BRA evolution year by year by Catherine de Médicis of France

Below we'll take a a very brief glimpse at the evolution of the bra. Thankfully the world has moved on from the days of Catherine de Médicis of France!

2500 B.C.

If we look back to 2500 B.C and perhaps beyond, we see that the Minoan women that lived on the Greek island of Crete actually wore a bra-like garment that lifted their bare breasts out of their clothes. Years later, ancient Roman and Greek women took the opposite approach and strapped on a breast band to reduce their bust size.

1550's

Moving on in time Catherine de Médicis, wife of King Henri II of France, enforced a ban on thick waists at court attendances in the 1550's and started over 350 years of midriff torture. The painful device called the corset was designed to narrow waists to 13, 12, 11 and even 10 or less inches and lift their breasts.

1875

Somewhat less painfully, manufacturers George Frost and George Phelps patented the 'Union Under-Flannel' in 1875. This was believed to be a no bones, no eyelets, and no laces or pulleys under-outfit.

1893

Then in 1893 Marie Tucek patented the "Breast Supporter" and it saw the birth of 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.

1907

By 1907, women's magazines were using the newly coined term; "brassiere" and then at around.

1912

The word "brassiere" won its place in the Oxford English Dictionary.

1913
In 1913 a clever young New York socialite named Mary Phelps Jacob designed her own corset replacement out of two silk handkerchiefs and some ribbon.

1914

Mary impressed a lot of people with her novel idea and she was encouraged to patent her "Backless Brassiere" design which she did on 3rd November 1914.

Mary made several hundred of the devices (marketed under the name Caresse Crosby), but due to lack of publicity, the business collapsed. She went on to sell her patent to the Warner Brother's Corset Company for US$1,500. Today Warner Brother's is a leading brand in bra manufacturing.

1917

World War I dealt the corset a fatal blow when the U.S. War Industries Board called on women to stop buying corsets in 1917. It freed up some 28,000 tons of metal!

1928

By 1928, a Russian immigrant and entrepreneur named Ida Rosenthal developed the bra further by introducing cup sizes and bras for all stages of a woman's life.

1934

The first strapless bra appeared in 1934, and a little later, underwired bras were worn to give breasts a more substantial silhouette. In the forties padded bras were introduced followed by the push-up bra and a myriad of styles.

1935

Warner followed suit in 1935 and added the A to D sizing system to their American product line.

1937
Dupont inented nylon and this quickly became the standard material used to produce bras.

1948

The first push-up bra entered the market and sports bras were also introduced into the USA.

1950s

The conical bra was introduced and paved the way for the infamous pointy sweater girl look.
It was well into the 1950s before Britain followed this American A to D sizing standard. By the 1950s, it was glamour that women wanted and bra history changed for the better as bras began to be revolutionised through the use of nylon, making them lighter, prettier and easier to wash.

1964

The first invisible bra was introduced and lycra became incorporated into many bras.

1968

The first Wonderbra was introduced with the marketing line; "make 34 look 36, makes 36 look pow".

1970s

The 70s saw some braless years and mesh tubes were available for wearing underneath the famous boob tubes.

Remainder of 20th Century

Progress continued throughout the remainder of the 20th century and women were soon surrounded by a plethora of bra types. The bra was now a complex piece of lingerie, in some cases made of over 40 different components.

21st century

Julia Roberts popularised the Ultimo silicon bra in the movie Erin Brokovich and Australian scientists announced the invention of the smart bra prototype. But even with all this progress, here we are in the 21st century with over 70% of the world's women still wearing the wrong bra! Somehow the emphasis has been on design as opposed to education. This book has been written and made available throughout the world via the Internet to change this unfortunate statistic by helping women to educate themselves about how to look and feel great in a bra.

Related Posts by Categories

Widget by Hoctro | Jack Book

Posted in history of bra , women bra