Modern bras began in18th century. It keeps women in a certain posture in the form of tight tower, but it has been reformed one after another because it is not comfortable enough. It is first divided into two parts (into a corset and a corset) to prevent the breasts from being squeezed and sagging. In the 1930s, the first bra of cup size came out, which can support and protect women's breasts more appropriately.
Bras were invented by the French in the1920s. Its original name is corset, which appeared in18th century, when women wore it to keep fit. However, because the corset is very uncomfortable, it gradually evolved into two parts (corset and corset), and then through the skillful art of Paris designers, the style became simpler and simpler, and finally evolved into today's bra and corset. However, the amazing style changes of bras only happened in the last twenty years. Bra's English name is Brassiere, which is often called Bra, and it undoubtedly comes from French.
Around 19 13, Jacob bought a very thin and almost transparent women's tight evening dress, but her stiff corset with embroidered mesh ruined the smooth lines of this beautiful new dress. So Jacob thought of a way. Instead of wearing a bra, she sewed a simple "bra" with a pair of silk handkerchiefs and some ribbons. 19 14, she applied for a patent for this simple invention. Although she never succeeded in putting her invention into the market, she did succeed in getting people to accept her as the inventor of the bra.
But as Jane Farrell Baker and Clarine Gao point out in their latest book, Stand Up: Bras in America, this is not the case. Bra's history can be traced back at least to the American Civil War, although it had several other different names at that time.
Since then, the revolution has stopped wearing bras.
1863, a man named Ruman Chapman applied for a patent for his "breast protector" in order to reduce the friction of the bra worn by women at that time. His "chest protector" crossed his back with a belt and tied a knot in his abdomen. In the eyes of modern people, his invention is like a terrible plastic surgery instrument, but compared with the corset at that time, it is a great progress, at least in theory, because it relies on shoulders instead of waist to protect the chest.
Chapman's invention seems to have been silent since then, but in the following decades, doctors and early feminists advocated women's underwear styles that were more conducive to "health care". At that time, corsets were very popular, and women tightened their belts as much as possible, even to the point where their internal organs were permanently deformed. 1876 There is a tailor named Olivia Flint in Boston. She applied for an invention patent to replace tight underwear, which is called "corset", which can "keep the beauty of women's bodies without hurting and binding their bodies with belts or other methods".
Flint's underwear and other similar designs achieved some success in a rather limited scope, but according to Farrell Baker, women in the upper class at that time disdained these newly invented things. In people's ideas at that time, not wearing a corset was associated with low conduct.
How about being a woman?
Throughout the 20th century, the evolution of bras is quite complicated, both in engineering and fashion design. Bras initially replaced corsets for a pragmatic reason, but as a fashion, it not only has the functional advantages of shaping the body, but also plays a role in beautification and decoration.
By the end of 1920s, bras had played a more active role in shaping the chest figure. The slogan of the "girlish figure" bra is "used to support the chest and adapt to the natural body shape of the human body, instead of thinking that the bra is used to flatten the chest as in the past."
The name "girl figure" itself is a challenge to the popular "boy figure" bra at that time. As the name implies, its purpose is to create a body image that distinguishes men from women. This bra uses shoulder straps and elastic bands under the chest to support the chest, providing "double support" together with its central protrusion, which is an early form of bra socket (referring to the cup-shaped part containing the breast in the bra). Before that, the bra didn't have that kind of protruding part, because at that time, the role of the bra was mainly used to bind the chest.
The texture of early bras
Early bra designers are often people who actively promote the adoption of new fabrics, new materials and new manufacturing processes. 193 1 year, cotton, artificial fiber or silk fabric is covered with a layer of latex rubber yarn, which has good elasticity, strong support and good sweat absorption function. However, the bra made of this fabric is not strong and durable, and latex rubber is easy to crack and lose its elasticity. Many new materials, such as nylon and synthetic rubber, appeared continuously throughout the 1930s, but they were not widely used due to the Great Depression and World War II.
Howard hughes, an inventor and industrialist, is a famous figure in the evolution and development of bras. On 1943, he specially designed a seamless bra for actress jane russell's film The Fugitive. Hughes, the owner of a film company, went to the shooting scene in person to ensure that Russell's beautiful figure could be displayed most effectively. In one scene, Hughes was frustrated to see the seams of Russell's bra clearly visible, but he said, "It's just a simple design problem." In order to solve this problem, he even studied late into the night, trying to perfect the design of seamless bra. A few years later, Russell recalled in his autobiography that Hughes' design made her feel "very uncomfortable and ridiculous". Instead of using Hughes' design, she covered the seams of ordinary bras with cotton paper, which Hughes had never seen before.
After the war, manufacturers have more new materials to choose from, such as nylon, polyester and spandex (mostly used in belts and swimsuits). ), synthetic rubber and various blended fabrics. There are also various bra styles, such as front zipper, velcro shoulder strap, bra socket size that can be put away at will, and countless design styles of shoulder straps, stitches and shoulder straps.