Wildelore Fleece Review

When I was pregnant with my first child, my third trimester was during the summer. This time around, a due date in late November and a two-year old who loves to be outside means that I need something warmer to wear.

This was when I found the Wildelore Fleece, designed to fit women through pregnancy, nursing and beyond. It is now my go-to warm layer whenever I’m outside! It has fit well from the moment I got it at five months pregnant, when I only had a handful of weeks to go, and now when I’m a month postpartum. It’s very cozy and incredibly high quality.

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A woman wearing a hat and a green Wildelore fleece holds a baby in a patterned snowsuit — My Wildelore fleece, over top of my Iksplore nursing base layer and under my favorite ski jacket, allowed me to continue my favorite New Year’s tradition – a dawn hike on New Year’s Day – with my husband, two year old son, and five week old daughter. She nursed right through the sunrise!

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Product Specifics of the Wildelore Fleece

The Wildelore fleece is made from 100% post-consumer recycled polyester. It also has lining around the zippers that features a beautiful floral print. It has a quarter zip at the neck. The fleece comes in two colors, birch beige and forest green.

There are three pockets that all zip shut, one chest pocket and two larger pockets on the front. All zippers are tucked underneath a layer of fleece so that nothing will catch and you can comfortably carry your baby in a front-carry. There are two side zippers that help expand the belly for the maternity phase, and a zipper across the whole chest to allow flexible nursing access.

Sizes run from XS to XXL, and the size guide has an impressive level of detail to help you choose the size that will work for you throughout all the pregnancy and postpartum body changes we go through.

Wildelore is Best For…

This fleece has been perfect for leisurely cozy fall strolls with my toddler. He loves to stop and look at every stick and rock and leaf we find, so the pace is generally pretty slow! I wear this fleece to go to the playground, the corn maze and pumpkin patch, and generally any time I’m going to be outside longer than five or ten minutes.

A family (mom, dad, and toddler) stand in front of a farm pen while the toddler pets a goat. — Our corn maze/petting zoo/pumpkin patch experience was cold this year! We got the tiniest of snow flurries just after this photo was taken and yet I was warm and cozy in my Wildelore fleece.

This fleece keeps me warm down to 40F without wind. I should note that my pregnant self runs much warmer than my normal self, but my postpartum self is also comfortable to about those same temperatures, again so long as it’s not windy.

I also enjoy the fact that the Wildelore fleece is really pretty! I love the two color options and the floral print, and it feels so good to have something that actually feels like it fits me and I can move well in.

What We Love About Wildelore

There are a lot of things I love about my fleece, but my top three things are how well it fits, the quality of materials and workmanship, and the design of the maternity and nursing features.

Getting to Wear Something That Actually Fits!

As I mentioned, one of my favorite things about this fleece is how well it fits! The size guide on Wildelore’s website is one of the most detailed and thoughtful I’ve ever seen, even from other brands that deal specifically with maternity clothing. I’m one of those people who always seems to ride the line between a small and a medium, so having lots of sizing information is really helpful.

It includes the standard size chart for bust, waist, and hip, but when I ordered my fleece I was already pregnant enough that I didn’t have a waist any more. I also tend to find that one of my measurements is a size larger than the other two when using these charts, which makes it confusing.

This was not an issue though; Wildelore also provides the measurements of the actual fleece so I could compare it to sweaters and jackets I already had. My favorite part was the photo gallery that showed real women in various stages of pregnancy; this gave me real examples and allowed me to see how relaxed or tight the fit was on each person.

When my fleece arrived, I immediately put it on (for about two minutes because it was July and over 100F) and I was so happy with the fit. I was a little nervous about how the fleece would grow with me for the next four months of pregnancy, but I’ve continued to be impressed with how it has continued to fit well. Even in the last month, I still feel like I can move well in my fleece without it being too tight.

A woman standing on a playground, wearing the Wildelore Fleece — A front view! I can still get my hands comfortably in my pocket despite being weeks away from the end of my pregnancy.

A mom playing on a playground with her toddler, wearing the Wildelore Fleece — A front view! I can still get my hands comfortably in my pocket despite being weeks away from the end of my pregnancy.

Now that I’m about a month postpartum, I can still say I’m impressed with the fit! Mine definitely has a comfortable fit rather than being super fitted, which means I need to be a little thoughtful about putting it under my smaller jackets. But I’m definitely not swimming in it and I still feel like I have something that fits me well!

A woman wearing a backpack and a baby in a front carrier holds the hands of a toddler on skis — Being a skiing mom, hard mode! You can’t see my Wildelore fleece under my ski jacket (and under the Ergo Baby carrier with my daughter and backpack with the all-important snacks). But it was awesome for this cold and blustery day when my son just wanted to ski with Mama!

The Quality of Materials and Workmanship

Because I live in a pretty dry climate, I tend to opt for down over fleece when I want an insulating layer. I find that a lot of heavy-duty fleeces that promise to be super warm are also super stiff and make it feel hard to move, regardless of what layers I put over them.

This is definitely not a problem with the Wildelore fleece. It is thick, but it’s soft and flexible in a way I don’t often see with other fleeces. I can tell this fleece is going to hold up over time, and the workmanship in the stitching is also definitely made to last. This is not a maternity fleece you use for a couple of months and toss; this is a long-term addition to your gear closet.

The zippers follow the quality trend; they zip really smoothly and are not going to catch or lose teeth or otherwise cause problems. And I love that every pocket has a zipper! The things moms put in pockets need to stay in pockets, whether that’s a snack or a trail treasure or our chapstick. These are real pockets that will really hold things; I can still use the front pockets even with my giant belly (thanks again to the side zips).

Maternity and Nursing Design Features

The side zips that allow extra belly room are quite simple but quite effective. At five months pregnant when I received my fleece, I barely needed to unzip the side zips for more belly room, and the rest of the fleece fit comfortably without being too roomy.

As I grew, I continued to unzip the side zips and I still felt like I could move well in the fleece. Nothing was too tight, but at the same time this still felt like it was made for me, not someone three times my size.

Side view of the maternity zippers on the Wildelore Fleece — Here is a close-up view of the size zippers; I only had a couple of weeks left in my pregnancy when I took these photos so I had them most of the way open. I could zip them farther closed if I wanted more warmth but it did start to get a little tight.

I also think the nursing access is really well thought out. I appreciate the length of the zipper from side to side and that each end has its own zipper; this gives me the flexibility to nurse on either side and decide how open I need the nursing access to be, especially when I’m wearing various different nursing layers underneath it.

A close up of the fleece flap turned up over the nursing access zipper of the Wildelore Fleece — The zipper starts very far back around to the armpit and extends across the entire chest, which means you have plenty of flexibility to open as much or as little as you need.

A close up of the nursing access zipper partially unzipped, showing the red t-shirt underneath — The zipper starts very far back around to the armpit and extends across the entire chest, which means you have plenty of flexibility to open as much or as little as you need.

Looking for other nursing layers that could go under this fleece? We have a post about Best Sports Bras for Nursing and also review the Iksplore nursing baselayer in our post about Best Baselayers for Women. Combining these things with the Wildelore fleece means one sweet setup for nursing in the winter!

And if you’re not a nursing mom? The nursing access zipper is hidden beneath a layer of fleece, meaning it’s not super obvious. The fact that this fleece is meant to fit over a variety of belly sizes means that no matter where I am in my postpartum process, I’ll have something that fits me well and keeps me warm for however long I feel like walking. (Check out our post about giving yourself grace in the postpartum period too!)

What the Wildelore Fleece is Not For

Every piece of gear has things it’s designed for and things it’s not designed for; I wouldn’t take my backpacking pack on a day hike or vice versa! Similarly, there are things the Wildelore fleece was not designed for.

One of the first things I noticed was that this fleece is not packable! It doesn’t fold up, roll, or compress well, so if I need to take it off I tend to strap it to the outside of my daypack or just carry it. This is typical of fleece, particularly one as thick as this one.

A side view of the folded up Wildelore All Phases Fleece — The Wildelore fleece can fold without automatically unfolding, but it is bulky! Nalgene for scale.

A top view of the folded up Wildelore All Phases Fleece — The Wildelore fleece can fold without automatically unfolding, but it is bulky! Nalgene for scale.

A side view of the rolled up Wildelore All Phases Fleece — And here it is rolled up. It is both taller and wider than my Nalgene.

A top view of the rolled up Wildelore All Phases Fleece — And here it is rolled up. It is both taller and wider than my Nalgene.

As promised, this fleece is super warm, perfect for chilly fall days between 45-55F. The flip side of this is that my overheated pregnant self cannot wear it inside or in any weather over around 60F. I’ve found that if I’m outside for long enough for it to warm up significantly, I need to bring another lighter weight layer.

That being said, this fleece is not windproof! (It’s not waterproof either, but it does shed water fairly well and will keep you warm even if it does get wet.) Wind cuts straight through it, especially if you have the side zippers open like I do right now. This is an easily fixable problem; check out the Make My Belly Fit review for one idea of how to get a shell over this fleece while pregnant.

Bottom Line on the Wildelore Fleece

I am so glad I have this fleece in my closet right now! Getting outside is incredibly important for me and my two-year-old son; it allows him to burn off energy and explore and play, and it allows me to find some calm and mental rest among the chaos. I didn’t even have to miss leaf season, which always fills me up in a special way.

A toddler sitting on woman's shoulders while hiking, with colorful aspens and maples in the background

Having a warm layer that I feel good in allows me to continue to be outside even when it looked like was shoplifting a turkey! The fit and the quality ensure I’ll continue to use this fleece long past this maternity phase and into the future.

Where to Buy

Check out Wildelore’s website; the fleece is currently their only product but their story is very cool and I’m looking forward to any new products they have in the works!

Use code MOUNTAINMAMA for FREE SHIPPING at Wildelore