Brassiere construction

A brassiere construction designed particularly for use by women having relatively large breasts wherein the abnormal weight thereof may cause soreness in the neck, back and the breasts themselves, the brassiere having a body encircling member or vest with fastening means on the ends adapted to be connected at the front of the wearer's body, said member having substantial elasticity to comfortably adjust to the body and the end portions thereof having breast holding cups of fabric material mounted therein to cover the front of the wearer's breasts, shoulder straps extending from just over the cups to the upper edge of the back portion of the member, and said cups having built therein semi-circular slings of absorbent material to extend under the breasts to aid in supporting the same and absorb moisture in the area under the breasts.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
Women with extraordinarily heavy breasts have problems with normally 
constructed brassieres in that they are not designed to provide adequate 
uplift for maximum comfort and appearance. Frequently, where proper breast 
support is not provided, such women incur aches and pains in the back, 
shoulders, neck and even the head due to strains involved in attempting to 
maintain upright posture. 
In addition, where there is improper uplifting support of heavy breasts 
they tend to lie against the upper abdominal areas of the body causing 
perspiration therebetween as well as skin abrasions. 
While various brassiere designs have heretofore been provided to solve 
these problems, they have generally resulted in unyielding, harnesslike 
garments which are not comfortable for the wearer. Additionally, in many 
instances they have been so designed as to be very difficult for the user 
to secure the garment to or remove it from a normally worn position on the 
body. 
Examples of such brassieres are found in U.S. Pat. No. 1,937,008; No. 
2,052,707; and No. 3,890,978. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
A primary object of the present invention is to provide a brassiere for use 
by heavy breasted women which will provide a raise support for the breasts 
and yet which is comfortable to wear and easily applied to or removed from 
the body. 
Another object of the invention is to provide a brassiere for heavy or 
sagging female breasts which provide a moisture absorption liner between 
the breasts and the body portions disposed immediately thereunder. 
With these and other objectives in view the invention broadly comprises a 
brassiere having a body encircling vest member which is relatively deep 
vertically to engage around a substantial portion of the chest area of the 
wearer, said vest member being formed of alternate elastic and non-elastic 
fabric panels respectively spaced horizontally and with elastic strips 
extending along the top and bottom edges thereof, the end portions of the 
member adapted to be interconnected at the front of the wearer's chest and 
said portions carrying breast covering cups having slings of absorbent 
material built therein and adapted to extend under and giving elevating 
support to the breasts.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Referring now more particularly to the drawings, reference numerals will be 
used to denote like parts or structural features in the different views. 
The brassiere is denoted generally by the numeral 10 and includes a main 
body encircling vest member 11 which carries the breast holding cups 12 
and shoulder straps 14. 
Member 11 consists of several fabric panels 15 and 16 interconnected by 
vertical strips 17. Top and bottom strips respectively designated at 18 
and 19 of elasticized material extend along the panel edges, and end 
strips 20 and 21 are provided at the ends of member 11. The panels 16 are 
of elasticized stretchable material while the panels 15 are not. 
Accordingly, the members 18 and 19 are longitudinally stretchable or 
yieldable only in the sections thereof which connect strips 17 above and 
below the panels 16. 
The end strip 20 has a plurality of vertically spaced hooks 24 stitched 
thereinto and adapted to mate and interlock with a series of equally 
spaced loops (not shown) on the end strip 21 to fasten the vest member 11 
about the body of the wearer in a well known manner. 
The shoulder straps 14 are adjustable in length through buckles 25 carried 
in loops 26. Loops 26 are attached to elasticized strips 27 which connect 
the ends of member 16 to the end strips 20 and 21. 
As thus far described it will be understood that the brassiere 10 is 
yieldable longitudinally for comfort of the wearer by virtue of the 
elasticity of members 18, 19 and 16 as well as adjustable vertically on 
the wearer through the buckles 25 and loops 26. 
The breast holding cups 12 each includes a generally hemispherically shaped 
outer covering 30 which has its marginal portions stitched to the various 
panels and strips hereinbefore defined. Cup 12 also includes a pocket or 
sling member 31 which has a generally semi-circular or half-moon design 
with the center edge 32 up and unattached and the lower arcuate marginal 
portions 34 stitched to a strip 35 which extends between end strips 20 or 
21 and the remote strip 17 on the adjacent panel 16. The member 31 is of 
sufficient depth or vertical dimension to extend completely under and 
upwardly behind the breast to the line of the juncture between the breast 
and chest. 
The sling member 31 is formed of a relatively thick fabric material, such 
as flannel, which is relatively non-stretchable yet very soft and highly 
absorbent of moisture. A foldover hem forms the edge 32. 
In donning the brassiere the wearer inserts the arms rearwardly through the 
shoulder straps, as viewed in FIG. 1, and wraps the vest forwardly about 
the body placing the breasts at each side of the body in the frontal 
positioned sling 31 and then fastens the ends of the vest through means of 
hooks 24 and the mating loops on strip 21. Of course, a zipper, snaps or 
other fastening means may be used. However, the frontal connection is 
important in this type of brassiere for proper mounting and adjustment of 
the cups on the breasts. 
The broad skin surface contact of the vest on the body accompanied by 
proper adjustment of the shoulder straps creates a firmly anchored base 
for the brassiere to hold the cups 30 at the desired level of elevation. 
However, the elasticity of the panels 16, and strips 18, 19 and 27, 
provides for a comfortable fit and allows freedom of body movement. It 
will be understood that connection of straps 14 with the elastic members 
16 and 27 allows a certain amount of yieldability in a vertical direction. 
With the vest member properly adjusted on the body the sling or pocket 
members 31 will give a firm yet comfortable support for the breasts 
holding them away from the body and absorbing any body perspiration that 
may occur in the area. 
I have accordingly provided a brassiere construction which economically and 
effectively carries out the aforementioned objectives.