The bra is ubiquitous. Whether you wear one or you’ve fumbled around in the dark trying to unclasp one, most everyone has encountered the most provocative of undergarments in one of its many forms. Whether for exercise, work, nursing, comfort or seduction, most women, from almost A to double J, possess a rainbow of bras for a variety of occasions.

And on its 100th birthday, the bra has never looked better.

The bra evolved immensely during the past 100 years to become the garment we know, love, sometimes hate, and wear today. In the early 1900s, the corset was still the standard for fashionable women. The tight-fitting dresses and beauty standards of the era demanded ultra-tiny waists, and cinch-able corsets made this look possible.

Then, in 1907, French couturier Paul Poret designed a line of looser, less form-fitting dresses and with them introduced a smaller, less constricting undergarment. And thus, the brassiere was born.

“Poiret freed women up from the corset,” says Jo Jeffries, Communications Director for intimate apparel retailer figleaves.com. “So 1907 was a really, really big year in terms of the development of the bra.”

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Poiret’s brassiere lacked cups and straps and served more to bind the breasts than support them. “The bra as we know it did not appear until the teens,” Leslie Bellais, Curator of Costume and Textiles the Wisconsin Historical Society, says. “Brassieres appeared before then, but it’s not the two cup with straps business. Up to that point, bras weren’t holding the bust up.”

The emergence of this binding brassiere coincided with the flat-chested look popular during the flapper era of the 1920s. In time, this boyish look gave way to a voluptuous, exaggerated style, epitomized by the “sweater girls” of the 1950s. Actresses like Jane Russell and Lana Turner wore “bullet bras” that gave breasts a cone-like shape accentuated by tight sweaters.

One of the most important innovations of this period was the introduction of cup sizes. Previously, many bras had one-size-fits-all elastic cups that expanded to suit bust size, which left a lot of women spilling over or drowning in excess fabric. Cups made getting the proper lift and support, regardless of size, as easy as A, B, C, and D.

The alphabetical cup sizes introduced in this era were just the beginning of size options that are still being developed today. Bras now come in 155 size variations, making it possible for all women to have a comfortably fitting bra.

“Today it’s much more about being comfortable and having a bra that fits and does a job for you.” Jeffries says. “A bra should keep you comfortable during the day and give you a sleek silhouette while also supporting you, and you shouldn’t really know it’s there. We polled our customers and asked them the important factor when buying a bra, and the overwhelming answer was fit. Women today want something that fits properly, and I think that bra companies have recognized that women today come in all shapes and sizes.”

Despite an ever-increasing range of sizes (bras are now available in AA to JJ), finding that perfectly fitting bra remains a challenge for many women.

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“I see every day that women are wearing the wrong size bra,” says Melissa Files, owner of Madison lingerie store Pink Panties. “Usually women come in thinking their band is too big and their cup is too small. Just yesterday, I saw a girl who said she was a 34B and walked out with a 32D. She was wowed by how much better it fit. It really makes your day when somebody is that pleased with their bra. It’s like a revolution for them.”

Any woman who has suffered through a long day in a pinching, poking bra, (and no, “suffering” is not an over-dramatization) will attest, a flawlessly fitting bra can truly be a revolution. And bra companies are still working hard to come up with revolutionary new styles to support every niche of the market.

“This summer it’s all about having a pretty strap, because when you wear tank tops and summer shirts and you want a strap to show, you want it to be pretty,” Files says. “So lace straps are really nice, skinny spaghetti straps or the double straps, and anything small is really popular, especially for larger cup sizes.”

And what do the next 100 years hold for the bra?

“There are a lot of fun developments coming up,” Jeffries says. “Lycra is working on some interesting, practical advances. They’ve got a new black Lycra bra that you can put in the wash and it doesn’t fade to that horrible washed-out black look. And they’ve also been doing the same thing with whites, because white can turn a bit gray. Everybody tells you don’t put your bra in the washing machine, but they’re developing a very easy care bra so you can just chuck your bra and you don’t have to worry about washing it because it’s very durable. That’s something very important to women these days, because they haven’t got the time to worry about hand-washing bras every time they wear them.”

If these innovations aren’t exciting enough for any woman who has watched her alluring black push-up come out of the wash washed out, ratty, and decidedly unsexy, there are imminent innovations that will propel the bra into the future.

“Down the line there are more fun developments, like temperature-control bras with intelligent fabrics,” Jeffries says. “So if you go into a chilly room and your skin temperature is cool, your bra will warm you up, and alternatively, if you go somewhere and it’s very hot, it will do the opposite.”

The bra of the future will not only keep you comfortable and cool, it will also contribute to a cooler environment.

“A lot of the developments these days are very much about eco-fabrics,” Jeffries says. “We’ve got a bamboo range that’s been going very well. There have been a lot more brands coming out with bamboo, and consumers are getting a lot greener in the choices they want.”

In 100 years, the bra has evolved from a breast-suppressing strip of fabric to an omnipresent garment capable of boosting the busts, and the confidence, of all women. This, according to Files, is what makes the bra so significant.

“I think that everyone wants to be lifted up. If your breasts are supported, it improves your posture, it improves your mood, and it improves the way you look. That’s why bras are really important.”

Bra: The First 100 Years

1907: The word “brassiere” first appears in American Vogue.

1907: The loose dress designs of Parisian couturier Paul Poiret allow women to ditch the corset and adopt the brassiere. Poiret says, “it was in the name of Liberty that I proclaimed the fall of the corset and the adoption of the brassiere which, since then, has won the day.”

1910: American socialite Mary Phelps Jacob rejects the corset and fashions her own underwear from silk handkerchiefs and ribbon. The next year she is granted the U.S. patent for the brassiere.

1923: Russian immigrant Ida Rosenthal and her husband William create Maidenform. Rosenthal will go on to pioneer different cup sizes and patent a strap fastener.

1935: Warner releases the A’lure Bra, marking the first time a company uses the abbreviated version of the word “brassiere.”

1937: Warner creates the first cup sizing system. Many previous bras relied on stretchable cups for fit.

1940: World War II makes steel a precious commodity. This effectively kills the heavy steel corsets still worn by some women.

1950s: The missile bra look is popularized by Hollywood “sweater girls,” including Lana Turner and Jane Russell, who wear pointier bras and tight-fitting sweaters to accentuate the bust.

1951: Wrapture releases the Tres Secrete inflatable bra, which allows the wearer to inflate cups to the desired size by blowing in a straw.

1959: Lycra Fiber is invented by scientists at DuPont. This stretchy fiber makes it possible for bras to fit close to the body without sagging or losing their shape, allowing for more comfortable and better-fitting bras.

1964: The Wonderbra, which aims to “lift and separate the bust,” is launched. The Wonderbra will surge in popularity again in 1994 thanks to the “Hello, boys” ad campaign starring supermodel Eva Herzigova.

1968: Demonstrators at the Miss America pageant throw bras, corsets, nylons and other constricting clothing into a trash can to protest the effect of beauty standards on women. Although much has been made about feminists burning bras during this era, there is little evidence these events actually occurred.

1977: Underwear giant Victoria’s Secret is founded in San Francisco. By 1996 the company will have an annual revenue of nearly a billion dollars.

1977: Hinda Miller, Lisa Lindahl and Polly Smith sew two jock straps together and call it the Jogbra. The first sports bra is born.

1991: Madonna vogues her way around the world, wearing Jean Paul Gaultier’s famous conical bra for her Blonde Ambition tour.

1995: On an episode of “Seinfeld,” Kramer and Frank Costanza attempt to go into business selling a Velcro-fastened bra for men and argue whether to call it the “bro” or the “manssiere.”

1997: Italian manufacturer Santoni develops a circular knitting machine that allows bras to be sewn all at once, instead of sewing separate pieces together, making seamless bras possible.

1999: Soccer star Brandi Chastain strips off her jersey after scoring the winning penalty kick at the Women’s World Cup, revealing her sports bra and creating a media sensation.

– Some information courtesy figleaves.com
- Source: Katie Bain, Wisconsin State Journal