Well, we’re closer than ever to the debut of the UpBra. We’ll get our road-tests out then the UpBra will be available to those of you who are waiting to enhance your look, be sexy and stay comfortable. It’s very exciting!! There has never been a bra quite like the UpBra and it’s exclusivity will be worth waiting for. In the meantime, keep checking back for interesting bra facts like these:

In 2004, archaeologists unearthed a 1,000-year -old padded bra. This antique undergarment, found in Mongolia, has gold silk back and shoulder straps.

Men tend to be good a manual tasks, except when it comes to unhooking a bra. One study found that it took an average of 27 seconds before a guy actually got one unfastened. And that’s using both hands!!

1914-1918: The outbreak of World War I forces women into the workforce.  Many women begin working in factories and wearing uniforms, making the use of daily corset wear a problem.

1917: The US War Industries Board requests women to stop buying corsets to reduce the consumption of metal.  Sources say up to 28,000 tons of metal was conserved through this effort - “enough to build two battleships”

1918: Corset-makers began making bras designed to flatten rather than enhance the breasts.

YIKES!!

1913:The first modern bra to be patented was a silk hanky and pink ribbon affair created by New York socialite Mary Phelps Jacob.  Mary had bought a sheer evening dress to wear to an event, and at the time, the only undergarment available to her was a corset made with whaleback bones.  Mary found that the bones showed through  the sheer fabric and created her DIY alternative!

1914:After a year of sharing her creation with friends, Mary Phelps Jacob applies for a patent (under the business name” Caresse Crosby”) on November 3 for her “Backless Brassiere” design.  Mary’s “brassiere” was very lightweight, soft, and separated the breasts naturally.  Unlike Marie Tucek’s 1893 design, Jacob’s garment did not have cups to support the breasts, but flattened them instead. Jacob markets the “Backless Brassiere” garment until she tires of the business and sells the patent to Warner Brothers Corset Company in Bridgeport, CT, for $1500.  Warner’s reportedly made over $15 million over the next 30 years from the patent.

I’d say Warner’s made a sound investment, no?  And some improvements along the way.  Flattened breasts will be the rave through the 20’s or so…certainly not anymore.  And certainly not with the UpBra!

1907 : The ever-hip Vogue mazazine first uses the term “brassiere” in its haloed pages.  The term comes from the old French word for ‘upper arm’.  Prior to this, bra-like devices were know by the French term “soutien-gorge”, which means “throat support” or “breast support”.

1912: The term “brassiere” first appears in the Oxford English Dictionary.  The garment maker Otto Titzling is said to have developed a bra for buxom singer Swanhilda Olafson.  Swanhilda lived in the same New York boarding house as Otto, and needed a supporting garment.  She was the inspiration for Otto’s breakthrough design, but Otto neglected to patent his creating, and therefore lost his chance to be the inventor of the bra!!

The bra has enjoyed a colorful history.  They were allegedly invented by an American named Otto Totzling (wrong!) and burned by feminists in the 1960’s.

The “over-the-shoulder-boulder-holder” is a necessary evil in many women’s lives…but who do we have to blame for this often uncomfortable, but ever-so-sexy piece of clothing?

2500 BC Women on the island of Crete begin using bra-like garments to lift their bare breasts out of their clothing.

450BC-285AD Roman and Greek women preferred to play down their chests, using a band strapped around their breasts to reduce their bust size.

Hey girls - here’s an animated version of how the UpBra comfortably lifts you from the inside.  You can see that there are no awkward pads, and that the lower half of the lifting cradle lifts straight up under the breast - giving you a natural, enhanced shape and cleavage.  How far you take it is up to you!! What do you think?