Medium: Natural linen, cotton trim

Date: c. 1905

Country: France

Credit: Museum purchase

Bust supporters and proto-brassieres re-emerged as the fashionable silhouette changed during the late nineteenth century. They were able to lift and enhance the breasts in ways that were not possible with traditional corsetry. While bust supporters took a variety of forms, this example would have helped to create the fashionable “monobosom” silhouette of the early twentieth century.

Object Number: 98.29.5