Mary Phelps Jacob and the invention of the bra
The New York It-girl Mary Phelps Jacob invented in 1914 the bra. It became an blockbuster around woman and still plays an major role in today's fashion. Let's talk about it.
On 3th November 1914, in mid of the First World War, Mary Phelps Jacob received the patent for one then not maybe the most important innovation in the female world of fashion. Bothered by the tightness of her corset, the American invented in short time the bra.
Born in 1891, the daughter of William Hearns Jacob and Mary Phelps, she had her finger on the pulse of the times. Until then, at least in better circles, it was considered good style for women to force their upper bodies into a corset. This was so-called self-mortification. No one likes pieces of overweight to be visible, something which hasn't changed till today. However, back in days no "wonder drinks for weight loss" were used, but corsets. This is because the tight-fitting body piece was pressed against the body with metal or whalebone, so that the ribs and kidneys were squeezed. This caused the effect of looking way more tighter and fitter.
Looking at the popularity of the bra over the last decades, you must think that such innovation took a long time to create. Well, no.
Mary Phelps Jacobs, needed no time at all. It all started with an problem. The evening gown she had chosen for a debutante ball was so captivating with its reduced fabric that the corset could be seen. However, her remarkable bust size made it seem necessary to shield the breasts in some way. So she picked up the needle herself and, with the help of a servant, made her backless bra out of two silk handkerchiefs and pink ribbons.
What she didn't expected in this moment was the success of her innovation. Many upper-class women in New York saw their problems solved in one fell swoop and were happy to pay the then hefty price of one dollar for the easy miracle called "Backless Brassiere". As a result, Mary Phelbs Jacob applied for a patent for her invention in February 1914, not only for economic but also for political reasons. The 22-year-old was also enthusiastic about women's rights, which included giving up the corset. Something shown in her dog's name, which was Clytoris.
Despite some people already before presenting early forms of bras, it was Mary Phelb's Jacob who ended up getting famous for the fashion piece. This is probably due to here social position as an celebrated It-Girl and her earlier efforts in increasing woman rights. After her first marriage, she married the poet and banker's son Harry Crosby in 1922, from then on called herself Caresse Crosby, wrote books, became a publisher in Paris, owned a racing stable and ran an art gallery in Washington.
However, the fact that the bra became today's billion-dollar business was not only due to its acceptance in better circles, and calls for more rights for woman, but also to the First World War. After the U.S. entered the war in 1917, the War Department asked women to stop wearing corsets. The metal used in it would be used for weapons. Millions of American women gladly complied with the demand and exchanged their corsets for bras. It is said that 28,000 tons of metal were collected in this way. Another reason for the abandonment of the corset may have been the working conditions in industry. Because there women took the places of the men who went to war. All this helped getting the bra to an accepted fashion piece and freed the woman from exhausting corsets.
However, the big business wasn't Phelps Jacobs' cup of tea. She sold her patent for $1500 and devoted herself to her sex parties, writing, and other social commitments. The big business with bras was made by the Warner Brothers Corset Company. Despite that, Phelps Jacobs will always be in memory as the woman creating one of the most popular fashion pieces in less then a hour.