What Is a Bustier?

Where does the bustier come from?

No single source dates the first bustier: Britannica places it in fashion by the 1950s, and related waist-cinching garments go back to wartime Paris. Sources use different names for these garments, and Merriam-Webster dates the first known use of the English word to 1978. Merriam-Webster traces the name to French bustier, from buste (bust).

The 1940s and 1950s: guêpière, waspie and merry widow

Britannica treats the bustier, the guêpière and the waspie as one garment and says it had become fashionable by the 1950s. The Victoria and Albert Museum draws a narrower line. Its record for a British waspie of about 1947 calls the waspie a belt-girdle that cinched the waist into an exaggerated hourglass figure.

The same record says the waspie emerged in Paris during the Second World War. It became essential to the wasp-waisted New Look that Christian Dior launched in 1947. In London, where post-war rationing was still in force, corsets were forbidden except on doctors' orders, which made the new silhouette hard to achieve.

The Museum at FIT dates Warner's first line of "Merry Widow" foundation garments to 1952, inspired by the film The Merry Widow released that year. The line was designed to reduce the waist by up to 3 inches. The museum describes its own example, from about 1957, as a corset. So whether a 1950s guêpière or merry widow counts as an early bustier depends on which source you follow. The V&A and FIT records agree on the waist-cinching aim, not on the name.

The bustier as an outer garment

Merriam-Webster's definition already allows for both roles: a top worn as a bra or as an outer garment. The V&A's record reflects the first role: it catalogues its bustier of about 2000 as underwear. That piece is black-and-white checked, with a central mesh panel trimmed with rows of sequins and attached suspenders.

What makes a bustier a bustier?

A bustier is a tight-fitting, often strapless top that can be worn as a bra or on its own as an outer garment, which is how Merriam-Webster defines it. The V&A's bustier of about 2000 shows the parts that can give one structure: moulded cups with underwire, vertical boning at the front and back, and a hook-and-eye closure at the centre back.

Bustier, corset and waspie compared

A strapless bra also supports the bust, but a bustier carries on down the torso as a bodice. A bodysuit goes further still, closing between the legs. A camisole hangs from straps and usually has no boning to do the holding.

What are the main types of bustier?

Bustiers divide mainly by role: lingerie worn under clothes, and tops worn on their own. The sources cited here support the distinctions below.

How do you tell a well-made bustier?

You tell a well-made bustier by its boning, cups, closure and label. All four can be checked in a fitting room.

Boning and seams

• Run a finger down the front and back and count the bones. The V&A's example has vertical boning at both front and back; if you find no bones, the fabric alone is doing the holding.
• Press the top and bottom end of each bone through the fabric. You should feel a rounded, covered tip. A sharp end or a bone that has worn through its channel is a red flag.
• Look at the bodice from the inside. On a boned bodice each bone should sit in its own stitched channel, not loose behind a lining.

Cups and closure

• Squeeze gently under each cup to find the underwire, then check that both wire ends are fully covered.
• Count the rows of eyes on a centre-back hook-and-eye closure, as on the V&A's example. More than one row lets you tighten the band as the fabric relaxes.
• Fasten it, raise both arms and turn. If the top edge slides down or gapes, the bustier is too large in the band, whatever the cup size says.

Reading the label

In the US, fibre content must be listed by weight in descending order of predominance, according to the Federal Trade Commission's labelling guide. Stretch fibre can appear as spandex or elastane; the FTC accepts either name. The FTC guide says a fibre under 5% should be disclosed as "other fiber". It may be named, though, if it has a definite functional significance, such as a small amount of spandex for elasticity.

Three label lines are worth knowing on a bustier. "Exclusive of elastic" means elastic in the base fabric covers no more than 20% of the surface area. Decorative trim covering no more than 15% of the surface need not be listed; the label should then add "exclusive of decoration". A lining used only for structure need not be disclosed either, so the label may tell you nothing about what sits against your skin; look inside.

How do you wear a bustier?

Wear a bustier either under clothes as a bra or on its own as a top. Choose the role before you buy, because the finish differs. Practical pairings for a bustier worn as a top:

• Under an open blazer or jacket, so the bodice shows only at the centre front.
• With high-waisted trousers or a skirt whose waistband meets the bustier's hem, so no gap opens when you sit.
• Over a fine shirt or T-shirt, which turns a lingerie-weight piece into daywear and keeps boning off the skin.

Worn as lingerie, a bustier needs a smooth outer layer: lace, cup seams and bone channels show through thin knits. Unlike a crop top, a bustier is fitted to hold its shape, so size by the band first and the cup second.