If you follow me on Instagram, you might have already gotten a little peek at these photos. It has already been 9 full months since this photo shoot with j&a photography and I am still absolute…
Once people accepted that pregnant women could be stylish and need not remain hidden, the designs of vintage '50s maternity fashion were surprisingly varied. Here's a look!
Having children is wonderful. Being pregnant, not so wonderful. Trying to dress vintage while being pregnant or nursing... challenging. Vintage maternity clothes have a limited history. Being pregnant was a taboo subject, and nursing your own child was out of fashion by the 1950s (only 20% of mothers breast-fed their babies). As soon as a
Maternity photoshoots are so common that it's almost considered strange if you opt not to do one while you're pregnant. These photos are a wonderful way to remember such a special time in your life, and they really highlight the beauty of a pregnant…
Once people accepted that pregnant women could be stylish and need not remain hidden, the designs of vintage '50s maternity fashion were surprisingly varied. Here's a look!
From billowing dresses and maternity corsets intended to conceal a woman's baby bump to the formfitting trend seen on expectant mothers today, see how pregnancy fashion has changed over the years.
Maternity photoshoots are so common that it's almost considered strange if you opt not to do one while you're pregnant. These photos are a wonderful way to remember such a special time in your life, and they really highlight the beauty of a pregnant…
Maternity photoshoots are so common that it's almost considered strange if you opt not to do one while you're pregnant. These photos are a wonderful way to remember such a special time in your life, and they really highlight the beauty of a pregnant…
Maternity photoshoots are so common that it's almost considered strange if you opt not to do one while you're pregnant. These photos are a wonderful way to remember such a special time in your life, and they really highlight the beauty of a pregnant…
Your photoshoot doesn’t need to be ultra fancy or expensive! I set up this shoot in my aunt’s backyard with a few sheets tied to a tree and some friends to help pull it together.
Now for the era that defines “vintage maternity style” in the minds of many: the 1950s! Unlike during the 1930s and 1940s, fabric conservation and rationing was no longer a big design consideration and, like the other styles of the 1950s, maternity wear became more voluminous and feminine. This post will ride the line of the late 1940s to early 1950s a bit because the maternity fashions were *very* similar. (I think we sometimes forget that fashion doesn't abruptly change just because a new decade begins on the calendar!) Below I've paired a 1950s blouse with my 1940s repro trousers! View this post on Instagram A post shared by Emileigh (@flashbacksummer) on Apr 14, 2019 at 6:52am PDT In the late 40s, maternity fashion followed regular fashion in its love for large shoulder pads, longer skirts, and fabric volume. This look stayed for a few years as, it seems, maternity fashion moved a bit slower. However, elastics and stretch fabrics are still not in common use at this point. They started appearing a bit toward the later part of the decade, but most patterns and garments from the 50s I’ve seen still used other closures and techniques of making pregnancy garments adjustable and comfortable. One of the garments I made with this silhouette was a muslin of scrap fabrics where I wanted to try out a pattern (The "Anne Adams" pictured above) for fit. As you can see, the top is pretty swingy and voluminous, a shape mimicked in coats and cardigans of the time, too. The Peter Pan collar, bow, and sleeve details add the feminine touches so popular in the late 40s-1950s. The pencil skirt included in the pattern, also in tune with the popular trends of the time, uses a series of buttons at the waist to account for a woman’s expanding waistline (much like the vintage garment below). source These features at the top of the skirts were never meant to be seen, so sometimes they don’t lay perfectly flat or aren’t particularly aesthetically pleasing; they’re functional. When pregnant women of the time wore skirts, it was assumed that they would wear a blousey shirt on top, not tuck things in, so waistbands weren’t meant to be seen. This is also important to keep in mind when you run across 1950s maternity skirts like the ones above with cut-out half-circles at the waist with ties or bands of fabric. They’re a bit weird to the modern eye! However, a woman would have worn a maternity slip under the skirt and blouse, and since skirts didn’t accompany tucked-in shirts for pregnant women, this cut-out would never have been seen (barring gusts of wind and the like!). It was yet another way that designers and makers accommodated a pregnant figure without stretch fabrics and elastic. (Side note: I'm also intrigued by this Advance pattern and its wrap skirt. It looks like it could also be worn pre- or post-maternity as a stylish pencil skirt... I'll investigate/mock up further and share the results with you guys!) source The tent-shaped, voluminous top and slim pencil skirt or cigarette pants seem to be the most trendy maternity silhouette of the 1950s. Pretty collars and sleeve details were popular, and I’ve even seen cocktail maternity sets for fancier occasions. In this decade, it still wasn’t “proper” to accentuate a pregnant figure, but pregnant women were making their way into the public sphere in the West in a new way. During this decade, Lucille Ball was the first pregnant woman to appear on television, and she’s fantastic inspiration for the cute and comfortable maternity fashions of the time. (Check out my vintage maternity Pinterest board for more inspiration!) What other interesting features have you found on 1950s maternity garments or patterns? The tent-ish pregnancy silhouette seems to divide vintage wearers into distinct “love” or “hate” crowds; where do you fall?
Hello, readers, and welcome to my second half century. I have so many fun things planned for us while I'm still lucid (and continent). F...
40s Housedress MATERNITY DRESS OR HOUSE COAT. Dress or housecoat buttons in front below the shaped collar. Back has an inset belt, which forms tie belt in front, drawing in front fullness. Short sleeves are used. Dress may have a contrasting collar with lace edging. Offered here as; Paper Pattern or the Original Pattern. This pattern is also available as a PDF download.
Another blogpost I had to rewrite after accidentally deleating everything, inclusive all of the pictures (and believe me, it was a picture...
Gosh I can't remember when I bought this, but I know I didn't realize what it was at the time - a flour sack maternity dress...
Kate Middleton is clearly not the first woman to ever be pregnant: Take a look at maternity fashion from the last few hundred years...
Vintage 1952 Advance 6481 Sew-Easy maternity skirt from the early 50s. View 1 ties at the front for growing "tummy" flexibility. View 2 has self fabric openings. Size: 26 Waist: 26 ins Hip 35 ins Pattern includes full instructions, all pattern pieces pre-cut and unprinted, which are in excellent condition
From billowing dresses and maternity corsets intended to conceal a woman's baby bump to the formfitting trend seen on expectant mothers today, see how pregnancy fashion has changed over the years.