History of bras
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The history of bras is closely tied to the social status of women, the evolution of fashion, and shifting views of the female body over time.
Snake Goddess from ancient Crete, with the breasts supported by a fitted corset-like garment, c. 1600 BCE
Y-shaped breast bands on a bronze statue of Artemis, (mid-4th century BCE).
Aphrodite in a gold "bikini"; Roman copy of a Hellenistic statue, Pompeii
The Coronation of the Winner, 4th century CE
Aphrodite
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Aphrodite is an ancient Greek goddess associated with love, lust, beauty, pleasure, passion, procreation, and as her syncretised Roman counterpart Venus, desire, sex, fertility, prosperity, and victor
History of bras
…garment meant to support and contain women's breasts. In Book 14 of Homer's Iliad, written in the archaic period of classical antiquity, Homer refers to Aphrodite's "embroidered girdle" (Ancient Greek: κεστός ἱμάς, kestós himás) as being "loosed from her breasts", indicating a decorated breast-band rather than a…
The Ludovisi Cnidian Aphrodite, Roman marble copy (torso and thighs) with restored head, arms, legs and drapery support
Late second-millennium BC nude figurine of Ishtar from Susa, showing her wearing a crown and clutching her breasts
Early fifth-century BC statue of Aphrodite from Cyprus, showing her wearing a cylinder crown and holding a dove
Aphrodite Ourania, draped rather than nude, with her foot resting on a tortoise (Louvre)