Vintage Maternity Wear

newtovintage · Jan 3, 2014

Hello, I found a few patterns from the 1940s for maternity wear the other day that I thought were so beautiful & stylish, not frumpy or too tight like maternity clothes of today. It got me wondering if women of today would be interested in wearing reproductions of such styles during pregnancy. I would love the opinions of everyone.
Below are a couple of examples that I found on Etsy.

late 1940s maternity blouse and skirt found on Etsy3.jpg

late 1940s maternity jumper and blouse found on Etsy.jpg

Have a great day & thank you,
Sarah Grace

Vera Godfrey · Jan 3, 2014

If I were to be pregnant again (which is *not* going to happen!), I would certainly be interested in wearing vintage maternity.

There is a blogger that I read that made several maternity tops for herself using vintage patterns. They were lovely!

sheeplady · Jan 3, 2014

I did when I was pregnant. I made most of my things.

The only issue I faced was the sizing, as some of the clothes I made in the first trimester did not fit by the third. (But I've heard from other ladies that they often go up one maternity size by the end, for instance, I went from small maternity to medium maternity.) I had never been pregnant before and I had edema issues, so I wasn't prepared for that sizing change.

I've heard it said that women back then gained much less weight than today when pregnant for various reasons.

Most of the materials I used were non-stretch too, so maybe that was it?

ETA: I had a lot of problems finding professional clothes to wear while pregnant... everything was too "young" looking, so you might get cross-over business there too if the stuff could work in business.

newtovintage · Jan 4, 2014

Thank you ladies for replying.
I have been thinking about making vintage reproduction maternity wear, but I wanted to gauge whether or not anyone would be interested. I had thought about separates & dresses, but would vintage style trousers be something that would work with maternity?

sheeplady, I will keep that in mind about the sizing. I had thought about making the clothes so that they have insets & such, so they can be worn for a longer time.
When you mentioned professional clothes, did you mean jacket & skirt combinations & more solid colors? Would the first pattern I posted, in say a black or navy fabric, be along the lines of what you meant?

Thank you again,
Sarah Grace

vintageTink · Jan 4, 2014

I would certainly be interested!

sheeplady · Jan 4, 2014

newtovintage said:
Thank you ladies for replying.
I have been thinking about making vintage reproduction maternity wear, but I wanted to gauge whether or not anyone would be interested. I had thought about separates & dresses, but would vintage style trousers be something that would work with maternity?

sheeplady, I will keep that in mind about the sizing. I had thought about making the clothes so that they have insets & such, so they can be worn for a longer time.
When you mentioned professional clothes, did you mean jacket & skirt combinations & more solid colors? Would the first pattern I posted, in say a black or navy fabric, be along the lines of what you meant?

Thank you again,
Sarah Grace

Lots of women who are expecting like pants. I don't like pants to begin with so I can't really say anything about that. lol

The first pattern you posted in a solid color would be great. It looks more "suit like" and therefore would pass in a professional office.

dh66 · Jan 4, 2014

I know that my wife would have been very interested. She tried in vain to find cool vintage or vintage style maternity wear when she was pregnant.

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newtovintage · Jan 7, 2014

I have several items I am beginning to work on, hopefully within a short time I will have a few of the items up. I hadn't really thought of doing pants for maternity, mainly dresses & separates like that first pattern. I will need to do some mockups to see if pants would be something I would offer.

dh66, when you mention cool vintage, what styles do you mean? Something like the patterns above?

Thank you for letting me know that there is interest in such items. I will be sure to post a link to the items I make, as soon as I finish them.

Sarah Grace

dh66 · Jan 7, 2014

Yes. I think she especially would have liked the dress in the bottom photo. 1940s and 50s style stuff. This last time around it seems like there was more stuff geared to the rockabilly crowd available, but it mostly was just plain skirts and t shirts with printed on designs, nothing really vintage looking.
We found one vintage style dress on etsy this time that was very nice, but it was more of a special occasion dress. I can post a pic if you want.

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vintageTink · Jan 9, 2014

I know how I would make the pants.

I'm considering making plus size vintage repro clothing since there isn't a lot.
Would you make the maternity adjustable, Sarah Grace?

Hayley · Jan 11, 2014

I would have been very interested in this while I was carrying my daughter, particularly dresses that I could have worn both for the office and casually.
I found there were a lot of skirts that I could work with, but that tops and dresses were very frustrating.

wahine · Jan 11, 2014

I think there is a pattern in one of my Golden Rule books (late fourties or mid fifties). If anyone is interested, I could look it up and maybe scan it to share.

My auntie gave me a burda magazine of 1974 that has two patterns called "waiting fashion" - I like that expression (the usual German expression "Umstandsmode" is way less charming and a bit hard to translate, maybe "condition fashion" because we call being pregnant "being in a different condition").

vintageTink · Jan 12, 2014

wahine said:
I think there is a pattern in one of my Golden Rule books (late fourties or mid fifties). If anyone is interested, I could look it up and maybe scan it to share.

My auntie gave me a burda magazine of 1974 that has two patterns called "waiting fashion" - I like that expression (the usual German expression "Umstandsmode" is way less charming and a bit hard to translate, maybe "condition fashion" because we call being pregnant "being in a different condition").

I get the condition thing. We used to have the terms "in the family way" and "she's in a delicate condition".

newtovintage · Jan 15, 2014

vintageTink said:
I know how I would make the pants.

I'm considering making plus size vintage repro clothing since there isn't a lot.
Would you make the maternity adjustable, Sarah Grace?

I apologize for taking so long to get back to your question. I have begun teaching classes at my local Joann's.
Yes, I would definitely make the maternity adjustable, hopefully a few sizes up.

I too have noticed that it is much more difficult to find flattering vintage styles, as I am plus sized myself. I have several designs in the works for plus sizes.

newtovintage · Jan 15, 2014

wahine said:
I think there is a pattern in one of my Golden Rule books (late fourties or mid fifties). If anyone is interested, I could look it up and maybe scan it to share.

My auntie gave me a burda magazine of 1974 that has two patterns called "waiting fashion" - I like that expression (the usual German expression "Umstandsmode" is way less charming and a bit hard to translate, maybe "condition fashion" because we call being pregnant "being in a different condition").

I would definitely be interested to see the pattern. I am always looking for inspiration.
"Waiting fashion", I like that. It sounds so much nicer than "a bun in the oven".

wahine · Jan 16, 2014

newtovintage said:
I would definitely be interested to see the pattern. I am always looking for inspiration.
"Waiting fashion", I like that. It sounds so much nicer than "a bun in the oven".

There you go (sorry for the big size, I'm having problems with the upload)
from 1954 Lutterloh Golden Rule book:

I know it doesn't really look like maternity wear, but the description really says:
235 - For the mother-to-be a becoming jacket. pattern 161
236 - a matching, easily expendable model. pattern 162

If I remember it correctly, in one of my other books is at least one more pattern (I recall a little sketched storch in the background

) but I have lent these to a friend at the moment. I hope I don't forget to scan that, too, once I get it back.

newtovintage · Jan 17, 2014

wahine said:
There you go (sorry for the big size, I'm having problems with the upload)
from 1954 Lutterloh Golden Rule book:

I know it doesn't really look like maternity wear, but the description really says:
235 - For the mother-to-be a becoming jacket. pattern 161
236 - a matching, easily expendable model. pattern 162

If I remember it correctly, in one of my other books is at least one more pattern (I recall a little sketched storch in the background ) but I have lent these to a friend at the moment. I hope I don't forget to scan that, too, once I get it back.

That is wonderful! Thank you so much for scanning & sharing this. I will definitely look into making something along those lines.
I have noticed that a lot of the patterns don't look like maternity wear, but were still considered so.

I would love to see the other one as well, whenever you get a chance.

Thank you again,

sheeplady · Jan 17, 2014

I thought of another idea, Sarah Grace that might get you some more business.

Women typically keep wearing maternity for a few weeks after they deliver, typically what they were wearing at 6 months (size). I made matching dresses for myself and my daughter and everyone raved about them. I can see some mom's being interested in a matching 0-3 months size dress (or shirt for boys) that coordinates with the maternity wear.

So, in other words, if a woman loves her maternity dress she's wearing at 6 months pregnant, you could offer a service of making a coordinating newborn outfit. These would especially be big for mother's who have newborn pictures done- they can wear the maternity dress that is still fitting them and their baby wears her/his coordinating outfit. Since things like jumpers work up fast (like an hour) these would be easy to do and you could likely charge a premium for them.

I have since made my husband ties that coordinate too- so that is an option if someone wanted the whole family to get in on it!

newtovintage · Jan 22, 2014

sheeplady said:
I thought of another idea, Sarah Grace that might get you some more business.

Women typically keep wearing maternity for a few weeks after they deliver, typically what they were wearing at 6 months (size). I made matching dresses for myself and my daughter and everyone raved about them. I can see some mom's being interested in a matching 0-3 months size dress (or shirt for boys) that coordinates with the maternity wear.

So, in other words, if a woman loves her maternity dress she's wearing at 6 months pregnant, you could offer a service of making a coordinating newborn outfit. These would especially be big for mother's who have newborn pictures done- they can wear the maternity dress that is still fitting them and their baby wears her/his coordinating outfit. Since things like jumpers work up fast (like an hour) these would be easy to do and you could likely charge a premium for them.

I have since made my husband ties that coordinate too- so that is an option if someone wanted the whole family to get in on it!

That is a wonderful idea, sheeplady! I will definitely be adding that to my list of maternity options.
My mom used to do that for me & I have seen a few vintage photos of family doing the same.
Thank you so much for all of your advice & ideas. I am very grateful that there is a place like TFL that I can come to. So many here have been an inspiration to me over the years.

Thank you & God bless,
Sarah

leslie1021 · Jan 23, 2014

The style that women typically wore in those times was much more conservative to begin with. I believe this made it significantly easier for women to wear baggier and bigger clothing while they were pregnant and still remain stylish and attractive. The style, today, is much more form fitting and with much less cloth than any other time in history after the invention of clothing. I enjoyed the post. Thanks for sharing the pictures. I have a friend who like to make this type of clothing in her spare time as a hobby. I will have to share this post with her.

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