One famous bra designed in the 1930s was the Kestos bra and later the Kestos Utility Bra shown right. Its simple seaming looks classy and could be effective today.

Warners Introduce Cup Sizing 1935

Bra history took on a new dimension when in 1935, Warners introduced four cup sizes called A, B, C and D, but it was well into the 1950s before Britain followed this American standard.  The British corset manufacturers were still using coy descriptions like junior and medium to describe breast fullness.

Bosoms were dethroned and separate breasts were really acknowledged.

Utility Bras 1940s

Fashion history is always affected by material shortages during and immediately after wars. In the war era after 1940, bras were made from minimal fabric when they bore the Utility mark. Utility bras were serviceable bras using broche, a cotton backed satin or drill and often peach pink in colour.  Supplies were very limited and were best ordered.  Twilfit manufactured utility bras and Twilfit were a household name for roll-ons and bras in the 1950s.

Women also made their own bras from paper patterns or magazine guidelines for making bra and French knicker sets.  The fabric they used was sometimes parachute silk, parachute nylon or old satin wedding dresses.  Once the 1950s arrived changes in textile technology saw new developments in all underwear items, but particularly in the costume history of bras.

Sweater Girl Glamour 1950s

The conical bra was the bra that gave the support silhouette for girls who longed to emulate the curves of film star sweater girls like Lana Turner and Jane Russell.  Bra history changed for the better as bras began to be revolutionized by the use of nylon, making them lighter, prettier and easier to wash. 

The 1960s All Change

Picture of Berlei bra.By the 1960s well designed bras by Exquisite Form, Berlei, Twilfit, Lovable, Silhouette, Playtex and the Marks & Spencer St. Michael range were thought ideal under knitted sweater dresses.

Soon Elastomerics transformed foundation garments with power net fabric.  Early styling found in bra history became out of tune with modern sixties bra design.  The old elastic bra backs and straps were replaced by the newer Courtauld's Spanzelle or Lycra fittings.  Overstretched rotted rubber bits that made bras lose their grip were gone forever.

Burn That Bra

When Yves St. Laurent designed a sheer blouse worn without a bra, feminists demanded women burn their bras.  It was all metaphoric and only a dustbin was ever used to dispose of bras.  But this claim has gone down in bra history despite the fact that so few women really abandoned their bras.  Those who needed support knew they could never seriously do without a bra.  But many smaller breasted women did stop wearing bras beneath opaque garments.  Few were really brave enough to do it with a sheer top, but it did herald changes for the decade.

By 1964 Rudi Gernreich designed the 'no bra bra' which was light, made of see through stretch netting and very simply shaped, but only really suitable for the small breasted woman.  But from this, the idea of a body stocking in transparent material was developed by Warners in 1965.

The concept simply fitted in with the woman of the 1960s wanting to choose what she did, rather than be told she must wear a bra.  Old habits were changing. Many older women had worn bras to bed believing breasts should be supported during sleep, now bras were removed at night or abandoned altogether as attitudes changed.

Corsets such as those by Spirella were still worn and were still available.  Longline bras to the waist from Marks & Spencer were very popular to keep that midriff in control.  Redesigning the body contours in the gym was rather unusual then.  To control wayward lumps and bumps one dieted and bought the correct power elastic foundation garments.

In the 60s many bras like those by Lovable had a very fine layer of foam latex rubber bonded to the top lace fabric and which made the cups stand up on end.  They were comfortable bras that gave a good reliable rather pointed firm shape fashionable at the time.

The Original Gossard Wonderbra 1968 -1990s

Memorable bra history was made when Gossard launched its Wonderbra campaign in 1968.  The byline went something like this - 'makes 34 look 36, makes 36 look pow...'. It was and is still true.  Initially 36C was the top size of this revolutionary under wired bra that was a must for V neck dresses of the late sixties.  Low necked V caftans were transformed by the cleavage from a Wonderbra.  Eventually demand led to larger sizes being produced and its is made today up to size 38D.

Those who longed for one, but were just one size too big simply bought a bra replacement fastener and used it as an extender.  They just hoped for the best and as the breasts were all pushed to the front a little pain was worth it to get the cleavage that no other bra could produce.  False inserts of extra wadding or foam rubber could be inserted into little pockets in the Wonderbra to give a little more fullness where the bust was lacking.  Eventually as women got larger, manufacturers increased the size range of such push bras.

In the 1990s when silicone breast implants and other implants caused scares, many women looked to bras to improve their breast size.  The Wonderbra was a huge hit and bestseller all over again in the 1990s.