Underwire bra

History

The precursor to the underwire bra can be traced back to at least 1893, when New Yorker Marie Tucek was granted a patent for a "breast supporter". The breast supporter was described as a modification of the corset, and was very similar to a modern push-up bra designed to support the breasts. It consisted of a plate made of metal, cardboard, or other stiff material, shaped to fit against the torso under the breasts, following the contour of the breasts. It was covered with silk, canvas, or other cloth, which extended above the plate to form a pocket for each breast. The plate curved around the torso and ended near the armpits, held in place and adjusted to a snug fit by shoulder straps that crossed the back, forming an X-shape. It was secured with hook-and-eye closures.

The underwire bra design emerged and took hold in the United States starting in the 1930s. Helene Pons received a patent in 1931 for a brassiere design that incorporated an "open-ended wire loop" that lay flat against the chest, encircling the bottom and sides of each breast. A 1932 patent describes a U-shaped piece of wire used between the cups to keep the breasts separated. A patent issued in 1938 to Pauline Boris describes a "breast support" which used pieces of wire to entirely encircle each breast. In 1940, Walter Emmett Williams was issued a patent which described a wire framework, shaped like a spiderweb, that encircles and covers each breast to provide support. Although development of the underwire bra started in the 1930s, it did not gain widespread popularity until the 1950s, when the end of World War II freed metal for domestic use.

In the 1940s, Howard Hughes had an underwire push-up bra designed for Jane Russell to emphasize her breasts in The Outlaw. According to Russell, the "ridiculous" contraption was painful and she secretly wore her own bra during the movie. The brassiere is now in a Hollywood museum.

With the popularity and widespread use of the underwire bra that started during the 1950s, the underwire was incorporated into many bra designs, and underwire bras were built into other articles of clothing. By 1990, Norma Kamali had incorporated underwire bras into both one- and two-piece (bikini) swimsuits. Scott Lucretia was granted a patent for a camisole with an integrated underwire bra in 1989.

Underwire bras accounted for 60% of the United Kingdom bra market in 2000 and 70% in 2005. In 2001, 500 million bras were sold in the United States, of which approximately 70% (350 million) were underwire bras. As of 2005, underwire bras were the fastest growing segment of the market.{{cite web

Underwire construction

Main article: List of brassiere designs

Underwire bras are built with a semi-circular "underwire", "bra wire", or "wire" embedded in the wire channel that circles the bottom and sides of each cup. One end, or head element, of the underwire is close to the front and center of the bra, and the other close to the armhole. The underwire can be made of metal or molded plastic; most are metallic. Plastic underwire has a very small share of the market because it does not provide the same support and rigidity offered by metal underwire. A metallic underwire is a thin strip of metal, usually with a nylon coating at both ends. Metals used include steel and nickel titanium, a shape memory alloy. According to underwire manufacturer S & S Industries of New York, which supplies underwire for bra makers such as Bali, Playtex, Vanity Fair, Victoria's Secret, Warner's, and other bra labels, about 70 percent of women who wear bras wear steel underwire bras.

Because underwire can tear through cloth, most women hand-wash underwire bras or machine-wash them on a delicate cycle. Bra wash bags, usually zippered mesh pouches, can also be used to protect bras and prevent the underwire from separating from the bra during machine washing.

21st century patents

In 2002, S & S Industries obtained a patent for an underwire design that includes a spring-loaded plastic cushion tip on one or both ends. The spring is designed to keep the wire from poking through the bra. In 2008, Scott Dutton of Wales invented the "Bra Angel", a simple device to repair a bra when the underwire pops out of its channel. It is a barbed plastic cap that fits onto the end of the underwire, which is then inserted back into the bra and held in place by the barbs.

Health

Underwire bras can rub and pinch the breast, causing skin irritation and breast pain, and the wire of a worn bra can protrude from the fabric and scrape or cut the skin. When the fabric of worn bra exposes an underwire, skin contact with nickel and other metals may cause contact dermatitis in a few women.

Effect on lactation

Underwire bras, like other constrictive garments, may contribute to clogged milk ducts during the nursing period.{{cite book | last = Littleton | first = Lynna Y. |author2=Joan Engebretson | title = Maternal, Neonatal, and Women's Health Nursing | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=9_pPwUWFpzgC&pg=PA915 | access-date = 2009-05-05 | year = 2002 | publisher = Cengage Learning

Defibrillator use

Use of an automated external defibrillator on a patient in a metal underwire bra can cause burns, and the bra should be removed by the first responder before the AED is applied. In their 2007 season, the television program MythBusters tested the possibility of burns resulting from using a defibrillator on a patient who is using an underwire bra, and concluded that while it is possible, it is not likely unless the metal underwire is exposed and paddles of the defibrillator are very close to it.

Legal issues

The United States Transportation Security Administration recommends that women do not wear underwire bras because they can set off metal detectors.{{cite web|url=http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtravel/screening/index.shtm |title=TSA Travel Assistant

Transportation security

On Sunday, 24 August 2008, film maker Nancy Kates set off a metal detector during security screening. She objected when the agent attempted to pat-down her breasts. She said she told the agent, "'You can't treat me as a criminal for wearing a bra." A TSA supervisor told her she had to either submit to the pat-down search in a private room or not fly. Kates offered to take off her bra, which the TSA accepted. She went to the restroom, removed her bra, and walked through the airport and security screening braless. She said that a supervisor told her that underwire bras were the leading cause of metal detector false alarms.

In August 2010, cancer survivor Cathy Bossi, an on-duty flight attendant for U.S. Airways, was passing through security screening at Charlotte Douglas International Airport on the way to her next flight. Due to the radiation involved, she reluctantly passed through a full-body scanner. "The T.S.A. Agent told me to put my I.D. on my back," she said. "When I got out of there the agent said because my I.D. was on my back, I had to go to a personal screening area." During what she described as an "aggressive" pat-down search, security screening personnel forced her to remove and show her prosthetic breast. Their action violated TSA guidelines, which state that agents do not need to touch or inspect a mastectomy prosthetic.

In October, 2010, CNN employee Rosemary Fitzpatrick was subject to a personal search after her underwire bra set off a metal detector. The TSA security official applied an invasive "hand-sliding inspection" during which she "ran her hands around her breasts, over her stomach, buttocks and her inner thighs, and even touched her most private areas." Fitzpatrick said that she cried during the experience. "I felt helpless, I felt violated, and I felt humiliated."

In response, Triumph International, a Swiss company, launched what it called a "Frequent Flyer Bra" in late 2001. The bra uses metal-free clasps and underwires made of resin instead of metal that are guaranteed to not set off metal detectors. The bras were not available in the United States, and in 2004 a Canadian spokeswoman did not know whether they were still manufactured.

Correctional facility rules

Some correctional facilities, like San Quentin State Prison, require visitors to either cut their bras and remove the underwire, or temporarily use a soft cup bra provided by the institution before being granted entry. The result can be embarrassment and consternation for unsuspecting visitors. Other facilities require women to remove their underwire bras in a bathroom, pass through the metal detector, and return to the bathroom to put their bras back on.

In June 2010, attorney Britney Horstman was barred from visiting her client in the Federal Detention Center at Miami, Florida when her underwire bra set off the metal detector. Although she reminded guards of a detention center memo that permitted female attorneys visiting clients to wear an underwire bra, the guard refused her entry. That memo existed as a result of an agreement negotiated by the Federal Public Defender's Office, which represents inmates held at the institution before trial. That agreement allows female lawyers entry if her underwire bra is detected by a metal-detecting wand. Horstman removed her bra in a bathroom and returned to the security checkpoint braless, but was then turned away because she did not meet the facility's dress code. Horstman had previously worn an underwire bra into the facility without problems. Warden Linda McGrew later promised the incident would not happen again.

Accidents and attacks

There have been several cases where the underwire from a bra has helped deflect bullets or other objects, saving the wearer's life.

In 1996, a girl was impaled on a railing and, according to hospital personnel, the underwire from her bra probably saved her life by helping deflect the spike from her heart.{{cite news | title = Bra saves girl's life | url = http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-61313163.html | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121104204735/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-61313163.html | url-status = dead | archive-date = 2012-11-04 | access-date = 2009-04-22 | date = 1996-07-05 | publisher = The Mirror | location = London, England One such incident occurred in 2004 when a stray bullet shot by a member of the Ghetto Boys hit the narrow metal wire in Helen Kelly's bra and was deflected away from her heart. In 2008, a robbery victim was saved from being stabbed in the chest when the attacker's knife was caught and deflected by the underwire of her bra.

References

References

1. Riordan, Teresa. (2002-10-28). "Patents; In bra technology, an incremental improvement can translate into comfort". The New York Times.
2. "Breast Supporter".
3. "Brassiere".
4. "Brassngre".
5. "Breast Support".
6. "Ijldrs Health Brassiere And Health".
7. Napoleon, Anthony. (2003). "Awakening Beauty: An Illustrated Look at Mankind's Love and Hatred of Beauty". Virtual Bookworm Publishing.
8. Kanner, Bernice. (1983-12-12). "The Bra's not for Burning". New York Media.
9. Seigel, Jessica. (2004-02-13). "The Cups Runneth Over". [[The New York Times]].
10. Schiro, Anne-Marie. (1990-05-13). "Fashion; Half a Yard or So of Nylon and Spandex, and Voila!". [[The New York Times]].
11. "Camisole underwire bra garment".
12. (2000-10-25). "Charnos takes the plunge with a brand new bra". Aroq Ltd.
13. (2005-10-12). "Boom in Bras as Women Go Busty". [[Daily Record (Scotland).
14. Madaras, Lynda. (2007). "The "what's happening to my body?" book for girls". [[Newmarket Press]].
15. Hessler, Peter. (2008). "The Best American Magazine Writing 2008". [[Columbia University Press]].
16. Brady, George Stuart. (2002). "Materials Handbook". [[McGraw-Hill Professional]].
17. Jones, Gail. (2007). "Nanoscale science". [[NSTA Press]].
18. (2005-10-01). "Time saving tricks. (The Best of Everything: Testing From the Good Housekeeping Institute)".
19. "Underwire for brassiere".
20. (28 November 2008). "Bra repair invention strikes gold".
21. Blake, Aled. (2008-12-10). "Bra Angel launched to save underwear from the bin". Wales Online.
22. Legato, Marianne J.. (2014). "What Women Need to Know". Open Road Media.
23. (February 2019). "Boobs! an owner's guide". Monarch Avalon.
24. Lauersen, Niels H.. (1998). "The Complete Book of Breast Care". Ballantine Books.
25. Hatfield, Nancy T.. (2007). "Broadribb's Introductory Pediatric Nursing". Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
26. (2001-12-30). "To underwire or not to underwire, that is the question". The Guardian.
27. Burden, Nancy. (2000). "Ambulatory Surgical Nursing". W.B. Saunders.
28. Craig, Karen. (Spring 2006). "Take charge with an automated external defibrillator". Nursing.
29. Scott, Shana. (2008-03-19). "Shocking Defibrillator". b5media.
30. Scott, Shana. (2008-03-20). "Underwire Bra results". b5media.
31. Fargen, Jessica. (18 August 2008). "Heavy metal: Underwire bra trips up airport cops". [[Boston Herald]].
32. Hendricks, Tyche. (26 August 2008). "Delayed by her bra, air passenger is indignant". San Francisco Chronicle.
33. Molly Grantham. (Nov 18, 2010). "After removing prosthetic breast, flight attendant says TSA goes "too far"".
34. "Assistive Devices and Mobility Aids". Transportation Security Administration.
35. (October 29, 2010). "American Morning". CNN.
36. Barnett, Jim. (October 28, 2010). "TSA to phase in new pat-down procedures at airports nationwide". CNN.
37. Goo, Sara Kehaulani. (10 December 2004). "Functional Fashion Helps Some Through Airport Checkpoints". Washington Post.
38. Siskos, Catherine. (July 2002). "Please be Seated". Kiplinger Washington Editors.
39. Comfort, Megan. (2008). "Doing Time Together: Love and Familyin the Shadow of the Prison". University of Chicago Press.
40. Sullivan, Dennis. (2006). "Handbook of restorative justice: a global perspective". Routledge.
41. (12 June 2010). "Florida Attorney Barred From Jail Over Bra, Then for Taking Bra Off". Fox News.
42. Jay Weaver. (June 12, 2010}}{{dead link). "Wrong bra, no bra: Jail bars lawyer". Miami Herald.
43. (2009-04-21). "Police: Bra Deflects Bullet, Saves Woman – Milwaukee News Story – WISN Milwaukee". Internet Broadcasting.
44. Akbar, Arifa. (2005-10-08). "Underwired bra saved shooting victim's life". The Independent.
45. Stokes, Paul. (2008-09-07). "Barmaid saved from stabbing by £6 Asda bra". The Daily Telegraph.