Who Invented Lingerie?

Ancient Origins: Breast Support in Antiquity

The earliest evidence of garments designed to support or shape the female breast dates to ancient civilisations. Artefacts from the Minoan civilisation of Crete, dating to approximately the 14th century BCE, depict women in garments resembling modern bikinis or bralettes worn during athletic activities. Greco-Roman women used a garment called the strophion — a band of cloth wrapped under and around the breasts — for support during exercise, and represented it in sculptures and paintings.

At a 2008 archaeological excavation at Lengberg Castle in Austria, four linen proto-brassieres were found dating to between the late 14th and mid-15th centuries CE. Two of these closely resembled modern bras — with shoulder straps, separate cups and lace embellishments. These discoveries significantly pushed back the confirmed European history of bra-like garments, which had previously been dated to the 19th century.

Despite these early garments, support for the female bust in most cultures through the medieval and early modern period was provided by the clothing's construction itself — the bodice, kirtle and outer garments — rather than by purpose-built undergarments.

The Corset Era: 16th to 19th Century

From the 16th century onward, the corset became the defining undergarment of European women's fashion. Early corsets — known as "stays" — used stiff materials including whalebone, metal and wood to create a rigid structure that shaped the torso to the fashionable silhouette of the time. The desired shape changed across centuries: the pointed waist of the Elizabethan era, the exaggerated hourglass of the Victorian period, the S-shaped curve of the Edwardian era.

Corsets provided both shaping and structural support for the upper body. They were worn by women across all social classes, though the materials and construction quality varied enormously by economic status. A well-made corset in whalebone and silk was an expensive, enduring garment; a working-class corset might be plain cotton with cane or metal boning.

The health consequences of tight-laced corsets — restricted breathing, displaced organs, permanently altered rib structure in women who wore them from childhood — were documented throughout the 19th century and became a significant focus of dress reform movements. The "rational dress" movement of the 1880s and 1890s advocated for looser clothing that did not restrict breathing or distort the body's natural form. This reform pressure, combined with changing fashions and increasing women's participation in physical activities, created the conditions for the corset's gradual replacement.

The Invention of the Modern Bra: 1889–1920s

The modern bra emerged from two separate late-19th century inventions. In 1889, French corset-maker Herminie Cadolle — frustrated by the restrictions of conventional corsets — cut a corset into two pieces. The upper section, supporting the bust with shoulder straps, became what she called a "corselet gorge" — the first design explicitly separating breast support from waist shaping. She exhibited the design at the Paris Exposition of 1889.

In 1914 in New York, socialite Mary Phelps Jacob — dissatisfied with the way her corset showed beneath a sheer evening gown — improvised a brassiere from two silk handkerchiefs and a pink ribbon. The garment was soft, light and dramatically more comfortable than a corset. She patented the design in 1914, becoming the person most commonly credited with inventing the modern bra, and sold the patent to the Warner Brothers Corset Company for 1,500 dollars — a sale she later described as among her most significant regrets, given Warner's subsequent profits from the design.

The First World War accelerated the transition from corset to bra significantly. The US War Industries Board asked women to stop buying corsets in 1917 to conserve metal for the war effort — the resulting reduction in corset steel production freed approximately 28,000 tons of metal. This practical wartime shift coincided with broader changes in women's fashion and movement toward simpler, more practical clothing.

The 1920s brought cup sizing, standardisation and mass production to the bra industry. Maidenform, founded in 1922, became one of the first companies to mass-produce bras and launched the influential "I Dreamed..." advertising campaign in the 1940s, which ran for more than two decades and positioned bras firmly as aspirational fashion items rather than mere functional garments.

20th Century: Liberation, Fashion and Technology

Where Lingerie Stands Today

The global lingerie market is valued at over £30 billion and continues to grow. The defining trends of contemporary lingerie reflect the cultural priorities of the early 21st century: radical size inclusivity that extends meaningful range to all bodies rather than adding token sizes to a narrow core; sustainability in materials and supply chain; gender-inclusive design that moves away from binary sizing and marketing; and the continuing tension between lingerie as a functional foundation garment and lingerie as a form of personal expression, fashion and identity.

The bra — still the category's most significant item — has been redesigned dozens of times since Mary Phelps Jacob's 1914 handkerchief improvisation. The bralette's rise to dominance in the 2010s and 2020s as a wire-free, less structured alternative reflects a broader comfort-first shift in post-pandemic dressing. The corset's recurring fashion revivals reflect ongoing fascination with structure and shape. The slip dress's enduring presence reflects the Nineties' lasting influence on contemporary fashion.

What has not changed across 3,500 years of lingerie history is the fundamental desire the garments express: to support, shape, beautify and help the wearer feel how they want to feel in their own body.

Discover lingerie with a history behind every stitch at Ava Noir.

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