Maternity Xchange

Like any used clothing store, this one takes patience and time to find the right thing. There are two ways to shop the Xchange, either go to the Presidio store (which is located inside It’s Yoga Kids) or go to their monthly sales at the Sports Basement, Presidio. Either works, but at the store they have mroe new items (Bella bands, Bao Bei exercise clothes) and at the monthly sale it’s mostly used stuff. They have good quality jeans, and very good selection. It’s there to give you a bargain. Plus, you can sell your old stuff, too. Worth the workout of going through the racks.
Some people have said they’re not nice – that was NOT my experience. They were very nice.

Found out about this program by watching View From the Bay a couple of weeks ago. Checked out the website and found out about a sale going on in my neck of the woods. Decided to save any and all shopping for Maternity Xchange.
It was held at a basement location right off Burlingame Ave and right outside of a Breastfeeding Center. There were about 8 – 10 racks all sorted by style and size. I believe new and old clothes were mixed into the racks. They had a separate room for the plastic standing fitting rooms, their premium jeans and their sponsored clothing. It wasn’t very clear who worked there but they were very nice and friendly. As soon as I had clothes in my hand they held it for me until I was ready to try on.
The clothes weren’t anything spectacular like I had envisioned from watching the segment and looking online. I thought they would have a much better selection of high end names like they claim. There were however good bargains with the used clothing, some of the stuff though were priced just way to high for what it was.
I got a Mimi Maternity tank for $ 6, an Ann Taylor Maternity white ruffled sleeveless top for $ 27 (a little pricey for the shirt but it was brand new with tags) and an Ann Taylor Maternity black V-​neck sweater with ribbing for $ 18 which I thought was a great deal for the material.
I thought the experience was overall OK, I wouldn’t travel to shop with them again. And I think price wise I’m better off hunting through the sale racks and online sales for new clothes. Concept is great just needs more Umph!

I did get one good pair of jeans here, $ 9 on the clearance rack… but that was after trying on approximately one billion pairs of crap. The problem with maternity clothes is that I utterly cannot buy them online, because the sizes are so incredibly variable– even within one designer, i might take one of three different sizes.
But back to Maternity XChange. My issue with them is that honestly? I think these people hate pregnant ladies. I’m not even kidding. Here’s why I say this:
— They jam the clothing onto the racks ’till they’re so crowded, you can’t flip through the clothes at all. I’m already clumsy, awkward and exhausted; now I have to wrestle with curtains of clothes, like some kind of elephantine Guy Smiley.
— I do understand the dressing rooms are designed to be assembled in different locations. However, they are made of hollow piping that I can’t lean on at all for fear of bringing the whole apparatus crashing down upon myself. Plus, each room is tiny — I feel like a basketball in a shoebox. Do they put chairs in there to lean on, and to sit on while trying on jeans? No: so I don’t try on jeans anymore. Do they have the mirrors where I can see them? Nope: they prop them against the wall, so that I have an excellent view of half of my left thigh. I’m telling you: they hate us!
— The staff is made up of very sweet, but very tactless young young YOUNG women. Guess what. I am aware that a size L is not really working for me. I am fighting back tears, trying to deal with that. I do not need Evan Rachel Wood telling me «That looks very tight in the thigh area.» If I need help, I’ll ask for it, you skinny little dingbat; if you have nothing nice to say, shove a fist in your mouth and whistle Dixie.
Plus, it’s been the same crap for a couple months now. Sigh. I’m just going to have to hope for sales at Pea in the Pod. No way am I dragging my butt out to the Presidio to hear how fat my thighs look again.

Not worth the drive — i could find cheaper prices online, (same designers) with free shipping.
Prices were too high for USED maternity clothes.
Use craigslist instead, and remember. you are only going to wear these clothes for 6 months or so-​so be savvy.

I’d give it 3.5 stars. I went to the Maternity Xchange sale at the Natural Resources location in the Mission. The selection for petite women (I’m 5’4″ & was a 0 – 2 pre-​maternity) is slim to none. The prices aren’t too much better than going online & skimming through the sales on JW, a Pea in the Pod, etc., & you’re paying for someone’s used clothing.
If you do scrounge the clearance racks, you may find some really good deals. I did come away with a JW dress for $ 19 (originally $ 120) & a pair of Juicy khaki pants for $ 35 (originally $ 135) both with the original tags on.

sooo you find out you are pregnant, you tell all your non-​pregnant friends that you will never wear that gross maternity crap, and then, on your lunch hour, you secretly run off to a pea in the pod and buy out its stock of citizens, diane von f, etc etc. punch line: you are, like, one day pregnant and the beautiful clothes don’t fit you three seconds later. have no fear, maternity xchange is here to help you. they specialize in designer maternity wear, you give them your stuff (and trust me, once you have the kid, you will want to PAY people to take away all that crap!), and then you get a cut on the profits. put that cut towards your kids private school education fund in sf, you’re going to need it. these guys are fantastic for currently «with child» stunners, and they hold monthly sales of «gently used» high end maternity wear, so check out their website: