The Busting Brazenness of Brassieres in The United States
Brassieres have been very prevalent in American culture, specifically for women, and it still is in today’s society. Some people see it as an object of seduction, glamour, or oppression while others see it as an object of conformity, efficiency, and comfort. (Farrell-Beck xi) In all of those views, what is the brassiere and why do women really use it? According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, a brassiere is a woman’s undergarment to cover and support the breasts. The brassiere, or in short, bra, have been used in innovative ways for women their breasts to have more support and to look and feel good without pain. Mostly in the 20th century, American women have utilized the brassiere for various purposes. In the mid to late 19th and 20th century, the brassiere in the United States have caused a shift in women’s fashion, economics, generations and roles which is placed in society today.
In a wide span of history, the brassiere have evolved as an undergarment and a fashion statement. Some people call it the descendant of the corset, because inventors was finding more efficient ways to support the breasts and have a good body figure without the pain of the corset. In 1863, during the Civil War, professional corsetiere Luman Chapman patented the first breast supporter, which was designed to eliminate friction inflicted from the corsets during his time. (Wohleber 8) His design was a breast supporter with “laces crisscrossing down the back and tied over the abdomen.” (Wohleber 8) In 1876, Boston dressmaker Olivia Flynt patented the ‘bust supporter’ which allowed the “beauty of form to be preserved without lacing or otherwise injuriously pressing or binding the body.”(Wohleber 8) She sold her invention from her Boston workshop and with her promotional catalog, she her customers lived throughout the United States. (Farrell-Beck 6) In 1898 Marie Tucek filed two patents for her designs of the bust supporter. This sparked a women’s dress reform because it posed to women that wearing the corset as a mode of ‘clothing foundation.’(Farrell-Beck 9) However, the bust supporter wasn’t in much competition with the corset. For the dress reform, there were two sides to the need for the undergarment revolution. There were medical community who believed that the bust supporter would be the best thing for women, because of the restraint of the corset caused permanent damage to the internal organs. (Farrell-Beck 15) Then there was the feminists that believed that wearing the bust supporter was in a sense liberating themselves from traditional women’s fashion norms. (Farrell-Beck 15) The reasons are that some women had financial restraints to switching from their customary dress. It caused the ‘reversal of fortune’ for many middle and upper class women who ventured for the bust supporter.(Farrell-Beck 9) That meant that women in those socio-economic classes are becoming poor because of the venturing of the new invention. (Farrell-Beck 9) During that time, some women wanted shed away the corset, but was deterred by the reproach of being ‘loose,’ by being a corset less woman. (Farrell-Beck 9)It wasn’t until 1914 when twenty three year-old Mary Phelps Jacob filed her patent for the modern brassiere which she sewed together with two silk handkerchiefs and ribbon. (Wohleber 8) Her invention really didn’t publicize until she sold her patent to the Warner Brothers Corset Company in Bridgeport, Connecticut for $1500. The Company made over 15 million dollars from the brassiere patent in the span of thirty years. (Godfrey 27) Within those next thirty years, the brassiere would take a turn for the ages for women.
After Jacob’s invention in 1914, the brassiere is already prevalent in the early 20th century. Many physicians and nurses even advocated for wearing brassieres. (Farrell-Beck 31) Brassiere companies MaidenForm and Playtex was emerging and advertising their brassiere products for women. (Wohleber 9) These advertisements was very evident in the 1920’s and 1930’s. (Wohleber 9) The Flappers really popularized the brassiere with the ‘boyish, flat-chested’ silhouette and young women, specifically teenagers starting wearing the brassiere. (Martin 75) This caused generational differences in women because the teenagers’ mothers and grandmothers was used to wearing the corset to shape their figure and support their breasts. (Martin 73) The brassiere was an innovative object that women used to get into the comfort zone. In the 1920’s and 1930’s era, companies wanted to advocate for women to look and feel good at the same time. MaidenForm have advertisements that wanted to convince women that it is a necessity to wear their brassieres. (Wohleber 9) MaidenForm innovated a brassiere where the breasts are lifted by shoulder straps and a tight elastic band below the bust. (Wohleber 9) The early form of a bra cup was known as the “double support pocket.”(Wohleber 9) The double support pocket was made of fabric covering the breasts gathering at the center. (Wohleber 9) Typically, this was very innovative because the brassieres before the time was designed to compress the chest for support. (Wohleber 9) This brassiere design started the sizing system of women of different sizes. The sizing system today ranges from 32A to 57KKK. (Godfrey 27)
These new designs and formations of the brassiere caused sparks in many aspects of society for women. With the new innovations of the bra coming about, this created new job opportunities, which meant labor and a better economy for women. These major brassiere companies had manufacturing factories that made the bras. (Farrell-Beck 102) Women were seaming the bras with different materials like nylon, cotton, rayon, and silk. (Wohleber 9) However, when the Great Depression era and World War II came about, manufacturing these bras was such a hassle because it caused fabric shortages. (Wohleber 9) It shows that World War II publicized the bra. There was propaganda the wanted women limit the bras they bought because during that time, the bras were made out of fabric and metal, the government saw fit that the soldiers need more metal and fabric for weapons and clothing. (Farrell-Beck 117) The technology of the 1940s MaidenForm’s bra contributed to the war effort when the company designed “harnesses for carrier pigeons used by Allied paratroopers.” (Wohleber 9) During the postwar years, manufacturers had plenty of new materials to work with. They had nylon, polyester, spandex, synthetic rubbers, and assorted blends with countless configurations of bands, seams, and straps. (Wohleber 9) In this era, the bra was meant to shape the woman’s chest area. There were bra advertisements that showed the difference between wearing a regular bra and wearing their more form-fitting bra that shows support to the breasts. (Godfrey 27) This popularization would go on during the post war effort and well into the in 1950s. The conical bra was formed and many famous actresses of the day wore those types of bras. However, there is social backlash of the bra that affects women greatly in the 1960s.
In the 1960s, there was so many historical movements going on that heavily affected women. That’s when a great backlash of the bra caused great halt on what really defined a woman. There were women activists who want to abolish the bra completely, but wearing bras was simply impractical. (Wohleber 9) Also, there were controversial event that involved the bra. There was the Miss America pageant protest in 1968. On September 7, 1968, almost four hundred protesters with signs that had slogans read: “No More Beauty Standards, “Miss America Is Alive and Well-In Harlem,” and “Welcome to the Cattle Auction.”(PBS.org) This movement emerged the ‘Freedom Trash Can,’ which was a receptacle which women had thrown away beauty products including makeup, girdles and mainly bras. (PBS.org) In this movement which the ‘Freedom Trash Can’ was involved, this is famously called the “bra-burning,” even though there wasn’t any actual bras that was burned. Mostly women either put their bras in the trash can or decide not to wear a bra at all. (Farrell-Beck 119) The reason why women did this was because they did not want to live up to the standards society expected them to live by as far as their beauty is concerned.(Farrell-Beck 119) That did not mean that all women wasn’t wearing bras. Department stores was still advertising bras with commercials and newspaper ads for women to wear. The basis of what is truly the bra to American women is bordered in the next 40 years leading into today.
Overall, the bra have evolved into a symbol beauty, privilege, comfort, and woman. Without the founding inventors of the bra, companies Victoria Secret, Bali, and the Wonder Bra would not have emerged and be heavily sustained in society today. The evolution of the bra was very prominent in the 1970s, which focused more on the natural look of the woman instead of the sculpting look. (Wohleber 9) In the 1980s and 1990s, the design of the bra returned to the technology to accentuate the bra which gave birth to the idea of the ‘push-up bra.’(Wohleber 9) The 1930s technology of the underwire bra is widely used for the benefit of the push-up bra. (Wohleber 9) These types of bras gave women more sex appeal and made them feel beautiful. That ideal is the opposition of what many female activists was really advocating for. In today’s market, bras have been used in fashion. Some women wears the bra as lingerie, a fashion statement, or simply just to wear one. Victoria’s Secret, one of the largest bra franchises today have showcase their bras in shows, stores, and catalogue. These modern practices that are used today could be tied back into Mary Phelps Jacob’s, Olivia Flynt’s, and Marie Tucek’s times. However, their goals was to simply make women be more comfortable in what they wear under their visible clothes. Throughout history, women have viewed the bra is an object of simplicity that is used in many ways, but not a necessity. In American history, it is truly evident through mass media, landmark movements, and evolution that the bra is significant in the lives of women.
In a wide span of history, the brassiere have evolved as an undergarment and a fashion statement. Some people call it the descendant of the corset, because inventors was finding more efficient ways to support the breasts and have a good body figure without the pain of the corset. In 1863, during the Civil War, professional corsetiere Luman Chapman patented the first breast supporter, which was designed to eliminate friction inflicted from the corsets during his time. (Wohleber 8) His design was a breast supporter with “laces crisscrossing down the back and tied over the abdomen.” (Wohleber 8) In 1876, Boston dressmaker Olivia Flynt patented the ‘bust supporter’ which allowed the “beauty of form to be preserved without lacing or otherwise injuriously pressing or binding the body.”(Wohleber 8) She sold her invention from her Boston workshop and with her promotional catalog, she her customers lived throughout the United States. (Farrell-Beck 6) In 1898 Marie Tucek filed two patents for her designs of the bust supporter. This sparked a women’s dress reform because it posed to women that wearing the corset as a mode of ‘clothing foundation.’(Farrell-Beck 9) However, the bust supporter wasn’t in much competition with the corset. For the dress reform, there were two sides to the need for the undergarment revolution. There were medical community who believed that the bust supporter would be the best thing for women, because of the restraint of the corset caused permanent damage to the internal organs. (Farrell-Beck 15) Then there was the feminists that believed that wearing the bust supporter was in a sense liberating themselves from traditional women’s fashion norms. (Farrell-Beck 15) The reasons are that some women had financial restraints to switching from their customary dress. It caused the ‘reversal of fortune’ for many middle and upper class women who ventured for the bust supporter.(Farrell-Beck 9) That meant that women in those socio-economic classes are becoming poor because of the venturing of the new invention. (Farrell-Beck 9) During that time, some women wanted shed away the corset, but was deterred by the reproach of being ‘loose,’ by being a corset less woman. (Farrell-Beck 9)It wasn’t until 1914 when twenty three year-old Mary Phelps Jacob filed her patent for the modern brassiere which she sewed together with two silk handkerchiefs and ribbon. (Wohleber 8) Her invention really didn’t publicize until she sold her patent to the Warner Brothers Corset Company in Bridgeport, Connecticut for $1500. The Company made over 15 million dollars from the brassiere patent in the span of thirty years. (Godfrey 27) Within those next thirty years, the brassiere would take a turn for the ages for women.
After Jacob’s invention in 1914, the brassiere is already prevalent in the early 20th century. Many physicians and nurses even advocated for wearing brassieres. (Farrell-Beck 31) Brassiere companies MaidenForm and Playtex was emerging and advertising their brassiere products for women. (Wohleber 9) These advertisements was very evident in the 1920’s and 1930’s. (Wohleber 9) The Flappers really popularized the brassiere with the ‘boyish, flat-chested’ silhouette and young women, specifically teenagers starting wearing the brassiere. (Martin 75) This caused generational differences in women because the teenagers’ mothers and grandmothers was used to wearing the corset to shape their figure and support their breasts. (Martin 73) The brassiere was an innovative object that women used to get into the comfort zone. In the 1920’s and 1930’s era, companies wanted to advocate for women to look and feel good at the same time. MaidenForm have advertisements that wanted to convince women that it is a necessity to wear their brassieres. (Wohleber 9) MaidenForm innovated a brassiere where the breasts are lifted by shoulder straps and a tight elastic band below the bust. (Wohleber 9) The early form of a bra cup was known as the “double support pocket.”(Wohleber 9) The double support pocket was made of fabric covering the breasts gathering at the center. (Wohleber 9) Typically, this was very innovative because the brassieres before the time was designed to compress the chest for support. (Wohleber 9) This brassiere design started the sizing system of women of different sizes. The sizing system today ranges from 32A to 57KKK. (Godfrey 27)
These new designs and formations of the brassiere caused sparks in many aspects of society for women. With the new innovations of the bra coming about, this created new job opportunities, which meant labor and a better economy for women. These major brassiere companies had manufacturing factories that made the bras. (Farrell-Beck 102) Women were seaming the bras with different materials like nylon, cotton, rayon, and silk. (Wohleber 9) However, when the Great Depression era and World War II came about, manufacturing these bras was such a hassle because it caused fabric shortages. (Wohleber 9) It shows that World War II publicized the bra. There was propaganda the wanted women limit the bras they bought because during that time, the bras were made out of fabric and metal, the government saw fit that the soldiers need more metal and fabric for weapons and clothing. (Farrell-Beck 117) The technology of the 1940s MaidenForm’s bra contributed to the war effort when the company designed “harnesses for carrier pigeons used by Allied paratroopers.” (Wohleber 9) During the postwar years, manufacturers had plenty of new materials to work with. They had nylon, polyester, spandex, synthetic rubbers, and assorted blends with countless configurations of bands, seams, and straps. (Wohleber 9) In this era, the bra was meant to shape the woman’s chest area. There were bra advertisements that showed the difference between wearing a regular bra and wearing their more form-fitting bra that shows support to the breasts. (Godfrey 27) This popularization would go on during the post war effort and well into the in 1950s. The conical bra was formed and many famous actresses of the day wore those types of bras. However, there is social backlash of the bra that affects women greatly in the 1960s.
In the 1960s, there was so many historical movements going on that heavily affected women. That’s when a great backlash of the bra caused great halt on what really defined a woman. There were women activists who want to abolish the bra completely, but wearing bras was simply impractical. (Wohleber 9) Also, there were controversial event that involved the bra. There was the Miss America pageant protest in 1968. On September 7, 1968, almost four hundred protesters with signs that had slogans read: “No More Beauty Standards, “Miss America Is Alive and Well-In Harlem,” and “Welcome to the Cattle Auction.”(PBS.org) This movement emerged the ‘Freedom Trash Can,’ which was a receptacle which women had thrown away beauty products including makeup, girdles and mainly bras. (PBS.org) In this movement which the ‘Freedom Trash Can’ was involved, this is famously called the “bra-burning,” even though there wasn’t any actual bras that was burned. Mostly women either put their bras in the trash can or decide not to wear a bra at all. (Farrell-Beck 119) The reason why women did this was because they did not want to live up to the standards society expected them to live by as far as their beauty is concerned.(Farrell-Beck 119) That did not mean that all women wasn’t wearing bras. Department stores was still advertising bras with commercials and newspaper ads for women to wear. The basis of what is truly the bra to American women is bordered in the next 40 years leading into today.
Overall, the bra have evolved into a symbol beauty, privilege, comfort, and woman. Without the founding inventors of the bra, companies Victoria Secret, Bali, and the Wonder Bra would not have emerged and be heavily sustained in society today. The evolution of the bra was very prominent in the 1970s, which focused more on the natural look of the woman instead of the sculpting look. (Wohleber 9) In the 1980s and 1990s, the design of the bra returned to the technology to accentuate the bra which gave birth to the idea of the ‘push-up bra.’(Wohleber 9) The 1930s technology of the underwire bra is widely used for the benefit of the push-up bra. (Wohleber 9) These types of bras gave women more sex appeal and made them feel beautiful. That ideal is the opposition of what many female activists was really advocating for. In today’s market, bras have been used in fashion. Some women wears the bra as lingerie, a fashion statement, or simply just to wear one. Victoria’s Secret, one of the largest bra franchises today have showcase their bras in shows, stores, and catalogue. These modern practices that are used today could be tied back into Mary Phelps Jacob’s, Olivia Flynt’s, and Marie Tucek’s times. However, their goals was to simply make women be more comfortable in what they wear under their visible clothes. Throughout history, women have viewed the bra is an object of simplicity that is used in many ways, but not a necessity. In American history, it is truly evident through mass media, landmark movements, and evolution that the bra is significant in the lives of women.
The Patents
The photo above is the photo of the 1893 patent of the breast supporter which was invented by Marie Tucek. This is one of her two designs she made of the breast supporter. It really was not widely received during her time, but it was important to what it would evolve to be. This relates to the topic at hand by the fact that is was discussed in the paper and it is a pictorial evidence of her invention.
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The photo above is the photo of the 1914 patent of the modern brassiere invented by Mary Phelps Jacob. She came up with this idea when she was nineteen years old getting dressed to go to a party. Jacob saw a protruding bulge from wear the corset underneath her dress. She decided to make a new undergarment with ribbon and two handkerchiefs to create the modern brassiere. This relates to the topic at hand because this was discussed in the paper and it's a pictorial evidence of her invention.
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Primary Source: Her Half Billion Dollar Shape by Pete Martin
In the October 15, 1949 issue of the Saturday Evening Post, Pete Martin wrote the Article, Her Half Billion Dollar Shape. In this article, Martin exposed the many breakthroughs and efforts many companies have to go through to innovate new undergarments for women to have the perfect shape. You could say what they are trying shape women during that time is what we shape women in what we have today Spanx. In this article, the bra was one of the women's undergarment that contributed to the perfect shape. During this time, WWII ended and it's the beginning of the Baby Boom era. This article have photo depictions of many different types of bras in many shapes and sizes. This article is most likely been produced because it was seen fit to expose the effort of what women had to go through to have the shape they have. It's like unmasking what's under the visible clothes. Also, it shows women what to wear under their clothes to have that shape. The Saturday Evening Post was perfect source to get through to a national audience. This definitely related to the topic at hand because it shows the elements of what kinds of bras women wears and what financial capacities women have to endure to have the beautiful shape that is desired from them.
Advertisements
This is a video about a 1960's commercial advertisement for the Playtex 'Cover Your Heart' bra . The commercial depicts the bra used for coverage and support, instead of just beauty.
The Busting Impact
This is a photo of the women modeling for a 1947 patent of the bra. You could tell that this is from the WWII era because of what the two women was wearing. The woman exposing her bra was wearing a riveter outfit. This relates to the topic at hand by the fact that women could wear an undergarment to work in without trying to look beautiful, but wear it for comfort and support.
This is a video about what really happened during the 1968 Miss America pageant in Atlantic city. The video basically exposes that there wasn't any bras that was burned and talks about the Freedom Trash Cans. Also, it talks about the heights feminists went through to advocate what seems to be the portrayal society saw women as during that time.
Without the many innovations and evolution of the bra, women companies like Victoria Secret would not have been very prevalent in the late 20th century and in today's society. Victoria Secret broadcast different fashion shows and catalogs to women so they could wear their products. In a way, Victoria Secret shapes the bra as a lingerie item, even though it was not the first company/thing to shape/mold the bra as.
Bibliography
Farrell-Beck, Jane, and Colleen Gau. Uplift: The Bra in America. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, 2002. Print.
Godfrey, Sarah. "The Tools of Attraction; From Dimple-producing Appliances to Paralytic Depilatories, Patent Historian Teresa Riordan Is Happy to Share Her Beauty Secrets." Washington City Paper 18 Mar. 2005, 25th ed., sec. 11: 27. Print.
Martin, Pete. "Her Half-Billion Dollar Shape." Saturday Evening Post 15 Oct. 1949: 28+. Print.
Mish, Frederick C., ed. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary. 11th ed. Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster, 2013. Print.
PBS. PBS, 15 Mar. 2001. “People and Events: The 1968 Protest” http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/missamerica/peopleevents/e_feminists.html Web. 30 Nov. 2013.
Wohleber, Curt. "The Bra." Invention and Technology Spring 2003: 8-9. Print
Godfrey, Sarah. "The Tools of Attraction; From Dimple-producing Appliances to Paralytic Depilatories, Patent Historian Teresa Riordan Is Happy to Share Her Beauty Secrets." Washington City Paper 18 Mar. 2005, 25th ed., sec. 11: 27. Print.
Martin, Pete. "Her Half-Billion Dollar Shape." Saturday Evening Post 15 Oct. 1949: 28+. Print.
Mish, Frederick C., ed. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary. 11th ed. Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster, 2013. Print.
PBS. PBS, 15 Mar. 2001. “People and Events: The 1968 Protest” http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/missamerica/peopleevents/e_feminists.html Web. 30 Nov. 2013.
Wohleber, Curt. "The Bra." Invention and Technology Spring 2003: 8-9. Print