A brief history of the Bra

The first modern bra was created by Mary Phelps Jacobs, who got so annoyed at the bones of her corset sticking out around the plunging neckline of a sheer gown she had bought that she covered them with a couple of silk handkerchiefs and some ribbon and attached it all together with some cords.

Her friends loved the idea and those who expressed their admiration of this lightweight fashion were given one to try out. Many people asked her to share her idea, but when she got a letter from a stranger, with a dollar and a request for her “contraption”, she drew the line. She immediately sent sketches of her design to the patent office. The patent was granted in November, 1914 for the “Backless Brassiere”. Mary named her new creation the Caresse Crosby.

But Mary’s talents were in fashion design, not business, and she had a hard time managing her venture. So she decided to sell her patent to Warner Brothers Corset Company for $1,500, an investment for the company which, over the next 30 years, made $15 million.

The bra gain sizes

The woman who was responsible for sized bras was Ida Rosenthal, a Russian-Jewish immigrant. During the roaring Twenties, when the flat-chested boyish look was in, Ida Rosenthal’s invention wasn’t too popular. However, Ida had spunk, and she continued to promote her bust-flattering bras. With her idea of sizing, she started to market bras to girls and women of every age, from puberty to maturity. A huge advantage to this plan was brand loyalty – if she could get teens, she reasoned, to wear training bras, then they’d stay with her as they developed and grew. She’d have a customer for life!

A dream is born

Ida Started a company which marketed the brand Maidenform and became the industry leader in bras. Their ad campaign, “I dreamed I…” did very well. The seed was planted – women could be anything they wanted if they wore a Maidenform Bra. The image was secured. The bra had become not only a method of supporting the breasts, but of displaying them in a variety of stages of dress and undress leading to the type of advert we see today.

Practicality was important, too. Different types of bras were designed for different types of women’s activities. If you were pregnant, you could buy maternity bras. After you had your baby, you could buy a nursing bra. After you finished nursing, and before you lost your “baby weight”, you could buy a full figured bra. And for those women who were a little bigger than most, there were plus size bras. And not only plus size bras. For the active women, there were athletic sports bras, giving extra support. For those evening gowns, there were strapless bras and backless bras. And the teenage girl could proudly say, “Hey, I got my first bra.” And training bras would help her adjust as she grew and matured and got ready for regular bras. As for men well, they watched with wonder and increased interest the development of this part of women’s attire and started to learn how to take it off!