You shouldn't always take as gospel what your mother told you. My mother told me that women in the past wrapped their breasts flat with sheeting to stop them bouncing. Well maybe that was they way it was done by her very strict puritan ancestors but now I find that in the 1500's women were wearing a garment that looked very much like a bra, it even looks as though it lifts and separates.
There are some very good articles about this discovery. One at the BBC History Magazine and the other at Medievel Silkwork. If my mother had seen the illustrations on the latters blog she wouldn't have got so confused.
Given how many low-necked styles there were in the past, they can't all have been wrapping themselves flat, but this is news to me too - thanks for the links.
Posted by: Rachel | August 10, 2012 at 11:20 PM
I found these articles really interesting. I often wondered what happened about underwear in the past.
Posted by: Carolyn Foley | August 11, 2012 at 08:13 AM
My Grandmother used to tell me about wrapping her breasts to keep them in place. I think it was when she was a teenager and before she was fitted for "stays". This would have been around 1910.
Posted by: Allys | August 12, 2012 at 05:06 AM
Apparently this practise went right back to the Greeks and Romans.
Posted by: Carolyn Foley | August 12, 2012 at 08:13 AM