Asia Sexiest Girls 037

The 1920s

As corsets became shorter during the later 1910s, a woman's bust received less bra. A low, sloping bustline become more fashionable. Brassieres from the late 1910s and early 1920s were merely slightly shaped bandeaus (bandeaux), holding the bust in and down by means of a clip attached to the corset.

This culminated in the "boyish" silhouette of the Flapper era of the 1920s, with little bust definition. The term Flapper was coined by the J. Walter Thompson advertising agency in the 1920s for their younger customers. Bra manufacturers were competing against "binders" that simply flattened the breasts. The androgynous ("boyish") or prepubescent figure then in style downplayed women's natural curves through the use of a bandeaux brassiere. It was relatively easy for small-busted women to conform to the flat-chested look of the Flapper era. Women with larger breasts tried products like the popular Symington Side Lacer, which when laced at both sides pulled and helped to flatten women's chests. Some 'bras' of the early 1920s were little more than camisoles, and they or a chemise were often worn in place of the now-aging corset or the newer bra.

In 1922, Russian immigrant Ida Rosenthal was a seamstress at the small New York City dress shop Enid Frocks. She and her husband William Rosenthal, along with shop owner Enid Bissett, changed the look of women's fashion. They noticed that a bra that fitted one woman did not fit another woman with the same bra size, and they thus developed the concept of cup size. They also developed bras for all ages. Their innovation was designed to make their dresses look better on the wearer. It increased the shaping of the bandeaux bra to enhance and support women's breasts: hence the name "Maidenform",^{[13] [14]} a play on the name of an earlier company, "Boyishform".^[9] The company they founded became the Maidenform manufacturing company.^[15] Maidenform routed Boyishform by 1924, accenting and uplifting rather than flattening the bust. Thus the modern 'supportive' uplifting bra was born. The major changes in design were the appearance of distinct cups, backless bras, and underwiring, and newer fabrics such as rayon, tricot, or milanese.

These fashion changes coincided with health professionals beginning to link breast care and comfort to motherhood and lactation, and campaigned against breast flattening (race-suicide), and the emphasis shifted from minimizing the breasts to uplifting and accenting them. Women, especially the younger set, welcomed the bra as a modern garment.

While manufacturing was beginning to become more organised, homemade bras and bandeaux were still quite popular, usually made of white cotton, but they were little more than bust bodices with some separation, and the elite favoured custom shops.

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