Snake Goddess from ancient Crete, with the breasts supported by a fitted corset-like garment, c.1600 BCEY-shaped breast bands on a bronze statue of Artemis, (mid-4th century BCE).Aphrodite in a gold "bikini"; Roman copy of a Hellenistic statue, PompeiiWall painting at Pompeii, 62–79CE, showing a mamillare
The history of bras (brassières; variously pronounced) is closely tied to the social status of women, the evolution of fashion, and shifting views of the female body over time.
Throughout history, women have used various garments to support, cover, restrain, reveal, enhance, or modify the appearance of their breasts. Artifacts from the Minoan civilization, dating back to the 14th century BCE, depict women wearing bikini-like garments.[1] Some evidence suggests that during the Greco-Roman period, women had developed specialized bra-like garments to support their breasts. By the 14th century CE, the proto-bra was in development in Europe.
From approximately the 16th century CE onward, the corset dominated the undergarments of wealthier women in the Western world. Corsets came in varying lengths, with some designed only to support the bust, while others extended down to shape the waist. In the latter part of the 19th century, women experimented with various alternatives, such as splitting the corset into a girdle-like shaping device for the lower torso and transferring the upper part to devices suspended from the shoulder.[2]
By the early 20th century, garments emerged that more closely resembled contemporary bras; however, large-scale commercial production only occurred in the 1930s.[3] The metal shortages of World War I encouraged the demise of the corset, and most fashion-conscious women in Europe and North America were wearing bras by the end of the war. The bra was then adopted by women in other parts of the world, including Asia, Africa, and Latin America.[4]
Literature from Ancient Greece suggests the use of a specialized garment meant to support and contain women's breasts. In Book 14 of Homer'sIliad, written in the archaic period of classical antiquity, Homer refers to Aphrodite's "embroidered girdle" (Ancient Greek: κεστός ἱμάς, kestós himás) as being "loosed from her breasts", indicating a decorated breast-band rather than a girdle or belt, as is often interpreted. At least one example of late-Hellenic sculpture seems to confirm this, depicting the goddess wrapping a stróphion (from stróphos "twisted band" + the diminutive suffix -ion) around her chest.[5]
Aristophanes mentions the stróphion in his plays Lysistrata and Women at the Thesmophoria.[6] However, it is unknown if the stróphion was an everyday garment worn by the average woman or an item of clothing reserved for certain situations or specific types of women.[7] Artifacts from the Minoan civilization, dating back to the 14th century BCE, depict women wearing bikini-like garments. However, most early Grecian sculpture and vase paintings that depict undressed women show no indication of breast bands, instead revealing the shape of the breast through draped clothing, or even the nipple itself, with no sign of an intervening item of clothing between dress and skin.
Rome
The Roman adaptation of the strophium was mentioned in writings by Martial, Ovid, and in the Scriptores Historiae Augustae as the fascia, fasciola, taenia, or mamillare. This garment was made from various materials. It is depicted in the 4th century CE. Coronation of the Winner mosaic, also known as the "Bikini Mosaic", at Villa Romana del Casale in Piazza Armerina, Sicily.[8] In the mosaic, the bra-wearing women are participating in sporting events.[8] In addition, some large-breasted Roman women wore a mamillare under tunics and togas because Romans considered large breasts to be "grandmotherly".[8]
The Middle Ages
By the High Middle Ages, some women in Western Europe were using bra-like garments to support and restrain their breasts. Both Henri de Mondeville, surgeon to King Phillip the Fair of France, and Konrad Stolle, writing over a hundred years apart (c.1315 CE and c.1480 CE, respectively), mention "breast bags" or "shirts with bags" that women used to contain their breasts. Stolle called these inventions "indecent". A 15th-century anonymous German writer said many women made and wore these garments, noting the benefits for one woman: "All the young men that look at her, can see her beautiful breasts..."[9] In this era, women of status wore clothing that required specialized undergarments with separated cups that lifted and separated the breasts.[10]
15th-century playing cards and illustrated manuscripts provide visible evidence of these garments.[11][12] In 2008, fragments of four bra-like undergarments were discovered in Lengberg Castle in Austria.[13][14] Dating to the 15th century, the garments represent three different designs but all had separate cups. They were probably worn attached to skirts, but the skirts were removed when the garments were discarded, perhaps to reuse the fabric.[10]
Support of the bosom by a pair of bodies (French: brassière). 1900.
Bodies
The inventor of the corset is unclear, but it appeared around the turn of the 16th century CE. During this period, the lifted, separated "apple breasts" look of the Middle Ages, began to go out of fashion and was replaced with the look of a compressed bust. The corset was originally called a paire de corps or "a pair of bodies" in English because they came in two pieces. It gave the chest and torso a smooth, conical shape that worked with the farthingale to create the illusion of a tiny waist.
In the mid-17th century, pair of bodies began to be called "stays" and were usually boned with baleen instead of reeds. Some of these bodies were made in one piece but retained the same general shape and did not feature cups like a bra. This style remained unchanged until the end of the 18th century.
Short stays
In the 1780s and 1790s, the shape of stays changed radically to suit the changing fashions. However, many of these "shortened stays" or "short stays", as they were sometimes called in Britain, resembled earlier support Middle Ages garments more than stays, with fitted cups that held the breasts apart and bands only as wide as the ribs or shorter, instead of waist-length.[15] Around this time, the French started to refer to stays as corsets.
During the 19th century, two parallel movements drove the evolution of the bra from the corset: health professionals' concerns about the cruel, constraining effects of the corset and the clothing reform movement of feminists who believed women needed to discard the corset before they could expand their roles in society. Reformed Amelia Bloomer said, "When you find a burden in belief or apparel, cast it off".[16]
American women who made important contributions to the corset reform movement included Amelia Bloomer and Dr. Mary Edwards Walker. In the United Kingdom, notable figures in the movement included Constance Lloyd, wife of Oscar Wilde.[17] The Rational Dress Society, the National Dress Reform Association, and the Reform Dress Association were prominent organizations that advocated for the end of the corset.[18][19][20]
Despite the dress reform movement, early bras had limited commercial success. Only well-educated, wealthy reformers wore them to any significant degree because they were expensive.[21]
Early designs and patents
Numerous patents for bra-like devices were granted in the 19th century, indicating developments in the invention of the modern bra. A bra-like device that gave a "symmetrical rotundity" to the wearer's breasts was patented in 1859 by Henry S. Lesher of Brooklyn, New York.[22] In 1863, a "corset substitute" was patented by Luman L. Chapman of Camden, New Jersey. Historians refer to it as a "proto-bra".[21]
In 1876, dressmaker Olivia Flynt was granted four patents covering the "True Corset" or "Flynt Waist" which was designed for larger-breasted women. Reformers probably purchased and helped create a demand for these early garments on "hygienic" grounds over health concerns about the corset. Initially, Flynt's garments were available by mail order but eventually appeared in department and clothing stores. She won a bronze medal for her designs at the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanics Association in 1878, at the Cotton States and International Exposition in Atlanta from 1884 to 1885, and at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893.[23]:171
According to Life magazine, Herminie Cadolle of France invented the first modern bra in 1889.[24] It appeared in a corset catalog as a two-piece undergarment, which she originally called the corselet gorge and later le bien-être or "the well-being". Her garment cut the traditional corset in two: The lower part was a corset for the waist, and the upper part supported the breasts with shoulder straps. Her description reads, "designed to sustain the bosom and supported by the shoulders." She patented her invention and showed it at the Paris Exposition Universelle in 1889. By 1905, the upper half was sold separately as a soutien-gorge, the name by which bras are still known in France. She also introduced the use of rubber thread or elastic. Her company is still family-owned and claims that Cadolle freed women by inventing the first Bra."[25]
In 1893, Marie Tucek received a U.S. patent for a device that consisted of separate pockets for each breast above a metal supporting plate, with shoulder straps fastened by hook-and-eye.[26] This invention was a precursor to the underwire bra.[27][28]
The bra was initially worn as an alternative to the corset, as a negligée or at-home wear, or was worn by women with medical issues stemming from corsets. After the straight-fronted corset became fashionable in the early 20th century, a bra or "bust supporter" became a necessity for full-busted women because the straight-fronted corset did not offer as much support and containment as the Victorian styles. Early bras were either wrap-around bodices or boned, close-fitting camisoles (both worn over the corset). They were designed to hold the bust in and down against the corset, which provided upward support.
Advertising of the times, typically in periodicals, stressed the advantages of bras in health and comfort over corsets and portrayed garments with shoulder supports in a mono-bosom style and with limited adaptability. Their major appeal was to those for whom lung function and mobility were priorities rather than outer appearance.[21] Home-sewn garments competed with factory-made, ready-to-wear garments.
The word "brassiere" was first used in Vogue magazine in 1907 to describe a device that supported the breasts.[29][30] The word brassiere was added to the Oxford English Dictionary in 1911.[30]
The 1910s
Sigmund Lindauer from Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt, Germany, developed a bra for mass production in 1912 and patented it in 1913. Mechanische Trikotweberei Ludwig Maier & Cie. AG mass-produced his design in Böblingen, Germany. With metal shortages, World War I encouraged the end of the corset. When the war ended, most fashion-conscious women in Europe and North America wore bras. From there, the bra was adopted by women in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.[31]
In 1910, Mary Phelps Jacob (known later in life as Caresse Crosby), a 19-year-old New York socialite, purchased a sheer evening gown for a debutante ball. At that time, the only acceptable undergarment was a corset stiffened with whalebone. Mary had large breasts and found the whalebone visibly poked out around her plunging neckline and from under the sheer fabric. Dissatisfied with this arrangement, she worked with her maid to fashion two silk handkerchiefs with a pink ribbon and cord.[32][33]:7Her innovation drew immediate attention that evening, and she made more of her new device for family and friends. When a stranger offered her a dollar for one, she realized that her device could turn into a viable business.[33]
On November 3, 1914, the U.S. Patent Office issued the first U.S. patent for the "Backless Bra".[34][35][36]:54 Crosby's patent was for a lightweight, soft, and comfortable device that naturally separated the breasts; in contrast with the corset, which was heavy, stiff, uncomfortable, and had the effect of creating a "monobosom".[37][38] Crosby secured some orders from department stores, but her business never took off. Her husband, Harry Crosby, discouraged her from pursuing the business and persuaded her to close it.[33] She later sold the bra patent to the Warners Brothers Corset Company in Bridgeport, Connecticut, for $1,500 ($22,814 in today's money). Warner manufactured the "Crosby" bra for a while, but it did not become popular and was eventually discontinued.[21] Warner went on to earn more than $15 million from the bra patent over the next thirty years.
Bras became more common and widely promoted throughout the 1910s, aided by the continuing trend towards lighter, shorter corsets that offered increasingly less bust support and containment. At the beginning of the U.S. involvement in World War I in 1917, the U.S. War Industries Board asked women to stop buying corsets to free up metal for war production. This was said to have saved some 28,000 tons of metal, enough to build two battleships.[39]
In addition to helping to liberate women from corsets, World War I also changed gender roles as women filled labor shortages by working in factories and wearing uniforms. However, women were already moving into the retail and clerical sectors. Thus the bra emerged from something that was once discreetly tucked into the back pages of women's magazines in the 1890s to prominent display in department stores such as Sears, Roebuck, and Montgomery Ward by 1918. Advertising began to promote shaping the bust to meet contemporary fashion demands, and sales reflected this need.[21]
The 1920s
Fashion of the 1920s included the "boyish" silhouette of the flapper, with little bust definition. The term flapper, which in the mid-1910s referred to pre- and early-teenage girls, was adopted by the J. Walter Thompson advertising agency in the 1920s for their younger adult customers. The androgynous figure, then in style, downplayed women's natural curves through a bandeau bra, which flattened breasts. It was relatively easy for small-busted women to conform to the flat-chested look of the Flapper era. Women with larger breasts tried products like the popular Symington Side Lacer that, when laced at the sides, pulled and helped to flatten women's chests. However, some "bras" of the early 1920s were little more than camisoles.
In 1922, Russian immigrant Ida Rosenthal was a seamstress at Enid Frocks, a small New York City dress shop. She and her husband, William Rosenthal, and shop owner Enid Bissett changed the look of women's fashion. They noticed that a bra that fit one woman did not fit another woman with the same bra band size. They developed bras for all ages with $4,500 invested in their new business. Their innovation was designed to make their dresses look better on the wearer by increasing the shaping of the bandeau bra to enhance and support women's breasts. They named the company Maiden Form, a deliberate contrast with the name of a competitor, Boyishform Company.[21][40] Maiden Form routed Boyishform by 1924, by accenting and lifting rather than flattening the bust. In 1927, William Rosenthal, the president of Maiden Form, filed patents for full-figured nursing and the first seamed uplift bra.[41]
These fashion changes coincided with health professionals beginning to link breast care and comfort to motherhood and lactation with a campaign against breast flattening. The emphasis shifted from minimizing the breasts to uplifting and accenting them. Women, especially the younger set, welcomed the bra as a modern garment.
While manufacturing was becoming more organized, homemade bras and bandeaux were still quite popular. Homemade bras were usually made of white cotton and were little more than bust bodices that provided some separation.
The 1930s
Drawing of a woman wearing a bra, from February 28, 1930, U.S. Patent 1825579 application
The culturally preferred silhouette among Western women during the 1930s was a pointy bust, which further increased demand for a forming garment. The word "brassiere" was gradually shortened to "bra" in the 1930s. According to a 1934 survey by Harper's Bazaar, "bra" was the most commonly used expression for the garment among college women. In October 1932, the S.H. Camp and Company correlated the size and pendulousness of a woman's breasts to letters of the alphabet, ranging from A through D. In February 1933, Camp's advertising featured letter-labeled profiles of breasts in Corset and Underwear Review. In 1937, Warner began to feature cup sizing in its products. Two other companies, Model and Fay-Miss, began to offer A, B, C, and D cups in the late 1930s. Catalog companies continued to use the designations Small, Medium, and Large through the 1940s.[21][42][43]:101
Other innovations included the Warners' use of elastic, the adjustable strap, the sized cup, and padded bras for smaller-breasted women. There were also advances in fiber technology, fabrics, colors, patterns, and options. Adjustable bands were also introduced in the 1930s, using multiple eye and hook positions.
Bras rapidly became a major industry over the 1930s, outperforming other industries. In the U.S., production moved outside New York and Chicago, and advertising became more specialized and began to exploit Hollywood glamour. Much of this marketing was aimed at young women. Saleswomen played a crucial role in helping clients find fitting garments in newly added fitting areas. Manufacturers even arranged fitting training courses for sales assistants.
International sales started to form an increasing part of the U.S. bra manufacturer's market. Prices started to make bras available to a broader market, and homemade competition dwindled. Other major manufacturers of the 1930s included Triumph, Maidenform, Gossard (Courtaulds), Spirella, Spencer, Twilfit, and Symington.
Drawing of a woman wearing a bra from a 1947 U.S. patent application
The 1940s
Two women show off a new uniform, including a plastic bra designed to help prevent occupational accidents, Los Angeles,1943
World War II had a significant impact on clothing. In the United States, women were enlisted in the lower ranks of the military for the first time and were fitted with uniform underwear. Women's occupations shifted dramatically, with far more employed outside the home. Willson Goggles, a Pennsylvania firm manufacturing safety equipment for manual workers, is believed to have introduced the plastic "SAF-T-BRA", designed to protect women on the factory floor. Dress codes appeared–for example, Lockheed informed their workers that bras must be worn because of "good taste, anatomical support, and morale."
Advertising in the 1940s appealed to patriotism and the concept that bras and girdles were somehow "protection".Advertising, promotion, and consumerism started to be directed at minorities (e.g., Ebony in 1945) and teens Military terminology crept into product marketing, as represented by the highly structured, conically pointed Torpedo or Bullet bra designed for "maximum projection". Exaggerating breast size, bullet bras became fashionable. Pin-ups of models and actresses wearing tight-fitting outer garments over their bullet bras became known as sweater girls.[44]
The war presented unique challenges for the industry as material shortages limited design choices. As in World War I, there was concern about the use of badly needed steel in corsets; in 1941, the British Government carried out a survey of women's usage of underwear that showed that "on average, women-owned 1.2 bras (housewives 0.8 and agricultural workers 1.9)."[45] Many manufacturers only survived by making tents and parachutes in addition to bras. However, the war also freed the American industry from European influences, particularly French, and became more distinctive.
New kinds of material were increasingly available post-war. Production and marketing increased, creating a demand for a greater variety of consumer goods, including bras. The baby boom created a demand for maternity and nursing bras and television provided new promotional opportunities. Manufacturers responded with new fabrics, colors, patterns, styles, padding, and elasticity. DuPont created the lycra; this synthetic material was stretchy and helped create bras that seemed molded to a woman's shape.[29]
Bras for pre-teens and girls entering puberty were first marketed during the 1950s.[46] Before introducing training bras, young girls in Western countries usually wore a one-piece "waist" or camisole without cups or darts.
The 1960s
The 1960s reflected an increasing interest in quality and fashion. Maternity and mastectomy bras began to find new respectability, and the increasing use of washing machines created a need for more durable products. While girdles gave way to pantyhose, the bra continued to evolve. Marketing campaigns like those for the "Snoozable" and "Sweet Dreams" promoted wearing a bra 24 hours a day.[47]
In October 1964, fashion designer Rudy Gernreich released the Exquisite Form "No Bra", a soft-cup, lightweight, seamless, sheer nylon and elastic tricot bra in sizes 32 to 36, with A and B cups. His minimalist bra was a revolutionary departure from the heavy, torpedo-shaped bras of the 1950s and initiated a trend toward more natural shapes and soft, sheer fabrics.[48][49] He also designed the "All-in-None" with a deep, plunging front and the "No-Back" long-line version, which featured a contoured stretch waistband that allowed a woman to wear a backless dress.[50]
The Wonderbra was created in 1964 by Louise Poirier for Canadelle, a Canadian lingerie company. It has 54 design elements that lift and support the bustline while creating a deep plunge and push-together effect. First-year sales for the Wonderbra were approximated at US $120million ( $11,788,841 in today's[when?] money).[51] Canadelle positioned Wonderbra as a romantic, fashionable, and sexy brand.[52]
The 1970s
In the 1970s, many American bra manufacturers moved production offshore like other garment makers.
With the growing popularity of jogging and other forms of exercise, there was a need for an athletic garment for women's breasts. The first commercially available sports bra was the "Free Swing Tennis Bra", introduced by Glamorise Foundations, Inc. in 1975.
The first general exercise bra, initially called a "jockbra", was invented in 1977 by Lisa Lindahl and theater costume designer Polly Smith with the help of Smith's assistant, Hinda Schreiber. Lindahl and her sister, Victoria Woodrow, complained about their bad experience exercising in ordinary bras, having experienced runaway straps, chafing, and sore breasts.[53] During Lindahl and Smith's exploration for an alternative, it was suggested that they needed a jockstrap for women's breasts.[54] In the Royall Tyler Theatre costume shop at the University of Vermont, Lindahl and Smith sewed two jockstraps together and nicknamed it a "jockbra". It was later renamed a "jog bra".[54] One of their original Jogbras is bronzed and on display near the theatre's costume shop. Two others are housed by the Smithsonian, and another by the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art.[55]
A Canadian brand, Wonderbra, plunge, push-up bra, c.1975
Jogbra, back view with packaging, "The Professional Athletic Support Bra That Keeps Breasts from Bouncing."
Sportshape JogBra Advertisement, 1986, emphasizes support for larger-breasted women who choose to be active.
The 1980s and 1990s
Throughout the 1980s fashion led the way in the look and feel of bras. Western television shows featured classy, powerful, and well-formed ladies, usually donning low-cut tops to show an enhanced chest with an equally classy matching bra. An increase in silicone breast implants created a need for bigger and more supportive bras. Models and celebrities donned fashionable and extravagant bras, so showing these at red-carpet events became the norm.[56]
By 2001, bras were a $15billion industry in the United States and a £1 billion industry in the United Kingdom.[57] Large corporations such as HanesBrands Inc. controlled most bra manufacturing.,[57][60] Gossard, Berlei, and Courtaulds controlled 34% of the UK market.
Two design challenges that bra manufacturers faced in the 2000s seemed paradoxical. On the one hand, there was a demand for minimal bras that allow plunging necklines and reduce interference with the lines of outer garments, such as the shelf bra. On the other hand, body mass and bust size were increasing, leading to a higher demand for larger sizes.[61][62] Over ten years, the most common size purchased in the United Kingdom went from 34B to 36C. In 2001, 27% of United Kingdom sales were D or larger.[57][63]
The 2000s brought two large design changes to the bra. The molded one-piece, seamless bra cup became ubiquitous. These bras are heat-molded around round synthetic fibers or foam forms that keep their rounded shape. This construction can include padded bras, contour bras, and "T-shirt bras". Floral or patterned prints also became popular in the 2000s.
In 2008, pop singer Madonna started a fashion trend by wearing a bra on the outside of her clothing.[30]
The 2010s and 2020s
In the late 2010s and early 2020s, bralettes and soft bras started gaining in popularity, to the detriment of underwired and padded bras.[64][65] At the same time, the popularity of brands like Victoria's Secret decreased significantly.[66] In 2017, the sales of cleavage-boosting bras fell by 45%, while at Marks & Spencer, wireless bras sales grew by 40%.[67] Some have attributed the rising popularity of bralettes to a new focus on the "athletic body, health and wellbeing" rather than "the male gaze",[68] while others suggest a connection to the #MeToo movement.[69]
Bralettes have also become popular during the COVID-19 lockdowns due to a focus on comfort while working from home.[70] Sport bra sales increased 32% during the pandemic, while bralettes and wireless bras were up 5%.[71]
In 1968, protestors at the Miss America protest symbolically threw several feminine products into a "Freedom Trash Can". It was reported that bras were included, which the protestors called "instruments of female torture.[72][73] A local newspaper story reported that bras and other lingerie were burned at least briefly that day, noting, "As the bras, girdles, falsies, curlers, and copies of popular women’s magazines burned in the Freedom Trash Can, the demonstration reached the pinnacle of ridicule when the participants paraded a small lamb wearing a gold banner worded Miss America."[74] However, feminist participants later said that no one burned a bra, nor did anyone take off her bra.[75][76][77][78]:4
Female reporter Lindsy Van Gelder who covered the protest drew an analogy between the feminist protesters and Vietnam War protesters who burned their draft cards. The parallel between protesters burning their draft cards and women burning their bras was encouraged by some organizers, including Robin Morgan. "The media picked up on the bra part," Carol Hanisch said later. "I often say that if they had called us 'girdle burners,' every woman in America would have run to join us."[79][76] Feminism and "bra-burning" became linked in popular culture.[80][81] The analogous term "jockstrap-burning" has since been coined as a reference to masculism.[82] While the protesters stated that they did not burn bras that day, some stopped wearing them in protest.[83][84]
Author and feminist Bonnie J. Dow has suggested that the association between feminism and bra-burning was encouraged by individuals who opposed the feminist movement. "Bra-burning" created an image that women were not seeking freedom from sexism but attempting to assert themselves as sexual beings.[85][86][87][88][89] Some saw the bra burning women as law-breaking radicals, eager to shock the public. Some feminist activists believe that anti-feminists use the bra-burning myth and the subject of going braless to trivialize what the protesters were trying to accomplish at the 1968 Miss America protest and the feminist movement in general.[90][91][92]
Germaine Greer's book The Female Eunuch (1970) became associated with the anti-bra movement because she pointed out how restrictive and uncomfortable a bra could be. She wrote, "Bras are a ludicrous invention but if you make bralessness a rule, you're just subjecting yourself to yet another repression."[93] In 1984, feminist Susan Brownmiller took the position in her book Femininity that women without bras shock and anger men because men "implicitly think that they own breasts and that only they should remove bras."[94]
Third-wave feminism
In 2005, feminist author Iris Marion Young wrote that the bra "serves as a barrier to touch" and that a braless woman is "deobjectified", eliminating the "hard, pointy look that phallic culture posits as the norm." Without a bra, in her view, women's breasts are not consistently shaped objects but change as the woman moves, reflecting the natural body.[94] Young also believes that training bras are used to indoctrinate girls into thinking about their breasts as sexual objects and to accentuate their sexuality.[94] In 2007, Young wrote that women are subjected to "capitalist, patriarchal American media-dominated culture [that] objectifies breasts before such a distancing glance that freezes and masters."[95] Academic Wendy Burns-Ardolino wrote in 2007 that women's decision to wear bras is mediated by the "male gaze".[95]
Asian equivalents
While the modern era has evolved almost directly from the proto-bra of the Middle Ages, Asian cultures have invented garments that serve similar purposes.
China
Over its long history, China has produced many types of women's undergarments that serve congruent purposes to those of the European bra and corset.[96][97] The most well-known example is the dudou (Chinese: 肚兜, 兜肚, or 兜兜; also known by other names), a diamond-shaped garment used to flatten the breasts and preserve the stomach qi, which was developed in the Qing dynasty. Other similar items of clothing include:
The first historical reference to breast-support garments in India is found during the rule of King Harshavardhana (1st century CE). Sewn bras and blouses were very much in vogue during the Vijayanagara empire and the cities brimmed with tailors who specialized in the tight fitting of these garments. The half-sleeved tight bodice or kanchuka figures prominently in the literature of the period, especially Basavapurana (1237 CE), which says kanchukas were worn by young girls as well.[98]
Vietnam
The yếm is a traditional Vietnamese bodice that evolved from the Chinese dudou. It was worn by women from all classes with a skirt called váy đụp. Although the yếm's popularity died out in the 20th century due to Westernization, it has recently seen a revitalization and found its use in artistic performances.[99]
Lingerie is a category of primarily women's clothing including undergarments, sleepwear, and lightweight robes. The choice of the word is often motivated by an intention to imply that the garments are alluring, fashionable, or both. In a 2015 US survey, 75% of women reported having worn "sexy lingerie" in their lifetime.
A corset is a support garment worn to hold and train the torso into the desired shape and posture. They are traditionally constructed out of fabric with boning made of whalebone or steel, a stiff panel in the front called a busk which holds the torso rigidly upright, and some form of lacing which allows the garment to be tightened. Corsets were an essential undergarment in European women's fashion from the 17th century to the early 20th century. In the 17th and 18th centuries they were commonly known as "stays" and had a more conical shape. This later evolved into the curvaceous 19th century form which is commonly associated with the corset today. By the beginning of the 20th century, shifting gender roles and the onsets of World War I and II led the corset to be largely discarded by mainstream fashion.
The corset is a supportive undergarment for women, dating, in Europe, back several centuries, evolving as fashion trends have changed and being known, depending on era and geography, as a pair of bodies, stays and corsets. The appearance of the garment represented a change from people wearing clothes which fit their bodies to changing the shape of their bodies to support and fit their fashionable clothing.
A nursing bra is a specialized brassiere that provides additional support to women who are lactating and permits comfortable breastfeeding without the need to remove the bra. This is accomplished by specially designed bra cups that include flaps which can be opened with one hand to expose the nipple. The flap is usually held closed with a simple clasp or hook.
The Wonderbra is a type of push-up underwire brassiere that gained worldwide prominence in the 1990s. Although the Wonderbra name was first trademarked in the U.S. in 1955, 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 women's clothing, a corselet or corselette is a type of foundation garment, sharing elements of both bras and girdles. It extends from straps over the shoulders down the torso, and stops around the top of the legs. It may incorporate lace in front or in back. As an undergarment, a corselet can be open-style or panty-style.
A camisole is a sleeveless undershirt typically worn by women, extending to the waist. The camisole is usually made of satin, nylon, silk, or cotton.
Cleavage is the narrow depression or hollow between the breasts of a woman. The superior portion of cleavage may be accentuated by clothing such as a low-cut neckline that exposes the division, and often the term is used to describe the low neckline itself, instead of the term décolletage. Joseph Breen, head of the U.S. film industry's Production Code Administration, coined the term in its current meaning when evaluating the 1943 film The Outlaw, starring Jane Russell. The term was explained in Time magazine on August 5, 1946. It is most commonly used in the parlance of Western female fashion to refer to necklines that reveal or emphasize décolletage.
A teddy, also called a camiknicker, is a garment which covers the torso and crotch in the one garment. It is a similar style of garment to a one-piece swimsuit or bodysuit, but is typically looser and sheerer. The garment is put on by stepping into the leg holes and pulling the garment up to cover the torso. It may cover the whole of the torso or partially and may also cover the arms. They may open at the crotch so that the wearer may use the bathroom without taking it completely off. As an undergarment, it combines the functions of a camisole and panties, and may be preferred to avoid a visible panty line. It is also found as lingerie.
A foundation garment is an undergarment designed to impermanently alter the wearer's body shape, to achieve what some view as a more fashionable figure. The function of a foundation garment is not to enhance a bodily feature but to make it look more presentable.
Bra size indicates the size characteristics of a bra. While there is a number of bra sizing systems in use around the world, the bra sizes usually consist of a number, indicating the size of the band around the woman's torso, and one or more letters that indicate the breast cup size. Bra cup sizes were invented in 1932 while band sizes became popular in the 1940s. For convenience, because of the impracticality of determining the size dimensions of each breast, the volume of the bra cup, or cup size, is based on the difference between band length and over-the-bust measurement.
A bandeau is a garment comprising, in appearance, a strip of cloth. Today, the term frequently refers to a garment that wraps around a woman's breasts. It is usually part of a bikini in sports or swimsuit. It is similar to a tube top, but narrower. It is usually strapless, sleeveless, and off the shoulder. Bandeaux are commonly made from elastic material to stop them from slipping down, or are tied or pinned at the back or front. In the first half of the 20th century, a "bandeau" was a narrow band worn by women to bind the hair, or as part of a headdress.
A bra, short for brassiere or brassière, is a form-fitting underwear that is primarily used to support and cover a woman's breasts. A typical bra consists of a chest band that wraps around the torso, supporting two breast cups that are held in place by shoulder straps. A bra usually fastens in the back, using a hook and eye fastener, although bras are available in a large range of styles and sizes, including front-fastening and backless designs. Some bras are designed for specific functions, such as nursing bras to facilitate breastfeeding or sports bras to minimize discomfort during exercise.
A training bra is a lightweight brassiere designed for girls who have begun to develop breasts, at Tanner stage II and III. The training bra is intended to be worn during puberty when the breasts are not yet large enough to fit a standard-sized bra. Training bras often provide minimal or no support, and may serve aesthetic purposes to fulfill cultural norms and local beauty standards.
A hook-and-eye closure is a simple and secure method of fastening garments together. It consists of a metal hook, commonly wire bent to shape, and an eye of the same material into which the hook fits.
Underwear, underclothing, or undergarments are items of clothing worn beneath outer clothes, usually in direct contact with the skin, although they may comprise more than a single layer. They serve to keep outer clothing from being soiled or damaged by bodily excretions, to lessen the friction of outerwear against the skin, to shape the body, and to provide concealment or support for parts of it. In cold weather, long underwear is sometimes worn to provide additional warmth. Special types of undergarments have religious significance. Some items of clothing are designed as undergarments, while others, such as T-shirts and certain types of shorts, are appropriate both as underwear and outerwear. If made of suitable material or textile, some underwear can serve as nightwear or swimwear, and some undergarments are intended for sexual attraction or visual appeal.
An underwire bra is a brassiere that utilizes a thin, semi-circular strip of rigid material fitted inside the brassiere fabric to help lift, separate, shape, and support a woman's breasts. The wire may be made of metal, plastic, or resin. It is sewn into the bra fabric and under each cup, from the center gore to under the wearer's armpit. Many different brassiere designs incorporate an underwire, including shelf bras, demi bras, nursing bras, and bras built into other articles of clothing, such as tank tops, dresses and swimsuits.
Exquisite Form is an American clothing brand for women's intimates, particularly bras and shapewear for full-figured women. The brand is owned by Vanity Fair Brands, a division of Fruit of the Loom.
Thousands of years of history provide evidence of the differing fashions, cultural norms, and artistic depictions regarding cleavage and clothes that accentuate or flaunt cleavage. From the absolute modesty of the 16th century, to the Merveilleuses Directoire dresses with their transparency, the décolleté has followed the times and is much more than a simple fashion effect.
↑ Pechter E. A new method for determining bra size and predicting post-augmentation breast size. Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery 102 (4) September 1998, 1259–1265
↑ Riordan, Teresa (28 October 2002). "Patents; In bra technology, an incremental improvement can translate into comfort". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 23 April 2009. Retrieved 13 June 2017. Professor Farrell-Beck said the antecedents for underwire in bras date to at least 1893, when Marie Tucek of New York City patented a breast supporter, a sort of early push-up bra made of either metal or cardboard and then covered with fabric.
1 2 3 Sawhney, Anubha (15 July 2007). "100 years of the bra". Times of India. Archived from the original on 5 November 2012. Retrieved 20 November 2023– via Internet Archive.
↑ Peterson, Amy T. (30 October 2008). The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Clothing through American History, 1900 to the Present. Valerie Hewitt, Heather Vaughan, and Ann T. Kellogg. Greenwood. pp.424 pages. ISBN978-0-313-33395-8.
↑ Snyder, Jennifer; Minnick, Mimi (August 1997 – July 1999). "Maidenform Collection, 1922–1997 No. 585". Smithsonian Institution, Museum of American History Archives. Archived from the original on 16 October 2012. Retrieved 24 January 2014.
↑ Moberg, Matthew; Jonathan Siskin, Barry Stern (1999). "Wonderbra Story". University of Michigan Business School. Archived from the original on 11 November 2013.
↑ Mintzberg, Henry; Waters, James (1984). Researching the Formation of Strategies: The History of Canadian Lady, 1939–1976 in R.B. Lamb (ed.) Competitive Strategic Management. New York: Prentice Hall. p.70. ISBN0-13-154972-3.
↑ Seigel, Jessica (13 February 2004). "The Cups Runneth Over". The New York Times. New York. Archived from the original on 23 April 2009. Retrieved 26 April 2010.
↑ Dow, Bonnie J. (Spring 2003). "Feminism, Miss America, and Media Mythology". Rhetoric & Public Affairs. 6 (1): 127–149. doi:10.1353/rap.2003.0028. S2CID143094250.
↑ Duffett, Judith (October 1968). WLM vs. Miss America. p.4.{{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
↑ "Bra-burners blitz boardwalk." Atlantic City Press, p. 4
↑ Boucher, John L. (8 September 1968). "Bra-Burners Blitz Boardwalk". (Atlantic City) Press.
↑ Williams, Ginny (October 1996). "Women of Goodwill". Vol.1, no.4. MENZ Issues. Archived from the original on 17 July 2018. Retrieved 20 November 2006.
↑ Campo, Natasha (2005). "Having it all' or 'had enough'? Blaming Feminism in the Age and the Sydney Morning Herald, 1980–2004". Journal of Australian Studies. 28 (84): 63–72. doi:10.1080/14443050509387992. S2CID145446215.
↑ Dow, Bonnie J. (1999). "Spectacle, spectatorship, and gender anxiety in television news coverage of the 1970 women's strike for equality". Communication Studies. 50 (2): 143–57. doi:10.1080/10510979909388481.
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