D
Looks like it probably was women, there is no way a man could come up
with something that complicated.
The First Bra Was Made of Handkerchiefs - The Atlantic
The bra was not invented on November 3, 1914. Women have been
binding and otherwise supporting their breasts for, literally, ages;
the first bras may well date back to ancient Greece, where women
would wrap bands of fabric across their chests, tying or pinning
them in the back. And the "brassiere," as a widespread concept—the
word comes from the French for "upper arm"—is generally thought
to have originated with the DeBevoise Company, which used the term in
advertisements for its whale-bone-supported camisoles.
(French, then as now, had a certain je ne sais quoi with English-speaking
consumers.) Vogue began talking about brassieres in 1907; in 1911, the
word merited an entry in the Oxford English Dictionary.
But the bra—the garment that lifts and separates, via cups and straps—became
part of the world, officially, on November 3, 1914. That was the day the
United States Patent and Trademark Office granted a patent to Mary
Phelps Jacobs for the garment she called a "brassiere."
with something that complicated.
The First Bra Was Made of Handkerchiefs - The Atlantic
The bra was not invented on November 3, 1914. Women have been
binding and otherwise supporting their breasts for, literally, ages;
the first bras may well date back to ancient Greece, where women
would wrap bands of fabric across their chests, tying or pinning
them in the back. And the "brassiere," as a widespread concept—the
word comes from the French for "upper arm"—is generally thought
to have originated with the DeBevoise Company, which used the term in
advertisements for its whale-bone-supported camisoles.
(French, then as now, had a certain je ne sais quoi with English-speaking
consumers.) Vogue began talking about brassieres in 1907; in 1911, the
word merited an entry in the Oxford English Dictionary.
But the bra—the garment that lifts and separates, via cups and straps—became
part of the world, officially, on November 3, 1914. That was the day the
United States Patent and Trademark Office granted a patent to Mary
Phelps Jacobs for the garment she called a "brassiere."
Mary Phelps Jacob, a busty woman, was found dead, possibly by drowned, at the side of a lake near a horse pasture yesterday. Cause of death has yet to be determined, but she had splinters through her bloomers, tar and feathers still on her, rope burns on her ankles and wrist that looked as if four horses were trying to draw and quarter her, buckshot in her, and was found next to a dunking post reminisent of Salem, Masschuettes in the 1600's.
To mourn her death, millions of women have been burning their bras at that site in the last 24 hours.
(Actually, if it weren't for her, chances are good, I really probably would be kneeing my "chest" at every step by now. And, thank you, Joan Rviers and Phylis Diller, for prepping me for this age in life as a women. Where were you, Carol Brady, when I needed you? lol)
