FashBlog.com

It's an item of clothing that is rarely seen in public (one hopes) but is still a staple of fashion, available in all colors of the rainbow in hundreds of patterns and a multitude of styles. They range in price from $7 to $1 million, and in size from AA to whatever those scary ladies on the cards in Spencer's wear. Ladies, it's yet another garment we love to hate...gentlemen, it stands between you and your gal...the Brassiere, more commonly known by the short version, the Bra.

I remember my first real bra...it was a white cotton non-underwire, size 34B, with a little blue flower between the cups. I ALSO remember the day it kept peeking through the V-neck of my sweater, and how my 4th grade teacher Mrs. Garman saw my distress and took me to the restroom and used a safety pin to alleviate the source of my nearly fatal embarrassment. Thank you, Mrs. Garman...I've never forgotten that after all these years. Ever after, even right up to this very day as I type this, my bra and I have had a love-hate relationship. Sometimes it seems I spend at least an hour every day futzing with it, picking up the straps, pulling it down in the back, stuffing the girls back in it...it's downright exhausting. But then again, when I imagine wandering around in public without it, I break into a cold sweat and suddenly the futzing isn't so bad.

Throughout history, women have used a wide variety of materials to restrain or uplift their breasts. Bikini like garments can be seen as early as the 7th century BC on Greek women athletes, and as most of the gals out there know if you have breasts it's nearly impossible to do anything that requires running or jumping without some kind of support, so this early use doesn't surprise me a bit. From the 16th century to the 1930's the corset was ever popular, and it pushed the breasts up for an enhanced appearance with lovely decolletage. Too bad women couldn't breath properly and kept passing out, eh? Beauty has its price, I suppose.

The design of a garment that gave the breasts equal roundness was first seen in 1859, designed by Henry S. Lesher of Brooklyn, NY...and in 1889 a French woman named Herminie Cadolle presented the first truly modern bra in a corset catalog, for the first time making the corset a reasonably comfortable, two piece affair. To this day, the company credits her with freeing all women from the horror of the corset. The description actually reads: "designed to sustain the bosom and supported by the shoulders". Fascinating!

In 1910, a woman named Mary Jacobs wanted to wear a sheer evening gown but was unable to find a bra to wear under it without it showing...she used to handkerchiefs, some ribbon and some cord to fashion the first non-wired bra. The original MacGyver, sounds like, doesn't she? In 1941, Howard Huges was filming a movie and didn't like the way Jane Russell's bust appeared, so he put his skills to work and engineered the first true underwire bra.

In the 1960's, women began to see the brassiere as a symbol of oppression and began to have bonfires to burn them in celebratory fashion. I just KNOW some of them were totally sorry after they did, too...especially those who burned that one special bra that fit JUST RIGHT. Personally, I'm not sure what's the slightest bit liberating about having my size 38DD boobs flopping around while I try to get stuff done, but to each his own, I guess.

Since then, women have not only re-embraced the bra but have turned it into a multi-billion dollar business. When Victoria's secret came onto the scene full force, women were able to have an even louder voice and extensive choice regarding styles and fabrics. In the time since I began wearing a bra way back in 1979, things have sure changed...back then, your choices were either white, black, beige and pink if you were lucky. In the mid 80's, bras became available in trendy colors and patterns, but mostly in average sizes. Thankfully, this trend continues and folks have realized that even gals with bigger breasts like to be fashionable too.

The real question is this...if no one but us sees it, why do we care what it looks like? Why is this item so 'hot' in the fashion world? Well, for me, I wear bras to suit my mood, and I can then hide my mood under the clothes that are better fit for public wear. Sometimes I wear cotton, sometimes satin...it all depends on how I feel. And nothing, NOTHING, makes me feel more sexy, confident and gorgeous than when I find the perfect bra that fits me 'just so'. What is that exactly? It's when I put it on, and I forget about it all day long until I get home and change. It lifts me up the right way, doesn't show through my clothes, and when I think of the color or pattern it makes me smile...so from a fashion standpoint, the more choices that women have the more they'll purchase; that's a win win situation for everyone involved.