Wearing a
specialized garment to support a woman’s breasts dates as far back
as the 14th century BC in Greece where women wore a band of wool or
linen that was wrapped across the breasts and tied or pinned in the
back.
It is not clear who was the first to invent the modern bra, as
numerous patents in various nations were filed in the mid-19th to
early 20th centuries. However, Caresse Crosby, born Mary Phelps
Jacob, invented her design in 1910 and was among the first to patent
her 'backless brassiere'. She got the idea for her bra when she was
just 19 years old and going to a ball. Her dress for the evening was
a sheer gown. She, with the help of her maid, took two handkerchiefs
and some ribbon and sewed them together to make something like a
modern day bra, so she could have support, but not need to wear a
corset.
Frederick Mellinger, founder of Frederick’s of Hollywood, introduced
a padded bra, a push-up bra, a front hook bra, and more colorful
bras. The most expensive bra in history, valued at $15 million, was
modeled in 2000 by Gisele Bundchen and made from red satin and
hand-cut Thai rubies and diamonds.
Corsets dominated the undergarments of wealthier women in the
Western world for centuries, until WWI required quite a bit of
metal. In 1917, the US War Industries Board asked American women to
help their 'men win the war' by not wearing or buying corsets. During
the war it is estimated that they freed up around 28,000 tons of
steel that could be used for
other types of heavy lifting.