Early Maidenform Bra
date: label: date made
content: 1925-1930
name: label: maker
content: Maidenform
notes: label: Description
content: This pink Maiden Form brassiere from the early 1930s reflects a shift from flat-chested to more ‘natural’ styles in women’s fashion. New York dressmakers Enid Bissett and Ida Rosenthal began selling brassieres in the early 1920s that gathered in the front to create pockets and support women’s breasts individually. Their bras soon became more popular than their dresses, and Enid and Ida began to manufacture them on a larger scale. The name of their company, Maiden Form, stood in direct contrast to the popular Boyshform brand of binders many women had been wearing to achieve the flat-chested look.
label: Location
content: Currently on loan
place: label: place made
content: United States: New York, New York City
setName: label: See more items in
content: Home and Community Life: Costume
label: See more items in
content: Clothing & Accessories
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content: American Enterprise
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Maidenform, Inc.
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1998.0040.001
label: patent number
content: 1,648,464
label: accession number
content: 1998.0040
label: catalog number
content: 1998.0040.1
objectType: label: Object Name
content: brassiere
label: Object Type
content: Underwear
label: Object Type
content: Woman
label: Object Type
content: Brassiere
label: Object Type
content: Upper Body
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: cotton (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: silk (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: end to end: 29 in; 73.66 cm