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A warning : This article is strictly for women and sexually confused men. Rest all…go take a hike!

Okay ladies, Remember Kate Winslet in Titanic or Julia Roberts in Erin Brockovich? Apart from being great actors with brilliant performances, the one thing they have in common is perfect outer and perfect innerwear. To those unused to thinking on these lines, take a minute and conduct a mental scan of the ladies. Imagine now those beautiful clothes over ill-fitting, unflattering innerwear. Not a pleasant sight right? Isn’t it surprising then, that we continue to wear appalling innerwear with the most carefully chosen outerwear.

Dissatisfied with the idea of having to wear a heavy corset underneath a new sheer evening gown she just bought for a social event, socialite Mary Phelps Jacob of New York and her maid, Marie, devised a backless bra made from two handkerchiefs, some ribbon and cord. Amazingly she started getting orders for it that very night

Bra history began as far back as Cretan times, but 1907, was the year when the word brassiere was first reported in an American copy of Vogue. The original French meaning was support, but the word was out of use and the French chose to call a bra soutien-gorge.

When choosing any outfit, be it an elegant evening dress, office wear or casual wear, most women are consciously or subconsciously attempting to project a certain attitude or image. The effectiveness of this communication could very easily be diluted through a lack of attention to ‘what lies beneath’. The most beautifully cut outerwear still draws largely on innerwear to achieve that perfect silhouette. You may have got the right accessory, make up and shoes; but the wrong inner wear can ruin the ensemble.

The first modern brassiere to receive a patent was one invented by a New York socialite named Mary Phelps Jacob in 1913.

Most of the major designers of the era have tried to lay claim to designing the first bra. Poiret probably had the strongest claim. What is certain is that all the designers promoted a simple breast retaining garment as better for the newer simple straight dress styles. In the costume history of bras these early bras were similar to camisoles tops of the 1980s and 1990s. Initially at the turn of the 20^th century even the word camisole was used too, but replaced by ‘Bust Bodice’ by 1905.

An unhealthy and painful device designed to narrow an adult women’s waist to 13, 12, 11 and even 10 or less inches, the corset is attributed to Catherine de Médicis, wife of King Henri II of France. She enforced a ban on thick waists at court attendance’s (1550’s) and started over 350 years of whalebones, steel rods and midriff torture.

Many of us don’t realize the importance having a good support system until it’s too late.

Where do we go wrong you may ask?

• Wear fabrics with a smooth silky fall and match it with ill-fitting innerwear that shows through your outerwear as ungainly criss cross lines.

• Wear knits or figure hugging clothes and then wear functional innerwear that does absolutely nothing to flatter your figure

• Wear innerwear that brings too much support into play and immediately conjures images of pop icon Madonna in metal cones.

• Skip a bra when wearing a backless top. Unless completely unaffected by gravity, please do not attempt this.

Knowledge on how to team one’s inner and outerwear could transform the way you look and feel.

Warner produces the first popular all-elastic bra, which shows off a woman’s curves.

 SOME POINTS TO REMEMBER:

•  A balconette bra is designed to lift the breasts so as to give a fuller and rounder look by pushing the breast up from the bottom.
• Low back outfits, halter, and racer back tops require a transparent backed bra that provides the complete backless look.

• A seamless bra has moulded cups and no seams. It gives a smooth appearance under clothing. A wonderful style when you want a bra that is almost invisible for sheer or clingy fabrics.

• Low cut dresses and eveningwear call for a push up bra / plunge bra that is designed to push the breast from the bottom and the sides to add a cup size. This gives the required lift and is ideal when an outfit calls for a more filled-out look.

• The 4 way bra can be worn with straps / without straps / with a single strap / straps that criss cross is made with specially designed elastics to ensure a better grip and does not slip. It’s a much-needed wonder bra that can be tweaked to suit almost any tricky requirement.

The first bikini swimwear is introduced in Paris in 1946

Every woman is unique in body and soul and one should wear a bra that complements that.

The 1960s saw the women’s liberation movement denouncing bras as a symbol of conformity and servitude and encouraging bra burning rallies. The Hippie and free-love movement would see the bra abandoned altogether, resulting in the braless look.