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The bra has been around in some shape or form for thousands of years. A bra-like garment was worn by Minoan women on the island of Crete which both supported and revealed their bare breasts in emulation of the ‘snake goddess’.

Roman women sometimes wore a band of cloth over their breasts to restrict their growth or to hide them. Whilst Greek women often wore a belt under the breast to accentuate them, much to the delight of the men no doubt!

Typical bra from the 1940's.

Vogue magazine first coined the word ‘brassiere’ exactly 100 years ago in 1907 and around the same time feminist organisations warned against the risks of wearing corsets and called for ‘emancipation garments’.

They, and the rest of the women across the world, had to wait until American socialite Mary Phelps Jacob made her own underwear from two silk hankies and some ribbon in 1913. She was granted the first US patent for the bra the following year.

Mary’s brassiere wasn’t perfect as it flattened the chest rather than supported it. It was also ‘one size fits all’, which as all women know, isn’t ideal.

Typical bra of the 1970's.

Women had to endure another ten years of uncomfortable undies until Ida Rosenthal came up with the idea of cup sizes to give a better fit as well as accentuating and lifting the bosom, rather than trying to flatten it. It was goodbye to the flat-chested flapper and hello to the curvy, voluptuous glamourpuss!

The rest as they say is history!

Here are some fascinating facts about the bra...

The word ‘bra’ comes from the French brassière (bodice or child’s vest) and is a derivation of the old French word bracière, which was an arm protector in military uniforms and later a chest plate and a type of women’s corset.

Howard Hughes designed a bra for Jane Russell to wear in the film ‘The Outlaw’. She claimed she never wore it because it didn’t fit!

The corset was outlawed in France after the Revolution because of its association with the aristocracy.

The average UK bra size is said to be a 36C, but estimates say that it’s probably nearer a 34 DD or E and that about 70% of women wear the wrong size bra.

In 1968 around 400 women gathered to protest against the Miss America beauty pageant. Somebody put a 'Freedom Trash Can' on the ground and encouraged protestors to throw into it girdles, bras, nylons, high-heeled shoes and other emblems of 'enslavement'. Someone suggested setting fire to it, but no-one could obtain a permit and the idea was dropped. So, as far as we know, no-one ever did 'burn their bra'!

In 2003, model Heidi Klum modelled the world’s most expensive bra. It was made of more than 2,500 carats of diamonds and sapphires, took more than 370 man hours to make and was values at £5 million!

The Spanish for bra is sujetar (to hold). The French prefer soutien-gorge (throat support!), the Germans - büstenhalter, the Swedes - bysthǻllare, the Danes - brysteholdere and the Dutch - bustehouder – all translating as ‘bust-holder’. In Esperanto the bra is called a mamzono – breast-belt.