stays, these abbreviated corsets ended above the waist and featured separate cups, resembling what we might call a bustier today.
However, this new trend didn’t last long, and thirty years into the nineteenth century, the corset made a comeback, this time emphasizing an hourglass figure instead of a conical one. The development of steel busks and metal eyelets allowed for a drawn-in waist and lifted bust. Yet the short stays of the early 1800s had left their mark, and in the late nineteenth century, a plethora of new “brassiere” designs emerged. While these early bras don’t have much in common appearance-wise with what we wear today, the concepts were there: bust support, separate cups for each breast, adjustable shoulder straps, and even hook-and-eye closures.
So what finally killed the corset? Well, sports played a part. Women began to participate in tennis, golf, basketball, swimming, and cycling—all activities for which the corset has obvious limitations. Yet it wasn’t the bicycle that wiped out the corset for good. Instead, we can pin its final demise on World War I.
In 1917, just three years after Caresse Crosby received her patent, the U.S. War Industries Board asked women to stop buying corsets so the steel “bones” could be freed up for the war. Their sacrifice made more than twenty-eight thousand tons of steel available—enough to build two battleships. Meanwhile, as women gave up their corsets, they also went to work in munitions factories, fire departments, and other occupations previously closed to them. As with athletics, the shortcomings (and potential dangers) of the corset, with its many bones and laces, became apparent. By 1918, more than fifty-two separate bra brands were on the market. The shift away from corsetry was complete.
By the 1920s, most corset makers had fully converted to making bras or the new, more modern girdles. In the 1930s, cup sizes, elastic, and underwires became a regular feature of the bra landscape. The word bra also first appeared in the 1930s. While the fashionable bra silhouette of the 1920s favored a bandeau style, which offered little support and mostly worked to flatten the bust, in the 1930s, the idea of the bra as a lifting and separating device took shape. By the 1940s, almost all Western women were wearing bras, and, as the saying goes, the rest is history.
A very high, perky bust was the trademark of the 1950s (bullet bras, with their world-famous torpedo cups, dominated the lingerie landscape in this era). The 1960s and 1970s favored a softer, more natural silhouette. Bras of this era were often sheer and lightweight, incorporating radical new stretch fabrics, which emphasized mobility and flexibility. The sports bra was also invented in the 1970s.
The 1980s saw a return of more structured bras, as well as a rise in the concept of the “invisible” bra—bras with smooth or lightly seamed cups that were intended not to be seen under clothing. The 1990s brought an obsession with deep plunges and push-up padding. Now, instead of simply shaping what you had, bras could add several cup sizes all on their own. In the 2000s, seamless, one-piece molded- and foam-cup bras became ubiquitous, replacing the cut-and-sew styles of previous generations and leading to that familiar dome or half-moon shape we all recognize today. More recently, the natural silhouette has made a comeback in the form of the bralette, but fashion is cyclical, and who knows when one of the bra trends of yesteryear will experience a revival?
The Parts of a Bra
Bras may look simple but they are actually highly specialized and very complex articles of clothing. The average bra contains dozens of components, and each, no matter how small, has a specific purpose. All these pieces must be put together by hand, so the time involved in sewing a bra is a large part of why bras are so expensive, despite their small size.
Understanding the construction of a bra can help you better describe what you like or dislike about a particular style or shape, and it can help you discover which kind of bra is best for you.
Cups
The cups of the bra are where your breasts sit. Usually rounded, as that’s the current fashion (think of your favorite T-shirt or contour cup bra), the cups section can also be pointed (as in a bullet bra) or even slightly collapsed (as in a seamed bra that won’t fill out until it’s on the body). In most bras, this area consists of two distinct cups, but certain bra styles, such as bandeaus or sports bras, have a single cup section meant to contain both breasts. Cups may be lined or unlined, as well as seamed or seamless. The underwires of your bra, if it has them, are also cup components, usually running in special channels along the bottom and sides of the cups.
Band
The most important part of the bra, the band is responsible for providing most of the support. The band handles up to 80 percent of the work of supporting your breasts (which means your straps shouldn’t be doing much at all!) and includes everything that wraps around the torso. The band can be broken down into four distinct parts: the center panel—otherwise known as the gore or bridge—which connects the two cups together in the middle; the cradle, which is the portion of the band directly underneath the cups or underwires (not present in “bandless” bra styles); the wings, which are the sides and back of the bra, starting at the outer edge of the cups and ending at the closures; and the closures, usually consisting of hooks and eyes, but sometimes made of other materials. Note: If you’re wearing a front-close bra, the center panel and the closure are the same.
Straps
Straps help keep your bra stable and in place. They go over your shoulders (excepting, of course, strapless and halter bra styles) but are not meant to support the entire weight of your breasts. They should account for about 20 percent of the lift. The area where the straps meet the cups is called the apex. Straps are almost always adjustable, even in the most basic of bra styles. There are two popular types of strap attachments: the camisole (otherwise known as a right-angle or straight-back attachment) and a leotard (otherwise known as a ballet back or u-back attachment). The latter tends to be better for fuller busts (DD cups and above), as well as for narrower shoulders, as the straps are less likely to slide or fall.
Underwires
We’ve all seen an underwire bra before, but exactly what purpose does that little piece of curved wire at the bottom of your bra cup serve? Basically, why do bras have underwires?
Underwires have been around since 1931, and contrary to a popular rumor, the invention of the underwire is attributed to a woman—Helene Pons. It was another couple of decades before underwire bras overtook wireless styles in popularity. As with the corset, a war (World War II) needed to end before enough metal was available to explore the possibilities of the underwire.
An underwire is essentially an idealized breast root—the curve on the body where the breast tissue attaches to the torso. Underwires are meant to follow the contour of the breast, providing shaping and support from the bottom of the bra (the cradle and band area).
An underwire is usually narrower than the breast itself, which helps contain the breast tissue (it helps “scoop” it all into the cup). In conjunction with the bra cups, the underwire tells your breasts what shape to take and which direction to go, and this is what gives them an uplifted silhouette.
Underwires are typically made of metal, though occasionally they can be made of plastic or silicone. Bras for larger bust sizes, such as those over a DD cup, tend to contain sturdier wires to accommodate the weight of a heavier breast. Assuming there’s no underlying pain or condition, such as fibromyalgia, underwires shouldn’t hurt. So if a wire is bruising you, digging in, or otherwise feeling uncomfortable, it may be the wrong shape for your particular breast root, or it is too
