Female Inventors

Mary Phelps Jacob

In 1913, the first modern brassiere to be awarded a patented was invented by a New York socialite named Mary Phelps Jacob. Mary had just purchased a sheer evening gown for one of her social events. At that time, the accepted undergarments were corsets, stiffened with whaleback bones and steel rods. Mary found that the whalebones poked out visibly around the plunging neckline and under the sheer fabric, so with two silk hankerchiefs and some pink ribbon, the first bra was invented.

Mary's new undergarment went well with the new fashions being introduced at the time and demands from friends and family were high for the new brassiere. On November 3, 1914, she was awarded a patent for the "Backless Brassiere". Caresse Crosby was the business name Jacob used for her brassiere production. However, Jacob did not enjoy the business, so she sold the brassiere patent to the Warner Brothers Corset Company in Bridgeport, Connecticut for $1,500. The Warner Brothers Corset Company made $15 million dollars from the bra over the next 30 years.

The undergarment name "brassier" was derived from the old french word for "upper arm". Her patent was for a device that was lightweight, soft and separated the breasts naturally. The following describes the bra's evolution:

In 1875, manufacturers George Frost and George Phelps patented the "Union Under-Flannel" a no bones, no eyelets, no laces or pulleys underoutfit.
In 1893, a woman named Marie Tucek patented the "breast supporter", the device included separate pockets for the breasts and straps that went over the shoulder which were fastened by hook-and-eye closures.
In 1889, corset maker Herminie Cadolle invented the "Well-Being" or "Bien-être", a bra-like device sold as a health aid, the corset's support for the breasts had been squeezed up from below, Cadolle changed support to the shoulders down.
World War I dealt the corset a fatal blow when the U.S. War Industries Board called on women to stop buying corsets in 1917. It freed up some 28,000 tons of metal!
In 1928, a Russian immigrant named Ida Rosenthal founded Maidenform. Ida was responsible for grouping women into bust size categories (cup sizes).