Bits Of Power And Pleasure

What two pieces of silk handkerchiefs together with some pink ribbon, some cord and the dissatisfaction of a 23-year old girl are able to? To give a final push to what we today see ‘normal’: a bra. Till then, on the waves of time, women’s breasts have been considered the source of food, power, pleasure, disease and money. They have been accentuated, exposed, hidden, worshipped, cursed. Although the patent of the bra, today, the year 1914 by American Mary Phelps Jacob (1891-1970) wasn’t technically a bra yet: it didn’t offer breasts a lot of support, it was lightweighted, soft, comfortable and naturally separated the breasts, didn’t force them together. It wasn’t the straightjacket of a corset anymore of the previous 300 years. 

Since the early twentieth century, the bra has fully developed, but the waves haven’t ceased, they never do. It’s designers who rule the waves, like Chanel (flattened boyish look), or Frederick Mellinger’s push-up bra (Hollywood’s Pin-Ups). Some decades later, super skinny Twiggy and the burning of bra’s made them disappear from the surface, to rise again with Gaultier’s extravaganza and Madonna his icon. Today, the ocean seems to be calmed down. There’s a flash of bra-straps, you might like it, or not, but it’s small stuff, a rimple. Now you see it, now you don’t. But like with all silences, there’s a storm growing somewhere. So, hold your brassiere till then. Image by Photobucket/lacyjay1828