Brassieres - Culture and Fashion

Culture and Fashion

Bras were invented around the beginning of the 19th century but are not universally worn around the world. The majority of Western women choose to wear bras to conform to what they feel are appropriate societal norms and to improve their physical appearance. Wearing a bra can boost a woman's self-confidence. Many Western women place a great deal of importance on their physical appearance, especially the shape of their body. Western media, especially advertising, emphasize a woman's body shape, especially her breasts.

Women choose to wear a particular style of bra for a variety of reasons. Their choices are consciously or unconsciously affected by social perceptions of the ideal female figure reflecting her bust, waist, and hip measurement. Fashion historian Jill Fields wrote that the bra "plays a critical part in the history of the twentieth-century American women's clothing, since the shaping of women's breasts is an important component of the changing contours of the fashion silhouette." Bras and breast presentation follow the cycle of fashion.

Each fall, Victoria's Secret commissions the creation of a Fantasy Bra containing gems and precious metals. In 2003, it hired the jeweller Mouawad to design a bra containing more than 2,500 carats of diamonds and sapphires. It took more than 370 person-hours to make. German supermodel Heidi Klum posed in what was at the time the world's most expensive bra, valued at USD$10 million (about £5m). In 2010, it hired designer Damiani to create a US$2 million Fantasy Bra. It includes more than 3,000 brilliant cut white diamonds, totaling 60 carats, and 82 carats of sapphires and topazes.