Do You Crave
Stylish Maternity Clothes?

Dressing stylishly whilst pregnant, let’s face it, can be something of a nightmare. I remember shopping for maternity clothes during both my pregnancies and 1) feeling close to tears at the lack of clothing available and 2) ending up buying shoes because I hated the few clothes that I did find. If only I’d had internet access in those days! Then there is the additional problem of what to wear to work, because if you usually wear a suit for work you cannot turn up in sweatpants and a t-shirt for six months.

Helen Worsley understood the predicament herself when, as a former City high-flyer, she set up Business Bump while pregnant with her first child. Believing that getting dressed in the morning should be a pleasurable experience for the expectant mother, she began selling stylish work wear, and her business soon expanded to include an equally desirable casual wear range. This has now become Crave Maternity, offering a sumptuous range of nearly fifty complementary separates from chic day wear to funky or formal office styles and glamorous evening options.

Now a mum of three children under 6, Helen is a Director of the company which employs 11 staff from its headquarters in Lutterworth, Leicestershire. Crave actively employs working mums and insists on using genuinely pregnant models for photo shoots. The company institutes a rigorous ‘fit-testing’ process involving fitting and wearer trials on pregnant models at each of the nine month stages.

Helen has now been joined in the business by husband Kevin, which has allowed her to expand the business while retaining the vital work/life balance.

Says Helen, “The business could have taken off earlier, but I wasn’t prepared to compromise the time I have with my children and it was a matter of making the business work for me or not at all. It is important to set your expectations and to get the best from both worlds. Finlay and Toby joined Beth at school in September so now I am in a position to devote additional hours to the business.”

“I’m very strict about finishing in time to collect the children from school. At 3pm I revert to being ‘Mum’. After school we might go swimming before heading home for a family dinner and then juggling story time for the twins and Beth, ensuring all three children receives individual attention. Then there is just time for a glass of wine and to catch up on the day’s events with Kevin before collapsing into bed!”

The state-of-the-art Crave Maternity website includes style tips, an ‘Ask the Expert’ section, and includes an opt-in free email newsletter with competitions, fashion tips, special offers, collection previews and advance sale notification. It is one of the very few sites to use both studio and lifestyle images of each garment. Customers can zoom in on detail, view side and rear shots and see clear colour options.

The site also features an e-brochure – very popular with top US online retailers but an innovation in the UK – which customers can browse through online or print as a PDF document for flicking through at their leisure.

All Crave Maternity clothes come in sizes 8 to 20.

The Crave Maternity range is available online from www.cravematernity.co.uk.

Get 10% off at Crave Maternity in July - use discount code VIPJULY at checkout

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