History of Brassieres - Middle Ages

Middle Ages

In the Middle Ages it was exceptional for women to restrict or support their breasts, and if they did, they probably used something like a cloth binder, as evidence suggests in descriptions of the time. A widely quoted statement is that an edict of Strasbourg in the Holy Roman Empire, dated 1370 states, "No woman will support the bust by the disposition of a blouse or by tightened dress." However, an exact source has not been located. By the time of Charles VII of France (1403–1461), a gauze drape was used over the bust.

Generally, in the Middle Ages the breasts were minimized in dresses with straight bodices, full skirts and high necklines, designed primarily for function rather than emphasis on form. Late medieval dresses are fitted precisely and snuggly to the body and function as breast support. Depictions of women in 14th and 15th century art show a high, rounded breast silhouette on women old and young, full-busted and small. This look is not possible without support. The 15th century ideal form was small-breasted and full-figured, symbolizing abundance of fertility.

By the time of the Renaissance, décolletage became very fashionable. There was some status to firm breasts in the upper classes, the women of which did not breast feed. Infants were given to wet nurses to breast feed, since nursing was bad if a woman wanted to maintain an ideal form. Among the wealthier classes, the corset was beginning to appear by the mid-15th century.

Catherine de' Medici (1519–1589, wife of King Henry II of France) is widely, and wrongly, blamed for the corset. She was reported to have prohibited wide waists at court in the 1550s, legend suggesting she made them wear steel framework corsets. While it was originally thought that the corset predated the modern-designed bra, a 2008 archaeological dig unearthed four linen bras that have been described as "a missing link" that firmly establishes the bra as the predecessor to the corset.

Elaborate constraints placed on women's figures over the years were not universal. Corsetry made it virtually impossible to work, so simpler functional garments were worn by women who worked inside or outside the home. Support for the breasts was often provided by a simple tie under the breast line, in the bodice.