1922 Ad Touts Lane Bryant's Offerings for 'Stout Women'

This really puts the debate over the term “plus-size” in perspective: Here is an ad for Lane Bryant, from the back of the September 1922 Ladies Home Journal. Hey, stout women! Lane Bryant has the hot fashions you want!

Stout women, now, may dress in the latest fashion—and look slender! They can procure smart, ultra-modish clothes, with slenderizing lines, ready to put right on and wear….

Lane Bryant specializes in providing just such clothes. New York and Paris fashions re-designed with lines that slenderize. The finest materials and the best workmanship—always….

The Lane Bryant stores serve daily the elite of the land.

But, to be fair, the dresses pictured certainly look more fashion-forward for their time than Lane Bryant’s current offerings, their fine efforts with the Isabel Toledo collection notwithstanding.

Some things never change, though: The ladies repping Lane Bryant couldn’t possibly be particularly stout even for 1922. I think maybe they just need better bra support? And before you start quoting obesity stats at me, here’s is another ad from the same magazine (accessed via HathiTrust) for the sake of comparison:

Here’s the ad as it originally appeared. Request your catalog today, for all the latest fashions from Paris and Fifth Avenue!