Evolution of the Bra

HISTORY OF THE BRASSIERE

The history of brassieres is associated with the social history of the status of women, including the transformation of fashion and changing views of the female body. Over the years, women have used various garments and devices to cover, restrain, or modify the display and shape of their breasts.

Around 2500 B.C., breasts were being admired. Then, women in tribute to all this attention, wore bras that lifted their breasts so much, they exposed them. Minoan women on the island of Crete wore bra-like garments that lifted the bare breast out of their clothing. Later, as Greek and Roman society grew more male-oriented, breasts were wrapped and flattened to minimize their size.

In the 1550’s Catherine de Médicis, of France enforced a ban on "thick waists" at court functions through the introduction of the steel corset. A wide variety of corsets became the dominant undergarment for restraint over the next 350 years.

In the 1850’s Corsets fell out of style but the 1860’s saw Corsets come back in fashion heavily. Severe corset "training" was common and it reduced waists to such unhealthy levels that ribs and internal organs became deformed.

In the latter part of the 19th century, various alternatives were experimented with. The corset was split into a girdle-like restraining device for the lower torso and transferring the upper part to devices suspended from the shoulder. Corset-maker Herminie Cadolle invented a bra-like garment called "Bien-être", resembling a "Victorian bikini". The main feature that made it different from the traditional corset was that breasts are supported by the shoulders rather than squeezed up from below.

Marie Tucek patented the "Breast Supporter”. It included separate pockets for each breast, shoulder straps, and hook-and-eye closures, making it the earliest known design to be similar to modern-day bras.

Around 1913 Mary Phelps Jacob, a New York socialite, dissatisfied with the idea of having to wear a heavy corset underneath a new sheer evening gown, improvised a garment from two silk handkerchiefs, cord, and some ribbon. Then in1914 she applied for a patent for her "Backless Brassiere". She sold this patent to Warner Brothers Corset Company for $1,500. They (Warner Brothers) were said to have made over 15 million dollars over the next 30 years from that patent.

In1917 the U.S. War Industries Board requested that women stop buying corsets to reduce the consumption of metal.

Skip to 1928, Ida Rosenthal, a Russian immigrant was responsible for the creation of cup sizes and developed bras for every stage of a woman’s life i.e. from puberty to maturity.