Archive | August, 2012

Bra History Revisited: By 1491, Only the World Remained Flat

8 Aug

By Adam Welsch
Cupid Intimates

What if someone told you that, contrary to what you’d always heard, Coco Chanel was not the first person to introduce the little black dress to the world?  Or, that Diane von Furstenberg didn’t invent the wrap dress or that Levi Strauss wasn’t the first person to create blue jeans?  You’d probably be stunned.

Well, for the past century, it’s been accepted as fact that the bra, as we know it, was first created either in the late nineteenth century by Frenchwoman Herminie Cadolle, or in the early twentieth century by American socialite Mary Phelps Jacob, who received a American patent for it.  According to either story, the bra was born from the desire to create a supportive undergarment for the breasts that was both more practical, and more comfortable, than the corset, which had been the centerpiece of women’s lingerie since the middle of the sixteenth century.  (more…)