The way you make me feel

Throughout time, women’s bodies have been torn between our inner needs and society’s desires, and no more has this materialised than in our undergarments. Most controversially, women fitted into the shifting “ideal” shape created by the corset, which pulled the body this way and that for several centuries before concerns were raised over health issues, including respiratory diseases and damage to the ribs and internal organs.

The solution was as simple as cutting the corset – and expectations – in two. Frenchwoman Herminie Cadolle presented the first bra, the “corselet gorge”, at a world expo in 1889. In 1893, Marie Tucek patented the first underwire-style bra in the US, with “pockets” for each breast and a metal base plate attached to thick straps. That same year, New Zealand suffragettes won the right to vote and Kate Sheppard set her sights on furthering women’s rights, from supporting contraception to abolishing the corset.

Kiwi lingerie designer Chloé Julian believes the bra hasn’t changed much since 1893. During an accomplished 15-year career working for the