Undies as I See Them

As you may know I have been observing measurements lately. A big part of what I wanted to talk about was clothing sizes for both genders. I found plenty of fun things to discuss and identified them in previous posts.

To write those pieces, I had to do some research. I considered all of the common articles of clothing including women’s panties and bras. I went on to suggest that the sizes of female clothing has more to do with vanity than anything else. One of my favorite females even admitted, in the comment section, that she has purchased some of her clothes because the labels fibbed and implied that she was a bit smaller than she actually is.

But the panty sizes are the greatest example of female vanity. We established that a woman with measurements of 35. 23, 35 would wear a dress, or a pair of slacks, sized 10 or so. Therefore, if sizes made sense, women should wear underpants of the same size, but no,no, no!!! That would never do. Common sense has no place in a conversation about female clothing. If we elect to have a little mischievous boyish fun, we might peek inside her innermost garment and discover that she wears a size 4 or 5. Once again this defies any logic this side of common sense. How can her slacks and her bikini-briefs size be so different?

When it comes to bra sizes, as far as I could tell, it all seemed to make sense, but I am pleased to note that my time was not wasted. I found several interesting facts about the bra and one site actually showed actual breasts,(if you must look) of all sizes between size 32AA and Size 38DD. That seemed peculiar because I searched for information about bra sizes not breast sizes. Well anyway, since I knew my readers expected me to do my homework, I paid close attention.

After I got my mind back on track, I discovered that the double-cup bra was not invented until 1913. The inventor, Caresse Cosby, was 25 at the time. Her idea was to sew two handkerchiefs together and hold it all up with a couple of ribbons. Two years later, she sold her patent and a multi-billion dollar industry was born. Caresse went on to become an accomplished writer and publisher. That is quite a resume for an era when women were not even allowed to vote.

What struck me as newsworthy about Ms. Cosby’s invention was the date. I would have assumed that the classic garment was supporting women long before that. I wonder what took so long?

By the 50’s bras were especially pointed. If you watch movies from that era you will see tight sweaters and women who look very uncomfortable. Interestingly, pointed bras, Marilyn Monroe style, seem to be making a comeback, only a bit more comfortable this time.

Then in the sixties the woman burned their bras in protest of a male dominated society. I was pleased to encourage them at the time, but that was a mistake because I was not fully aware of the long-term effects of gravity.

As the next few decades evolved, there are all sorts of new types of bras. One site had 17 different bra styles. Another site had 31. There are special wire bras, training bras, bras for nursing and athletics and of course there are padded bras and many more. It appears if somebody will invent it, somebody else will wear it.

Before I left the topic, I decided to find out what I could about men’s bras. I was surprised to learn that they are not especially uncommon. Some fellows who had muscular chests as young men discover that all of that muscle turns to fat as the years go by. Some of them like to buy what is called a support vest. Other men just gain weight and need the support. And then there are the fellows who simply like wearing women’s clothing. The Japanese seem to have some interest in that idea. I couldn’t bring myself to research them any further. That was enough!

So, that is what I found out about the female support system. Understandably, women (and man-kind) are constantly trying to improve on the brassiere, but as far as I know the patent for a triple-cup bra is still wide open. Perhaps they will show up in another couple of decades.

Your Turn! What do you have to say?

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