The history of bras

Writing about the corset, no surprise, brought me right into the development of the bra.  In the 1910's the front of the corset became so low, it no longer supported the breasts so this is when almost all women started wearing bras.  But the history of the bra goes back farther than you would think.

Many 2000 year old Roman mosaics can be found of woman athletes wearing something very much like a modern strapless bra.

And, just two years ago, this undergarment was found in Austria.  It has been determined to be 600 years old and a huge surprise to fashion historians. No one thought any woman had worn a supportive garment with separate pouches for each breast before the 20th Century.

This is a modern reproduction.   

There is a patent for a breast supporting device from 1859, but the garment was never made up.  The first usable bra was developed and patented in 1887 in Britain and then 1889 in France which is this illustration above.

The pigeon shaped bodice was in fashion in the first decade of the 20th Century and women were wearing these mono-bosom bras under their clothing. Quite a protective garment, I would say.  


I started off this series of blogs asking the question "does the foundation garment industry drive fashion, or the other way around?" I need to dig more to figure that one out.

This bra is from 1917. At this time, the U.S. War Industries Board called on women to stop buying corsets to reduce the consumption of metal.

It conserved up to 28,000 tons of metal! Enough to build two battleships.

After the war, fashions changed dramatically along with the ideal shape for a woman's body and woman's role in society.  Flat chests were "in" and so was the underwear meant to achieve that shape.

After creating the first bra in 1902 Warners Bras introduced a tight, chest-flattening bra to keep with the flapper lifestyle.

Here is a photo of a woman wearing one of those flattening bras.

By the end of the 1920s the "cup size" was created and women could by bras that actually fit them. 

A bra and an advertisement from the 30's ... I find this interesting because in Bali in the 30's woman weren't wearing anything to cover their chests.  Read my blog on that topic.

The 1940's brought all sorts of bras that were meant to improve a woman's shape. There are loads and loads of before and after photos from this time.  The age of underwear as a piece of engineering is in full swing.

I think the 1950's bring "bullet bras" to mind for many people, and for good reason.

They were a real thing, I even had a little circular stitched training bra in the mid-60's.  This was the desired shape!  But, I'm not sure every women fill those pointy cups all the way to the end.  Breasts just aren't shaped that way.

Women have been padding their bosom ... probably since the dawn of time, but now the padding was getting high-tech.  What is a bra-O-matic anyway?? Can't find a thing about it.

There were even inflatable bras!  You could correct any unevenness, if necessary.

So I found this ad that claims the first push up bra to be in 1963 by the Wonder Bra company. The name was trademarked in the 60's but the company came into prominence in the early 90's.

Well then the woman's movement comes into the conversation again.  Women were symbolically burning their bras to declare their freedom.  And, some women did stop wearing bras for a while.  But these were very young women, for the most part women kept wearing bras.

1980's bra ... You know, to my eye, bras haven't changed all that much in the last 30 years or so.

1990's bra ... I think bras are starting to get very pretty.

We can buy sport's bras now that women have become athletic.

And, when did minimizing bras come on the scene?  That's quite a change from the bullet bras of the 50's.  A never ending story ...

Just look at how the fashionable shape of women has changed over little more than 100 years.  Crazy! A woman's body is a woman's body ... 

If you want more actual facts and dates, go to this website, Bust'n'Lace . It is filled with really interesting information.