Revolution of bra - Part II (Emergence of various categories)

The Ultimo Bra - May 2000

By the time of the second millennium women were adding inserts to their bras called affectionately chicken fillets.  However, help was soon at hand with the development of the Ultimo bra, a silicone gel filled bra that creates cleavage whilst giving comfort.  It was launched in May 2000 and became a must have accessory for those in need of a boost.  It has enhanced some of the most famous breasts in the world today including those of Julia Roberts and Kylie Minogue.

The Ultimo was invented by a British woman from Glasgow called Michelle Mone.  It took three and a half years to develop the Ultimo and a great deal of hard work and tenacity on Michelle's part. Unlike normal padded bras the silicone makes the bra feel real so the inserts move and feel like real breasts in wear without the bra squelching the breasts into unnatural positions.

Ultimo select fabrics and components of the highest quality such as polyamide microfiber which is finer than silk and so soft to the touch. They also use a patented liquid silicone gel which has the ability to mimic breast tissue, resulting in a comfortable mould to create a super cleavage. So effective is the bra that people often believe wearers have had breast implants.

Other various types of bra may be classified as:

• Adhesive - a bra which adheres to the breasts; features no straps or bands of any sort. This type of bra is intended for backless and strapless fashions. 
• Average Figure Bra - just what it sounds like. The average figure bra is generally worn by women with average figures; the B and C cup sizes.
• Bandeau - a simple band of cloth worn across the breasts, providing little support or shaping.
• Belly Dance Bras - No matter what style of belly dance you may be studying, you will definitely want a beautiful belly dance bra. Guaranteed to improve your chest rolls.
• Bridal Bras - Support for all that cake cutting.
• Built-in bras - sometimes known as shelf bras (not to be confused with the shelf-bra described below), are a supportive brassiere-like structure on the inside of another garment, such as a swimsuit or tank top, which provides support for the bust without the need for a separate bra. In most such garments, these consist of a horizontal elastic strip, although some do have cups and underwires as with other bra types. These are easily removed, if desired.
• Bullet bras - are a type of full-support bra with cups in the shape of a paraboloid of revolution with its axis perpendicular to the breast. Bullet bras were invented in the late-1940s.
• Convertible bras - have straps which may be detached and rearranged in different ways depending on the outfit. Alternatives to regular straps for strapless bras are beaded bra straps or clear plastic bra straps that provide support and style. This bra is designed with fashion versatility in mind. It can convert from a conventional bra to a strapless, halter, backless, and sometimes even a t-back bra to meet your fashion needs.
• Cupless bras - (also open cup bras; cf. shelf bras below) is a brassiere frame with no support cups, or which exposes the nipples with notched or contoured support cups. Usually worn as erotic lingerie, a cupless bra can cause the shape of the nipples to be prominently visible on an outer garment.
• Demi bras - also known as balconette bras, a half-cup bra style, with wide-set straps and horizontal bust line. Often seamed or boned, it gives great cleavage and a frame-like effect. These offer less support, but enable low cut garments to be worn without the bra being seen. Demi bras may be designed to provide lift as a push-up bra does.
• Full Figure Bra - If you are a large breasted woman, you will want a full figured bra. Full figure bras offer proper fit and comfort for larger sizes and designed to offer good support for the whole of the breasts and, as such, are a typical, practical bra for everyday wear.
• Gel bra - consist of two molded, silicon gel filled cups that have a reusable adhesive on the inside of the cups and are designed to clip together to draw the breasts together and upwards without straps or a band.
• Leather Bras - If you like leather, the leather bra is one more way to get your fix.
• Hand bra - is a modeling technique wherein the woman, though topless, conceals her areolae by covering both breasts with her hands.
• Mastectomy bras - are designed for mastectomy needs so that a prosthesis may be held in place and are intended for individuals who have lost one or both breasts in the treatment for breast cancer.
• Male bras - are bras worn by men with Gynecomastia, usually to flatten and conceal rather than lift and support.
• Maternity bras - are designed such that they can be expanded to adjust as the breasts growth in size over the course of pregnancy. Maternity bra may also refer to nursing bras.
• Minimizer bras - are designed to de-emphasize the bust, in particular of large-breasted women (34 C or above). Minimizers, by compressing and shaping the breasts, help to create the illusion of being a cup size or two smaller.
• Name Brand Bra -some people only want brand names and you know who you are. Brand loyalty is an important aspect of the bra industry. Once you find a great fitting bra, you will want to be able to get more from the same manufacturer.
• Novelty bras - designed more for show, and sensuality than function. Include unusual materials, such as leather, or design such as Peephole bras, which have cups which loosely cover the breasts, but include holes around the nipples.
• Nursing bras - are designed to help make breastfeeding simpler by allowing for easy access to the nipple. Traditionally, nursing bras are made with flaps of fabric over the cup which can be unclasped and pulled down to access the breast. Perfect for any breastfeeding mom.
• Padded bras - are simply bras with padding inside the lining. They are designed to provide a fuller shape for small breasts and an alternative to bra stuffing, a practice among teen-aged girls in which tissues, sugar packets, cotton balls, or socks are placed inside a bra to simulate larger breasts. Unlike push-up bras, however, most padded bras support the breasts but do not significantly lift them. (see also Water bras)
• Push-up bras - are structured so that the breasts are lifted and placed closer together to enhance the cleavage. The best known brand of push-up bra is the Wonderbra. Many push-up bras contain padding, typically made of foam or rubber, but some contain gel-filled pads. The main distinction between padded bras and push-up bras that incorporate padding is whether the padding is centered under each breast to simply lift them, or whether the padding is centered outside the centre of each breast such that it pushes the breasts inwards.
• Shelf bras - essentially a rigid band (underwired) along the inframamary line that pushes up without actually covering any, or only a thin strip of the breast.
• Sport Bras - provide firm support for the breasts, and are meant to prevent discomfort or embarrassment during vigorous exercise or any physical activity, You shouldn’t even consider doing sports of any kind without one!
• Strapless bras - with no shoulder straps, primarily designed for wearing with clothes that reveal the shoulders, such as halter neck tops, evening wear, strapless evening gowns and tops.
• Teen Bra - the right bra for beginners and their changing bodies. These are generally the AA and A cup sizes.
• T-shirt bras - are designed without raised seams, so that a tight t-shirt may be worn without the bra being visible.  It is soft and smooth and looks great under casual attire.
• Trainer bras - are designed for girls who have begun to develop breasts but have yet to be considered "developed" enough to allow for a standard-sized bra to fit properly. They are of simple construction and offer little, if any, support.
• Vintage Bra - You might be seeking the cone shaped, pointy bras from the 40's, or maybe a corset or bustier is more your style. Vintage bras have become popular in modern times but are just as restrictive!
• Water bras - were a vogue, in which bras were padded with a water gel. Air bras were a similar concept.
• Underwire Bra - Underwire bras or wire bras give you a "lift'.

Quote:  We are rich only through what we give, and poor only through what we refuse - Anne-Sophie Swetchine

Revolution of bras - Part I

Utility Bras 1940
Fashion history is always affected by material shortages during and immediately after wars,  In the war era after 1940, bras were made from minimal fabric when they bore the Utility mark. Utility bras were serviceable bras using broche, a cotton backed satin or drill and often peach pink in color.  Supplies were very limited and were best ordered.  Twilfit manufactured utility bras and Twilfit were a household name for roll-ons and bras in the 1950s.

Women also made their own bras from paper patterns or magazine guidelines for making bras and French knicker sets.  The fabric they used was sometimes parachute silk, parachute nylon or old satin wedding dresses.  Come the 1950s changes in textile technology saw new developments in all underwear items, but particularly in the costumes history of bras.

Latex to Dunlop's Lastex to Elastic
Although rubber had been around some time, it needed to be transformed into a textile fabric for use in clothing.  By the 30s, bra history was to change forever when Dunlop chemists were able to transform latex into reliable elastic thread in all sorts of dimensions.  The yarn was knitted or woven and eventually made into washable Lastex fabric.

Mr & Mrs Smith

Take a look at Angelina Jolie in Mr & Mrs Smith 2005 - all suited up on black latex corset / mini-dress replete with fishnet thigh-highs and a garter belt.  The latex corset sale did not pick up but the fishnet were seen on runways as wide ranging as Christian Dior and Versace.

Gossard Wonderbra 1968-1990s

Gossard Wonderbra ad

Memorable bra history was made when Gossard launched its Wonderbra campaign in 1968.  The byline went something like this - "makes 34 look 36, makes 36 look pow wow..."  It was and is still true.  Initially 36C was the top size of this revolutionary under wired bra that was a must for V-neck dress of the late sixties.  Low necked V caftans were transformed by the cleavages from a Wonderbra.  Eventually demand led to larger size being produced and is made today up to size 38D.

Those who longed for one, but were just one size too big simply bought a bra replacement fastener and used it as an extender.  They just hoped for the best and as the breasts were all pushed to the front a little pain was worth it to get the cleavage that no other bra could produce.  False inserts of extra wadding or foam rubber could be inserted into little pockets in the Wonderbra to give a little more fullness where the bust was lacking.  Eventually as women got larger, manufacturers increased the size range of such push bras.

In the 1990s when silicone breast implants and other implants caused scares, many women looked to bras to improve their breast size.  The Wonderbra was a huge hit and bestseller all over again in the 1990s.

It was and still is a magic bra, but Gossard eventually sold the rights to the name.  Gossards best alternative today is an uplift bra called the Ultrabra. 

A little history researched done on Wonderbra - although the Wonderbra name was first trademarked in the U.S. in 1935, the brand was developed in Canada. Moses (Moe) Nadler, founder and majority owner of the Canadian Lady Corset Company licensed the trademark for the Canadian market in 1939.  By the 1960s, the Canadian Lady brand had become known in Canada as "Wonderbra, the company." In 1961 the company introduced the Model 1300 plunge push-up bra. This bra became one of the best-selling Canadian styles and is virtually identical to today's Wonderbra.  In 1968 Canadian Lady changed its name to Canadian Lady-Canadelle Inc., was sold to Consolidated Foods (now Sara Lee Corporation), and later became Canadelle Inc. During the 1970s Wonderbra was repositioned as the company's fashionable and sexy brand, and became the Canadian market leader.

In 1991 the push-up Wonderbra became a sensation in the UK, although it had been sold there since 1964 under license by the Gossard division of Courtaulds Textiles.  SaraLee Corporation did not renew Gossard's license and redesigned the push-up style for the reintroduction of the Wonderbra to the U.S. market in 1994.

Since 1994, the Wonderbra has expanded from the single push-up design into a full range lingerie fashion label in most of the world.In most countries, the brand emphasizes sex-appeal.In its native Canada, the brand however promotes the functional qualities of its products - a departsure from the strategy that made Wonderbra the top-seller in the 1970s.

Bra Slips

Bra Slip

Bra slips were a sixties hit for short skimpy dresses and gave a freedom unknown before.  This strange hybrid was an under wired cleavage bra with a short mini nylon slip all in one. Tights, panties, bra slip and top dress and that were it.  Never before had women worn so little.  What would Victorian and Edwardian matrons have made of it all? In the early 21^st century the bra slip made a re-appearance in stores such as Marks and Spencer.

The Return of Cleavage - 1990s

Madonna

Madonna sported ice cream coned circular stitched cups on her Gaultier corset on stage in her 'Blonde Ambition' tour.  Nothing shocked anyone anymore.  Gaultier first did designs based on the conical breast in the 1980s, but it took Madonna to approve the style in the 1990s.  Sexy lace bras came back into the shops.  La Senza, La Perla, Rigby and Peller, Triumph, Lejaby, Victoria's Secret and even Marks & Spencer sold delectable lace bra confections and exquisite matching briefs or thongs. Now of course the Madonna images of her in her coned bra look horribly dated. 

Very plain Tactel underwear slips introduced in the 90s gave such a good line beneath dresses making it at last possible to wear unlined dresses successfully without static build up.

By the mid 90s there were usually only 2 styles of full length all in one corselette girdles at Marks & Spencer. This is an important fact in the UK as Marks & Spencer is a major retailer of undergarments of all types.  The women who shed their bras in the sixties were occasionally seeking a bit more figure control for the straighter sheath dresses back in fashion.  The other option many opted for were Lycra support panties that lifted the bottom or tights with control panels. 

By the end of the 90s the UK bra market alone was worth half a billion pounds.  Another billion was spent on other foundation underwear. 

Bioform Bras - The First Miracle of the Millennium 2000 
With so much capital income possible, it's little wonder then, that Charnos decided to invest heavily in designing a new uplift bra suited to all sizes, but with those with fuller cup sizes in mind.  G cups are included rather than ignored. After research and development was complete they took the plunge and in 2000 they launched the Bioform Bra. 

The Bioform Bra uplifts and contours the breasts so well that it immediately takes ten years off a sideways sagging bust.  If you are past 40 with a full cup size you may realize that you have not seen your breasts in this position for twenty years.  It has an effect that centers the breasts more, whilst uplifting them at the same time.  And it does it up to size 42DD with many smaller sizes going up to G cups.  Probably its greatest achievement is to successfully lift large breasts and make them look more youthful.

The Bioform Bra is helpful for giving a more youthful shape to women who have had trouble getting good uplift before.  To be honest when you put the bra on, it seems to look much like any other, but once you put clothes on top of it you realize the bust silhouette is younger and sexier.  It does take a few days to get used to wearing one and they do not suit everyone.  The sides are quite firm pre molded plastic materials that replace under wires, so the harder feel at the sides of it is different.  It takes a few days to get used to the change of support.  One way of coping with this is to get used to the bra by wearing it on alternate days for a while. 

Wearers who find that shoulder straps normally cut into their flesh will soon notice that the redistribution of breast weight means that unsightly and uncomfortable shoulder welts from strap marks just don't happen.

On the negative side there were only ever a few fabric versions.  The original lace fabric used was not the most eyes catching either, due to technical production process.  To be fair the unfussy fabric did give a smooth tailored outline.  However in 2002 more eye catching attractive, sexier lacy versions were put in the shops and when compared to the original version were much prettier. However due to the change of circumstances at Charnos these bras are hard to get other than via the internet. The bra was designed by two well respected male product design engineers but the cost of putting this bra into production was so great that Charnos sold out a couple of years later. 

After Charnos was bought out the organization restructured, the Bioform bra has sadly been in demise in stores within the UK.  In the UK, one should go to Figleaves for a great selection of bras, lingerie and money off bargains. If you join their email list service you can get regular updates of wide range bras on offer.  Simply great when you know your size and are confident with a particular style.  Figleaves has been as successful as an online venture that it ranks as UK online retailer of the year.

Stay tune to part II of The Revolution of Bras
Quote: The only courage you ever need is the courage to live your heart’s desire.” - Oprah Winfrey

Bra, in the ever changing fashion industry

Bra fashion history began as far back as Cretan times, but 1907, was the year when the word brassiere was first reported in an American copy of Vogue. 

In her bra history book 'Bras', Rosemary Hawthorne tells of her collection of brassières and of one that is stamped ' Brassiere. Model 441, British Made ', then of another 2-3 years older marked 'LA CYBELE' (No 18 British Made)'.  By 1915 the magazine 'The Lady' recorded pretty bust bodices or brassieres as essential wear.  Rosemary Hawthorne's bra history book is very informative and she often describes genuine examples of bras, corsets and girdles she has collected or has had donated to her. 

                      

Did movie industry really have any influence in the bra fashion and biz?

Joan Crawford in
Our Dancing Daughers

The 1928 musical Our Dancing Daughters featured Joan Crawford dance her way through in a little more than a very feminine bra and saucy costume.  It was risqué, but no one was complaining.  Tarts were ruling Tinseltown and everyone was cheering.

Fay Wray in King Kong

With the nation in the grip of a paralyzing Depression, Americans sought escape in movie theaters in the form of the 1933 classic King Kong. The filmmakers had the hairy beast striped Fay Wray down to her lingerie. Although this was just an excuse to show the actress in scanty garb but the result was overwhelming. Lacy slips became the fashionable undergarment.  Bras did not decline in popularity; they just got a new companion!

 

Jane Russell in The Outlaw

In 1943, Howard Hughes, the famous part-time filmmaker tycoon and genuine lover of cleavage, incorporated his aerodynamic know-how into the cantilevered bra Jane Russell wore in the movie The Outlaw, allowing the lift to be higher than ever thought possible – so much so that her bosoms appeared to defy gravity!

Taylor in slip

The popularity of Elizabeth Taylor was so immense at the time of the release of her film Butterfield 8 in 1960 which she wore a slinky slip in one scene, the bra sales dramatically slipped for two years as women opted to wear slips instead, just as the purple-eyed icon had done in the movie.

Demi Moore 

The most recent wave hit by Demi Moore on Striptease 1996, putting strippers on pedestal.  Suddenly the occupation became not just acceptable but glamorous.  In real life, young women idolized the stripper look and they were soon buying the same bras and lingerie.

The world has been reminding that a woman’s sexuality was a powerful weapon when Julia Roberts slinked through the tense drama Erin Brockovich 2000 with her signature look throughout the film, the push-up bra that was so effective, the demand for cleavage-enhancing bras became so enormous that Victoria’s Secret invented its Angel bra, and the Wonderbra Company saw sales spike.

White lingerie, which had for decades been thought of as pure and virginal, suddenly seemed kinky when Carmen Electra appeared in Scary Movie 2000 wearing a bra and underwear soaked by sprinklers.  This led to a big box-office with college students for white lingerie.

Quote:  The years teach us patience - that the shorter our time, the greater the capacity  for waiting - Elizabeth Taylor

The evolution of bra - Part II (The Chronology)

In 1863, Luman L Chapman patented a corset substitute with breast puffs and shoulder-brace straps that tied in back. The first bra was born.

Most of the major designers of the era have tried to lay claim to designing the first bra. Poiret probably had the strongest claim.  What is certain is that all the designers promoted a simple breast retaining garment as better for the newer simple straight dress styles.

Illustration on the left is referred to a Reform Bodice Bra.  This is the early supposedly healthier Reform Bodice Bra with mesh net cups that gave virtually no support.

In 1889, Corset whiz Herminie Cadolle put together the very first bra that resembles those worn today.  Instead of strapping a contraption around the midsection, Cadolle thought it would be better to use straps around the shoulders because doing so would reduce the stress on the stomach.

In 1893, Frenchwoman Marie Tucek (or Tucke) patented the “Breast Supporter” – the first garment similar to the modern-day bra that used shoulder straps with a hook-and-eye closure to support the breasts in pockets of fabric.

In 1904, the Charles R. DeBevoise Company first labeled a woman's bra-like garment a 'brassiere'. It was a actually a lightly boned camisole that helped stabilize the breasts

Corset substitute with breast puffs 1863

Brassiere 1904

In the costume history of bras these early bras were similar to camisoles tops of the 1980s and 1990s.  Initially at the turn of the 20^th century even the word camisole was used too, but replaced by 'Bust Bodice' by 1905.  

Wrap around camisole style bra 

By 1907, the term “brassiere” began to show up in high-profile women's magazines like Vogue especially in America and eventually, around 1912, “brassiere” appeared in the Oxford English Dictionary.

In 1913, New York socialite Mary Phelps Jacob created Mary’s Secret, her own corset replacement out of two silk handkerchiefs tied together with baby ribbon sewn on to make straps and a seam set in the center front. 

Phelps

Her friends were sold on this innovative idea and her backless brassiere was patented in 1914 by Mary under the name of Caress Crosby. It is not thought to be the first bra ever, but it is the first patented record and that gives her the credit. Mary could not get much interest for her idea and sales were minimal, within a short period of time, she sold her patent to Warner Brothers Corset Company for $1,500. Within a year, breasts were measured in inches rather than being categorized small, medium or large. Today, Warner Brothers is a leading name brand manufacturer of bras.

Meanwhile, the corset sang its swan song in 1914 when World War 1 loomed large and women had to enter the workforce, where the tight nuisances were deem too restrictive for such laborious duties as sweeping floors and assembling bombs. In 1917, the government got involved, asking the gentler gender to eschew corsets altogether because they used up too much precious metal – metal that was badly in need of to make tanks and fighter planes.  Women consented and 28,00 tons of metal were save in a year – enough to build tow battleships, can you believe it?

By 1928, Russian-born entrepreneur Ida Rosenthal took the bra to its next stage by introducing cup sizes and bras for all stages of a women's life. She and her husband William started making bras through their New Jersey-based company Maidenform.

The Bra history took on a new dimension when in 1935, Warners introduced four cup sizes called A, B, C and D, but it was well into the 1950s before Britain followed this American standard.  The British corset manufacturers were still using coy descriptions like junior and medium to describe breast fullness. Bosoms were dethroned and separate breasts were really acknowledged.

After 1930 all the brand names we know well in lingerie and corsetry today began manufacturing bras with quite separate cups. They used quality cotton lace and net. One famous bra designed in the 1930s was the Kestos bra and later the Kestos Utility Bra. Its simple seaming looks classy and could be effective today.

In 1947, Frederick Mellinger, founder of the Frederick's of Hollywood, began selling intimate apparel in his Los Angeles stores.

In 1949, Maidenform introduced its famous 'I dreamed' ad campaign. Advertising Age named the 'I dreamed' ads No.28 of the top 100 most memorable advertising campaigns of the 20th century! The earliest ads were drawings of women that were wearing just a bra above the waist in a variety of dream sequences. Tag lines included such greats as, 'I was an Eskimo in my Maidenform bra' and to the updated versions from the late 60s like, 'I dreamed I had the world on a string in my Maidenform bra'.

Fashion history has shown that by the 1950s glamour was what women wanted most. They had been deprived in the war and they had seen the Hollywood stars that had uplift that almost reached their necks.  Brand names like Maidenform, Berlei, Triumph and the British Marks & Spencer bras under the St. Michael label all sold excellent bras that gave the correct pointed circular stitched conical shape of the era.

1950's stitched longline cone bra

The conical bra was the bra that gave the support silhouette for girls who longed to emulate the curves of film star sweater girls like Lana Turner and Jane Russell.  Bra history changed for the better as bras began to be revolutionized by the use of nylon, making them lighter, prettier and easier to wash.  Right - 1950's Stitched Longline Cone Bra.

By 1959, Warners and Dupont had produced Lycra, the renowned stretchy fabric. The result was the true appreciation for jiggle decrease! However by the late 60s, women were burning their bras. When Yves St. Laurent designed a sheer blouse worn without a bra, feminists demanded women burn their bras.  It was all metaphoric and only a dustbin was ever used to dispose of bras. In fact, one such bra burning was staged near the Miss America pageant in Atlantic City, New Jersey in 1968. However this claim has gone down in bra history despite the fact that so few women really abandoned their bras.  Those who needed support knew they could never seriously do without a bra.  But many smaller breasted women did stop wearing bras beneath opaque garments.  Few were really brave enough to do it with a sheer top, but it did herald changes for the decade. 

By the 1960s well designed bras by Exquisite Form, Berlei, Twilfit, Lovable, Silhouette, Playtex and the Marks & Spencer St. Michael range were thought ideal under knitted sweater dresses.

Berlei Bra of 1965

Soon Elastomerics transformed foundation garments with power net fabric.  Early styling found in bra history became out of tune with modern sixties bra design.  The old elastic bra backs and straps were replaced by the newer Courtauld's Spanzelle or Lycra fittings.  Overstretched rotted rubber bits that made bras lose their grip were gone forever. 

By 1964 Rudi Gernreich designed the 'no bra bra' which was light, made of see through stretch netting and very simply shaped, but only really suitable for the small breasted woman.  But from this, the idea of a body stocking in transparent material was developed by Warners in 1965.

The concept simply fitted in with the woman of the 1960s wanting to choose what she did, rather than be told she must wear a bra.  Old habits were changing. Many older women had worn bras to bed believing breasts should be supported during sleep, now bras were removed at night or abandoned altogether as attitudes changed. 

Corsets such as those by Spirella were still worn and were still available.  Longline bras to the waist from Marks & Spencer were very popular to keep that midriff in control.  Re-designing the body contours in the gym was rather unusual then.  To control wayward lumps and bumps one dieted and bought the correct power elastic foundation garments. 

In the 60s many bras like those by Lovable had a very fine layer of foam latex rubber bonded to the top lace fabric and which made the cups stand up on end.  They were comfortable bras that gave a good reliable rather pointed firm shape fashionable at the time.

Ah-a Bra 1972

The 1970s saw the development of the Ah-h Bra (1972) from Sears, and the sports bra in 1977 created by Lisa Lindahl and Polly Smith who sewed two jockstraps together and named it the Jogbra!

And then in the 1990s, the bra industry leaped to a new level in the quest for cleavage by utilizing water, air and silicone pads. Improvements in these developments take us on into the 21st century with companies like Fashion Forms which are mostly about breast management and enhancement.

Stay tune for next story on bra, in the ever changing fashion industry

Quote:  Life is a reciprocal exchange.  To move forward, you have to give back - Oprah Winfrey

The evolution of brassiere

How ladies have been containing themselves through the ages?

Women have used garments designed to secure their feminine assets by lifting, separating and restraining their breasts and tightening the waist, even as early as 2000 BC. In Ancient Rome and Greece, in the third and fourth centuries, women wore simple tunics with no shaping undergarments. This floppy tradition continued on into the twelfth century.

Somewhere in the thirteenth or fourteenth century things began to change. A stiff under bodice called a "cotte" was developed to support the women’s breast and by the fifteenth century it was named a "body" or more appropriately a "pair of bodies" since it was made in two pieces.

The French called this Soutien-gorge breast supporter. The original French meaning was support, but the word was out of use and the French chose to call a bra soutien-gorge.  The Gallic folk even designed their own corset which they named the “bandeau” and by 400AD, theirs was the most fashionable in the Western world, made of linen and frilly lace – call it medieval haute couture! 

It wasn’t the western culture to flare their assets at all.  When religion ruled Europe by 1300, it became increasingly important to hide a woman’s curves, the fairer sex sought corsets that would minimize breasts as much as possible.  By the 1400s women’s chest were covered up to such an extreme that ladies from London to Leningrad were wearing ruffled collars right up to their chins. The only man who would see a lady’s cleavage was her husband.

Chinese Dudou

In China during the Ming dynasty, a form of foundation cloth complete with cups and straps drawn over shoulders and tied to the girth seam at the lower back called a dudou was in vogue among the rich women. While they first arose in the Ming Dynasty, were also common in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). In English they are known as 'stomach protectors' or 'tummy covers'.

In England bust improvers were available in the Edwardian period.  By 1905 BBs as they were known were the usual wear. In Spain they added wire, steel, whalebone, and other forms of reinforcements. Unfortunately, it was not a very comfortable garment to wear.

Minoan women on the island of Crete wore bra-like garments that lifted the bare bust out of their clothing. During the 1550s, Catherine de Medicis, wife of King Henri II of France, banned thick waisted women from court functions. It was she who introduced steel corsets. Since the 1500s until the 1800s the corset was the primary under-garment used by women for the purpose of shaping the waist and lifting the breasts.   


Quote: We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give - Sir Winston Churchill