Maternity
Clothing made specifically for pregnant women is usually separated from regular women’s clothing in department stores and when shopping online. This was no different in mail-order catalogs. On these pages, there are a few things to note: the size of the models (do any of them appear pregnant?), the descriptions of the garments, and the overall marketing. For example, the descriptions from 1936 encourage mothers-to-be to “look slim, young, pretty the whole time” in “marvelously concealing” dresses that “keep your secret for months.” The page heading for maternity clothing in the 1961 edition is very similar: “look pretty while you wait.” The overall message to pregnant women did not change – pregnancy is encouraged, but the physical changes to a woman’s body must be hidden from the public eye.
