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By 1950, corsets were mostly a thing of the past, but that doesn’t mean that bra fashion had come around to a more natural look. In fact, the reverse is true. As the 1940s gave way to the 1950s, what remained of the natural look in bras, as first popularized in the 1930s, was gradually losing its allure. Instead, the bullet bras of the 1940s became more exaggerated as they evolved through the 1950s, and instead of separating the breasts, they were now pushing the breasts together to create cleavage.
The strapless bra grew increasingly popular throughout the 1950s thanks to the growing popularity of strapless evening gowns. And it couldn’t have hurt that the growing availability of television and film brought gown-wearing starlets like Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield, and Lana Turner into the American consciousness, per Pitt Rivers Museum. Although Frederic Mellinger, who went on to open Frederick’s of Hollywood, introduced the first padded bra in the late 1940s (via HerRoom), the 1950s emphasis on shapeliness gave padded bras the “oomph” they needed to take off in popularity.
Bras of the 1950s also began featuring bows, lace, and trim, and the first television commercial for bras debuted in 1954, according to Neatorama. Finally, the 1950s saw maternity and nursing bras go into mass production, although appropriate sizing and actual functionality would have to wait until the 1990s.
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