GB2475697A

GB2475697A - A strapless outer garment

Info

Publication number: GB2475697A
Application number: GB0920712A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Martin Godfrey
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2009-11-26
Filing date: 2009-11-26
Publication date: 2011-06-01
Anticipated expiration: 2029-11-26
Also published as: GB0920712D0; GB2475697B

Abstract

A top or outer garment 5 for ladies is arranged such that, in use, it does not extend over the shoulders 1 of a wearer and comprises attachment means 6 fixed at the point 7 where a conventional shoulder strap would normally be attached, allowing the garment to be removably attached to an item of underwear, such as a brassiere, or other inner garment worn by the wearer. Attachment means may be provided at the front or the back of the garment or in both locations, and may be a hook and loop fastening system, magnetic or mechanical clips, folding flaps, or any other suitable means. When the outer garment of the invention is in use with a suitable undergarment, a single set of straps 4 are visible on the shoulders of a wearer.

Description

Strapless Over-Garment The present invention is an over-garment preferably but not exclusively a ladies top outer garment which is worn over a conventional brassiere or other upper body underwear. This over-garment is strapless and without its own means of support and is supported by a conventional under-garment which is usually though not always a ladies brassiere.

The support straps for ladies outer and under garments have always been a functional necessity in that they are usually present in order to make the garment fulfil its function. They rarely add to the aesthetic appeal or the decorative nature of the garment itself and are often rather untidy in their appearance.

Most ladies wear both outer and under garments together all of the time and this is not usually a problem. However when temperature increase or when staying indoors, many women prefer to have exposed shoulders and therefore begin to wear tops which have shoulder straps where they would otherwise have covered the shoulders.

In these circumstances with conventional clothing items there are two sets of shoulder straps visible the first being the straps for a brassiere or other under-garment and the second being the straps for the top or outer garment. Since both sets of straps are visible at the same time, this often makes for a rather untidy appearance.

There are many solutions available for this in the art. Commonly there are provided under garments which are strapless, however, the design of such undergarments is usually adapted to provide additional support to compensate for the absence of straps and this often makes them less popular to wear except in special circumstances.

Another solution is to provide a conventional brassiere with plastic see through straps so as to allow the skin colour to be visible through the strap and minimise the effect of the visible straps. Also there are elasticised strapless tops which resemble large tubes and also tops and full outer garments which have folding straps, some with swivel joints, allowing the garment to be used with or without visible straps.

By far the most common course for ladies to take in these circumstances, is to simply lay the straps of the outer garment over the straps of the inner garment and most of the time this seems to be the only available solution. However, there is still a problem in that the straps become misaligned in use and then look untidy.

The present invention provides a solution to the problem outlined above by teaching the use of an outer garment which has no straps and which is adapted to be removeably attached to the straps of the inner garment.

The present invention is not restricted to a single means of attachment of an outer garment to an inner garment and is intended to cover any suitable means of attachment though illustrations of suitable means are given later in this document.

According to the invention there is provided a ladies top or outer garment designed to attach to a conventional brassiere, item of underwear or inner garment using suitable attachment means which is affixed to the outer garment at a point where a conventional shoulder strap would be expected to be attached to the said outer garment. This attachment means is of the type which also allows removal of the top or outer garment without damage to the undergarment to which it has been attached.

The said suitable attachment means can be any of several known fixing means including Velcro, clips (whether mechanical or magnetic), folding flaps or any other method which prevents the outer garment from loosing contact with the inner garment at the said fixing point. No changes are required to the underwear and all fixings will be built in to the strapless outer garment. There may also be provision for fixings at the rear of the garment.

The appearance of the invention when in use is that there is only one piece of clothing being worn because apart from the straps the under garment is not visible. The fixings themselves are shown in the attached drawing to be visible but according to the invention they may or may not be visible.

The invention will now be more particularly described by way of example with reference to the attached drawing in which Figure 1 is a representation of the front right shoulder of a lady who is wearing an under garment and an outer garment according to the invention.

Referring now to Figure 1 this illustrates a ladies front right shoulder I from the neck 3 to the arm 2.

A conventional undergarment is worn but only the shoulder strap 4 of the undergarment is illustrated.

This undergarment is covered by a strapless top 5 and at point 7, which is where a strap would normally be attached there is provided a fixing means 6. In the case of this example the said fixing means 6 has two folding pieces which wrap around the strap 4.

It will be appreciated that there may be rear attachment means which are not illustrated and that the said attachment means can be any suitable means and that the example given here is not intended to limit the fixing means used in this invention in any way.

The invention is intended to be limited only by the scope of the claims.

Claims

CLAIMS1. A ladies top or outer garment which in use does not extend over the shoulders of the wearer intended in use to removeably attach to an item of underwear or inner garment using suitable removable attachment means which suitable removable attachment means is permanently fixed to the said outer garment at a point where a conventional shoulder strap would normally be attached so that the said top outer or outer garment when removeably attached to the said underwear or inner garment can be supported by the said underwear or inner garment.
2. A ladies top or outer garment in accordance with claim 1 where the said suitable removable attachment means in use may be at the front or the back or both the front and back of the said garment.
3. A ladies top or outer garment according to claim 1 or 2 where the said suitable removable attachment means may be Velcro or magnetic clips or mechanical clips or folding flaps or any other method of prevent the outer garment from loosing contact with the inner garment.
4. A ladies top or outer garment according to claims 1, 2, or 3 where the said suitable removable attachment means may or may not be visible.