1913

The firsT bra

Caresse Crosby (below) landed on the idea while getting ready for a ball in 1913, aged 19. Her corset kept poking through her gown so she instructed her maid to make a bra out of handkerchiefs.

At the party, other women marvelled at how freely Crosby danced and begged her to sew bras for them. By 1914 she had patented ‘the brassiere’, but after a few years of mediocre sales, she sold the patent for just $1,500 (£1,200). Thirty years later, the brassiere was worth $15 million (£12 million).