The third trimester is definitely the time to repeat outfits that make you look and feel good, and to do so unashamedly! Find things that work for you and wear them as many times as you like. I've included 55 outfit ideas for the third trimester below, from both of my pregnancies. You can click on the links under the images to view more info about them.
Office Outfits:
In the third trimester, I still wore my ASOS maternity pencil skirts often, but the standout pieces were my wrap dresses. They were such an easy outfit that always fit the growing bump and never failed to look good. I wore wrap dresses a lot! I was able to find some regular non-maternity dresses in my wardrobe that still accommodated the baby bump too.
This will be a very photo-heavy post as I share a few of my favourite second trimester outfits. 38 different pregnancy outfit ideas! There are links below all the photos if you want more details.
My single maternity wrap dress was a real wardrobe workhorse, being worn almost weekly, although I continued to wear my regular non-maternity dresses in the second trimester as well. Fit and flare or empire waist dresses were perfect for this.
I only needed one maternity maxi dress for both pregnancies, the majority of my existing maxi dresses were stretchy enough to work through all three trimesters. There were a few I outgrew in the second trimester though.
I added a second pair of maternity denim shorts to my wardrobe for my most recent pregnancy as I was heavily pregnant over summer and it was too hot for jeans. Previously I was doing a full work week and with the cooler temperatures and dressing for casual Friday, my maternity jeans were worn a lot more.
Dressing in pregnancy is a fun challenge as the baby bump grows and changes every day! In order to simplify things this time around, I implemented a third trimester capsule wardrobe.
Why I Made a Pregnancy Capsule Wardrobe:
I've never tried a capsule wardrobe before (unless you count living out a suitcase for travel).
The baby bump was outgrowing my current wardrobe faster than I anticipated this time around.
I didn't have the luxury of time that I had in my first pregnancy to try on lots of outfit options each night and find things that still fit. (Or I didn't have the energy to do so after spending time with my toddler!)
The summer heat and humidity (that continued well into autumn in Brisbane) left me less inspired to try new things.
I had lots of great maternity pieces I wanted to wear as much as possible to make sure I got my money's worth.
Third Trimester Capsule Wardrobe in Video Form:
Below is a video covering the pieces in my capsule wardrobe, how I wore them, and my general thoughts about the experience.
I didn't include accessories (scarves or bags or shoes) in this count. I also didn't include 'completer' pieces like my printed kimonos or blazers. I freely grabbed these from my wardrobe as and when I wanted them.
The pieces included were suitable for my part time office job, as well as being perfect for a stay at home mum the rest of the week.
Not everything was a maternity piece, I used pieces from my regular non-maternity wardrobe too.
There were a few times at the start of the third trimester where I wore pieces that weren't included in the capsule, but after realising they were getting uncomfortable I stuck to my capsule wardrobe for the majority of the time.
The 22 items I had were great over summer (and multiple heatwaves!), but would need to be changed for cooler weather. Simple things like swapping the maternity denim shorts for jeans instead, and some long sleeved tops and fewer tanks.
Outfit Combinations from a Pregnancy Capsule Wardrobe:
Some photos of my favourite third trimester outfits from my capsule wardrobe to give you an idea of how I wore all the pieces in the third trimester. Not an exhaustive list, as 3 months worth of daily outfit photos would be a pretty big post! You can see all the outfits I wore in the third trimester here.
For my first capsule wardrobe experience, it was pretty fun, and I hope that it gives you some ideas or inspiration to try your own capsule wardrobe if you've often thought about it too.
With my maternity leave approaching, I wanted to give my ASOS maternity pencil skirts one last wear in the office. They've lasted me well, through two pregnancies. The black and white prints gave me more chance to play along with the #SNScolour challenge on Instagram too.
The style challenge for the day was white, so it seemed obvious to wear my white maternity tank. I did worry it would be a little too casual for the office, so added the blazer over the top. I'm looking forward to wearing this blazer more when the autumn weather finally hits Brisbane and it cools down a little! It's great to have a cover-up in the office air-conditioning though. The blazer is a spring item from 2014 I picked up in the Jeanswest outlet last year but it's the perfect pastel pink to be classed as 'Rose Quartz', one of the colours of the year everyone is raving about.
I felt the statement necklace was a nice touch with this outfit - added some colour and sparkle so it didn't look too dull. This ended up being one of my favourite pregnancy office outfits, so a nice way to say farewell to this skirt.
It was a slightly cooler morning so I got excited and wore a jacket. While I liked the extra print mixing it brought to my outfit, I quickly realised that it was still much too hot for wearing layers, and regretted my decision a little.
By the time I went to my OB's appointment in the afternoon, I'd had my jacket off for a while!
Kept things much simpler with this outfit - no extra layer, I added a statement necklace for a bit of interest instead. I've worn this necklace and tank together before - I love the way the colours look against the black.
I felt really happy and confident in this outfit all day - even though it's just a simple maternity tank and pencil skirt outfit. An outfit doesn't have to be overly fancy or complex to make you feel good :)
My January purchases and some third trimester office wear. Although I'm trying not to dress too casually for work, my maternity tanks are so comfortable I'm looking for ways to make them work in the office. Adding a blazer on top is a great way to do that!
It was quite cold and rainy - but welcome as it broke the heatwave we'd been having. I did consider wearing pants in the morning and wished I had during the day. I liked the print mixing with the scarf and tartan pencil skirt together. This is my favourite blazer and although I can't button it over the baby bump it works well unbuttoned. Just as perfect for the office as it is with jeans.
This tank is another of my post-Christmas sale purchases. You can tell I had some Jeanswest gift vouchers to spend! I wouldn't normally be able to wear this skirt in the third trimester, but as the maternity tank is so long I was able to wear the elastic waist of the skirt under the bump and have the tank cover up all of the baby belly and then some. I was actually able to tuck the tank into the skirt. Benefits of being petite, maternity tanks are quite long.
In contrast to the previous outfit above, this was such a hot day. I took the blazer off after these pictures and just wore it around the office to keep my shoulders covered. It was much too hot and humid to wear it long on the commute.
That's a lot! I had some gift cards to spend and there were so many good sales on....so far the most worn items have been the maternity bras. I don't usually talk underwear on the blog but a good maternity bra is a pregnancy and breastfeeding essential and these two are just so perfect!
I don't anticipate buying any more clothing until after baby arrives, so there are likely to be few monthly haul videos for a while. I'm not entirely ruling out getting some accessories though.... ;)
I will always love a grey tee! Even after my wardrobe detox session and finding out that grey wasn't the best colour for me, I still wear it and still have a bunch of grey tees in my wardrobe. They are just so easy to wear. And thankfully, my very relaxed 'business casual' office dress code makes a tee and a pencil skirt an easy outfit for a day without a lot of face-to-face meetings.
This was the first outfit for the Fox in Flats style challenge, the theme was 'stripes' so I thought the graphic stripe print on this pencil skirt worked well, especially when worn with my favourite grey tee.
I added the red necklace for a bit of colour with the otherwise fairly monochrome outfit - and also as that was one of the tips the stylist gave me. If I insisted on keeping my grey tees (I did keep most of them...) then I should try to wear colourful accessories with them.
Again, going with the easy option of a grey tee and a printed pencil skirt. The style challenge for the day was 'new do' and as I'd got my hair cut the day before I just fell back on this simple outfit as the summer heat usually gets me feeling pretty uninspired and looking for easy options. That's why the DAREcember style challenge is so great, at a time I want to do nothing other than sit in the pool in a bikini, I'm encouraged to explore my wardrobe, try different things and have some fun with my clothes. I've shared more before about why I love instagram style challenges.
I just wouldn't go do anything as permanent as actually get a new haircut for a challenge next time, I regretted the cut pretty quickly! Thankfully I still have some unshared pics with my longer hair as I figure out how to style the new length.
Asos is a great place to pick up some bargain pencil skirts that really last - I have skirts over 5 years old that are still going strong, and this is the second pregnancy for these maternity skirts! Plus you can get up to 70% off in their outlet.
Consistently, the Marc by Marc Jacobs Ukita bag is one of the most clicked items on my blog. Probably because the rock lobster colour is awesome and it brightens up a neutral outfit really well. It's the perfect size for taking to work too.
What I wore:
Necklace: thrifted pearl and heart charm long necklace
As it was a slightly cooler day, I figured I'd get some wear out of my maternity jeans and wear them to the office again like I did with my last pregnancy. I did want to wear a button up shirt to look a little more professional, but couldn't find one that actually buttoned over the baby bump, ha! it was too hot to consider a blazer too, so I just wore the bright tank by itself.
I'm surprised I haven't worn this tank and bag together before, the colours go really well together.
Fully embracing the casual side of business casual with a grey tee and a pencil skirt for another day in the office. I'm lucky that my workplace has such a relaxed dress code and I can get away with wearing tees in the middle of the week.
After my Melbourne trip and drooling over some scarves and twillies in Hermes, I decided to get my twilly out again. I really can't pull off the neck scarf look without looking like a flight attendant, but I like wearing it around my wrist. I've done so before, but silk is not the most practical fabric to wear around a toddler so it hasn't been worn much recently. Need to make more of an effort to wear it. It was a nice way to have some colour in my outfit even when I wasn't wearing the bright Ukita bag.
