LANE BRYANT LADIES LINEN BLEND LUX BLAZER

AMAZING COLOR PEAK LAPELS (2) BUTTON CLOSURE (2) FLAP FRONT POCKETS FULLY LINED BIO: Widowed at an early age, and the orphaned daughter of Lithuanian Jewish refugees, Lena Bryant supported herself and her young son as a dressmaker. Borrowing $300 from her brother-in-law, Bryant went to the bank to open an account. The bank officer misspelled her name on the application as Lane instead of Lena. In 1904, she rented a small storefront on Fifth Avenue with living quarters in the back for $12.50 a month. There she hung her garments from the gas fixtures and opened the doors. Asked by one of her pregnant customers to design something "presentable but comfortable" to wear in public, Bryant created a dress with an elasticized waistband and accordion-pleated skirt. This would become the first known commercially made maternity dress. This dress was welcomed not only by middle-class women but also by poorer pregnant women who had to work. The maternity dress soon became a best-selling garment. When Bryant married Albert Malsin in 1909, he took charge of the business. He systematically began to develop and expand it. Albert instituted engineering exactness, and modern cost accounting and pricing. Sales had reached $50,000 a year by 1910 (equivalent to $1,570,357 in 2022). Albert was determined to steer the operation towards specialization. To produce in quantity and at lower cost he began to have dozens of dresses mechanically cut at once and employed high-speed sewing methods. Lane