Far gone are the days when a pregnant woman had to dress like a dowdy old lady. Maternity fashion is a big business, so you can dress as fashionably as you usually do.

Most women, however, don't want to invest a fortune in a wardrobe they will wear only a few months. To avoid spending big on your big clothes, take small steps as you add pieces that will serve you best.

For starters, you probably won't need maternity clothes until at least a few months into your pregnancy. Some women "show" long before their friends do, but it's not necessary to buy a whole new wardrobe at once.

If you wear business suits, slacks and blouses, or a two-piece uniform of any kind, you can probably get away without maternity clothes for quite a while. Say, for example, your typical work wear is a skirt and suit jacket or cardigan. If the skirt has a zipper, you can fudge not zipping it completely. You'll know you need some maternity wear when you can't zip it any longer. If you have some elastic waist skirts, you will more likely fit into those further along in your pregnancy than the zip-up skirt. The same applies to pants. So utilize your elasticized wardrobe for as long as you can.

Of course, you might be so happy and excited about your pregnancy that you just want to go out and buy something from the maternity store. Choose something, then, that will go the whole nine yards-or months-with you. A pair of classic slacks with an adjustable waistband for early, later, and after pregnancy is a good bet. Look for items on clearance also, since clothing is expensive and goes out of style before you'll be pregnant again.

Once your belly gets too big for anything in your closet, buy pieces that will take you into whatever the season will be in your last trimester. There's no point buying summer pieces when your due date is December. Use your common sense to buy mix and match separates that will go with all the other pieces you buy. That way you can create a variety of outfits without going broke.

A word about bras. Your breast size will likely change several times over the course of your pregnancy and in the months following the birth. Use the money you don't spend on trendy, outrageous clothes and invest it in good, well-fitted bras. Every time your size changes, get new bras to accommodate you. For this purchase, skip the department stores and go to the specialized maternity stores. The salesperson there most likely has been trained to help you fit a bra during pregnancy. They also will sell nursing bras if you plan to breastfeed your baby.

Good tips, thank you. Bras can be quite spendy. How many times am I gonna have to end up buying bras? I'll utilize the wash as much as I can. Do I have to buy maternity bras? Are these that much better than regular bras?

Thanks for the help!

I just used regular bras and was glad that I did. I had planned to nurse, however that didn't happen and my son ended up being bottle fed, so the maternity bras would have been useless to me. I had tried them on, but found better support withthe regular bras, so I was glad I went with those. Whichever way you decide, good quality bras are the way to go though - don't skimp here!

I recommend the wireless nursing bras, that way you can sleep in them without much discomfort. You can find reasonable priced ones at JCPenny's, and even Walmart and Kmart.

Yes. Good tips. I also bought a few things on ebay. I bought a few maternity bras but towards the end bought nursing bras that doubled.