In the last year I’ve gone from paying off debts, to road-testing hair cuts to… getting pregnant. But rest assured now I’m a mum to be I’m more conscious of family budgeting than ever.

When I first found out I was pregnant, I got really excited about the possibility of buying new clothes. After all every mum-to-be wants her bump to be well dressed. Thankfully now so more than ever, being pregnant doesn’t mean you don’t have to sacrifice style or fork out hundreds of pounds, nearly all the high-street stores have really good maternity clothing ranges.

This week I’m starting from the top and road-testing maternity vests and t-shirts. All the tops I’ve featured are relatively inexpensive (under £30) and aside from the two Marks & Spencer vests (which had to be sent to me as my local store doesn’t stock maternity wear) were bought by me, and worn (‘out’ in some cases) by me.

The ‘fashionable’ one: Next Maternity star print maternity top (£22)
Wearability; The star pattern makes it almost ‘on-trend’. The cotton makes it really cool and the styling means it can be worn to work (although a cardie is a good idea – see ‘cons’) as well as to the pub with jeans. It washed well without fading, although to be on the safe side I stuck to the recommended wool cycle.

Pros: The top is very fine and the see through nature of the cotton means you need to wear some good underwear to avoid embarrassment. It also gapes at the neckline, hence wearing a cardie, or even a vest underneath is essential for more formal wear.
Although the label says the top can be adjusted to see a mum-to-be through her nine months I wasn’t so sure, it’s already a bit tight and my bump isn’t that big.

Where to buy it: My only bugbear with Next is that its maternity line is only available in all but the biggest stores, so if you don’t live in a city you have to order online. I don’t have an account with Next so I had to ring up and pay in advance on my Visa debit card which wasn’t ideal, if I hadn’t liked it it would have been a faff to get the refund.

The pretty one: Top Shop rose ruffle neck vest top (£28)

Wearability: One of the reasons i like this top is because I get so many appreciative comments when I wear it, men and women by the way. It’s really pretty and I’ve worn it with a black skirt, skinny blue jeans, black trousers and my white jeans.

Pros: After a few washes it did go a bit bobbly, and it really does emphasize my bump, it’s so fine you can see the outline of my belly button, and I one of those pregnant women who isn’t keen on showing her belly too much.
Where to buy: As with Next, Top Shop only stocks the maternity range in its larger stores. I bought this from the large branch at Thurrock Lakeside. As with the Next top i’m not quite sure how much longer it will manage to contain my bump.

Practical ones:
An M&S Limited grey top (£12) from the Limited Collection and the New Look’s gunmetal blue vest (£8 from summer collection) were the best wear-anywhere vests. The New Look top was the first maternity vest I bought and it’s washed well, no bobbles and the material is thick enough not to cling too much. However I have a feeling I have only a few more weeks wear out of it, as my bump is starting to strain it a bit.
The M&S top is probably better for later stages of pregnancy, it’s a smock style but not too mumsy and it can be worn under a jacket as part of suit. The quality of the material is superior to the other tops, so I’ve got a feeling I’ll be wearing this when the baby is due.

Others I tried
Marks & Spencer limited collection. This had an unsual beading pattern on the front, it looked great and I can see I’ll get more wear out of this. It does feel a bit too revealing on the boob front though.
Dorothy Perkins – white butterfly detail t-shirt with leg-o-mutton sleeves (£10 in sale) This was a hit among the younger members of my family who loved the pretty beading, only problem is that after a couple of washes (on a hand wash cycle) the beading started to come off. I’m still wearing it though, again I feel it might be too small soon.
Isabella Oliver – bought on ebay for £25. This turtle neck top normally retails at £55. As it was made from nylon and wasn’t really that detailed I couldn’t see the point of spending so much on a top I’d only wear a few months. I’ve had a look at some of the other Isabella Oliver stuff on ebay and notice people are often paying more for things there than they can on the IO site itself – madness!!

Tips for maternity clothes buying

* On the whole stick to your pre-pregnancy size, unless you’ve been seriously watching what you eat before you got pregnant, most of the weight you put on during your first few months of pregnancy will be round your belly. Some women put a lot of weight on their boobs, I’m normal 8/10 on top and have found some of the size 10s a bit too big (even at five months).

* Don’t go mad. I nearly blew money on an Isabella oliver top but found a much cheaper version of the same on eBay.

* If you’re really brassic try websites like budget-bumps.co.uk which has good as new and discounted brand names.