We’re sure the Victorians had convoluted and painful ways of defying the soft tug of gravity, but it was not until 100 years ago that the word “brassiere” came into existence, according to the Star-Telegram.
The paper celebrates the anniversary with a tribute by Samantha Thomson Smith, who uses the occasion to remind women to, um, er, well, uh, do right by their tits:
Fifteen years ago, the average American woman’s bra size was 34B. Last year, the average was 36C, says Norah Alberto, senior style director for Maidenform. Part of the reason is that Americans simply are getting bigger. But it’s also the result of more people getting fitted for bras and finding out they’ve been wearing the wrong size all along.
Here is some other bra-related material we didn’t know:
- Most women own about 14 bras but only regularly wear six of them. The rest are for special occasions like funerals and moon landings.
- Most bras wear out after 90 wearings or, in the case of teenagers, 15 awkward pawings.
- Americans spent $6 billion on bras from September 2006 to August 2007, generating enough material to outfit the four gentlemen of Mt. Rushmore with their own over the shoulder boulder holders.
- Boobs are awesome.
- Never put bras in the dryer, as the heat wears down the elastic and you get yelled at by your wife.
A salute to the bra, after a century of support [Star-Telegram]
The worst thing about bras (underwire aside) is that they are so freaking expensive for only lasting roughly six months.