In 1907, Vogue Coined the Term 'Brassiere', and Launched a Billion- Dollar Industry That Changed the Way Women Dress for Ever. A Hundred Years on, Lingerie Lover John Walsh Provides an Uplifting Social History of the Undergarment - and Grapples with Its Role in Today's World ; Extra

The bra was invented by an engineer of German extraction called Onto Titzling in 1912. He was living in a New York boarding house, and one of his neighbours, a voluptuous opera singer called Swanhilda Olafson, complained that she needed a garment to hoist her vast bosom aloft every evening - so Titzling obliged, using some cotton, elastic and metal struts. Unfortunately, he failed to patent the device and, in the early 1930s, a Frenchman named Philippe de Brassiere began making a suspiciously similar object. Titzling took him to court, but the unscrupulous Frenchman won the day. And that's why the garment all the ladies are wearing is called a brassiere, not a titzling. …

Questia, a part of Gale, Cengage Learning. www.questia.com
Publication information: Article title: In 1907, Vogue Coined the Term 'Brassiere', and Launched a Billion- Dollar Industry That Changed the Way Women Dress for Ever. A Hundred Years on, Lingerie Lover John Walsh Provides an Uplifting Social History of the Undergarment - and Grapples with Its Role in Today's World ; Extra. Contributors: Not available. Newspaper title: The Independent (London, England). Publication date: August 15, 2007. Page number: Not available. © 2009 The Independent - London. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All Rights Reserved.

This material is protected by copyright and, with the exception of fair use, may not be further copied, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means.