The word “brassiere” made its first debut in the Spring issue of Vogue– the edition that manifests the epitome of top female fashion– in the year 1907, where the inception of the taxonomy of the modern bra occurred in a fashion magazine prior to its adoption by the Oxford English Dictionary in the year that followed. There is evidence of linens, ribbons, and bandages being used as a method of restraining breasts dating as back as the time of ancient Greece. In the 1500’s, European women used corsets to mold their bodies into hourglass figures as an assertion of prestige and socioeconomic affluence, but the emergence of the modern bra is regarded by many historians to have occurred in the 20th century. As sex icons with full-figured bodies like Marilyn Monroe became cornerstones for American popular culture, more and more women developed a desire for large breasts and a full-figured look, which lead to the birth of the first version of the push-up bra– known as the Rising Star– introduced by Fredrick Mellinger, who is the same man credited with the invention of other intimate wear contraptions such as the front-hook bra, the strapless bra, and the thong. Bra sizes skyrocketed from as large as a 36DD to a 32N. These contraptions were all preceded of course by the roaring 20’s, where women bandaged their breasts to achieve the increasingly popular flat-chested, androgynous flapper look. Years after the inauguration of the Rising Star, feminists joined in a demonstration at the Miss America beauty pageant, with the intention of burning their bras, asserting them to be, “instruments of female torture.” The 21st century was met with increasing popularity for the unpadded bralette, and second wave feminism accompanied by increasing support for the Free the Nipple movement have led experts to believe that the modern bra, much like the corset did, will soon meet its end.