Maidenform began as part of Enid Frocks, a small dressmaking business in New York City, owned by Enid Bissett and Ida Rosenthal. In the early 1920s Bissett and Rosenthal began making softly-shaped bras into the dresses they were making, as it made the dresses have a better fit. In 1923 they began making the bras as a separate garment, calling them Maidenform Bras. These bras went on the market in 1924.
The bras were so successful that the pair formed the Enid Manufacturing Company, for the sole purpose of making bras. In 1926 William Rosenthal, Ida’s husband, applied for a patent for a bra that put the bust in its natural position. The design proved to be very popular.
In 1930 Enid Bissett left the company and the Rosenthals renamed it the Maidenform Brassiere Company. The Rosenthals used creative advertising to advance their product, even being the first underwear company to advertise on billboards. In 1949 they started one of the most successful and longest running ad campaigns of all times – the “I dreamed” campaign. In the ads, women were pictured in their Maidenform bras, living out their dreams: I dreamed I was in Paris in my Maidenform bra.
The company diversified into other types of lingerie, especially in the 1970s when consumers were getting younger. Maidenform was reorganized in 1999 after filing for bankruptcy and is still in business.
Written by fuzzylizzie
from an early 1950s bra
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from a 1950s bustier
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from a 1950s bullet bra
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from a 1965 girdle
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from a 1969 girdle
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from a 1970s swimsuit
Courtesy of Althea Lane Ford
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