A ruined party dress, a famous movie star, and a war that changed what women wore underneath.
A New York socialite got fed up when her stiff corset kept poking through a new party dress. Which two everyday items did she grab to build the first modern bra?
Handkerchiefs and ribbon Mary Phelps Jacob, later known as Caresse Crosby, patented her design in 1914 and sold her first bras to friends for a dollar each.
After launching a tiny bra factory in Boston, the inventor shut it down and sold her patent cheap. Who talked her into quitting?
Her husband She sold the patent to the Warner Brothers Corset Company for $1,500, and Warner went on to make more than $15 million from the design.
A popular story says the bra was invented by a man named Otto Titzling. Say his name out loud. What's the catch?
He never existed The legend, along with his supposed rival Phillip de Brassière, came from a 1971 joke book and was later spread by a comedic song in the movie Beaches.
Which daring pilot and Hollywood filmmaker used his airplane know-how to design an "aerodynamic" bra for a movie star?
Howard Hughes Hughes built the underwire prototype for actress Jane Russell while filming The Outlaw.
Corsets started vanishing during World War I, and not just because fashion changed. What did the army need more than women's undergarments?
Metal for tanks With corsets fading and 1920s styles favoring boyish figures, the bra took over and is now worn by most Western women.
