What Is a Bra?

Where does the bra come from?

The bra has no single inventor: bra-like garments appear in a 4th-century AD mosaic and in late-medieval finds, and the modern bra took shape through patents from 1863 to 1914. The popular story of a single 1914 invention compresses that longer history.

Early breast support

The Museum at FIT points to a mosaic at the Villa Romana del Casale in Sicily, dating to the early 4th century AD, which shows women athletes in bra-like garments. At Lengberg Castle in Austria, archaeologists found linen “proto-brassieres” that radiocarbon dating places between the late 14th and the second half of the 15th century.

For most of the following centuries the corset did the work instead. The same museum says it remained the essential foundation garment from the Renaissance into the early 20th century. It was stiffened with whalebone and grew more constricting with the straight-front style of the early 1900s.

The patents

• 1863: Luman L. Chapman’s patent described fabric “breast puffs” with elastic shoulder-brace straps (Museum at FIT).
• 1893: Marie Tucek patented a breast supporter with separate pockets for the breasts and shoulder straps fastened by hooks and eyes (Lemelson-MIT Program).
• 1914: Mary Phelps Jacob, who later traded as Caresse Crosby, filed a patent titled “Brassiere” on 12 February 1914; it was granted on 3 November 1914 (US 1,115,674). One of its stated aims was a garment with no back, so that it would not interfere with the design of an evening gown. Another was freedom from bones.

Myth vs fact: the 1914 “first bra”

Jacob is often called the inventor of the bra. The Lemelson-MIT Program says she made her first version in 1913 from two silk handkerchiefs and pink ribbon, and calls it the first modern brassiere. Yet the same page says Marie Tucek appears to have patented the first brassiere in 1893, and notes that Jacob’s design had no cups. The Museum at FIT calls Jacob’s patent the most frequently referenced, dates Chapman’s patent to 1863, and says Jacob’s design was not a huge commercial success. Jacob later sold the patent to the Warner Brothers Corset Company for $1,500 (Lemelson-MIT Program). The fair summary: hers is the best-known early bra patent, not the first.

Through the 20th century

The Museum at FIT says the bra was established as an essential undergarment by 1917. The slim ideal of 1920s flapper fashion favoured the bandeau, cut to cover and contain the bust rather than lift it. Cup sizing followed. The Lemelson-MIT Program credits Ida Rosenthal, who founded Maidenform in 1928, with grouping women into bust-size categories, or cup sizes. University of Portsmouth researchers say alphabet sizing was developed in the 1930s and originally went only up to a D cup.

At mid-century, “overwire” bras arched over the breasts rather than lifting from below. Corsetry for the hourglass shape of Christian Dior’s New Look often had underwire cups (Museum at FIT). In 1965 Rudi Gernreich introduced his “no bra” bra in sheer nylon with no structure at all.

One story needs correcting. Protesters at the Miss America pageant in Atlantic City on 7 September 1968 threw bras, girdles and curlers into a “Freedom Trash Can”, but Smithsonian Magazine reports that no bras were burned. The “bra-burning” label grew from a New York Post preview that suggested the protesters would burn bras.

What makes a bra a bra?

A bra is defined by shaped cups or panels that hold each breast, anchored by a band around the ribcage and, usually, shoulder straps. Its parts are:

• Band: the elasticated strip that circles the ribcage, usually fastened at the back with hooks and eyes.
• Cups: unlined, lined, moulded or padded, sometimes cut from lace.
• Centre front: the section between the cups, also called the gore, which should lie flat against the breastbone.
• Straps: usually adjustable; on some styles they detach or reposition.
• Underwire: an optional curved wire in a channel beneath each cup; a bra without one is called wireless or soft-cup.

What are the main types of bra?

Bras are mainly sorted by whether they have a wire, how much of the breast the cup covers, and how they are held up.

How do you tell a well-made bra?

A well-made bra is one that fits you, so the test happens on the body. Fasten it, adjust the straps and check the five points that University of Portsmouth researchers used as professional fit criteria (Jenny White and colleagues, Ergonomics, 2012).

The five-point fit check

• Band: too tight if flesh bulges over it; too loose if it rides up when you lift your arms overhead.
• Cups: too big if the fabric wrinkles; too small if breast tissue bulges above, below or at the sides.
• Underwire: wrong if it sits on breast tissue under the arm or at the centre.
• Straps: too tight if they dig in; too loose if they slide off the shoulder and cannot be shortened.
• Centre front: should touch the breastbone along its length.

In that scheme a bra passes if it shows no faults, or if moving to another set of hooks or adjusting the straps corrects them.

Why the tape measure is not enough

In the same study of 45 women, the traditional tape-measure method overestimated band size in 76% and underestimated cup size in 84%. The gap was larger for bigger busts. The researchers suggest judging fit by the criteria above, and re-checking it regularly, rather than relying on a number. Treat the size on the label as a starting point and try neighbouring sizes.

Read the fibre label

Bands and straps usually need stretch, so look for a stretch fibre on the label. Under US law, a fibre below 5% of the total fibre weight is normally listed only as “other fiber”. It may be named if it has a clearly established functional significance; the FTC rule’s own example is “96 percent Acetate, 4 percent Spandex” (16 CFR 303.3). Small percentages of spandex on a bra label are therefore usually there for stretch and recovery, not decoration.

Red flags

• A band that rides up at the back when you raise your arms.
• Wrinkled cup fabric that remains after you have adjusted the straps.
• A centre front that floats away from the breastbone.
• Straps that dig in or carry too much of the weight.

How do you wear a bra?

Choose the bra for the neckline, fabric and activity of what goes over it.

• Fine knits and close-fitting jersey: a smooth, moulded cup avoids lace texture or seams showing through.
• Deep V necklines: a plunge keeps the centre front below the opening.
• Strapless and off-the-shoulder styles: a strapless bra, which depends on a firm band.
• Halter and racer backs: a convertible bra whose straps can be rerouted to follow a halter neckline.
• Exercise: a sports bra rather than an everyday bra.
• On show: a lace bralette under a sheer shirt or an open jacket is a deliberate choice, not an accident; pick one finished neatly enough to be seen.