Table of Contents

Some Developments in Bra History
Preface: Firming Up the Facts
1. The Birth of the Brassiere
2. Brassieres Win a Niche in Fashion
3. Breasts Lost and Found
4. Brassieres Rise, Stocks Fall
5. Dutiful Brassieres
6. Boom and Busts
7. Ban the Bra?
8. Wondering About Bras
App. ASelected Brassiere Manufacturers
App. BBrassiere Brands
Glossary
Notes
Selected Bibliography
Index
Acknowledgments

Promotional Information

In Uplift: The Bra in America, Jane Farrell-Beck and Colleen Gau use the brassiere to gauge the social history of women and to understand the business history of fashion. "Hundreds of attempts have been made to design the ideal breast supporter over the past 140 years. Uplift: The Bra in America is the story of those attempts, and it's hard to imagine it being told better."—Robert Gottlieb, New York Observer

About the Author

Jane Farrell-Beck is Professor of Textiles and Clothing at Iowa State University. Colleen Gau is President of CPRTex, Inc., a home-based conservation of textiles business and the author of articles on clothing and health.

Reviews

"Jane Farrell-Beck and Colleen Gau have collaborated to produce a minor miracle: an informal yet comprehensively researched work of history and sociology that isn't dull, isn't pretentious, isn't politically correct (or incorrect), and that's fun to read as well as being instructive."--Robert Gottlieb, New York Observer "In this good-humored yet careful examination, Farrell-Beck and Gau illuminate women's experience of this most everyday garment... A fun, punchy book."--Publishers Weekly "Uplift is extremely well-researched, and is significantly better than previous histories of the brassiere."--Valerie Steele, Fashion Institute of Technology

"Jane Farrell-Beck and Colleen Gau have collaborated to produce a minor miracle: an informal yet comprehensively researched work of history and sociology that isn't dull, isn't pretentious, isn't politically correct (or incorrect), and that's fun to read as well as being instructive."--Robert Gottlieb, New York Observer "In this good-humored yet careful examination, Farrell-Beck and Gau illuminate women's experience of this most everyday garment... A fun, punchy book."--Publishers Weekly "Uplift is extremely well-researched, and is significantly better than previous histories of the brassiere."--Valerie Steele, Fashion Institute of Technology