Convertible padded brassiere

May 21, 1968 i_. w. block 3,384,091

CONVERTIBLE PADDED BRASSIERE

Filed May 31, 1966

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Attorney

3,384,091

Patented May 21, 1968

United States Patent Office

3,384,091 CONVERTIBLE PADDED BRASSIERE

Lester W. Block, 3620 Eastham Drive, Culver City, Calif. 90230

Filed May 31, 1966, Ser. No. 553,742

Claims. (Cl. 128—478)

The invention relates to a convertible padded brassiere.

There are on the market at the present time brassieres which have permanently attached padding. There are also brassieres which have removable padding. The object of the present invention is to provide a new and different type of brassiere which is convertible between two different types of padding.

In essence, my invention contemplates a brassiere in which the breast cups are provided with permanent padding, which preferably extends across the entire area of the breast cup and which is permanently mounted therein by stitching or otherwise. This permanent padding is preferably of substantially uniform cross section, to provide what is sometimes called in the trade a contour type of padding.

The lower portion of the inside of each breast cup is provided with an offset pocket in which there may be removably mounted a half pad of the “push-up” type, which has a thickened center portion which is adapted to fit beneath and move the breast.

Because of the offset relationship between the pocket and the breast cup, the half pad which is inserted in the pocket is disposed at an angle extending upwardly and outwardly, so that its thickened center portion acts to move the breast simultaneously upwardly and inwardly.

The brassiere is accordingly convertible between a brassiere having thin padding across the entire breast cups and one in which slanted padding acts to move the breast simultaneously upwardly and inwardly.

It is accordingly among the objects of my invention to provide a brassiere having all of the advantages and benefits of the structure set forth above and described more fully hereinafter in this specification. My invention also comprises such other objects, advantages and capabilities as will later more fully appear and which are inherently possessed by my invention.

While I have shown in the accompanying drawings a preferred embodiment of my invention, it should be understood that the same is susceptible of modification and change without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Referring to the drawings,

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of my brassiere, with portions of the breast cups broken away to show the interior structure;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of one of the breast cups taken along line 2—2 of FIG. 1, with the half pad in place;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 2, with the half pad removed;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the half pad;

FIG. 5 is an elevational view of the half pad.

A preferred embodiment which has been selected to illustrate my invention comprises a brassiere having conventional body encircling bands 10 secured to a pair of breast cups 11. Each of the breast cups 11 includes an outer layer of cloth 12 and an inner layer of cloth 13.

A quantity of padding material 14 such as fiberfill or the like is disposed between the cloth outer layer 12 and inner layer 13. The padding material 14 preferably extends across the entire area of the breast cup 11 and is of substantially uniform cross-sectioiial configuration throughout. The padding material 14 is somewhat thicker adjacent the center as opposed to the edges, but it has no extremely thick portions in the lower part of the breast cup which would support or move the breast.

The inside of the lower part of each of the breast cups 11 is provided with a pocket 25, which is formed by a pair of cloth sections 15 which overlie the lower part of the inner layer 13. The cloth sections 15 are stitched around their outer edges, but they have free edges 16 which overlap along an opening line 17. The opening line 17 is directed diagonally downwardly and outwardly from a point above the midportion of the breast cup to the bottom edge thereof.

The upper edge of the pocket 25 is defined by a seam 18 extending along an arc across the upper portion of the breast cup 11, with the outer end of the seam 18 being disposed substantially above the inner end thereof. The bottom edge 19 of the pocket is defined by the arcuate bottom edge of the breast cup 11. The upper end of the opening line 17 of the pocket 25 intersects the seam 18 adjacent to the center of the seam 18.

A triangular shaped half pad 20, which is preferably formed of resilient foam material or the like, has a thickened portion 21 adjacent the center thereof which is adapted to fit beneath and both support and move the breast of the wearer.

The pad 20 is adapted to be removably inserted in the pocket 25 of the breast cup 11. It will be noted that when the pad 20 is mounted in the pocket 25, the lower curved edge of the pad 20 extends along a line parallel to the curved bottom edge of the breast cup 11 and pocket 25. The triangular point 22 at the top of the pad 20 is disposed adjacent to the top of the opening line 17.

The pad 20 is thus held in an offset or angular position, in which it extends diagonally along the lower and outer edges of the breast cup 11. The thickened portion 21 of the pad 20 will accordingly act to move the breast of the wearer both upwardly and inwardly.

My brassiere is convertible between two substantially different types of padded brassieres by merely inserting the pads 20 into the pockets 25 or removing them therefrom. When the pads 20 are not used, the brassiere is a lightly padded one in which the padding material 14 extends across the entire area of the breast cups 11 and does not support or move the breasts.

When the pads 20 are inserted into the pockets 25, the brassiere becomes a padded push-up brassiere in which the pushing action is directed simultaneously both upwardly and inwardly. This slanted lifting action is provided by the offset relationship of the pockets 25 and pads 20 with respect to the breast cups 11.

While prior brassieres have been convertible between padding and no padding, the present brassiere is novel in providing for simple and rapid conversion between two entirely different types of padded brassieres. A single garment thus serves a dual purpose in the wardrobe.