Mary Phelps Jacob - Making Bras Comfortable

You probably don't give much thought to the background of the brassiere when you put one on each morning. You should! If it wasn't for a woman named Mary Phelps Jacob, you would be very uncomfortable.

Statistics show that many women do not wear the right bra size. This leads to complaints regarding the comfort of bras. If you are one of these women, you have no idea how good you have it. Look back 100 years and you find bras that were more torture device than breast support pieces. At that time, women were still wearing bra-corsets that were extremely restricting and used whale bone to hold everything in place. To say they were uncomfortable is a minor understatement. Whales weren't too happy either.

In 1913, the world of brassieres changed dramatically for the better. The women of the time were sick of feeling miserable and one woman in particular took action. Mary Phelps Jacob was a socialite in New York. She purchased a dress for an event that had a plunging neckline. The traditional whale bone corset looked horrific under the dress, so she needed an alternative. With some ribbon and two handkerchiefs, she came up with the first modern bra design.

The bra was a hit. Soon friends and family were asking her to make them versions of this new undergarment. When one paid her a dollar, the lights went on in her head. She could make a business out of it. Smartly, she immediately patented the bra design with the patent being issued on November 3, 1914. The world would never be the same.

Ironically, the bra really did not become a big hit until World War II. There wasn't any fashion trend that made the change occur. Instead, women went to work in factories and corsets were simply not a viable undergarment option when doing so. As the war progressed, the government also asked women to stop buying corsets as they steel used in them was needed for the war effort.

Obviously, the bra you wear today has advanced dramatically since 1913. Still, the 1913 bra created by Mary Phelps Jacob was the first patented bra that moved from the constricting, painful corset idea to the modern bra ideal...... For this reason, both women and whales owe her a debt of gratitude!