Julie Peasgood: Who says a women can't be stylishly and comfortably dressed when she is pregnant. Blooming Marvellous was founded in 1983 by then mums-to-be Judy Lever and Vivienne Pringle because they couldn't find the kind of clothes that they wanted to wear when they were pregnant. Originally set up as a mail order business, it now has a stylish, affordable and comfortable maternity wear sold in growing number of Blooming Marvellous outlets. I'd like to welcome Judy and Vivienne to the studio. Welcome to you both. And congratulations, you've obviously gone from strength to strength because you've got shops and the catalogue which is twice yearly, I gather.
Vivienne Pringle: That's right.
Julie Peasgood: Tell us a bit more about how the company started?
Judy Lever: Well, it was when I was pregnant and couldn't find anything to wear, and I had spent a really miserable day going around the shops and I was going to dinner with Vivienne and her husband and my husband and we went and I just sort of collapsed and I heaped. I can't bear this. I can't find anything to wear, I don't look like how I normally look, and as you do we started talking about and thinking maybe there was a gap in the market.
Julie Peasgood: Were you pregnant at that time as well?
Vivienne Pringle: No, I wasn't, but I sort of caught up with her few months later, so we were actually pregnant at the same time which was funny.
Julie Peasgood: Great. And when you found that everything was very frumpy and just didn't do -- it was just --
Vivienne Pringle: Oh! It was just pants there, there was little white collars and tents I mean there was no Lycra.
Julie Peasgood: It was much more about hiding your bump than accentuating it, wasn't it?
Judy Lever: Oh! Absolutely. That was the key thing was to hide it. So that meant that you started here and went straight down like that. And also, I mean I was trying to find a pair of jeans, because I lived in jeans. And the jeans made you look elephantine and enormous and you seem to think that because you had a big tummy, you had to have big legs as well. When I said to the women in one of the shops - please make my legs look as normal, and she was like, but madam, that's how it has to be when you're pregnant and I would go, no, it can't be that.
Julie Peasgood: Yeah, I mean, why special maternity wear? That why not just bigger sizes?
Vivienne Pringle: Well, the thing is that when you're pregnant your tummy grows but the rest of you doesn't grow, you still have lovely slim legs and we'll see some models in a minute who are just real life pregnant moms and they so have lovely legs and arms. Your bust grow more and your tummy grows, so you have to -- so many pregnant women think when they are first time pregnant I wouldn't need the maternity wear and you get to the point when your zip won't do out and you think, well, maybe I will just go and have a look.
Julie Peasgood: Yeah. I mean there are certain t-shirts and certain tops that you can wear but you're absolutely right.
Vivienne Pringle: I mean it's the bottoms really.
Judy Lever: The bottoms are the key thing I think, because you do need to be comfortable and once your baby is growing inside you, you don't want things pressing on your tummy and I think it goes even with tops. The fact is that when why buy a bigger top, it's also bigger on the shoulders but you haven't got bigger on the shoulders and you don't want to bagging out, so the ideal and hopefully our skill is to cut things so that they flatter you when you're pregnant rather than making you look like a lump.
Julie Peasgood: Great. Well, from the look of these models here, who as you say are all real mums to be and let's take a look at some of the things Blooming Marvellous has to offer. Plus, we've got Sam. Welcome to you Sam. Tell us a bit more about what Sam is wearing.
Vivienne Pringle: This is a very fashionable cardigan that you'll see in the sort of non-maternity shops but it's again being specially made bigger around the bust, tight under the bust. And then under that she is a wearing a camisole and just like I said, she stands only three months pregnant, so her bump isn't huge yet, but as she grows, the camisole will grow by these sort of cunning ruched sides here.
Julie Peasgood: Very good.
Vivienne Pringle: So that will take her through to the end.
Julie Peasgood: So it's very economical actually, because it will go right through the pregnancy.
Vivienne Pringle: Yes, yes, absolutely.
Julie Peasgood: Great.
Vivienne Pringle: And a lots of our clothes also you'll be able to wear when you first had the baby, haven't quite regained your figure. They sort of go back with you as well.
Julie Peasgood: Yes. Excellent and lovely fitting trousers actually, they really are nice.
Judy Lever: Yes, but they've got --- we called mama's versatile trousers really as it got a roll top and the bonus of that is that you can wear them either up, turned over or you could tuck something in and it rose up above --
Vivienne Pringle: Under your bump or over your bump.
Julie Peasgood: Oh! Fantastic.
Judy Lever: So they really are very comfortable and very versatile and stretchy so that they stay with you, they look nice, but they go on looking good right the way through.
Julie Peasgood: And the most practical color of course. Do you them in any other colors.
Judy Lever: We do them in chocolate brown which actually you might see in a moment.
Julie Peasgood: Great. Oh! That's lovely. Thank you Sam. Next we've have got Umberina.
Judy Lever: Well, this season wraps very much of the thing and wrapped dresses and this is out take on the wrap dress. Obviously, you have to cut it so that as you walk it doesn't fly open and reveal your all - so it doesn't, and that's another thing about being pregnant and just trying to buy something that is specially made, this one is cut that way. It's also very flattering wrap because it takes the eye away from the parts you don't want to see and it just accentuates the bump in a very attractive way.
Julie Peasgood: It's very elegant as well.
Judy Lever: Yes, and we hope this is sort of a dress you can wear for all sort of reasons and occasions. You could dress it up for an evening, you can wear it to work. It's one of those sort of easy dresses.
Julie Peasgood: Yeah. Yes, it is. It looks very, very comfortable, but it also manages to be stylish at the same time.
Vivienne Pringle: Umberina is five months pregnant. Really sexy and I think she is gorgeous.
Julie Peasgood: Yeah. Looks really nice. Excellent. Okay, next what we've got? Thank you Umberina. We've got Claire. Oh! And your chocolate brown version of the trousers.
Vivienne Pringle: This is the chocolate brown version of the trousers and teamed with a little lovely chiffon top which comes with a separate brown camisole that you can wear underneath or then you can wear it on its own as well. And very popular line.
Julie Peasgood: Lovely.
Judy Lever: The point to get as well is that the tunic is a little longer so it covers you at different balance and shape and some decorative details that take your eye away from the bump a little bit and just to have detail around the neck line and so on so just to make it look attractive. And again quite versatile, you can dress it up, dress it down.
Julie Peasgood: And I love that the blue and the brown together that's really looks - as it is lovely to wear as it looks.
Claire: It's very comfortable.
Julie Peasgood: Yeah. It looks that actually.
Judy Lever: Well, I think there's also this seasons color, they are sort of muted, browns, pinks, aqua, duck-egg.
Julie Peasgood: What's nice to see actually is that the trousers are beautifully long, I know, because if you're tall, it's often the problem with trousers that they're too short and obviously if you want to wear flatters, you can take them up.
Judy Lever: We do them in three legs, these trousers.
Julie Peasgood: Do you? Excellent.
Judy Lever: We do particularly for that reason, so that whoever - because, obviously Claire is quite tall but if you're smaller, we do them in the short legged as well and regular.
Julie Peasgood: Lovely. Thank you Claire.
Vivienne Pringle: And Clarie you? Six months?
Claire: Six-and-a-half.
Vivienne Pringle: Six-and-a-half months.
Julie Peasgood: Six-and-a-half. Great. Thank you very much Claire. When should you start investing in maternity wear, Judy and Vivienne?
Judy Lever: Well, I think you have to -- I mean everybody's a little different. It depends on how big you grow, but I think you soon begin to realize that things aren't fitting quite right. So I think that's at about three to four months and by five months, I think you really do need at least some maternity bottoms just to be more comfortable. Also early on your busts starts to grow, that's one of the first signs that you're pregnant and again therefore some of the tops won't be fitting, you might need to change your bra size.
Vivienne Pringle: We do maternity bras, both in the catalogue and in our shops and we've a specialized bra fitting service.
Julie Peasgood: Oh! Great. When I was pregnant, that was one of the things that really, really worried me, you do - it's so crucial, isn't it?
Vivienne Pringle: Very, very important. Our staff are highly trained and sensitive to this and you can go in to get your maternity bras or your breastfeeding bras. We recommend that you go when you're about seven-and-a-half months pregnant to first get measured for nursing bras.
Julie Peasgood: And you could obviously wear your clothes after you've had the baby when you're a bit big, because they are so up to the minute.
Vivienne Pringle: That's true and the wonders of Lycra. Lycra expands when you need it and then contracts when you don't, so you know it's great.
Julie Peasgood: It's fantastic Yeah. Excellent. Where do you get your ideas from?
Judy Lever: Well, I think that's all over really, I mean we obviously keep in touch with what's going on in the fashion world. We go to Paris. We walk the streets. We look at what people are wearing. We get a sense of what's out there and what people are liking to wear.
Vivienne Pringle: And we actually work about eighteen months ahead. So we are actually working on the end of next winter and that is so long, long ahead. And so we use fashion forecasting agencies.
Julie Peasgood: Excellent. One thing I've noticed is that we used to see huge expenses or a couple of years ago bare flash, bare tummies and that is not so prevalent now.
Vivienne Pringle: No, thank goodness.
Julie Peasgood: Figure hugging is alright.
Vivienne Pringle: I think there was a time when every celeb or every pregnant celeb showed sort of four inches of bare flesh, lovely if you've got a lovely browned toned tummy, but most of us don't. And it's interesting as Judy says now, walking the streets and looking and seeing what pregnant women on streets are wearing. It's much more people want to show off their bumps and they are very proud of that bumps, Lycra covering it, and maybe just sort of stitching on top of the trousers, but not so much.
Julie Peasgood: Not ostentatious, that's great.
Vivienne Pringle: No.
Julie Peasgood: Well, our models, our mums to be have gone off and had a quick change so see them in their second outfits and we got Sam first of all. Sam, that is a nice fitting pair of jeans.
Vivienne Pringle: Yes, isn't it? It's wonderful. Sam you look great. These are what we call sort of slightly under the bump jeans and Sam, if you wouldn't mind just showing us the top of the jeans. There's a jersey panel there -- .
Julie Peasgood: Oh! How clever.
Vivienne Pringle: That as Sam gets more pregnant because remember she is only three months. She can pull them down and they can be under the bump or she can just hitch them up and have them over the bump, so that's very --
Julie Peasgood: That's great, so it's not that horribly elasticated central panel out there.
Vivienne Pringle: No. And obviously the jean, the denim is stretched denim, so I think they're pretty comfortable. Aren't they Sam?
Sam: Yeah.
Judy Lever: And the wash on them, I mean one of the things that we try to do is to make sure that we keep up-to-date with the current washes and styling of jeans, just because they've got the special top, doesn't mean to say that rest of the leg can't look just like --
Julie Peasgood: No, absolutely, they are really -
Judy Lever: Colored fashion jeans and -
Julie Peasgood: They are really trendy.
Vivienne Pringle: And they are only 29.99. It's pretty good value for --
Julie Peasgood: I was looking in your catalogue and seeing how reasonable your prices are actually.
Vivienne Pringle: Thank you. Yeah.
Judy Lever: I mean we realize it's a window when people are pregnant and they don't have to wear things forever, so they don't want to spend a large amount of money, but we try to make our things good quality and good value.
Julie Peasgood: Great.
Vivienne Pringle: And then her top, she is wearing a stretched mesh top which again will grow with her, with her stretched camisole underneath, which again she can wear with something else or under that top and so it's two in one top for 26.99.
Julie Peasgood: Really nice. Thank you Sam. Great. Umberina. Oh! Very Glam!
Judy Lever: This is our Christmassy evening outfit. What we try to do is sparkled, just adds a little touch of glamour but it's not too in your face and the diagonal striping helps to just draw the eye down, make the bump look more discrete but still there.
Julie Peasgood: Oh! It's beautiful.
Judy Lever: And with the little light sleeve just to be pretty and again the roll top trousers to keep a smooth line underneath.
Vivienne Pringle: And sort of showing that these trousers go from day to evening.
Julie Peasgood: Oh! That's really lovely. Is it lovely to wear Umberina.
Umberina: Feel very glamorous.
Julie Peasgood: Yes. Exactly. I loved just enough sparkle actually.
Judy Lever: Yes. We've got a little bit of something for the evenings and Christmas.
Julie Peasgood: And lovely and cool as well, because you do get a bit hotter and you just want to sort of stay as cool as possible.
Vivienne Pringle: Umberina is actually I think a little, the 5 feet 2. Aren't you Umberina? So that's showing that these trousers are in the shorter length and go from Sam who is 5 feet 10 to Umberina who is 5 feet 2. So, very great for both of them.
Julie Peasgood: So put away that sewing machine -- Thank you Umberina. Okay! Claire. Oh! Also beautifully Glam!
Vivienne Pringle: Yes. Now she is wearing a lightly beaded top. We call it a baby doll top and very much in this season with the tie at the back, teamed with a risen full skirt, again a jersey skirt with the same kind of panel at the top that you can wear over your bump, on your bump or under the bump.
Julie Peasgood: Right.
Judy Lever: So you can pull the skirt down, I mean that's one of the joys of it that you can wear it where it is now, and if you wanted a bit longer you can pull it down and the top just sits more than mid-bump.
Vivienne Pringle: Claire, can you show the top of the skirt -- would you mind? Thank you. So that shows that's it's to its fullest and then you can just roll it down or ruch it down as you like.
Julie Peasgood: Excellent. So it really is a sort of optimum versatility, you can pull it lower and wear it and whatever.
Vivienne Pringle: Exactly. And that skirt also comes in short lengths as well.
Julie Peasgood: Lovely.
Judy Lever: And I think with top, again it's the idea of mirroring what's the current fashion for that sort of shape of top, but adapting it to go with your bump.
Julie Peasgood: Yeah. I love that top because it's really kind of cheeky. It sophisticates but it also says, I am pregnant and I am proud. That's lovely. Really nice. Thank you very much Claire. That was great. What is in fashion at the moment and top tips for this season?
Vivienne Pringle: Top tips, well, a lot of babydoll.
Julie Peasgood: A lot of baby doll and --
Vivienne Pringle: Black is the new black.
[Voice Overlap]
Judy Lever: And duck-egg and sort of muted pinks and chocolate is another color that's coming in this season as well and you see a lot more of that around. Chocolate and pink, chocolate and duck-egg that sort of colors.
Julie Peasgood: Lovely, really nice.
Judy Lever: There's also a lot of wraps, wrap tops and again wrap dresses and that's one of the fashion looks, that' been going for the last season and also now and it's ideal for pregnancies.
Julie Peasgood: Okay! For any viewers who are jumping at the beat to know more and order from Blooming Marvellous, how do we go about it?
Vivienne Pringle: There's three things that you can do, you can go online which is www.bloomingmarvellous.co.uk.
Julie Peasgood: Okay! www.bloomingmarvellous.co.uk
Vivienne Pringle: Yes. And you can buy the whole range on there and also baby wear and nursery products.
Julie Peasgood: Great.
Vivienne Pringle: We have thirteen shops around the country and again if you go online, you can see where the shops are.
Judy Lever: Even maps to tell you how to get there.
Julie Peasgood: Wow!
Vivienne Pringle: And then obviously the mail order catalog which you can go online to get the phone number.
Julie Peasgood: Fantastic. And we haven't touched upon it at length at all -- baby wear and toys, all your toys is attested and the baby wear is really carefully produced and sourced.
Vivienne Pringle: Yes. Obviously all designs exclusively, we design them ourselves and make them ourselves so you can't find them anywhere else, but --
Julie Peasgood: Excellent and that was something that you just as your business grew almost organically, you added that to it.
Judy Lever: Yes. It was a natural progression obviously because if someone has had a baby, they want baby clothes and they even used to write to us saying, please where are your baby clothes, we need you to do baby clothes which is rather sweet. So that's how we did it.
Julie Peasgood: Great. Listen to the responsive mums and answer them.
Judy Lever: Very much so, very much so.
Vivienne Pringle: So this collection goes from sort of nine to three, about three years old and then we also have Mini Marvellous which is toys and bedrooms and practical products for children aged 2-8 which again you can access on the website.
Julie Peasgood: Fantastic. Finally, plans for the future.
Judy Lever: Well, I think we're looking to have more shops for sure, because we think -- we feel now that we want to be around the country more than just the 13 shops we have and there's also plans to extend Mini Marvellous, the new catalogue and also to go abroad, that's another possibility, international expansion.
Julie Peasgood: Wow! Excellent. I wish you the best of luck. Both of you thanks so much for joining us.
Judy Lever: Thank you.
Vivienne Pringle: Thank you very much.
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