US2676320A - Brassiere - Google Patents

Description

April 27, 1954 E R, SUTTER 2,676,320

BRASSI ERE Filed Dec. 6, 1950 Patented Apr. 27, 1954 2,676,320 BRASSIRE Edward R. Sutter, Chicago, Ill., assignor to Beau- T-Form Foundations, Inc.,v a corporation of Illinois Application December 6, 1950, Serial No.' 199,459

Claims.

This invention relates generally to an improved brassire and more particularly to an improved cup-structure for a brassire. It has as its principal object to provide a cup-structure for a brassire having a shelf support in the lower portion of the cup to give better support to the human breast and to prevent upward slipping of the brassire across the breast.

A further object of this invention is to provide a cup-structure for a brassire which conforms to the natural curvaturel of the human breast both in the vertical and the horizontal planes.

In the ordinary known brassire it was common to provide a cone-like cup having a relatively liat surface formed by the lowermost portion of the cone. Such a form provided a relatively steep angle in the cup from the body of the wearer upwardly toward the apex of the cone-like cup. This sharp angle in the cup cone had a tendency to flatten the lower part of the human breast which is naturally round and to make it easy for the brassire to slip upwardly over the breast, especially in cases where the arms of the wearer were upraised. It is therefore a more particular object of this invention to provide a cup-structure in a brassire which eliminates the sharp rise from the body of the wearer to the apex of the cup-cone and to substitute therefor a shelf support structure of rounded contour and adapted to provide a cradle-like support for the human breast rather than to force the cup fabric upwardly against it to atten it.

A further object of this invention is to provide a brassire having a pair of brassire cups joined together by an elastic fabric and having at the iowermost portion of each cup a piece of fabric adapted to rest snugly against the chest of the wearer immediately underneath the breast, the cups forming a naturally rounded shelf-like support for the human breast, the shelf forming an angle of slightly over 90 to the elastic fabric.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from the following'description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a perspective View of the brassire; Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken through one of the brassire cups; Fig. S is a view of the inside of the brassire cup in the direction of line 3-3 of Fig. 2; and Fig. 4 is a front View of the zlower piece of fabric in the brassire cup before and after rthe tucks are taken therein.

While this invention is susceptible of various modifications and alternative constructions, it is here shown and will hereinafter be described in a preferred embodiment. vIt is not intended, however, that the invention necessarily be limited thereby to the specic disclosure made, but on the contrary it is intended to cover all modications and alternative constructions falling within the spirit and scope of this invention as defined in the appended claims.

As shown herein for purposes of disclosure, the brassire I comprises generally two cup-like structures 2 and 2', an elastic fabric 3 joining said cup-like structures, a semi-arcuate like piece of fabric at the bottom of each cup andr adapted to rest snugly against the chest ofthe wearer immediately beneath the cup-like structures of the brassire proper and generally designated at 4. At 5 and are the straps extending outwardly from each" of the cup-structures and adapted to be fastened together at the back of the wearer.

The cup-like structures of this brassire being the most important parts thereof, are constructed of two separate lengths of fabric, the upper length ii being preferably constructed of a lace-like fabric and the lower portion l thereof being constructed of some type of conformable fabric. The upper strip 6 and the lower strip 'l have their marginal edges in regir try along their full lengths and their edges are bound by means of a strip of bias tape ii. The lower strip 'J has its top edge 9 generally curved. Its greatest width is slightly oi center asis shown in Fig. 4l. The lower edge IG of strip 'i comprises a at base along about the center one-half of the width thereof and at least one portion on either side of the fiat bas-e extending upwardly toward the top edge S. This particular structure of the lowermost portion of the cup would, if incorporated in a brassire,r result in the sharp angle fiat-type cup which has hereto-fore been common in the art.

In order to accomplish the objectsv of invention, the lowermost portion of the brassire cup is adapted so that when it is incorporated in the brassire there is formed a shelf-like support I5 at the lowermost portion of the cup for the human breast. To that end the lower portion of strip l' is provided withv a plurality of inverted V-shaped tucks Il along the base thereof which enable production of a cradle-like shelf in the lowermost portion of the cup. Fig. *fi of this application shows'. the lower strip i before and after taking the tuclrs` therein. 0n the strip l in Fig. v4i are indicated the stitch lines It and fold lines Il showing the preferred location for the tucks which are to be taken therethis in for providing the shelf-like structure i to support rather than to compress the breast. lt is not necessary that the strip l be provided with tucks to accomplish this purpose though this is preferred. It is possible that the material of each tuck, as shown in Fig. 4, could be removed from the strip I and the free edges drawn together and sewn or joined by a piece of ias tape. It is further not essential that the tuck be taken in the manner shown in Figs. 3 and e. It is quite conceivable that a mere gathering of the material at one or more places along the lower edge l0 of strip 'l would make it possible to provide a cup-like structure having a cradlelike shelf near the base thereof. The important thing is that the lower edge of strip l is shortened to provide the shelf like support l5.

This construction of the cup-like structure from material conformable to the human body and adapted to closely overlie the human breast, makes it possible to provide a natural curvature to the human breast both in the vertical and horizontal planes. Heretofore, it has been common to provide curvature in the horizontal plane, but in the vertical plane natural curvature was lacking inasmuch as the lowermost portion of the cup was made up of a section of fabric forming a steep angle from the body of the wearer upwardly toward the apex of the cup cone, thereby tending to compress the lower portion of the human breast upwardly and to flatten it. Such flattening enabled the brassire to more easily slide upwardly over the breast and to make wearing extremely uncomfortable. The breast is normally flat at the top and curved at the bottom. This brassire more nearly nts and supports such natural contour than the brassires now known which tend to hatten the bottom portion also.

To assist in a snug fit for this particular brassire and to aid in supporting the human breast, each of the cup-like structures is provided at the bottom thereof with a semi-arcuate piece of fabric i adapted to rest snugly against the chest of the wearer immediately beneath the cup-like structure for the breast. This piece of material, when the brassire is worn, generally forms an angle of slightly more than 90 to the lower strip 'l in the cup-like structure. ln brassires known heretofore having such a support to rest against the human chest an angle much greater than 90 was formed with the lower strip of the brassire cup, and in the brassires heretofore known it was quite cornmon that no portion of the lower strip in the cup ever was in a position below the uppermost point on the support piece. The angle formed at point la is about 90 or slightly larger and is substantially less than a similar angle formed in known brassires. This very clearly demonstrates how such a structure gives a cradle or shelf-like support to the breast rather than to compress it upwardly by means of the sharp angle rise in the lowermost portion of the brassire cups heretofore known. By providing such a shelf-like structure it is possible to use a support piece to rest against the chest of the wearer relatively loosely when compared to the support pieces used in well-known brassires. In order to prevent brassires from slipping upwardly hertofore, it has been necessary to use a support piece which, instead of resting snugly against the chest of the wearer, fit so tightly that they commonly left marks on the wearers chest directly beneath the breast. This caused considerable discomfort to the wearer. The improved structure shown herein eliminates both that discomfort and in addition thereto, provides a natural cradling and shaping for the human breast which has not been known in previous brassires.

T.n order to provide a brassire having the maximum comfort to the wearer and which is adjustable in lseveral directions with movement of the human body, this brassire is provided with an elastic fabric junction between each of the brassire cups. This junction is generally designated at 3. Though this junction may be in one or more strips and of various types of elastic fabric, it is shown herein for purposes of disclosure only as a single piece having a wide base I2 and a pointed top i3.

The brassire as is shown in the perspective of Fig. l is provided at all seams with strips oi' bias tape. The bias tape not only affords a strong joint between separate strips of fabric, but it also adds to the overall strength of the brassire proper. The brassire is also provided with the customary shoulder straps i4.

The brassire isalso provided with the curtomary fastening device (not shown), a part of which is located at the end of each strap and which is adapted to be fastened near the middle of the back of the wearer.

t seems apparent from the foregoing description that I have perfected a vastly improved brassire having a shelf-like or cradle-like sup port in the lower portion of the brassire cup for providing a support for the human breast rather than a cup-like structure which compresses the breast and causes the lower portion of the breast to be flattened. 'The cup formed of a conformable fabric is constructed in a relatively simple and economic manner with a minimum of materials utilized. The novel feature of providing a shelf in the lowermost portion of the cup eliminates the possibility that the brassire will slip upwardly easily over the breast. lt also makes it possible to eliminate an extremely tight support structure which i-lts snugly against the chest immediately beneath the breast thereby adding to the comfort of the wearer.

I claim:

l. In a brassire, means forming a pair of breast cups, said cups being made of conformable fabric with each cup being formed of an upper strip and a lower strip joined together along substantially the horizontal center line of the cup, said lower strip when laid flat comprising a length of conformable material being curved at its top and having a bottom edge the central portion of which extends substantially linearly ap proximately half the length of the strip and the adjoining portions of which extend upwardly toward the curved top at an acute angle from the central portion to the end of the bottom edge, and said lower strip having a plurality of inverted V-shaped tucks along the bottom portion near the juncture between said central portion and the adjoining portions with said tucks eX- tending upwardly toward the curved top portion of the lower strip and terminating at a point below the center of the cup to form a substantially linear bottom edge on the lower strip extending from end to end thereof and to develop a conveX contour in the lower strip to provide a cradlelike support for the human breast and to prevent the brassire from slipping upwardly over the breast.

2. In a brassire, a breast supporting lower portion of a brassire cup comprising a piece of conformable material formed into a strip having a convexly curved top edge and a bottom edge having a central linear portion and two adjacent portions extending from the central portion upwardly at an angle toward the top edge, said bottom edge being shortened by two inverted V-shaped sections the base of each of which is approximately at the juncture of the central portion and one of the adjacent portions with said sections extending upwardly to terminate in an apex below said top edge to provide on said strip a substantially linear bottom edge extending from end to end thereof.

3. In a brassire, means forming a pair of breast cups, said cups being made of conformable fabric adapted to closely overlie the breasts of the wearer, each cup of said pair being formed of an upper and lower piece of conformable fabric joined together along substantially the horizontal center line of the cup, said lower piece having a substantially linear-flower edge portion shortened by an inverted V-shaped section extending upwardly from said linear portion with the apex of said section being located below the juncture of said upper and lower pieces to form in the lowermost portion of the cup a cradle-likeV structure to conform with and support the breast and to prevent the brassire from slipping upwardly over the breast.

4. In a brassire, means forming a pair of breast cups, said cups being made of conformable fabric adapted to closely overlie the breasts of the wearer, an elastic fabric between said pair of cups and a piece of fabric having an arcuate upper edge secured to the lower edge of each cup and adapted to rest snugly against the chest of the wearer, said cup being formed with a cradlelike support in the lowermost portion of said cup,

said lowermost portion having a substantially linear lower edge portion provided with inverted V-shaped tucks or darts extending upwardly from said edge portion each terminating at its apex below the central portion of the cup to provide a generally rounded contour in the vertical plane.

5. In a brassire, means forming a pair of breast cups, said cups being made of conformable fabric adapted to closely overlie the breasts of the wearer, an elastic fabric between said pair of cups, a piece of fabric having an arcuate upper edge secured to the lower edge of each cup and adapted to rest snugly against the chest of the wearer, said cups being formed of an upper and lower piece of fabric connected together at approximately the horizontal center line of the cup by bia-s tape, the upper piece comprising conformable fabric and the lower piece comprising an elongated strip of conformable material having a substantially linear lower edge portion provided with a plurality of inverted V-shaped tucks therein, said tucks extending upwardly to a point slightly below the juncture of the upper and lower pieces of fabric to form a cradle-like support in the lower portion of each cup for supporting the breast and to prevent the brassire from slipping upwardly over the breast.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

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