After the Jogbra’s invention, the sports bra was quickly in demand by active women, causing numerous lingerie companies, including Vanity Fair and Olga by Warner’s, to rush into the sports bra market. Is it a testament to the thoughtfulness and intelligence of the inventors, or a lack of evolution? Experts say it’s a little bit of both. Fabrics and features have changed, adornments have been added, and construction styles have been made more efficient for mass production, but if you hold up the modern sports bra, you can see its heritage, like a young child who bears a striking resemblance to her grandmother. If you hold up a sports bra made in the year 2020, it will have much of the same basic architecture of the original Jogbra: an elastic band around the ribcage, straps that cross in the back (known as a “racerback” style), and a compressive design that guides both breasts toward the center of the ribcage. “ represented a revolution in ready-to-wear clothing, enabled women’s participation in athletic activities, and advanced women’s health and well-being.” “The invention of the Jogbra changed the game forever,” says Laura Havel of the Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation. And they certainly didn’t think their invention would ever be enshrined in the world’s largest museum, and widely regarded as one of the most important inventions in athletics. They didn’t see their product evolving into a retail market amounting to approximately 14 billion dollars worldwide each year. They had no idea they would enable widespread female participation in sports. They had no idea that their invention, which they named the Jogbra, would soon become a revolution in athletic wear. Lindhal, Miller, and Smith thought they had developed a clever solution to a personal problem. They tested their invention with a jog around the block: Lindhal wearing the bra, Miller running backwards a few feet in front of her to see if there was any change to the motion of the breasts. Together, they excitedly developed a prototype from two jockstraps stitched together to provide breast support. Though Lindhal didn’t know much about garment construction, two of her running friends did: Hinda Miller and Polly Smith, who worked as costume designers. The jockstrap looked like it could work, especially after Lindahl took it from her husband, pulled it over her own head, and pulled the pouch down over her own breast like the cup of a brassiere. RELATED: Read all the ‘Endurance Geeks: The Science + Scientists of Swim Bike Run’ stories Lindhal looked at her husband with a raised eyebrow: Wait a second. The antics made Lindhal double over with laughter, then suddenly stop. New runner Lisa Lindhal was lamenting this very fact to her sister, Victoria Woodrow, when her husband cracked a joke: “Why not wear a jockstrap, then?” For extra comic effect, he slipped his own jockstrap over his head, wiggling and writhing until the garment awkwardly covered one side of his chest. The jockstrap, invented in 1874, was well-established as an essential piece of equipment for men to reduce bouncing of their genitalia during sports, yet no one had ever thought to make a female equivalent for athletic women. Brassieres were mostly regarded as a fashion item designed to enhance cleavage, not a functional one for anatomical support. Despite the surge in female athletic participation in the 1970s, no one was really thinking about the needs of women in sport-specifically, the need for a supportive garment to help reduce breast movement as women ran. A full industry sprung up to cater to the needs of these joggers, from Bill Bowerman’s iconic waffle-machine running shoes to the mass production of polyester running shorts and terry-cloth headbands.īut almost all of these innovations were created by men, for men.

Running became a mainstream activity, with an estimated 25 million Americans taking to their streets, paths, and track ovals. Shortly after the 1972 Title IX legislation mandated equal opportunity for girls and women in sports, a new fitness craze called jogging took the United States by storm. The invention of the sports bra is a quintessentially American story, born of necessity, ingenuity, and a few happy accidents.

But in 1977, it was an innovation that changed running forever. By today’s standards, this particular design would be recognized as loungewear, worn by women while lounging around the house, or maybe under a billowy tank top for a brunch date. In the archives of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, tucked in between a collection of items documenting the discovery of modern orthodontia and original scripts from the television show M*A*S*H, is a simple garment made of white cloth with an elastic band underneath. Heading out the door? Read this article on the new Outside+ app available now on iOS devices for members!

Seamless sports bra exporters