When You Wish Upon a Bra

If youre a member of the fair sex, chances are youve owned a bra during your lifetime. Youve undergone the excitement of buying one for the first time, sidled into the shop in embarrassment, pestered your other half to buy one and wondered why there never seems to be a nice one in your size. Bras are our friends. Yet how much do you know about this most sought after yet secret article? Could you distinguish your plunge from your push up, your balcony from your balconnet? Read on to learn everything you ever wanted to know about bras (but were probably too bashful to ask)...

1) Bra-like items have been in existence for millennia- at least 2000BC. Look at Greek murals- it seems Spartan women wore them while they exercised.

2) Despite this pedigree, the first commercially recognised bra was invented by Mary Phelps Jacob, a New York socialite. The story goes that she couldnt fit a corset beneath her new dress so she improvised with two handkerchieves tied together by ribbon. Voila, the first bra! 3) Its estimated that approximately 8 out of 10 women are wearing the wrong bra. Considering a womans bra size changes around 6 times in her lifetime, I can well believe it. 4) The most common bra size used to be 34B; in the past 15 years its changed to 34C. Unfortunately fashions are still designed with a B cup in mind. 5) Apparently $16 billion is spent on bras annually worldwide! 6) Its true ... British girls really are the curviest. Studies have shown that at least half of British women wear a D cup bra. 7) Ever quibbled over the amount youve spent on a bra? The most expensive ever made was 15 million dollars! 8) Despite most womens tendency to wear the same bra for years on end, you should be fitted for a new bra every 12 months.

9) If you study at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, you can major in bras! This is absolutely serious- youre taught how to design and build them! 10) Bra sizes havent been around for as long as youd think: A, B, C and D cups were first offered in the late 1930s. 11) Although the phrase bra burning is often used to describe feminists, this is by no means a typical activity. The event which inspired the phrase is believed to be the 1968 protest against Miss World, where a trash can on the Atlantic City Boardwalk was filled with high heels, suspenders, girdles and bras. No bras were actually burned but the idea captured the popular imagination. 12) Though bra is the universally used term, its only been common currency since the 1930s. Before then it was the longer form, brassiere, inspired by the French. That was officially accepted by the OED in 1911.

For more information, follow these great links!

National Geographic: The secret history of the bra! Caroline Randell: Looking for exquisite lingerie? Youve come to the right place! About.com: Find out about Mary Phelps Jacob, the creator of the bra as we know it today.