According to a delightfully daffy Bette Midler number from the film “Beaches,” the brassiere was invented — “to point the small ones to the sky/to keep the big ones high and dry” — by one Otto Titsling, who was moved to create the “over-the-shoulder boulder holder” for a voluptuous opera singer.
But in fact, we have one fed-up New York City socialite to thank for taking undergarments beyond the corseted style that ruled for at least 350 years prior. Here’s how her fashion dilemma led to true innovation and a century of ups and downs.
1914
Frustrated by bulky corsets poking out of her evening gowns, New York socialite Mary Phelps Jacob patents the design for a backless bra. “It was two handkerchiefs tied with a ribbon,” says Nicole Willis, a bra-fit expert at Intimacy lingerie boutique. The inventor peddled brassieres under the name Caresse Crosby for a short time, before selling the patent to Warner Brothers Corset Co. for $1,500.
1934
Shoulders are free to be bared with the invention of the strapless bra. Two years later, Warner’s comes up with a system that employs letters — A through D — to denote cup size. “The standardization … simplified stocks on merchants’ shelves and assured the wearer of a better fit. It also more than doubled sales,” notes the 1964 book “The Future Out of the Past,” by Arthur W. Pearce. By 2011, the measurement range extends to a whopping L cup.
1940
Breasts get a real boost in the late 1940s when Frederick Mellinger, the man behind Frederick’s of Hollywood, creates the first padded push-up bra.
1941
Tycoon and movie director Howard Hughes uses aeronautical engineering to develop the bullet bra: an underwire marvel with cartoonishly pointy cups. He intends for actress Jane Russell to wear it in “The Outlaw”; Russell later reveals it was so uncomfortable that she refused. Nonetheless, over the next decade, bombshells such as Jayne Mansfield (inset) embrace the exaggerated silhouette. “It’s when Hollywood really started to popularize fashion trends. The form-fitting sweaters were the rage at the time, as was having these pointy boobs poking out,” says Jené Luciani, the author of “The Bra Book.”
1949
Maidenform launches its iconic “I dreamed . . .” ad campaign. Among the depictions: women dressed as Cleopatra (“I dreamed I barged down the Nile in my Maidenform bra”), firefighters (“I dreamed I went to blazes . . .”) and a jack-in-the-box (yep — “I dreamed I was a jack-in-the-box . . .”).
1960
Janet Leigh raises eyebrows when she appears in just a bra and slip in “Psycho.” Two years later, the brassiere goes high-tech when Dupont introduces Lycra. “As far as innovation and fabric, that was probably the biggest thing to happen. [Manufacturers] were able to make cups that retained their shape,” says Luciani.
1968
As the highly structured “Mad Men” style gives way to free-spiritedness, “the droopy look came into vogue,” says Michelle Lam, founder of lingerie store trueandco.com. Feminists protest the Miss America pageant in Atlantic City by tossing their bras, makeup and high heels into a “Freedom Trash Can.” The media mistakenly terms the event a “bra burning,” creating a long-lasting myth. In reality, no bras were torched.
1977
A trio of Vermont women, inspired by the decade’s workout culture, invent the Jogbra — using, believe it or not, two jockstraps for the prototype. Twenty-two years later, the innovation gets a big show of support when soccer player Brandi Chastain rips off her shirt and exposes her Jogbra after winning the Women’s World Cup.
1987
A decade after Jane Russell begins hawking Playtex bras, the company becomes the first to show a woman in a bra in a commercial.
1990
1994
Hello, boys! Though the WonderBra was trademarked in 1935, it takes a relaunch — and an eye-popping ad campaign, starring Eva Herzigova — to capture the world’s attention. “According to the company, they sold one every 15 seconds,” says Luciani. Another pop-culture touchstone is set on “Seinfeld,” when Kramer dreams up “the bro,” a k a “the mansierre,” for George Costanza’s jiggling chest.
2001
The advent of a new millennium leads to bra empowerment, as ABC airs the “Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show” (with such supermodels as Gisele Bundchen, Heidi Klum, Tyra Banks and Molly Sims stalking the runway) for the first time. Four years later, “The Oprah Winfrey Show” stages a bra intervention for American women, declaring that most of them are wearing the wrong size. This changes the way women shop for undergarments, as fittings become commonplace.
2010
Katy Perry froths up America with her “California Gurls” video, featuring the pop star wearing a bra equipped with whipped-cream shooters.
2014
Underwear technology takes a futuristic turn, as PC Magazine predicts a “smart” bra that tracks fitness activity and Spanx debuts its Booty Bra — which promises to lift and separate butt cheeks. But the classic black bra prevails, as NYC-based intimates boutique Journelle reports that the color is their best seller.