Unless you were a lucky Greek athlete, for centuries women never wore bras or anything like a bra. It wasn’t until the early 1500’s that some knucklehead designed the corset in France. They became very popular despite how uncomfortable they were because they helped give women an hour glass figure which was considered just perfect in attracting men. Corsets must have been as uncomfortable as can be because whalebone or wood was sewn into the casing of the garment to hold its shape.

For four centuries women endured the torture of wearing corsets. Why, you may ask. It pushed the breasts up and together. Her boobs would literally fall over the top of her dresses to make a type of shelf for her bust. The women of that time period must have been rather promiscuous ladies, or they just didn’t know better.

Today, a woman gets home, and one of the first thing she does is take off her bra for relief. Ahhh! The comfort of releasing that taut and restrictive piece of clothing. The straps dig into our shoulders and leave indentations. Our backs are finally free from elastic when the bra is removed. Freedom for our tatas is home at last! How did those women put up with corsets in which they were tied into day after day for years suffering that pain and agony?

In 1907, the name brassiere was published and distributed worldwide. It was a version of a split corset. By this time, the term “brassiere” even made it into the Oxford English Dictionary. In 1914, the modern bra (as we know it) was invented by Mary Phelps Jacobs. It was described as being soft, silky, and naturally separated the breasts. Sounds good, but I would have liked to have seen it. With Mary’s bra, that meant the end of the corset. Good riddens!

During the 1930’s, we see the sizing of cups A, B, C, D come onto the scene which we have today. This allowed for sizing and better shaping. Around the same time, other improvements were made, as well. Lo and behold! Next came adjustable straps, padded cups, and eye and hook closures. Not much has changed.

Women weren’t keen on just being held into their bras. They wanted cleavage, too. By 1947, Frederick Mellinger (Frederick’s of Hollywood) introduced a push-up bra. Sexy was back!

Oh, dear! Weren’t women getting enough attention in the boob area? Next came the bullet bra of the 1950’s. Oh, to look like the stars of Hollywood! Women dreamed of looking like Marilyn Monroe, Lana Turner, or Patti Page. These cone-shaped bras were all the rage! Especially in a sweater!

Women were getting sensible by the 1970’s, and in 1977 the sports bra was invented. It was also called the jog bra because it keep us still and firm while exercising, jogging, and doing sports. Smart move. Probably more comfortable, too.

The last bra to come out was other than minimizers, changes in materials, and different sized straps was the memory foam bra. This is a high tech bra that’s based on the body’s temperature. If a bra is that smart, I’m not sure I want to wear it.

I’ve lived through bra burning and all sorts of changes with boulder holders. I like what Amie Kaufman said, “ Good bras are expensive, and you have to wash them extra carefully or you quickly find yourself buying another expensive bra. Don’t get me started on the whole underwire thing. Humanity is a race capable of interstellar travel, and nobody’s invented a bra for girls my size that doesn’t feel like prison. Here is the truth universally acknowledged – taking that thing off at the end of the day is the single greatest feeling in the world.”

Some people will have no clue. The rest of us can identify with all this.