Inspired by a new piece in our library- a Lane Bryant catalogue from Fall/Winter 1946-47 (shown below), our collection manager Kristine brought out a few of the Lane Bryant label clothing and footwear articles from our rentals collection. Check out our Instagram video to see the items and what she has to say!
Do you have any early Lane Bryant in your collection or other early label that offered plus sizes?
Above: The dress we believe could be a Lane Bryant, although the label is missing so it’s hard to verify. It is a very similar design to the blue variation on the cover of the catalogue!
We wrote a little blog on vintage maternity wear a few years back which mentioned the Lane Bryant company as that is what they started out specializing in. Here’s some more info on the company:
Lena Himmelstein was born in Lithuania in 1877 and became orphaned shortly after when her parents were killed in a pogrom. She moved to New York in 1895 and married David Bryant in 1899. He died shortly after their son was born.
She supported herself and her son by making negligees and tea gowns before opening her own shop on Fifth Avenue in 1904. Her name was misspelled at the bank and so her company officially became “Lane Bryant”. She developed a good reputation for the clothing she made for pregnant women and created the first known commercially sold maternity dress which had an accordion pleated skirt. It was well liked by both middle and working class pregnant women. She married again in 1909 and her husband Albert Malsin played a big role in helping Lena to expand the business. He convinced The New York Herald to advertise Lena’s maternity wear in 1911, which was a topic that would have been avoided in the press at that time. This allowed the word to get out and her sales really took off. She moved into a larger premises and was able to employ a small staff of 12, opening up another store branch in Chicago in 1915.
Next came her mail order catalogue, which suited women wishing to maintain privacy regarding their pregnancies. By 1917, revenues from the catalogue alone had reached one million dollars.
She then began mass producing ready made clothing for plus sizes, which eventually bypassed her maternity wear sales. She developed a system of three plus sized body types which she based her designs around. Sales were at $5 million by 1923.
Lena was a philanthropist and after the 1947 Texas City Disaster, she outfitted 58 mail order customers whose homes and closets were destroyed by fire. She was also a pioneer in offering many employee benefits.
Lena and Albert had three children together. Her sons took over the company when she died in 1951. They acquired Town & Country Department store in 1961. Interestingly, in the 1968 Catalog, imported Schiaparelli hand rolled silk scarves sold for $6 each.
Lane Bryant was first bought out in 1982. Since then, they have been bought and sold a number of times and the name continues selling plus sized clothing today.