Patent Publication Number: US-2009217439-A1

Title: Faux Camisole

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a camisole and, more particularly, to a faux camisole that can be worn to cover a lady&#39;s cleavage and removed when the lady wants to show her cleavage. 
     2. Background of the Invention 
     A camisole is a short sleeveless undergarment for women. Sometimes a camisole is even referred to as a short negligee jacket for women. Many different types of camisoles have been made in the past. Typically a camisole is worn over a woman&#39;s brassiere and covers the woman&#39;s cleavage. Camisoles have been used by nursing mothers for some time with a typical camisole being shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,854,132 to Polzin. A nursing mother typically prefers to cover her breasts while nursing the young child with a typical example being shown in Polzin. 
     Camisoles have also been developed for use in the medical environment such as with mastectomy patients. A typical example of a camisole that can be used with a mastectomy patient is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,048,252 to Sebring. A camisole may even include internal pockets in which a prosthesis may be included for a mastectomy patient. 
     Many times for a young girl, a camisole may be worn as an outer garment. An example of a camisole that may be worn as an outer garment by a young girl is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,953,754 to Rosch et al. However, a typical camisole worn by a woman may be as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,038,414 to Freeman which shows the camisole top. 
     Camisoles have even been combined with brassieres in various forms or fashions. For example, a camisole may have brassiere cups in a body camisole as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,045,018 to Costanzo. With the use of such a camisole, undergarments can be eliminated while still providing support for the breast. By elimination of the bra straps, the camisole provides additional comfort. 
     Another type of camisole that also functions as bra is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,798,557 to Scott. The bra is built in and made a part of the camisole. On the other hand, just the opposite occurs when a brassiere is made with a permanently attached frontal panel as is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,171,182 to Heinen. The frontal panel is sewn in and made part of the cup portion of the brassiere. 
     Many other types of camisoles have been designed and worn in the past. However, none of the camisoles have the feature of being a faux camisole that may be quickly attached to the brassiere straps and worn to cover a woman&#39;s cleavage during one portion of the day, but be easily removable to reveal the woman&#39;s cleavage during another portion of the day. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention shows a faux camisole that is worn over a brassiere with only a front panel in the faux camisole. The front panel extends up over the woman&#39;s cleavage. The lower portion of the panel encircles the woman&#39;s body very similar to the lower portion of a brassiere to form a torso strap. The torso strap is elastic and (may or may not) be in one solid piece. 
     The upper part of the cloth portion of the faux camisole that covers the woman&#39;s cleavage has a top hem with extensions of the top hem on either end thereof. The extensions clip around the brassiere strap. The brassiere strap itself holds the upper portion of the faux camisole in place. The torso strap holds the lower portion of the faux camisole in place 
     If in a later portion of the day the woman wants to show her cleavage, the upper portion of the faux camisole that snaps around the bra straps is unsnapped and the faux camisole removed. Depending on whether the torso strap is in one solid piece or has connecting straps or hooks, the faux camisole may even be removed without having to remove other clothing items. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a front elevation of the faux camisole as being worn by a woman. 
         FIG. 2  is a rear elevation view of the faux camisole. 
         FIG. 3  is a rear elevation view of an alternate embodiment of the faux camisole. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 2  in combination, a faux camisole  10  is shown.  FIG. 1  is an environmental view showing the faux camisole  10  being worn by a woman  12 . The woman  12  has on a brassiere  14  that has cups  16  and straps  18 . The cups  16  have a plunging neckline  20  that can show cleavage of the woman  12 . The faux camisole  10  has a frontal cloth portion  22  sized and shaped to fit over the woman&#39;s breasts and brassiere  14 . The frontal cloth portion has side hems  24  sewn on either side thereof. 
     The top of the frontal cloth portion  22  has a top hem  26  with ends  28  extending beyond the side hems  24 . Inside of the top hem  26  are snaps  30 . When the woman  12  puts on the faux camisole  10 , ends  28  are looped over straps  18  of the brassiere  14  and snapped shut by snaps  30  as is shown in  FIG. 1 . The torso strap  32  extends around the body of the woman  12  just over the bra strap. The torso strap  32  is elastic and connected to the lower side of the frontal cloth portion  22  and to the lower ends of the side hems  24 . By having a solid elastic torso strap  32 , the faux camisole  10  is easily held into position without being uncomfortable to the woman  12 . 
     A typical usage for the faux camisole  10  as shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2  would be when the woman  12  would go to work during the day, she would wear the faux camisole  10  to not show her cleavage in the work place. However, if she planned to go out on the way home, she may remove the faux camisole  10  by undoing the snaps  30  and slipping the faux camisole  10  off. This would allow the woman to show her cleavage away from the work place where it would be more appropriate, but not show cleavage during the day in a working environment. 
     An alternative version of the faux camisole is shown in  FIG. 3  and is represented by reference numeral  34 . Again, side hems  36  are attached to the frontal cloth portion  38 . However, the top hem  40  has hooks and loops (also known as Velcro®) on the inside thereof. The loops  42  are located inside the side hems  36  and the hooks  44  are located outside the side hems  36  on extensions  46  of top hem  40 . The hooks  44  on the extensions  46  of top hem  40  can loop over a bra strap (not shown) to connect with the loops  42 . By use of the hooks  44  and loops  42  in the top hem  40 , the faux camisole  34  can be adjusted based upon the size of the individual. 
     The torso strap  38  also has a hook and loop connector  50 . The hook and loop connectors  50  may be adjusted to adjust the length of the torso strap  48 . 
     If a woman wore the faux camisole  34  as shown in  FIG. 3 , the faux camisole  34  could be removed even in a public area without causing embarrassment to the wearer. The faux camisole  34  is more easily removed than the faux camisole  10  shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 . However, the faux camisole  10  shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2  may be more comfortable to wear because it does not have the hook and loop connectors. 
     A woman may go to work in the morning in a dress, blouse or other type garment that has a plunging neckline that reveals her cleavage. While it may be inappropriate for cleavage to be shown in a work environment, there are environments where the showing of cleavage is acceptable. For example, if the woman later in the day was going out to dinner, the showing of cleavage is more acceptable. With a minimum of effort, the woman could remove the faux camisole  10  or  34  and show her cleavage at dinner in a more acceptable environment.