Breast augmentation 100 years ago. What was it like?

What do we women have to endure in the name of fashion? What sacrifices we are not forced to make to look beautiful, modern and desirable. And nature has created us different — unfortunately, not all women meet the generally accepted standards and standards of beauty.

So in the XIX century, ladies had to solve some difficult problems: how to look no worse than a famous portrait or a picture in a fashion magazine? What should I do if nature has not rewarded me with a magnificent breast?

Women's magazines of the time were filled with advertisements for pills and potions to correct the shortcomings of women's appearance. For example, a "Bust Cream" was offered, which was rubbed into the skin of the chest. Advertising claimed that if you use the cream regularly, you can achieve magical results. In France, "Oriental pills" were widely advertised, also increasing the breast.

But if the pills and potions did not cope with the task of increasing the bust, then the Princess Bust Developer device came to the rescue, similar to a plunger, which, if you believe the advertising, developed the chest muscles, strengthened the capillaries and helped get rid of flabby skin.

Various methods were tried and tested by the ladies. Those of them who could not achieve the result through pills, creams and apparatus, turned to dressmakers for help.

So, in the 1860s, cotton wool or even rubber pads were sewn into the dress to give the desired volume in the chest area.

Or frills were sewn inside or outside the underwear.

Sometimes they sewed tricky corsets.

Later, the patented "bust improver" Lemon Cup came to the rescue.

Lemon Cup, 1890.

For example, this Lemon Cup resembles two round pads inserted into a simple white cotton bag. But not everything is so simple! Inside these pouches is a spring, which is hidden in the depth of the horsehair filler. The springs are secured with strips of whalebone sewn horizontally.

When the underwear was pressed against the corset, the chest pressed on the whalebone, and it squeezed the spring out, which gave the impression of a large bust.

Female breast enlarger, 1900.

Woven Celluloid and Cotton Bust Improver, 1890s. In this version, rigid celluloid cups are filled with cotton wool. A muslin cover is worn on top.

Well, when the whimsically curved S-shaped silhouette came into fashion, the ladies, in addition to the corset, had to wear a monobosom bustier bodice — a clever engineering structure made of cotton and whalebone.

Female breast enlarger (outside), 1905.

Female breast enlarger (inside), 1905.

The fashion for such bodices lasted for more than 10 years: from the early 1900s to the mid-1910s.

Well, we have to cheat sometimes. But we are driven by good intentions — the pursuit of perfection.