It may seem like women have been wearing bras since the dawn of time, with the added support they provide, but this is not true. Even though the first linen bra was discovered in a medieval castle over 600 years ago, the first true bra as we know it was invented in 1859 by Henry Lesher, but this was just a prototype and never took off.
The first bras
When 1930 rolled around, a woman named Mary Phelps Jacob created the first bra ever worn by women (Source: “The Bra Story”, LulaLu’s Blog). When dressing for an evening event, she noticed that her dress did not match in color or style with her corset, which was the usual undergarment at the time. Making two silk scarves and pink shoulder straps, she unknowingly came up with the first bra. When all her friends expressed interest in this new invention, she started her own business. It is unclear whether it sold the rights to Maidenform, a well-known lingerie manufacturer, but this company made the first bras with molded cups around this time, and padded bras arrived later in the 1930s to protect female athletes’ breasts. .
The switch to lingerie
The bra remained fairly straightforward in terms of style until the 1960s and ’70s, when a shift toward viewing the bra as more than functional began to take hold in America. In the mid-1960s the first breast lift Wonderbra was introduced, which was the brainchild of Canadian designer Louse Poirier. This came just after the trend shifted towards more natural and transparent looks that were popular with the growing women’s movement.
French designers of the 1970s took the idea of bras as lingerie a step further and debuted them on the runways as a fashion accessory. The only place where sexy lingerie could be found until then was in the red light district of Paris, where tacky lingerie was largely functional by nature (Source: “The Bra: An Uplifting Tale”, BBC). Now, with fashion models wearing sports bras alongside their garters and panties, lingerie has become affordable for the mainstream woman. The first sports bra for fitness-conscious women came to light in 1977 (Source: “Bra History”, Women’s Health Magazine).
Embracing sexuality
Once thought to be simply a support system for the breasts, bras began to take on a whole new personality as a sex symbol, fueled in large part by Madonna’s Blond Ambition tour, which put her at the center of Attention with cone-shaped bras and very little else. . This was a departure from decades before, when bras were thought to be a symbol of a repressive lifestyle. Models took center stage in padded and push-up bras that showcased cleavage in an attempt to sell lingerie and clothing lines, this time with a whole new audience in mind: men. The idea was that if lingerie companies could attract men, those men would go out and buy beautiful bras and accessories for their loved ones. Therefore, Wonderbra’s “Hello Boys” campaign starring model Eva Herzigova in the mid-1990s created quite a stir.
Today, the bra continues to celebrate women’s sexuality, marked by major influences from companies like Victoria’s Secret, who not only sell lingerie, but also present all the new fashions on the runway every year.
Sources:
“The story of the bra”, LulaLu’s Blog, http://blog.lulalu.com/2013/09/18/the-history-of-the-bra/
“The Bra: An Uplifting Tale”, BBC, http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20150220-the-bra-an-uplifting-tale