The Development of the Brassiere

The Development of the Brassiere


The brassiere is perhaps the secret touch of exotica in every woman's wardrobe. Throughout history this piece of clothing has been an object of seduction, glamour, or oppression depending on one's stance. Women have always tried to enhance their female figures by squeezing themselves into restricting uncomfortable garments. Waists have been reduced and bust lines have been increased, decreased, flattened or spread out, depending on what is fashionable. Far from being an imposition, the brassiere has emerged in the twentieth century as a major component of clothing for the modern women. By becoming a material and social artefact the brassiere has developed into becoming the focal point of a multimillion dollar industry which will be examined in this essay.
The brassiere has played a practical, as well as aesthetic role and it was during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century that this caused bitter arguments. The traditional view, that tight fitting corsets were beneficial to women's moral character and physical stance were challenged by the Pre-Raphaelites, with their un-corseted aesthetic dress. Janey Morris was one of the leaders of this Artistic dress movement in late nineteenth century England. She and her circle preferred loose, drapey styles, coloured with vegetable dyes and decorated with embroidery ( Farrell-Beck 1). Contrary to Morris's beliefs some of the women who wished to shed the corset were undoubtedly deterred by the social opprobrium of being "loose" un-corseted women which had an all to close association with prostitution. Another factor hindering the switch to brassieres during its early stages has been contributed to the financial costs of switching from the traditional customary dress of corsets.


Nevertheless, in 1910 brassieres rather than corsets had become the source of increased business in department stores. The New York Times trumpeted about the
opening of Macy's new brassiere department. The softening of women's dress silhouettes and the reduction in the weight and bulk of their clothing helped pave the way for the acceptance of brassieres. The case for the brassiere was furthered by the expansion of women's work, recreation, and public roles. Within this period two phases were evident