Wow, and it even comes in a plain wrapper, so your letter carrier doesn't have to know you are pregnant, either. Very interesting.

Also interesting is how Lane Bryant's minimum size has gone from a 12 to (I think) a 16.

"Keep you smart throughout your pregnancy."

Apparently, wearing certain clothes makes you smarter. That made me laugh pretty hard.

"Quick, dress like the geniuses so we can be as mart as them! Who should we dress as? Albert Einstein? Stephen Hawking? Carl Sagan? Come on, people! Let's get smart!"

uh, junior sizes?

Given the discrimination that pregnant women continue to face in the job search and the workplace, I would think there'd still be a market for 'concealing' clothes.

Right. Can't allow any obvious signs that you've been having The Sex. It would be unladylike.

It was still a time when a teacher could expect to be (legally) fired once her pregnancy was visible. So dresses like these might give you a couple extra months of income. (Nurses too, I believe. I know my mother wore a girdle when she was pregnant with me in the 1960s, to be able to keep working at a hospital.)

These styles look like they have adjustable waist sashes--which is actually a pretty nice feature in maternity gear. Better than wearing a muu-muu. And in the days before spandex, probably the closest you could get to a comfortable fitted look.

CORSETS? wtf? on a pregnant woman?

also what Buffy said.

My grandmother frequently reminds me that when she was young and having babies (particularly her first two, who were born in the 40s), it was considered taboo to even MENTION that a woman was expecting a child. If you ordered anything through the mail that outwardly advertised you were pregnant, it was entirely likely your mailman would blush handing you the package.

I had no idea Lane Bryant has been around this long.