Seraphine Review

Monday, December 2nd

2024 Maternity Clothes Store Reviews

Seraphine

• Almost 500 items of maternity wear to choose from
• Plenty of wardrobe staples ranging from tops and jeans to lingerie and activewear
• Unique options include a menswear line (like skin-to-skin tops) and three-in-one transforming jackets for babywearing
• Luxe collection for weddings, parties, and other special occasions
• $6.95 for shipping
• Free returns for US customers within 30 days

Seraphine was founded in 2002 to provide "innovative maternity and nursing designs that empower you to feel comfortable and confident in your changing body”. This UK-based brand is beloved of celebrities and civilians alike, and offers styles you might not easily find elsewhere.

Maternity wear for royalty?!

One fun way to shop at Seraphine is by Celebrity Style. We found that under the "Why Shop With Us?” link. After all this is the preferred maternity brand of the Duchess of Cambridge. They don't necessarily come out and tell you which famous expecting mama wore the pieces you'll find in the Celebrity Style section, but if it was a British A-lister, you might find it here.

Fantastic inventory

Otherwise, you can shop Seraphine in the usual way: by clothing category, such as outerwear, essentials, and so on. This is also one of the only maternity clothing stores we've found that has formal dresses, if you've got a special occasion like a wedding coming up. Across all categories, there's a lot to choose from here: almost 500 different pieces.

Even dads get love here

We were almost giddy with excitement seeing some of Seraphine's more novel maternity options - because they even include dads. Experts say it's important for them to participate in the skin-to-skin contact for bonding in the early days, and there are several apparel possibilities here that make that happen for either parent. There are also some fantastic convertible jackets that can be used for babywearing in colder weather: some for the non-pregnant partner, and some that can accommodate an expanding belly and then be used to keep mama and baby warm later. Love!

You could spend a little or a lot

Pricing is all over the place at this retailer. On the one hand, you could pay a really reasonable $59 for a short-sleeved maternity and nursing dress - or $125 for a pair of navy blue maternity pants that don't seem to have any reason for being so expensive (other than the fact that they're suitable for partnering with a blazer). Even the staples can be spendy here, like $85 for a twin pack of maternity/nursing tank tops.

Can you spot the discount?

When you first browse over to the Seraphine site, you might get a pop-up offer. We were asked to indicate if we're expecting, already had our baby, gifting, or interested in everything - then, if we entered our email address and first name, we would get a 10% discount on our first order. There was also a discount code for 10% at the top of the site during our visit, so watch for a promo like that if you'd rather not get on the retailer's mailing list.

Returns are free but shipping isn't

There's no free shipping here: you'll pay a delivery charge of $6.95 on every order. On the other hand, we were glad to see that Seraphine offers free returns on US orders, even though they're based in the UK. Just click on the Returns page and click the link to start the process. You've got 30 days from the date of delivery to send your maternity clothing back.

Shopper feedback is love/hate

Customer sentiment towards Seraphine is mixed. If your order gets to you on time and your clothing lasts as long as you expect it to, you'll probably love this retailer. On the other hand, if your order arrives late (or doesn't come at all), a seam splits or a jacket toggle falls off after just a wear or two, or you have any other issue requiring help from the Seraphine team, you might wind up disappointed. Across 6,600+ customer ratings, the store earned an average of just 3.3 stars out of 5.

Not taking any calls

At the time of this evaluation, the site had removed the customer service phone number with this disclaimer: "we are currently experiencing a high volume of customer service queries due to problems with our delivery partners”. Hmmm. Not that most US shoppers would be making an international phone call anyway, but it's telling that it's not an option either way.

Customer service needs some work

We really wanted to give Seraphine a high ranking. There's a ton of variety in the maternity clothing they carry, and it's remarkably forward-thinking to include options for dads in the mix. However, some shoppers wind up really unhappy here, and if you're paying higher-than-average prices for your maternity wear, it's reasonable to expect better-than-average service - which Seraphine seems to fail to deliver. That keeps this retailer from earning a better spot among its rivals.