Brasierre

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=110 BGCOLOR="#666699" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="04900840erlcjm.png"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" ><B>Mary's Poetry</B></FONT><B>     |     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Marys Poetry"><B>home</B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id17.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="About Me">About Me</A>   |   <A HREF="id20.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Hats">Hats</A>   |   <A HREF="id21.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="A Natural Woman">A Natural Woman</A>   |   <A HREF="id22.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="My Mont Blanc Pen">My Mont Blanc Pen</A>   |   <A HREF="id23.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Smell of a Woman">The Smell of a Woman</A>   |   <B>Brasierre</B></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=190 BGCOLOR="#CCCCFF" TEXT="#080000" background="04311c00egdysm.png"> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=370 width="100%" BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> Brasierre</div> <bR> <bR> <div>                 New York Socialite Mary Phelps Jacobs Patents the Brassiere</div> <bR> <div>                                               Mary Harycki</div> <bR> <bR> <div> In Ms. Jacobs’ day women were accustomed only to that</div> <div> stiff, whaleboned obstacle to female movement: the corset.</div> <bR> <div> A corset  locked a woman’s chest and bosom.</div> <div> The whalebones hurt like hell.</div> <div> So Ms. Jacobs designed a new undergarment,</div> <div> called the brassiere.</div> <bR> <div> Although bras have existed in one form or another since ancient times,</div> <div> credit for the invention of the modern brassiere was erroneously given</div> <div> to the suggestively named Otto Titzling, a German immigrant.</div> <div> In 1910, while working for his uncle, a women’s garment manufacturer,</div> <div> Titzling invented a chest halter for an opera singer, </div> <div> Swanhilda Olafsen, hearing her complain</div> <div> of the discomfort and pain and lack of support that corsets gave to her ponderous breasts,</div> <div> but Titzling neglected to patent his invention,</div> <div> so never received credit for its innovation. </div> <bR> <div> Most fashion historians have selected Mary Phelps Jacobs, </div> <div> a.k.a.  Caresse Crosby, as the first</div> <div> American inventor and populizer of the brassiere.</div> <div> (A word, incidentally, that first appeared in 1911 and may or may not</div> <div> have been derived from Paris dress designer Philippe de Brassiere,</div> <div> who is also said to have invented the brassiere.)</div> <bR> <div> But was it Philippe or Mary Jacobs who finally invented the bra?</div> <div> In 1913 Ms. Jacobs purchased an expensive sheer evening gown that clearly revealed her corset.</div> <div> This was definitely unacceptable and with the help of her maid,</div> <div> she devised a brief, backless bra from two white handerchiefs, a strand of ribbon, and cord.</div> <div> Female friends who admired Jacob’s lightweight, impromptu fashion received them as gifts.</div> <div> But when Jacobs received a letter from a stranger,</div> <div> containing a dollar and a request for her design,</div> <div> she decided she had better try and patent her invention.</div> <div> She did! </div> <bR> <bR> <div>  In 1914 the U.S. Patent Office awarded Jacobs a patent for the Backless Bassiere.</div> <div> Ms. Jacobs then went on to produce hundreds of handmade bras with the help of her friends.</div> <div> Later, Ms. Jacobs sold her patent rights to Warner Brothers of Bridgeport, CT,</div> <div> for either $1500 or $15,000, beginning what would become a profitable industry.</div> <bR> <div> Innovations that followed Mary Phelps Jacobs’ design:</div> <div> the padded bra of the 1920's,</div> <div> standard cup sizes, which were introduced in the 1930's</div> <div> by immigrant Ida Rosenthal, </div> <div> the founder, with her husband, of the Maidenform Company.</div> <div> Rosenthal designed a line of uplift bras</div> <div> like those shown in the Victoria’s Secret catalogue and stores of today.</div> <bR> <div> Nothing can match the Maidenform ads of the 50' and the 60's.</div> <div> Remember? </div> <div> In them a beautiful woman would appear,</div> <div> clothed in</div> <div> a Maidenform bra on top</div> <div> and for a variety of activities on the bottom.</div> <div> The caption:</div> <div> “I dreamed I </div> <div> (went horseback riding,</div> <div> fox-trottted,</div> <div> danced a ballet,</div> <div> got married,</div> <div> tried ecstasy,</div> <div> got divorced,</div> <div> fell in love with a Vietnam veteran,</div> <div> performed oral sex on the President,</div> <div> visited lepers in Malasia, etc.) </div> <div> in my Maidenform bra.”</div> <bR> <div> In 2001 there are bras of every shape and size:</div> <div> from the “no-bra bra” to the WonderBra,</div> <div> to the stretch-lace cami with corset seaming,</div> <div> to the stretch loungewear separates that sculpt and drape the body in ultra-sleek microfiber,</div> <div> to the Click Mircle Bra, the only bra that adjusts to let you create three levels of cleavage,</div> <div> to the emproidered balconette bra with a lower delcolletage and the subtle fit of the exclusive demi pad,</div> <div> to the strapless bra with lightly padded cups,</div> <div> to the Dream Angels Desire in beautiful stretch floral lace with scallopped edging and V charm,</div> <div> which will provide cleavage to any woman who wants it:</div> <div> The message is that bigger bosoms are better;</div> <div> most women have fallen for bulging tits.</div> <bR> <div> Of course Ms. Jacobs was not thinking along those lines when she registered her patent.</div> <div> Or was she?</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> Frn: brassiere</div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>