Underwire - History

History

The precursor to the underwire bra can be traced back to at least 1893, when New Yorker Marie Tucek was granted a patent for a "breast supporter". The breast supporter was described as a modification of the corset, and was very similar to a modern push-up bra designed to support the breasts. It consisted of a plate made of metal, cardboard, or other stiff material, shaped to fit against the torso under the breasts, following the contour of the breasts. It was covered with silk, canvas, or other cloth, which extended above the plate to form a pocket for each breast. The plate curved around the torso and ended near the armpits, held in place and adjusted to a snug fit by shoulder straps that crossed the back, forming an X-shape. It was secured with hook-and-eye closures.

The underwire bra design emerged and took hold in the United States starting in the 1930s. Helene Pons received a patent in 1931 for a brassiere design that incorporated an "open-ended wire loop" that laid flat against the chest, encircling the bottom and sides of each breast. A 1932 patent describes a U-shaped piece of wire used between the cups to keep the breasts separated. A patent issued in 1938 to Pauline Boris describes a "breast support" which used pieces of wire to entirely encircle each breast. In 1940, Walter Emmett Williams was issued a patent which described a wire framework, shaped like a spiderweb, that encircles and covers each breast to provide support. Although development of the underwire bra started in the 1930s, it did not gain widespread popularity until the 1950s, when the end of World War II freed metal for domestic use.

In the 1940s, Howard Hughes had an underwire push-up bra designed for Jane Russell to emphasize her breasts in The Outlaw. According to Russell, the "ridiculous" contraption was painful and she wore her own bra during the movie. The brassiere is now in a Hollywood museum.

With the popularity and widespread use of the underwire bra that started during the 1950s, the underwire was incorporated into many bra designs, and underwire bras were built into other articles of clothing. By 1990, Norma Kamali had incorporated underwire bras into both one- and two-piece (bikini) swimsuits. Scott Lucretia was granted a patent for a camisole with an integrated underwire bra in 1989.

Underwire bras accounted for 60% of the United Kingdom bra market in 2000 and 70% in 2005. In 2001, 500 million bras were sold in the United States, of which approximately 70% (350 million) were underwire bras. As of 2005, underwire bras were the fastest growing segment of the market.