Lane Bryant Engineering for Stout Women

Adaptolettes, Abdo-lift, the Bust-confining Diaphragm Reducer, Adjust-eze, Even-pul; these are just some of the names that sprang from the fertile brains of Lane Bryant's marketing department from the 1930's to the 1960's. The poor stout woman was left in no doubt about her predicament. Do you have a large bust, large hips, large abdomen or sloping shoulders? Do you have an extra-large bust or extra-large hips? Perhaps you had them all in which case the engineers who built the Sydney harbour bridge, armed with the latex exports from half of Malaya and steel from Pittsburgh could fashion you a contraption to hold it all together. Bust-confining and figure-slenderising (within the physical constraints of human incompressibility) Lane Bryant's Adaptolettes guaranteed that those straps would stay in place; sloping shoulders or not. Adapto Silk Hose in TRIPLE-EXTRA size was available to cure YOUR problem just in case you felt that your legs had missed out on the action. The Bendo-Back was available with abdominal supporting and reducing inner belt with firm diaphragm reinforcement, well-boned back all connected by surgical elastic sections. Extra-long abdominal belt and long corset back with straps were designed to hold you in. Amazingly, this bullet-proof armour gave perfect freedom for the stout woman. This must have implied that she could move her arms - just! In place of the reinforced steel, rubber was available, cunningly perforated to allow perspiration to waft away, although in hotter climes, I can image the poor matron spraying the neighbourhood with sweat like a garden sprinkler.

I poke fun from the arrogant vantage point of eight decades in the future and I am the first to admit that Lane Bryant made some remarkably fine foundation garments that brought relief, style and shape to the stout woman. I feel that I can justify my levity by admitting that I am, indeed, a stout woman. Nemo (below) summed up their practical approach to the problem:-

Comfortable, Durable and Add Grace to the Figure

isn't that what us stout women need!