Well, I’ve been strapping one on for years now. The old brassiere. Better known as the bra.
Someone would have probably come up with the idea sooner or later, but as history stands, a German woman named Christine Hardt holds the patent for the first modern brassiere.
Oh, Christine. You had no idea what you were starting.
This whole monkey business began on September 5, 1889.
Christine Hardt was a German housewife and — well — an inventor.
Little is known about her life. She came from Dresden, which is on the east side of Germany, very near the Czech country, whatever it is called these days.
Anyway, Christine was a teacher for therapeutic gymnastics. She also worked as a masseuse for a doctor and sanatorium operator named Heinrich Lahmann. So it sounds like she was one of those big German women who could bend you in two like a pretzel.
What inspired her to devise a bra? I do not know. Maybe it was her own discomfort in whatever she had been strapped into all her life.
Her invention, registered with the Imperial Patent Office, was officially called a “woman’s body as a breast carrier.” The specific number of the thing was patent no. 110888. Now, if you turn an eight on its side, it kind of looks like a pair of breasts. There are a LOT of eights in that patent number.
Her description of the patent is quite interesting. She describes the structure and functionality of the bodice. Her first bra was made up of handkerchiefs and men’s suspenders tied together. To quote the actual words: “The main purpose of this bodice is to keep the breasts upright without impairing the function of a healthy breast in any way. ”
Apparently, both the breast “container” and the straps were adjustable and could be made to fit the size of the breast. Another quote: “This should avoid harmful pressure on the chest organs, as was the case with restrictive corsets.”
Most women wear a bra every day, and I can’t remember ever hearing many of them say they absolutely love wearing a bra.
For a long time, we strapped ourselves into corsets. And girdles. Women still wear hose, which, well, are, umm — hose.
But back to bras. Here’s a thing. Mark Twain invented and patented the bra clasp. He didn’t mean to, really. He hated suspenders and was looking to invent a better way to latch them. He came up with the clasp, which did not work well on those suspenders, but was perfect for the bra. And so it began.
Cup sizes are another matter. In 1937, someone came up with the “cup” measurement sizes, a simple system of A, B, C, and D. It didn’t take long until someone else came up with their nicknames: egg cup, tea cup, coffee cup, and challenge cup. A man, I’m sure.
Sports bras are an entirely different story. Apparently, the first sports bra was two jock straps stitched together.
And finally. My favorite bra story. There are cows in Russia who own hand-made fur bras. They have been fitted with this apparel to help survive the biting cold. The bras have been designed to save cows’ udders from frostbite. I love to think that there are cows out there, right now, wearing little “udder warmers.”
So much is “out there” about bras. I couldn’t possibly tell it all here. But our “modern” bras, the ones we know today, all started with Christine Hardt. Just a little story to perk up your day.
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“You either know fashion or you don’t.” – Anna Wintour
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“Style is a way to say who you are without having to speak.” – Rachel Zoe
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“Clothes mean nothing until someone lives in them.” – Marc Jacobs
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The things that go into a bra. Oh. We know.
