Underwire

Underwire (pronounced uhn-der-wahyuhr)

(1) A (usually almost semi-circular) metal, plastic or composite “wire” sewn into the underside of each cup of a brassiere, used both as a structural member and shaping device.

(1) A brassiere (or related component in a swimsuit or some other garment) with such wires.

A portmanteau word, the construct being under + wire.  Under is from the Middle English under, from the Old English under, from the  Proto-Germanic under (source also of the Old Frisian under, the German unter, the Old High German untar, the Dutch onder, the Old Norse undir, the Gothic undar and the Danish & Norwegian under), from a blend of the primitive Indo-European n̥dhér (under) and n̥tér (inside).  It was akin to the Old High German untar (under), the Sanskrit अन्तर् (antar) (within) and the Latin infrā (below, beneath) & inter (between, among), influencing also the Sanskrit adhah (below), the Avestan athara- (lower) and the Latin infernus (lower).  The Old English under was a preposition in the sense of "beneath, among, before, in the presence of, in subjection to, under the rule of, by means of and also an adverb in the sense of "beneath, below, underneath," expressing position with reference to that which is above, usage gained from the Proto-Germanic under-.

Under proved as productive a prefix in Old English as had in German and Scandinavian languages, often forming words modeled on Latin ones using “sub-“ and the notion of "inferior in rank, position etc" existed in the Old English and persists in the language of the titles in the UK’s civil service to this day (eg under-secretary).  The idea of it being used as descriptor of standards (less than in age, price, value etc” emerged in the late fourteenth century whereas, as an adjective meaning “lower in position; lower in rank or degree” was known as early as the 1200s.  Mysteriously, the use in Old English as a preposition meaning "between, among," as in “under these circumstances” may be a wholly separate root (eg understand).  The phrase “under the weather (indisposed; unwell) is from 1810.  Under the table was used from 1913 in the sense of "very drunk" and it wasn’t until the 1940s (possibly influenced by the onset of rationing and the consequence emergence of black markets) it came to enjoy the sense of something "illegal" (although the long-extinct “under-board: (dishonest) is attested from circa 1600.  To keep something under the hat (secret) is from 1885 and use seems not to have been affected by the post 1945 decline in hat-wearing; to have something under (one's) nose (in plain sight) is from 1540s; to speak under (one's) breath (in a low voice) dates from 1832.

Wire is from the Middle English wir & wyr (metal drawn out into a fine thread), from the Old English wīr (wire, metal thread, wire-ornament), from the Proto-Germanic wira- & wīraz (wire), from the primitive Indo-European wehiros (a twist, thread, cord, wire), from wei & wehiy- (to turn, twist, weave, plait).  The Proto-Germanic wira- & wīraz were the source also of the Old Norse viravirka (filigree work=), the Swedish vira (to twist) and the Old High German wiara (fine gold work).  A wire as marking the finish line of a racecourse is attested from 1883; hence the figurative down to the wire.  Wire-puller in the political sense dates from 1839, an invention of American English (though used first to describe matters in the UK’s House of Commons), based on the image of pulling the wires that work a puppet; the phrase “pulling the strings” replaced “pulling the wires” late in the nineteenth century.

Casting a practiced eye: Lindsay Lohan assessing the underwires.

In the technical sense familiar to a structural engineer, the bra’s underwire is a specific instance of the earlier verb (1520s) “undergird”, the construct being under + gird.  Gird (to bind with a flexible rope or cord; to encircle with, or as if with a belt) was from the Middle English girden, gerden & gürden, from the Old English gyrdan (to put a belt around, to put a girdle around), from the Proto-Germanic gurdijaną (to gird), from the primitive Indo-European gherdh.  It was cognate with the West Frisian gurdzje & girdzje, the Dutch gorden, the German gürten, the Swedish gjorda, the Icelandic gyrða and the Albanian ngërthej (to tie together by weaving, to bind).  The related forms were undergirded & undergirding.

As a familiar mass-manufactured commodity item, the bra is a relatively new innovation although many of the various functionalities afforded to the wearer are noted in illustrations and surviving garments worn since antiquity, interest in the physics of gravity long pre-dating Newtonian mechanics.  The most obvious immediate ancestor, the corset, began to be widely worn by the late 1400s, the shaping and structure of many underpinned by struts made either of metal or, more commonly, animal bone, a method of construction which, in simplified form, would later return as the underwire.  The first patent issued for a recognizably modern bra was issued in New York in 1893 for a “breast supporter” and it included all the features familiar in the mass-produced modern product: separated cups atop a metal support system, located with a combination of shoulder straps and a back-band fastened by hook and eye closures.  On the basis of the documents supplied with the patent application, the design objective was for something not only functional and practical but, unlike the often intimidating corsets then in use, also comfortable.

It was an immediate success although, lacking the capacity to manufacture at scale and unwilling to become involved in the capital raising which that would have demanded, the inventor sold her patent to the Warner Brothers Corset Company for US$1500 (at a time when a new Ford car cost around US$400).  Warner Brothers Corset Company (later Warnaco Group, in 2012 acquired by Phillips-Van Heusen Corporation (PVH), which over the life of the patent is estimated to have booked profits of almost US$40 million from its bra sales, got a bargain.  English borrowed the word brassiere from the French brassière, from the Old French braciere (which was originally a lining fitted inside armor which protected the arm, only later becoming a garment), from the Old French brace (arm) although by then it described a chemise (a kind of undershirt) but in the US, brassiere was used from 1893 when the first bras were advertised and from there, use spread.  The three syllables were just too much to survive the onslaught of modernity and the truncated “bra” soon prevailed, being the standard form throughout the English-speaking world by the early 1930s.  Curiously, in French, a bra is a soutien-gorge which translates literally and rather un-romantically as "throat-supporter" although "chest uplifter" is a better translation.  The etymological origin of the modern "bra" lying in a single garment is the reason one buys "a bra" in the same department store from which one might purchase "a pair" of sunglasses or shoes. 

The booming popularity of the bra in the 1920s and 1930s encouraged innovation and not a few gimmicks and it was in this era that manufacturers first began to develop systems of cup sizes although there was there no standardization of dimensions and, technically, that’s still the case with remarkable variations between manufacturers; it’s an industry crying out for an ISO.  It was in 1931 a patent was issued for what was described as a bra with a pair of integrated “open-ended wire loops”, semi-circular pieces of metal enclosed in protective fabric which partially encircled each breast, sitting against the chest-wall at the bottom of the breasts.  This is the origin of the modern underwire and during the 1930s, while designers would develop more elaborate versions, the concept didn’t change and as late as 1940, the underwire bra remained something of niche product being, at this stage of development, both more expensive and often less comfortable.  Wartime necessity also imposed an evolutionary delay, the use of metal during wartime being limited to essential production and carefully rationed.  Bras by then probably had become essential but apparently not underwired bras.

Hughes H-4 Hercules (Spruce Goose) on its only test flight, 2 November 1947, Long Beach, Los Angeles Harbor.  It flew for abou1 1 mile (1.6 km) and achieved a maximum speed of 135 mph (217 km/h).

Howard Hughes (1905—1976), the industrialist knew about the wartime limits on the use of metals because the War Production Board had insisted his H-4 Hercules, a huge, eight-engined flying boat designed to transport 750 troops across the Atlantic, be built using “non-strategic materials" which precluded the industry’s preferred aluminum, Hughes using birch wood almost exclusively.  The H-4, which wasn’t completed until after the end of hostilities flew, briefly, only once and was nicknamed the Spruce Goose, which obviously was arboreally inaccurate but thinking of something as funny and rhyming with “birch” wasn’t easy.  So, in 1942 Hughes knew he’d never get approval for enough metal for his big flying boat, but in 1941, before the entry of the US into the war, more than enough metal was available to create a specialized part to be used in another of his ventures: film director.

Jane Russell, promotional picture for The Outlaw (1941).

In 1941, while filming The Outlaw, Hughes wasn’t satisfied with what sympathetic lighting, camera angles and provocative posing could make of Jane Russell's (1921—2011) bust.  A skilled engineer, he quickly designed and had fabricated a kind of cantilevered underwire bra to lend the emphasis he though her figure deserved.  What Hughes did was add curved steel rods which functioned as actual structural members, sewn into the bra under each cup and connected to the shoulder straps, an arrangement which simultaneously pushed upwards the breasts and allowed the shoulder straps to be re-positioned, exposing to the camera much more skin.  In engineering terms, it was a device which achieved a fixture with no visible means of support.  Hughes was delighted with the result and completed filming though it wasn’t until much later Ms Russell revealed the cantilevered device was so uncomfortable she wore it for only a few minutes, reverting to her own bra which, to please Hughes, she modified with those trusty standbys, padding and a judicious tightening of the straps.  The result was much the same and Ms Russell waspishly added that the engineering prowess which had served Hughes well in aviation didn’t translate well to designing comfortable underwear.  The Outlaw was completed in February 1941 but, because of the focus on Ms Russell's breasts, faced opposition in obtaining the required certificate of release from the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America (the MPPDA which administered the Hays Code) which was demanding cuts to thirty seconds odd of offending footage.  Hughes reluctantly complied and there was a brief showing in 1943 but the film’s distributer, unwilling to be dragged into any controversy, withdrew from the project and it wasn’t until 1946 there was finally a general release on cinema screens.  Given the pent-up demand, it was a commercial success but the critics were at the time unimpressed and it only later gained a cult following, at least partly on the basis of the gay undertone in the plot-line.

Lindsay Lohan in underwired demi-cup bra, photoshoot by Terry Richardson (b 1965) for Love Magazine, 2012.  The "demi-cup look" can be achieved by choosing a bra with the correct band size and a smaller cup.  Someone who usually wears a full-cup 32D would use a 32C or even 32B to get the effect although, given the variation in cup shapes between manufacturers, some experimentation will likely be required and fitters caution this should be done in a physical store rather than shopping on-line. 

Underwires essentially fulfill part of the function of an exoskeleton in that, being designed to fit snugly against the ribcage, they provide a basic mechanism of location which means the back-strap, cups and shoulder-straps can provide the shape and support without having to compensate for excessive movement or changes in weight distribution.  The mathematics of structural engineering is really that of making push equal pull and what a well-designed (and properly fitted) underwire does is minimize the risk of movement in an unwanted direction (down) so the least energy is required to maintain the desired movement (up).  There are other ways of achieving this but such constructions typically are much bulkier and use often stiff, unaccommodating fabrics and thick straps.  The underwire is a simple technology which, in the abstract really can’t be improved upon although there are problems.  Washing machine service technicians note the frequency with which errant underwires end up in the mechanism and, being metal, damage can result.  For this reason, most bra manufacturers recommend they be placed in a sealed bag for washing.  Detachment can also happen while in use, a protruding underwire sometimes passing through the material in which its supposed to remain enclosed, giving the wearer a painful jab in a soft, fleshy spot.  Although the tips are usually plastic coated, repeated jabbing is still uncomfortable.  Being traditionally made of metal (usually stainless steel) brings it's own issues, most obviously with metal detectors but for frequent flyers, bras with plastic underwires (and hooks & clasps) are available off the shelf and plastic underwires are even sold as stand-alone part-numbers to modify existing models or for use by the small but devoted class of users who make their own.

Not all underwires are created equal: The Lingerie Addict explains.

Bra underwires typically are made from a non-ferrous metal (inside a plush casing surrounding the cup) such as stainless steel although there are some fabricated from some form of plastic which had appeal for frequent flyers not wanting to trigger the metal detectors at airports and a perhaps unanticipated market sector was among lawyers visiting prisons.  Although they might be presumed to achieve their structural effect by virtue of their rigidity, underwires actually have in them a very slight “spring” so they will splay just a fraction of an inch as the bra moves, something which enhances comfort and fit.  In that sense, an underwire can be thought of as a “torsion bar” which essentially is an unwound spring stretched straight.  The underwire has two functions: (1) to provide the superstructure with a secure location against the ribcage and (2) to distribute forces (downward, upward & lateral) in the same way the cables on a suspension bridge (which connect the towers to the deck) transfer the downward force from traffic up the cables to the towers, diffusing and distributing the stresses to the strongest point.  In a bridge, that’s the tower which, being anchored to the earth, means the forces end up moving from the structure to the ground while in a bra, they’re absorbed partially by the frame (mostly the band if well-designed and also to the shoulder straps if not) and partially by the wearer’s ribcage.  Manufacturers also use the comparison with bridges to illustrate the inherent limitation (at least when dealing with mass above a certain point) of wire-free construction.  Usually, they compare the wire-free design with a simple “rope bridge”, anchored on each side of the waterway or gap crossed but which sinks down as weight (which manifests as downward pressure) is applied.  The physics of this is that because there is no rigid support infrastructure to transfer the downward pressure away from the deck, there’s a direct relationship between the downward pressure and the sag of the deck.  For that reason, it’s important to distinguish between wire-free bras which are little more than an underwire bra without an underwire and those using a design which emulates what an underwire does, usually with a layered array of thicker, stiffer materials in the band and the lower parts of the cup.  In theory such an approach can achieve the same level of support as the most formidable underwire bra but the level of rigidity in the structure would likely render such a creation too uncomfortable to be tolerated by most although variations of the idea are used in short-duration sports such as boxing.

Playtex 18Hour (4745) wire-free bra (left) and 1996 Dodge Viper RT/10 fitted with car bra.  Car bras are also wire-free. 

Although common, not all bras use an underwire, the “wire-free” design used for a number of reasons.  For those with small breasts who require something merely decorative or desire only coverage rather than support, the wire-free bras are a popular choice and the majority of sports bras also use other methods of construction.  Like just about any form of engineering, there are trade-offs, the advantages gained in not using an underwire needing to be assessed by wearers considering whether they outweigh whatever limitations may be imposed.  Sometimes, the wire-free devices are marketed as a niche product such as maternity, nursing, post surgical or nightwear (ie for sleeping in, it really does seem a thing).  However, modern materials and forms of reinforcing do make the wire-free bra a viable choice for a wide range of wearers although the physical dimensions of the fabric do tend to be greater (the frame, straps etc), the principle much the same as when aluminium is used for an engine block rather than cast iron, the volume of the lighter material needed to be greater to compensate for its reduced strength.  In a sign of the times, although historically bras without an underwire often were advertised as “wireless”, the ubiquity of the word to describe various forms of digital connectivity (over WiFi, Bluetooth etc) means the industry had shifted mostly to calling them “wire-free” which may seem unnecessary given few would confuse a bra with a router but the internet-enabled bra can be only a matter of time so it’s good manufacturers are thinking ahead.  IT nerds actually already have proved they can deal with linguistic overlap and know about BRAS (broadband remote access server, known also as BBRAS or B-RAS), a device which routes traffic to and from devices such as DSLAMs (digital subscriber line access multiplexer) on an ISP’s (Internet Service Provider).

1989 Porsche 911 Silver Anniversary with car bra and mirror bras.

The Silver Anniversary edition was released in 1989 to mark the 25^th year of 911 production, a run of 500 (300 coupés & 200 cabriolets) made available for the US market.  Available only in silver metallic paint or satin black metallic, all were trimmed in silk grey leather with black accent piping & silk grey velour carpeting.  In the usually way these things are done, the package included a bundle of options including a stitched leather console with an outside temperature gauge and a CD or cassette holder, a limited-slip differential, a short shifting gear lever and the inevitable “25^th Anniversary Special Edition” badges, stamped in bronze.

The other wire-free bras are “car bras” (hyphenated and not).  Car bras are “protective garments”, vinyl covers designed to fit snugly over the front of a vehicle, stopping stones or other debris chipping the paint.  Their origin appears to line in the “cover masks” used by car-manufacturers in the 1970s as a means of concealing the appearance of vehicles being tested (a “shake-down” the preferred phrase) on closed tracks or public roads prior to their release and the purpose was to stop photographers getting pictures of upcoming models to sell to magazines, anxious to scoop the competition with news of what would soon be in the showrooms.  The practical advantages however were obvious and in the 1980s when chrome plated bumpers began rapidly to disappear and be replaced by painted surfaces, stone chips became more of an issue, the vulnerable frontal area in many cases more than tripled.

Wire-free: Covercraft's "Lebra" car bra for 2010-2013 Chevrolet Camaro.

The early implementations of the car bra were utilitarian but those who were (1) obsessive about such things, (2) drove frequently on roads where stone damage was more common or (3) owned a vehicle with a design which made such damage more likely (the Porsche 911 a classic example) were soon able to buy vinyl (nearly always black) covers which came to be called “car bras”.  In the 1980s they were very popular and the better ones were both easy to fit and fitted well but problems were soon observed, notably the trapping of moisture which, in conjunction with dust or tiny fragments of stone which tended to be caught around the edges, acted as a kind of sandpaper as the vinyl moved slightly while the vehicle was in motion; over time, this could damage the paint, the very thing the car bra was there to prevent.  As women wearing bras understand, chafing can be a problem.  For that reason, car bras fell from favour, especially as paint technology improved and finishes became more durable and less susceptible to being chipped.  Additionally, clear protective coatings became available which offered “extra layers” which were undetectable by the naked eye and by the time adhesive “wraps” (opportunistically now also marketed as "clear bras") in just about any color became a thing, the appeal of the car bra diminished although they remain available and the newer versions have been revised to reduce "chafing".  However, unlike other symbols of the 1980s (leg-warmers, shoulder pads et al), a revival of the fashion seems unlikely.  Car bras don’t use an underwire but some of the advertising does have something in common with the underwear business, one manufacturer listing some of the features of their car bra as including (1) double padding to prevent wear-thru, (2) a top double-stitch for better body-hugging fit and (3) double-covered & reinforced hooks which won’t scratch.  The available materials include both the basic vinyl and “textured carbon fibre vinyl”.