Oh Baby, it's SPRING!

Maternity Dress

Those of us who have worn the same outfits over and over again through each pregnancy were more than happy to see those things go after the last baby.  They were often worn out and out of fashion by the time our youngest arrived.  But, given that maternity clothes were not exactly our fashion statement of choice, we often bought as little as possible which meant wearing the same things over and over for many months.  But, did you ever stop to think that those maternity outfits would be sought after collectibles in the future?  

Buttons and ties on the pants grow with your bump

Love this very 1950's maternity pant suit

While all you can think of is, "I hope I never have to wear this ugly thing again", others might LOVE to see how your generation solved the problem of the growing baby bump.  We are lucky to have elastic now that can stretch nearly endlessly, but the women of the 40's were stuck trying to guess the size of junior with buttons.  As I look at the collection of maternity clothes my mom acquired, I wonder what those women did when they got to their 6th or 7th month and were on the last button!

On the other end of the pregnancy, many made do with their maternity clothes  with belts and ties.  They may not have been able to afford the time or money to make themselves a new house dress. Some clever women integrated several methods to create a dress that would both stretch with the bump and resize after the baby arrived so they could keep wearing it.  Check out THIS example of such a house dress.

So, before you toss out every last piece of your maternity wardrobe, you may want to take a photo or two of it for historical value.  You might see the maternity styles of today on the Etsy of tomorrow.