Dear Little Mermaids , welcome back to our weekly meeting for a " chat with friends " in front of a nice cup of steaming coffee. Did you know that if we wear a bra today it's all thanks to a woman ? That's why I decided to talk about a story that I'm really passionate about and I'm sure will win you over...
Make yourself comfortable to read and sip your coffee!
Needle, thread, two handkerchiefs and pink ribbon: here is the first bra in history
Before getting to the actual invention of the bra dated February 12, 1914 , let's take a step back in time. Not in all eras have women felt the need to enhance their neckline, for example, in Roman and Greek times women used to bind their breasts, while in the 18th century tight-fitting corsets were in fashion to tighten the waistline and enhance the neckline in bold and provocative way.
Like any self-respecting invention, the bra was also born from human creativity linked to a practical necessity. The young American Mary Phelps Jacob (also known as Caresse, Cassie or Polly, in short, a creative person starting from her name) was 23 years old in 1914. On the occasion of the debutante ball she had decided to wear a dress with a dizzying neckline , which however was not suitable for the rigid whalebone corset in use at that time. How to solve the problem? She was certainly not willing to give up the dress she had fallen in love with, so Mary ordered her maid to bring her " needle, thread and two pocket handkerchiefs" to sew together to support her breasts. The experiment succeeded brilliantly and the advantage of this new item of lingerie was that it guaranteed freedom of movement never seen before. The creation aroused the curiosity of Mary's high-ranking friends so much so that in February 1914 she filed the patent. The company she started, however, never really got off the ground and a few years later Mary, who in the meantime had changed her name to Caresse, decided to sell her patent to the Warner Brothers Corset Company for $1500. From that moment on it was a relentless escalation of creations of different models with cups, push-ups, underwires and in different materials up to the current trend of #nobra as a symbol of freedom, of re-appropriation of one's body and of rebellion against the imposed standards from society.
Do you think the end has come for the most famous lingerie item in history? If you use it, which one do you like to wear? Write it to me in the comments!
I'll leave you now, my coffee is getting cold and many new projects for you Little Mermaids are waiting for me! After all, summer is upon us and I couldn't be happier!