It is 8:10 on a Monday, your three year old is refusing shoes, and the trousers from your first pregnancy are in a carton you cannot find.
Maternity workwear is office clothing cut for a growing bump: dresses with a relaxed waist, tops with extra length, and bottoms with a stretch belly band. About ten pieces in neutral colours cover most office weeks, and you do not need all ten at once.
Below: when to start buying (later than you think), what each piece costs in our range, and what we do not make.
Table of Contents
What Should You Wear to Office in Each Trimester?
In the first trimester, wear what you own and loosen the waist. In the second, the bump shows and proper maternity pieces earn their cost. In the third, comfort and easy movement come first, and anything with nursing access is worth choosing because you will wear it again after the birth.
First trimester: do not buy anything yet
Bloating can make a waistband tight well before a bump shows, and it is irritating to feel squeezed by 4 pm when nothing looks different. The fix costs nothing. Loop a hair tie through the buttonhole and around the button, and wear your shirts untucked.
Second trimester: buy the core
A shacket dress, a midi dress, two tops and two bottoms.
Third trimester: let the simple outfits win
Midi lengths, pockets, flat shoes. Add a top or two if the early ones ride up at the front. You will be tired by the afternoon and short on patience for fussy clothes.
Mom tip: Keep a layer at your desk. Office AC is set for people in blazers, and you may feel warmer than your colleagues do. In a Mumbai monsoon or a Chennai summer it comes off the moment you step outside, so pick one that folds into a tote. |
What Counts as Maternity Workwear?
Anything that looks right for your office and has room for a bump counts. In practice that means five kinds of clothes: shacket dresses, shirt and midi dresses, co ord sets, button down tops, and bottoms with a belly band. In kurta friendly offices, maternity kurtas and kurta sets belong on the list too.
| Piece | Why it works at the office | Best for | Price in our range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shacket dress | A sleeveless midi dress with a matching shirt jacket | Client meetings, presentations, cold meeting rooms | Rs. 2,199 to Rs. 2,599 |
| Collared midi dress | One piece, no waistband, side pockets | Daily office wear, long hours of sitting | Rs. 1,599 |
| Shirt dress | Button front and a relaxed fit | Smart casual offices, Fridays | Rs. 1,499 to Rs. 2,299 |
| Co ord set | A matching top and elasticated bottoms that also split up | Mornings when you want one decision | Rs. 2,199 to Rs. 2,599 |
| Button down top or oversized shirt | Goes with any bottom | Video calls, hybrid weeks | Rs. 1,299 to Rs. 1,499 |
| Maternity leggings | Soft belly band, side pockets | Under kurtas and long shirts | Rs. 1,199 |
| Maternity denims | A stretch rib that sits over or under the bump | Casual offices | Mostly Rs. 1,999 to Rs. 2,399 |
| Formal maternity trousers | A tailored leg with a belly band | Strict formal dress codes | Not in our range |
Prices are what our site shows at the time of writing.
Shacket dresses
If you buy one thing for work, make it this. A shacket dress is two pieces: a sleeveless midi dress and a shirt jacket with a notched lapel. Together they look as formal as a blazer.
Ours are mostly 100% cotton, with two pockets, in S to 3XL, at Rs. 2,199 to Rs. 2,599. The inner dress has two nursing zips on most styles and a button opening on others, so it works after the baby arrives too.
Mom's pick
PowerFrame Maternity and Nursing Shacket Dress
A cotton midi dress with nursing zips and a matching layer for meeting days. Rs. 2,399. View product
Midi dresses and shirt dresses
A midi dress with a collar is the closest thing to a uniform. Our collared styles such as Cafe Chic Khadi and Teal the Deal have front buttons, two nursing zips, a gathered waist and side pockets, at Rs. 1,599. Shirt dresses start at Rs. 1,499. There are more in maternity dresses.
Co ord sets
A co ord set removes the matching problem at 8 am. The tops in our work sets have a V or square neck and, on most styles, nursing zips. The bottoms have an elasticated waist. Our maternity co ord sets for work cost Rs. 2,199 to Rs. 2,599.
Bottoms, and the gap in our range
Regular trousers are usually the first thing to stop fitting. Here is the gap: we do not have formal maternity trousers. Our wide leg formal trousers, at Rs. 2,599, are a regular women's cut, not a maternity one. What we make for a bump are leggings with a wide belly band in 95% cotton and 5% lycra, at Rs. 1,199, and denims with a stretch rib that sits over the bump or folds under it, mostly Rs. 1,999 to Rs. 2,399. Our Comfy Maternity Regular Pants, at Rs. 1,499, are a plain cotton knit pant with the same belly band: fine for a relaxed office, not for a formal one. Both are in maternity pants and jeans. If your office insists on tailored trousers, buy those elsewhere.
Kurtas
If your office is kurta friendly, a kurta you already own with maternity leggings is a perfectly good work outfit until it pulls across the stomach. After that, see our maternity ethnic wear.
How Many Maternity Work Outfits Do You Need?
About ten pieces cover a five day office week: three bottoms, four tops, two dresses and one layer. Keep to two or three neutral colours so everything mixes, and add one print you love. Working from home part of the week? Six or seven pieces are enough.
Build it in this order:
One shacket dress, which gives you a dress and a layer in one buy.
Two bottoms: leggings, and denims or co ord bottoms.
Two button down tops in plain colours.
One collared midi dress. Then wear all of it for two weeks before buying anything else.
Does Maternity Workwear Suit Formal and Hybrid Offices?
Yes, with one exception. For formal offices, pick shacket dresses and collared midi dresses in solid colours or stripes. For smart casual offices, co ord sets, shirt dresses and button down tops with maternity denims fit in well. For hybrid weeks, a smart top with leggings covers video calls. All of these are in our maternity work wear collection.
The exception is the trouser suit. And one thing you do not need to buy at all is a maternity blazer: a regular blazer or shirt you already own, worn open over a dress, does the job.
Can You Wear Maternity Workwear After Maternity Leave?
Yes, if it has nursing access. Front zips and button fronts let you feed or pump without changing, which matters once you are back at your desk. Most of our work dresses, shacket dresses and co ord sets are labelled maternity and nursing for that reason.
The NHS suggests telling your employer you are breastfeeding before you return, and lists a private room that is not the toilet and a fridge for storing milk as things a workplace should offer. It is UK guidance, but a useful checklist for a chat with HR. For tops that suit pumping breaks, see our nursing tops buying guide.
If you are past the hair tie stage, start with one shacket dress from our maternity work wear collection, wear it for a week, and note what you reach for next. Buy that second.
