The company made its first silk underwear in , and Barbey changed the name to Vanity Fair Silk Mills in , focusing on manufacturing women's undergarments such as knickers, petticoats, bloomers, bodice vests, camisoles, bandeaux and chemises.
Instead of long Victorian skirts, women started wearing more practical bloomers, which were pants-like garments meant to be worn under their clothes. In the s, Vanity Fair blended silk and rayon, responding to the continued silk embargo, dubbing it Silkenese—and in the 's debuted another industry first by adding in latex elastic to make lighter lingerie with a better fit.
The introduction of nylon revolutionized the garment industry, and women flocked to purchase intimates created with the new synthetic material.
Vanity Fair was also one of the largest purveyors in wartime needs for the United States during WWII, when they temporarily abandoned its lines of brasseries and girdles to manufacture silk parachutes, life boat sails and underwear for females in the military.
Around mid-century, bras started to evolve into true style staples. History April 26, am. Portrait of Dutch model Frederique Van Der Wal as she lies on a bed, her hands over her head and dressed only in a light colored bra, dark socks, and a strategically placed sheet, late s or early s. By Diana Crandall. Ferrero bra. Paris, years A woman adjusts her hair as she poses in an ad wearing her Maidenform Chansonette bra, Portrait of American actress Marilyn Monroe — as she poses on the patio outside of her home, Hollywood, California, May More Like This.
Recommended Suggested for you. The InsideHook Newsletter. News, advice and insights for the most interesting man in the room. Email Please enter a valid email address. I accept the Terms and Conditions , and Privacy Policy. In classical Greece, women were known to wear a strap of fabric, known as an apodesmos, which resembled a bandeau top and bound the breasts and kept them in place.
Corsets were considered mandatory for middle and upper-class women at the time. They were shaped like funnels and stiffened with stays made of whale bone. Her clever invention allowed her to wear the plunging necklines of the time. War Industries Board asked American women to stop buying corsets in to make more metal available for the war effort. Not to mention, obviously, much more comfortable. The new undergarment, Jacobs recalled , "was delicious. I could move more freely, a nearly naked feeling, and in the glass I saw that I was flat and proper.
Jacobs wore her invention to the dance that night. She went on to demonstrate it around the dressing rooms of Manhattan's society gatherings. She made more models of it—using elastic bands—for friends. Soon, she went to see a patent attorney. On February 12, , Jacobs filed for a patent.
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