutch, dressy shoes, and some fun accessories to any of the below styles!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Has anyone else noticed the number of grocery stores and restaurants offering fully prepared Thankgiving meals?  There is something for every palette and every budget.  Some of these even include appetizers and a pumpkin pie!  Wow!  Don’t get me wrong, I am all for a home cooked Thanksgiving meal, but there are times in our lives when that just isn’t possible.  Just had a baby?  Heading out of town the day after?  Slammed with work and no time to shop or cook?  About to have a baby and have your hands full with your other kids?  Shame not.  Just order up that Thanksgiving meal and enjoy!  Be good to yourself and stay true to what you really have time for!  That is really being fashionably pregnant.  Happy Thanksgiving!

Announcing….LAmade Maternity exclusively for Hot Mama

Ok, its taken me a couple of week to tell you about the exciting news that I promised a couple of posts ago!  Here goes…I am very excited to tell you that LAmade Maternity has arrived in our boutiques!  These are completely exclusive styles made for Hot Mama by LAmade.  Why do we love this line so much?  Well, if you’ve been in our stores, you know that LAmade is a staple on the regular fit side of our floor.  From their basic layering pieces to fun, fashion tops..all of their styles have a great fit, are perfect for MOMS, and give us a little of that amazing, yet trendy California casual look!  We are so excited to have some styles that are maternity!!! 

Did I mention we love the price points of LAmade?  LAmade Maternity is no different…and the color, oh the colors!  They are never short of perfect.  Check out the below photos!  These are tops you can wear at any stage of pregnancy!  I really love the hoodie for post-baby moms…perfect for disguising any leftover tummy!  The v-neck tee comes in 4 colors and is great worn alone or under a sweater!  The square neck top is so cute you can wear it to work or with a pair of jeans.  Easy to dress up or down and a great early pregnancy purchase.  Stop into our stores and check out these great tops for yourself. 

Live in the ‘Liv’ Top

I am very excited that our stores have just received a delivery of Chiarakruza’s ‘Liv’ top.  Let me tell you why we just love this style for any Hot Mama-to-be!

-The perfect weight for this chilly time of year…not too light yet not to heavy or bulky.

-You can wear it with denim or dress pants.  I love it with black or charcoal pants!

-You can dress this up or down.  The slight cowl neck falls perfectly, giving this top that extra something special.  Grab some fun bracelets and earrings and you will be ready to hit the town.  A great option if you need something that transitions from day to evening!

-It is comfortable and classy!  Set aside any self-conscious thoughts about yourself while wearing this top.  You will look and feel amazing!

Where have I been?

Wow!  It has been a while since I last blogged!  It is amazing how time flies sometimes.  Since I last posted, I have been to NYC, LA & Chicago in search of the best maternity fashions for this coming Spring.  Yes, Spring!!  I have been back for a couple of weeks and busy working on writing orders!  It is so fun to see the new collections for each season and pick out the best of the best for you to choose from in our stores. 

What did I see?  Without giving away too many details, here is a recap.  I saw lots of color - ombre, tie-dye, you name it.  Dresses also continue to be popular…dressy, casual, maxi, anything!  There are some amazing new styles from Michael Stars Maternity that I know are going to be a big hit with our moms!  There is so much more…but I cannot give it all away!

We have some exciting new product hitting our boutiques this week…so check back in a few days for another blog update!  You are going to want to head right into our stores…I guarantee it!

Here I Grow Again…

“Here I Grow Again” is the cute caption on this new, adorable hoodie by 2Chix.  As Always, 2Chix seems to nab the best pregnancy sayings from this one, to ‘Pregzilla’, to ‘We’re Hungry’, to “With Bump, Not Plump”.  I am particularly feeling the one pictured above BECAUSE I am pregnant!!  Yes, I am due in mid-April, putting me at just the beginning of trimester two right now!  I am very excited to go through this journey again, especially being in the amazing position of being Hot Mama’s maternity buyer.  Trying on everything with a real belly will be very fun and help me keep bringing you the best of the best in maternity styles!  See you in the stores!

A bra worth blogging about!

I have found my new favorite bra [cue angels singing in the background]!!  I spent a couple hours in our Wayzata store yesterday and was elated to find they had my size in the new Brallelujah bra by Spanx.  You don’t want to know how many times I have tried to buy this bra before and I have been in a lot of Hot Mama stores over the last couple of months!  It is THAT popular and absolutely amazing.  Now I know why.

First, lets start with comfort.  This bra feels like a second skin on your body.  It must be the stretchy hosiery fabric that just conforms to your body’s curves.  The second reason I love it, is because it virtually eliminates any bra lines..and especially those annoying ones that make you look like you have back fat!   Thirdly, I really dig the fact that you can wear this bra as a t-shirt bra…the cups are molded and provide just the right coverage and thickness. 

If you are reading this and haven’t tried this bra on yet, shut down your computer immediately and head into your neighborhood Hot Mama boutique.  You will be in bra heaven like me!