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Medieval

In the Middle Ages it was exceptional for women to restrict or support their breasts, and if they did, they used a cloth binder. A widely quoted statement is that an edict of Strasbourg in the Holy Roman Empire, dated 1370 states, "No woman will support the bust by the disposition of a blouse or by tightened dress." However an exact source has not been located. By the time of the Charles VII of France (1403-1461), a gauze drape was used over the bust.

Generally the Middle Ages minimised the breasts with straight bodices, full skirts and high collars, designed primarily for function rather than emphasis on form. The 15th Century ideal form was large breasted and full figured. By the time of the Renaissance décolletage became fashionable. There was some status to firm breasts in the upper classes, who did not breast feed. Infants were farmed out to wet nurses to feed, which was believed to be bad for maintaining an ideal form. Amongst the wealthier classes, the corset was beginning to appear. Catherine de' Medici (1519-1589, wife of King Henri II of France) was said to have prohibited wide waists at court in the 1550s.

A common error in thinking about the history of underwear is to assume that the elaborate constraints placed on women's figures over the years were universal. In fact corsetry made it virtually impossible to perform work, so much simpler functional garments were worn by women who worked inside or outside of the home. Support for the breasts was often provided by a simple tie under the breast line, in the bodice.

Early corsets of the 16th century, consisted of paste stiffened linen, and a primitive busk at the front, but later included iron supports at the side and back. The emphasis now was on form, with compression of the breasts forcing them upwards to the point of almost spilling out, so a considerable part of the breast was exposed. The ideal form was narrow waisted (hourglass), but voluptuous. The labouring class by contrast wore a simple front-lacing cotte.

The only period in which women were 'liberated', was the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars during which any garment associated with the aristocracy was frowned on, including décolletage. The breasts were often supported by a tie below the bust. In 1814 the court and the corset returned.

The history of the bra overlaps considerably that of the corset, from which it was derived. Some degree of emphasis of form can also be traced back to Greece, where a leather band style corset could be worn to give definition to the hips and bust under the Chiton. Early stays, as used in the seventeenth century did not involve the bodice directly, but concentrated on constricting the waist, indirectly thrusting up the upper body parts. With time the stay came to involve support in the upper front part of the body as well. These supported and raised the breasts. The term corset gradually replaced the stay. The décolletage was always visible, but until the 1920s breasts were always treated en masse (monobosom). It is important to realise that while the breasts were pushed out, they still essentially remained loose, or were flattened by overlying garments, unlike the modern encompassing constraints.

Source from : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki