Cleavage (breasts)

For other uses of the term, see Cleavage.

Frans Hals. Gypsy Girl. 1628–30. Oil on wood, 58 x 52 cm. Musée du Louvre

Cleavage is the narrow depression between a woman's breasts, especially the top part, revealed by a low-cut neckline that does not cover them. The term is most commonly used in Western female fashions and is most commonly applied to a neckline that reveals or emphasizes breast visibility. Cleavage-revealing low-cut necklines are a feature of ball gowns, evening gowns, leotards, lingerie and swimsuits, among other garments. In some cultures, display of cleavage is considered aesthetic or erotic, and may be associated with garments with low necklines that expose or highlight cleavage, which is accentuated in different ways. In these cultures women have, throughout history, sought to enhance their physical attractiveness and femininity, within the context of changing fashions and cultural-specific norms of modesty. In some cultures any display of cleavage may be culturally taboo (i.e. juyub in Islam), illegal or otherwise socially disapproved of, even provocative and shocking.

Terminology

A cleavage is the exposed area between a person's breasts lying over the sternum, the vertical flat bone at the mid line of human rib cage. It was noted by the United States federal courts that definition of "buttock cleavage" and "cleavage of the female breast" are very imprecise, though Rabbi Aha b. Raba (circa 5th century) and Nathan the Babylonian (circa 2nd century) had measured the appropriate size of the cleavage as "of one hand-breadth between a woman's breasts". According to plastic surgeon Alan Matarasso, "Ergonomically speaking, cleavage equals the position of the breasts on the chest wall."

While the part of body is a cleavage, the opening of a person's garments to make it visible is called a décolletage. It is a French word which is derived from décolleter, meaning to reveal the neck. Décolletage (or décolleté in adjectival form in contemporary French) refers to the upper part of a woman's torso, between her waist and neck, comprising her neck, shoulders, back and chest, that is exposed by the neckline of her clothing. However, the term is most commonly applied to a neckline that reveals or emphasizes cleavage. In strict usage, décolletage is the neckline extending about two handbreadths from the base of the neck down, front and back. The term was first used in English literature sometime before 1831.

In medical terminology the clevage is known as the intermammary cleft or intermammary sulcus (sulcus intermammarius in Latin) is a surface feature of human anatomy that marks the division in the chest of the two breasts. The International Federation of Associations of Anatomists (IFAA) uses the terms "sulcus intermammarius" or "intermammary cleft" when referring to the area between the breasts. In the surgical parlance the cleavage or intermammary cleft is also known as medial difinition or medial fold of breasts.

Anatomy

Deltoid muscle

Pectoralis major

Anterior auxiliary fold

Areola

Nipple

Areolar glands

Inframammary fold

Serratus anterior

Manubrium

Sternum

Intermammary cleft

Xyphoid process

Costal margin

Polythelia

Superficial anatomy of human female breast

Intermamillary cleft is delineated by the space where each breast sits in relationship to the sternum (or breastbone). The intermammary cleft divides the two mammary complexes. Each complex consists of a fatty pad, glandular tissues of the mammary glands, connective tissues and skin, as well as two duct systems (lactiferous ducts and lymphatic vessels), as well as alveoli that cluster into mammary lobules.

Anatomically the width of a woman's cleavage is determined by the attachment points of her breast tissue to the periosteal tissue covering her sternum and is also defined somewhat by the medial attachments of the pectoralis major muscle when implants are positioned beneath the muscle. A narrow cleft is identified as unusual anatomy.

At the inferior margin of the breast, the deep layer of superficial fascia joins the superficial layer, forming a shelving edge that supports the breasts. At the midline this layer is firmly attached to the deep pectoral fascia and, in turn, to the periosteum of the sternum, creating the intermammary cleft. The medial margin of the breast is located at the middle of the sternum.

The aforementioned lymph vessels originate at the superficial glands in the area adjacent to the base of the nipples and extend as far as the intermammary cleft, extending onto the opposite breast. The interpectoral lymph nodes between two breast muscles drain into the deep nodes of axilla (or armpit). The intermammary lymphatics begin as a bunch of small channels consisting of a single layer of epithelium supported by stroma (or connective tissue). Each mesh of the network surrounds one or more of the ultimate lobules of the gland, and receives its lymph from the interacinous spaces (between the acini of glands).

A ligamentous structure that inserts into the overlying skin to determining the shape of the breast is seen as densification of Cooper's ligaments that medially build the intermammary sulcus and the cleavage. The medial breast, along with the inferior breast, is supplied by 2nd–6th branches of Intercostal nerves. The skin of the cleavage area is frailer than the skin of the face as it has fewer oil glands, and may show loss of elasticity sooner.

Culture

See also: Dress code and Breast fetishism

A model in a modern gown reflecting the current fashion trend at an Haute couture fashion show

Indonesian woman in traditional Javanese kemben, c. 1900

Many people in Western culture, both male and female, consider breasts an important female secondary sex characteristic and an important aspect of femininity. Décolletage that exposes cleavage is used by many women to enhance their physical and sexual attractiveness and to improve their sense of femininity. Display of cleavage with a low neckline is often regarded as a form of feminine flirting or seduction, as much as for its aesthetic or erotic effect. According to Kinsey Reports, most men derive erotic pleasure from seeing a woman's cleavage, and many appreciate their female partner's cleavage enhanced with a push-up bra or exposed by a low neckline.

During adolescence, some girls become obsessed with breast shape and cleavage. British actress Keira Knightley, who had her breasts digitally enlarged on the U.S. versions of the poster for Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest and King Arthur, said that it "comes from market research that clearly shows that other women refuse to look at famous actresses and stars with small breasts" and that she is "not allowed to be on a magazine cover in the US without at least a C cup because it 'turns people off'." The use of tight clothing and the display of cleavage have been attributed as causes of an increase in breast fetishism, and atypical paraphilia.

In India, women of the Bishnoi people wear kanchli blouses with very deep necklines embellished with frills and bells to draw attention to their cleavage. Women of Ahir, Gadariya and Chamar communities wear Angiya, a small bikini-like top tied at the back with a string, often with the front open enough to show a deep cleavage.

In Western and some other societies, there are differences of opinion as to how much cleavage exposure is acceptable in public. In contemporary Western society, the extent to which a woman may expose her breasts depends on social and cultural context. Displaying cleavage or any part of female breast may be considered inappropriate or even prohibited by dress codes in some settings, such as workplaces, churches, and schools, while in some spaces showing as much cleavage as possible can be permissible or even encouraged, such as at the beach or pool. The exposure of nipples or areolae is almost always considered immodest and in some instances is viewed as lewd or indecent behavior. Art historian James Laver argued that the changing standards of revealing cleavage is more prominent in evening wear than in day wear in the Western world.

"I interviewed a young anthropologist working with women in Mali, a country in Africa where women go around with bare breasts. They're always feeding their babies. And when she told them that in our culture men are fascinated with breasts there was an instant of shock. The women burst out laughing. They laughed so hard, they fell on the floor. They said, 'You mean, men act like babies?'"

Carolyn Latteier, All about breasts

The fascination with female breasts and cleavage is widespread but not universal to all people. According to psychologist Richard D. McAnulty, breasts are "hypersexualized" in the US and countries influenced by the US and not percieved as a body part to breastfeed infants. Hence people are often embarrassed by exposure of the breast like public breastfeeding. In other cultures, like many beaches of Europe or many African communities, it is not unusual to see uncovered breasts. Hence they are not as titilating.

When breasts begin to grow, some girls try to resist the change by binding down their breasts or wearing loose clothes that disguise them. There is historical evidence that some cultures strongly discouraged cleavage or any hint of a bosom. Early English Puritans used a tight bodice to flatten breasts completely, while 17th century Spaniards put lead plates across the chests of young girls to prevent their bosoms from developing.

Muslims refer to the Quran where it is stated, "Let them draw their Khimar (shawl/head veil) over their juyub (breast-line/cleavage)". The ayat refers to the women's clothes worn, parted in the front to expose the breasts, at the time when it was cited. It was later interpreted as total covering of a woman's body. In early 21st century Muslim world there are differences in legal implementation. In Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan, women are required to cover their body and face completely, Iranian law requires a chador (over-cloak) or a hijab (head scarf). In Egypt, the exposure of cleavage in the media is considered to be nudity.

See also: Modesty

Theories

See also: Evolutionary psychology

Fertility ratings as a function of breast size and intermammary cleft distance, from Effects of Breast Size, Intermammary Cleft Distance (Cleavage) and Ptosis on Perceived Attractiveness, Health, Fertility and Age by Farid Pazhoohi, Ray Garza & Alan Kingstone, 2020

According to sociologist Anthony Joseph Paul Cortese, the cleavage area between the breasts is "perhaps the epicentre" of display of female sexual attractiveness and stimulation of male sexual interest. Breast and buttock cleavages, sharing a similarity between their appearances, are considered sexual in some cultures. British zoologist and ethologist Desmond Morris theorizes that cleavage is a sexual signal that imitates the image of the cleft between the buttocks. Swelling of the anterior is a sign of mating-readiness in ape species. Among humans the female genitalia is regressed and the upright posture reduces visibility of the buttocks, but the breasts are significantly enlarged. Theorists hypothesize that with these evolutionary change measure of mating-readiness and attractiveness in females has shifted from swagging buttocks to the pendulous shape of breasts and cleavage.

The cleavage area between the breasts is perhaps the epicentre and stimulation of interest. Breast and buttock cleavages, sharing a similarity between their appearances, are considered to be very sexual. Evolutionary psychologists theorize that humans' permanently enlarged breasts, in contrast to other primates' breasts, which only enlarge during ovulation, allowed females to "solicit male attention and investment even when they are not really fertile", though Morris notes that in recent years there has been a trend toward reversing breast augmentations. According to social historian David Kunzle, waist confinement and décolletage are the primary sexualization devices of Western costume. In a study published in 2020 found that intermammary cleft distance is one of the major influences on people's perception about a woman's fertility, health and age. Another study found that women who wear a cleavage are identified more as "voluptuous" than women who don't. By the turn of the 21st century, some of the attention given to cleavage and breasts started to shift to buttocks, especially in the media.

History

Ancient

Princess Nofret in her cleavage-revealing dress

In 2600 BCE, princess Nofret of the Fourth Dynasty of Egypt was depicted in a V-neck gown with a plunging neckline that exposed ample cleavage, as well as prominently protruding nipples. In the earliest times there was no consideration for supporting the breasts to enhance cleavage. A bra prototype started emerging in Ancient Greece in around 2500 BCE. In ancient Minoan culture, women wore clothes that complemented slim waists and full breasts. One of the better-known features of ancient Minoan fashion is breast exposure, as women wore tops that could be arranged to cover or expose their breasts completely, with bodice to accentuate their cleavage.

In 1600 BCE, Snake Goddess figurines were sculpted in Minos with open dress-fronts, revealing entire breasts. Minoan figurines from 1500 BCE show women in bare-bosomed corsets. Ancient Greek goddess Hera wore an early version of a push-up bra, described in the Iliad as festooned with "brooches of gold" and "a hundred tassels", to increase her cleavage to divert Zeus from the Trojan War. Women in Greek and Roman civilizations used breastbands to enhance smaller busts. In The Golden Ass, the only Roman novel to survive in entirety, Photis, a major female character, is described as sporting significant cleavage and perfumed nipples.

Medieval

Anne of Austria, Queen of France, was an early 17th century fashion icon wearing dresses that showcased her cleavage

Between 1000 CE and 1500 CE the prevailing décolletage clothes of women of Punjab, Gujarat and Rajasthan was replaced by covered bossoms and long veils as the region increasingly came under foreign control. But, in Europe décolletage was often a feature of the dress of the late Middle Ages. This continued through the Victorian period. Gowns that exposed a woman's neck and top of her chest were very common and uncontroversial in Europe from at least the 11th century until the Victorian period in the 19th century. Ball or evening gowns especially featured low square décolletage designed to display and emphasize cleavage.

In the 14th century, necklines were lowered, clothes were tightened and breasts were once again flaunted. Women started squeezing the breasts and applying make up on the breasts to have more attractive cleavage. In 1450, Agnès Sorel, mistress to Charles VII of France, is credited with starting a fashion when she wore deep low square décolleté gowns with fully bared breasts in the French court. Other aristocratic women of the time who were painted with breasts exposed included Simonetta Vespucci, whose portrait with exposed breasts was painted by Piero di Cosimo in c.1480. In the 16th century, when Spanish conquistadors overtook the Inca Empire, traditional cleavage revealing and colorful Inca dresses were replaced by high necks and covered bossoms. The Ottoman Empire decreed that "all gowns should open at the neck to allow robing and disrobing", and a trype of fashion police was engaged to apprehend and fine designers and tailors who failed to make such gowns.

In many European societies between the Renaissance and the 19th century, wearing low-cut dresses that exposed breasts was more acceptable than today; with a woman's bared legs, ankles, or shoulders being considered to be more risqué than exposed breasts. In aristocratic and upper-class circles the display of breasts was at times regarded as a status symbol, as a sign of beauty, wealth or social position. The bared breast even invoked associations with nude sculptures of classical Greece that were exerting an influence on art, sculpture, and architecture of the period. During the extreme décolletage of Elizabethan era, necklines was decorated with frills or covered with tuckers and partlets. After the French Revolution décolletage become larger in the front and less in the back.

During the 16th century, women's fashions with exposed breasts were common in society, from queens to common prostitutes, and emulated by all classes. Anne of Brittany has also been painted wearing a dress with a square neckline. Low square décolleté styles were popular in England in the 17th century and even Queen Mary II and Henrietta Maria, wife of Charles I of England, were depicted with fully bared breasts; and architect Inigo Jones designed a masque costume for Henrietta Maria that fully revealed both of her breasts. Corsets that enhanced cleavage were introduced in the mid-16th century.

During the fashions of the period 1795–1820, many women wore dresses that bared necks, bosoms and shoulders. Anne of Austria was known for wearing, along with female members of her court, very tight bodice and corsets that forced breasts together to make deeper cleavages, very low necklines that exposed breasts visible almost in entirety above the areola and pendants lying on the cleavage to highlight it. During the Georgian era, pendants became popular as décolletage decoration.

Modern

The 1884 portrait by John Singer Sargent of Virginie Amélie Avegno Gautreau, wearing a cleavage with a strap slipped down her shoulder, caused so much controversy that the Sargent had to re-paint the strap back onto the shoulder.

During the Victorian period, social attitudes required women to cover their bosom in public. For ordinary wear, high collars were the norm. Towards the end of the Victorian period (end 19th century) the full collar was the fashion, though some décolleté dresses were worn on formal occasions (see 1880s in fashion). Around these times the Gallican Church also mandated that the cleavage and the opening of a woman's bodice must be laced and declared the cleavage as "the gate of hell".

During the French Enlightenment, there was a debate as to whether a woman's breasts were merely a sensual enticement or rather a natural gift to be offered from mother to child. In Alexandre Guillaume Mouslier de Moissy's 1771 play The True Mother (La Vraie Mère), the title character rebukes her husband for treating her as merely an object for his sexual gratification: "Are your senses so gross as to look on these breasts – the respectable treasures of nature – as merely an embellishment, destined to ornament the chest of women?" Nearly a century later, also in France, a man from the provinces who attended a Court ball at the Tuileries in Paris in 1855 was deeply shocked by the décolleté dresses and is said to have exclaimed in disgust: "I haven't seen anything like that since I was weaned!"

In 1884 Portrait of Madame X, a portrait painting by John Singer Sargent of American-born Parisian socialite, Virginie Amélie Avegno Gautreau, was criticized displayed at at the 1884 Salon art exhibition, for depicting her in a sleek black dress displaying what was considered scandalous cleavage and her right shoulder strap fallen off her shoulder. The controversy was so great that he reworked the painting to move the shoulder strap from her upper arm to her shoulder, and Sargent left Paris for London in 1884. In 1908, a single pad made of rubber or a "bust form" was advertised that was to be worn inside the front of the bodice to make cleavage virtually undetectable.

By the late 18th century, cleavage-enhancing corsets grew more dramatic in pushing the breasts upward. The tight lacing of corsets worn in the 19th and early 20th centuries emphasized both cleavage and the size of the bust and hips. Evening or ball gowns were especially designed to display and emphasize the décolletage. There also were the trend of wearing camisole like clothes and whale bone corsets that gave a bust without a separation or a cleavage. In the Edwardian era extreme uplift was common without any hint of cleavage as a bow-fonted look was the popular silhouette.

Clergymen all over the world became shocked when dresses to be worn with modest round or V-shaped necklines became fashionable around 1913. In the German Empire, for example, all Roman Catholic bishops joined in issuing a pastoral letter attacking the new fashions. Fashions became more restrained in terms of décolletage, while exposure of the leg became more accepted in Western societies during World War I and remained so for nearly half a century.

Marilyn Monroe, in Some Like It Hot (1959), who once said, "The trouble with censors is that they worry if a girl has cleavage. They ought to worry if she hasn't any." She was voted a cleavage queen 50 years after her death.

A 1946 Time Magazine article titled Cleavage & the Code discussed a new meaning for word cleavage in light of the views held by Joseph Breen of the Production Code Administration (PCA). Previously the PCA had applied the word decolletage, such as in the film The Outlaw (1941), starring Jane Russell. The article referenced the PCA´s decision to refuse a certificate for the US release of the British film The Wicked Lady (1945), starring Margaret Lockwood and Patricia Roc, as the women's dress bodices (appropriate for the era portrayed) were perceived to be very low-cut and showed too much cleavage, thereby violating the Hays Purity Code. As a result of the objections by Breen and the PCA, extensive reshooting was required with the actresses' cleavages covered before the film could be released in the US. The Time article also references further usages on the word cleavage by the PCA on other British films, Bedelia (also starring Margaret Lockwood) (1946) and Pink String and Sealing Wax (1945) (starring Googie Withers).

In 1953, Hollywood film The French Line was found objectionable under the Hays Code because of Jane Russell's "breast shots in bathtub, cleavage and breast exposure" while some of her décollete gowns were thought "... intentionally designed to give a bosom peep-show effect beyond even extreme decolletage." But other actresses defied those standards. For example, Gina Lollobrigida raised eyebrows with her famous low-cut dress in 1960, and other celebrities, performers and models followed suit, and the public was not far behind. Low-cut styles of various depths are now common in many situations. During the 1950s, Hollywood and the fashion industry successfully promoted large cloven bustlines (and falsies). Stars like Marilyn Monroe, Rita Hayworth and Jane Russell were as celebrated for their cleavages as their beauty.

In the late 1960s, erogenous attention began to shift from the large bust to the trim lower torso, reasserting the need to diet, especially as new clothing fashions — brief, sheer, and close fitting — prohibited heavy reliance on foundation lingerie. Legs were relatively less emphasized as elements of beauty. From the 1960s onward, changes in fashions were towards increasing displays of cleavage in films and television, with Jane Russell and Elizabeth Taylor being the biggest stars who led the fashion, and in everyday life low-cut dress styles became very common, even for casual wear.

In early 1970s keeping the top buttons open became popular with both men, to display their pecs, and women, to display their cleavage. In late 1980s, supermodels Cindy Crawford, Claudia Schiffer, Naomi Campbell and Elle Macpherson, flauting cleavage in everyday clothes, and Singer Madonna, popularized the cleavage. Polly Allen Mellen, the editor of Vogue, wrote, "Décolletage hasn't been as fashionable or as dramatic since the 18th century." The ideal of breasts and cleavage has also evolved in the later half of the 20th century, with shapes enhanced by use of a variety of methods and techniques. In the 1950s the preferred shape was pointy, echoing the sci-fi look of the times; in the 1960s it was elegantly sloped in alignment with Hippie chic of the times; and from the 1990s a buffed, pumped and engorged look has become the preference.

Contemporary

Sideboob: Also known as side cleavage or sidewinders.

Underboob: Also known as neathage, Australian cleavage, bottom cleavage, or reverse cleavage.

Despite fashion media delcaring the death of the cleavage, 21st century women's fashions, especially at formal occasions, has increasingly included low-cut dress designs which expose cleavage. Such dress designs have been most noticeable at various awards presentations, such as those seen at the 2016 Academy Awards. According to culture journalist Frosty Wooldridge, "We can't wait until summer when cleavages bust froth from tank tops, bathing suits and low-cut blouses."

Out of the western cleavage culture emerged alternatives to décolletage, which still were often called cleavages. By early 2010s, sideboobs, "cleavage's more unassuming cousin", had become popular as the "new cleavage". Gabriele Hackworthy, fashion director at Harper's Bazaar, declared, "The look is unlikely to fade fast, with Yves Saint Laurent and Roberto Cavalli both pushing the silhouette next season." The term was included in the Oxford English Dictionary by 2014.

As early as in 2008, Armand Limnander wrote in The New York Times that the underboob was "a newly fetishized anatomical zone where the lower part of the breast meets the torso, popularized by 80s rock chicks in cutoff tank tops." It was further popularized by dancer-singer Teyana Taylor in the music video for Kanye West’s 2016 song "Fade". Supermodels like Bella Hadid, Gigi Hadid, and Kendall Jenner who said, "underboob is my thing", helped popularize the trend further, especially at beaches and red carpets.

By 2016, underboob bras, made like upside down demi-cup bras, started appearing. In summer 2017, fashion writer Maria Puente said , "cleavage is so old-fashioned and sideboobs are so over", while Kristina Rodulfo of Elle proposed that "underboob is the new sideboob." Fashion writer Emma Gray wrote in The Huffington Post that underboobs were popular during COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns of 2020. Regulated by the law in some US counties, both sideboob and underboob were banned by CBS as "Bare sides or under curvature of the breasts is also problematic" at the 55th Annual Grammy Awards

Despite a long history, display of cleavage can still be controversial. In the United States, in two separate incidents in 2007, Southwest Airlines crews asked travelers to modify their clothing, to wear sweaters or to leave the airplane because the crew did not consider the amount of cleavage displayed acceptable. In Langley, British Columbia, a young woman was sent home from her high school for wearing a top that the principal deemed inappropriate because "it showed too much cleavage".

Among other controversies, German Chancellor Angela Merkel created controversy when she wore a low-cut evening gown to the opening of the Oslo Opera House in 2008; Vera Lengsfeld, the Conservative Christian Democratic Union candidate for Berlin's Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg district, used pictures of herself and German Chancellor Angela Merkel in low-cut dresses during her political campaign. Facing a tough campaign, she posted 750 provocative campaign posters, accompanied by the slogan "we have more to offer" to draw attention to "serious election issues". The posters had a positive impact. U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton and British Home Secretary Jacqui Smith drew attention for wearing low-cut blouses that revealed a small amount of cleavage, resulting in comments in The Washington Post and The New York Times.

Downblouse

Downblouse is a form of voyeurism or fetishism involving looking down a woman's dress or top to observe her cleavage or breasts. Though the term is being used in English since 1994., covert photography of downblouse and upskirt grew with the growth of camera phones (which has been mass marketed in 2000). The UK and Germany, as well as a number of American and Australian states, have specific statutes that prohibit such photography. In the UK, taking such pictures and posting them online can get a person placed on the sex offender registry and in Japan the government has pressured mobile phone manufacturers to have their phones make a warning sound whenever such pictures are taken.

Enhancement

Main article: Cleavage enhancement

Various methods have been used by women in history to enhance their physical attractiveness and femininity including the accentuation and display of breasts within the context of fashions and norms of modesty of the time and place.

Underwear

Corset, 1808

Corset, 2010

Before the spread of brassières female bust was encased in corsets and structured garments called "bust improvers" made of boning and lace. Corsets started to go out of fashion by 1917 as when metal was needed to make tanks and munitions for World War I, and the 1920s trend of boyish figures. With a return to more womanly figures in the 1930s corestry maintained a strong demand even at the hight of the Great Depression. Designer Vivienne Westwood re-introduced the corset as a trendy way to enhance cleavage in 1985. It was followed by Jean Paul Gaultier in 1989 when he dressed Madonna in a pink corset. Soon Westwood introduced a elastic-sided variant that works as a balcony to push up the cleavage. According to Rebecca Scritchfield, the resurgent popularity of corsets is driven by "the picture on Instagram of somebody with a tiny waist and giant boobs."

When corsets became unfashionable, brassieres and padding helped to project, display and emphasize the breasts. In 1893, New Yorker Marie Tucek was granted a patent for a "breast supporter", described as a modification of the corset, and was very similar to a modern push-up bra designed to support the breasts. It consisted of a plate made of metal, cardboard or other stiff material shaped to fit against the torso under the breasts, following the contour of the breasts. It was covered with silk, canvas or other cloth, which extended above the plate to form a pocket for each breast. The plate curved around the torso and ended near the armpits.

"Breast Supporter" c. 1893

Though the first bra, a linen and lace garmet that looks almost exactly like a modern bra, was discovered in a early 15th century collection from Lemberg Castle in Tyrol, Austria, there is no other evidence of any use of bras in the 1400s, and the first bra is attributed to Mary Phelps Jacob (better known as Caresse Crosby). Frustrated with a whale bone corset that kept popping through a new party dress, the first bra was created from two handkerchiefs and some ribbon to show off her cleavage by Mary Phelps Jacob (née Crosby), a New York socialite in her twenties.

Since it made her look better, Phelps Jacob a.k.a. Polly started selling bras to her friends for one dollar. Soon she founded the Fashion Form Brassiere Company, a two-woman factory in Boston, and patented the first bra as "the backless brassiere" in 1914. After making a few hundred bras and some orders from department stores, she was persuaded by her husband to close the company.She sold the patent to The Warner Brothers Corset Company for US$1,500. IIn the next 30 years, Warner Brothers made more than US$15 million from the design.

Development of the underwire bra started in the 1930s, though it did not gain widespread popularity until the 1950s, when the end of World War II freed metal for domestic use. Aviator and filmmaker Howard Hughes designed a prototype for an aerodynamic underwire bra for Jane Russell when filming The Outlaw in 1941. According to Hughes, the resultant amount was "the length of the actual cleavage is five and one-quarter inches."

Bras in 1940s left a substantial amount of fabric in the center, thus creating a separation of breasts instead of the pushed-together cleavage of today. Frederick Mellinger of Frederick’s of Hollywood created the first padded bra in 1947, followed by an early push-up bra a year later (dubbed "The Rising Star"). The cup of a padded bra has foam, silicone, air pockets or liquid padding in the cups to add extra thickness that provides better cleavage definition and increased perception of breast size. A padded bra lifts, supports and shapes the bust, which creates a fuller look, and also pushes the breasts upward, increasing cleavage. Graduated padding is thicker at the base of the cups and tapers gently to create a natural looking silhouette and an enhanced cleavage. Actress Julia Roberts was required to wear a custom made silcone gel filled bra for the movie Erin Brockovich in order to increase her her cleavage.

Padded bra

Underwire bra

In fall 1963 and Sping 1964 the Western fashion trends were dominated by plunging necklines, while the movie goers were charmed by movies like Tom Jones that protrayed "aggressive cleavages". Lingerie and shapewear manfucturers like Warner Brothers, Gossard, Formfit, and Bali took the opportunity to market plunge bras. Plunge bras create the appearance of increased cleavage because of their deep (plunging) front silhouette, angled cups and narrow center gore. These allow a very low cut neck line, and still remain out of view, by using a very narrow center gore. Open neckline is further achieved by cutting the cups away from the middle, and setting the shoulder straps wide apart. The center of the plunge bra, where the two bra cups meet, drops down below the level of the nipple. Plunge bras differ from push-up bras in that they are not generally as heavily padded. Bali and Vassarette also marketed lace bras that maximized cleavage.

The first push-up bra was created in 1964 by Canadian Louise Poirier and patented for Wonderbra (trademarked in 1935), then owned by Canadelle, a Canadian lingerie company in 1971. The brand was acquired, in 1994, by Sara Lee Corporation and, since 2006, licensed to HanesBrands Inc and Sun Capital for different markets. It had 54 design elements, including a three-part cup, underwires, a precision-angled back, rigid straps, and removable "cookies". When the push-up plunge bra first appeared in the US market one Wonderbra sold every 15 seconds, driving a first year sale of US$ 120 million.

The push-up bra is usually a demi-cup bra, creates the appearance of increased cleavage using padded cups that are angled to push the breasts inwards and upwards, towards the center of the chest. Most push-up bras have wide-set straps, which can directing the breasts further towards the center toward when the straps are set the outside edge of the cups. Re-positioning of the bust is partly achieved through built-in foam padding, and removable inserts such as liquid and air bags. The bra cups are often under-wired.

In 1994, supermodel Eva Herzigova's cleavage photographed by Ellen von Unwerth for Wonderbra's controversial advertising campaign Hello Boys helped shape the ideal of women, an experience Herzigova described as "empowering". In 1999, the advertising poster was placed at 10th position in the Poster of the Century competition compiled by trade magazine Campaign. In 2011, it was voted the top advertising campaign of all time in a poll by Outdoor Media Centre, and advertising and marketing portal, and was featured in an exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum. It helped to bring the brand into forefront of the competition for cleavage after 30 years of relative obscurity. On the first Friday of every April in South Africa, brassiere marketer Wonderbra sponsors a National Cleavage Day.

Push up bra

Plunge bra

America's largest lingerie retailer Victoria's Secret was launched by Roy Raymond, a Stanford alumnus, in San Francisco in late 1970s with a similar appeal. Victoria’s Secret Angels held its first fashion show at Plaza Hotel in New York in 1995. Even traditional brands, who were producing 1950s style pointy-cups, low-backs, low-fronts and no-straps, like Maidenform joined the competition in 1995. In 1999 the event was first webcast. By 2001, the event was being aired on network television with 12 million viewers for the first broadcast. Other lingerie manufacturers like Frederick’s of Hollywood and Agent Provocateur also joined the competition by that time, with the former introducing a design called Hollywood Extreme Cleavage Bra that helped give the impression of a spherical cleavage like augmented breasts that was popularized by stars like Pamela Anderson.

The underwire bra utilizes a thin, semi-circular strip of rigid wire fitted inside the brassiere fabric. The wire sewn into the bra fabric and under each cup, from the center gore to under the wearer's armpit. It helps to lift, separate, shape, and support the breasts. These bras use a thin strip of metal, plastic or resin, usually with a nylon coating at both ends. There has been complaints that underwire bras restrict the flow of blood and lymph fluid around the breasts preventing drainage of toxins, though there has been no evidence of that.

Underwire bras accounted for 60% of the United Kingdom bra market in 2000 and 70% in 2005. About 70% of women who wear bras wear a steel underwire bra according to underwear manufacturer industries of New York. In 2001, 70% (350 million) of the bras sold in the United States were underwire bras. As of 2005, underwire bras were the fastest growing segment of the market.

See also: List of brassiere designs

Taping

Main article: Lingerie tape

Many women, such as beauty pageant participants and transgender people, create cleavage by using tape underneath and across their breast, bending forward, tightly pulling them together and up. Types of tape used include surgical micropore tape and athletic tape. Some also use a strip of moleskin under the breasts with tape at the ends to hold it in place. Use of the wrong techniques or tape with too strong an adhesive can cause injuries such as rashes, blisters and skin being torn off.

Falsies

Cotton and silk bust Improver, circa 1890

Main article: Falsies

Falsies are small pads similar to the removable pads sold with some push-up bras. Falsies made from silicone gel are also sometimes referred to colloquially as "chicken fillets". Falsies evolved from the bosom pads of 17th century, often made of stiff rubber. By mid 1800s, the Victorian era, "bust improver"s were being made out of soft fabric pads of cotton and wool or inflatable rubber. In 1896, celluloid falsies were advertised, and in 20th century soft foam rubber pads became available. Young women, some as young as 15 years old, were expected to wear them to fill out their bodices. Hollywood actress Helen Talbot said that she was expected to wear falsies while shooting in 1940s.

Surgery

Main article: Breast augmentation

Plastic surgeon Gerard H. Pitman says, "you can't have cleavage with an A cup. You have to be at least a B or a C." For breast reconstruction and for the augmentation and enhancement of the aesthetics — size, shape, and texture — of a woman's breasts, there are two types of breast implant devices in practice: saline implants filled with sterile saline solution and silicone implants filled with viscous silicone gel. Plastic surgeons transitioned from using bodies own tissues to these newer technologies in 1950s. Bigger breasts are easier to push together to accent the hollow between them. Some flat-chested women feel self-conscious about their small breasts and want to improve their sexual attractiveness by seeking breast augmentation. Women seeking breast augmentation often request a specific form of cleavage enhancement and often bring photographs of desired cleavage shapes and appearances.

A 2016 paper reported breast augmentation to be one the most common aesthetic surgery procedures performed by plastic surgeons. Annually an estimated 8,000–20,000 surgeries are done in the UK and over 300,000 in the USA. The paper correlated 4% of US women to have breast implants at the time. It reported and annual sales of 300,000 implants in Brazil and South America and estimated the global number of women with breast implants to be between five and 10 millions.

Seometimes, fat is injected into the subcutaneous plane to narrow the gap of the cleavage, and grafted onto wide chested individuals. Generally cautionary procedures are followed during breast reconstruction to preserve a natural cleavage of breasts. But, if a surgeon attempts to create or increase cleavage by loosening the medial borders of the breasts, it could result in symmastia (also called a uniboob), a confluence of the breast tissue of both breasts across the midline anterior to the sternum, creating a lack of defined cleavage. It is more difficult to produce a sufficiently feminine cleavage in transgender women, because of insufficient skin and wider sternum, and men, because of smaller nipple-areolar complex (NAC).

See also: Breast implant

Exercise

Amanda Françozo on a machine fly, a recommended way to develop cleavage

Main article: Upper body exercise

Regular exercise of the muscles and fibres of the pectoral complex, which lies just under the fatty tissues of the breast, helps prevent droopiness, creates the illusion of larger and firmer breasts, and enhances cleavage. Exercises like incline chest press and chest fly are the most effective in developing breasts and getting a better cleavage. Weight training, nautilus machines, push ups and chest presses are particularly helpful, as well as a number of other exercises, including rowing and basketball. Even in moderately athletic people the pectoralis major muscles on either side of the cleavage becomes more prominent. In some form of exercise, breasts unsupported by a sports bra are exposed to greater risk of droopiness.

For beginners flat chest dumbbell pullovers and dumbbell flyers on incline bench is recommended, while the advanced exercisers may include bench press movements, flyers, pullovers, exercise of the pec deck and push-ups at least twice a week. Cleavage enhancing exercises can be grouped into four parts: (1) an incline exercise accentuates the upper chest and declines stresses the lower region. It helps augment proportions and symmetry; (2) properly developed upper pectoral region, with help from incline exercises, give an appearance of a firm, elevated chest; (3) the lower pectoral region is the easiest to develop, and, unless it is a specific weak spot, does not need occasional decline exercises; (4) push-ups are great complimentary exercise, sometimes also as an alternative to chest presses.

Make up

Making cleavage appear deeper and the breasts look fuller alongside the cleavage with makeup is achieved using shading effects. The middle of the cleavage is made to look deeper by using a darker makeup colour than the base colour of the skin, while the most prominent areas of the breasts (either side of the cleavage) are made to look larger or more protruding by the use of a paler colour. An illuminator on the collar bones and bronzing below them is also advised. According to Victoria's Secret model Taylor Hill professionals use make up to better define their cleavage.

Supplements

Main article: Breast enlargement supplement

Supplements are frequently portrayed as being a natural means to increase breast size with the suggestion that they are free from risk. Though there has been historical folklore about using herbs for breast enlargement, there is no scientific evidence to support the effectiveness of any breast enlargement supplement. Commonly used ingredients include: Black cohosh, Dong quai, Hops, Kava and Zearalenone among others. In the United States, both the Federal Trade Commission and the Food and Drug Administration have taken action against the manufacturers of these products for fraudulent practices. Of the common ingredients, kava may cause liver damage. Black cohosh has been shown to have no estrogenic effect in vivo or in vitro. Hops contains estrogen-like compounds, called prenylflavonoids, the most potent of which is 8-prenylnaringenin. Zearalenone, produced by a toxic fungus, is a mycoestrogen that stimulates the growth of breast cancer cells, increases the chance of estrogen dependent breast cancer, and may reduce fertility.

Cross-dressing

Man wearing a Cleavage Top

Male cross-dressers often want to create the illusion of female cleavage as part of making their body appear feminine. Many crossdressers believe that displaying a convincing cleavage will distract attention from flaws in their appearance and will improve their ability to pass. Semi-rigid pieces of material such as plastic can be applied to the skin using surgical tape, surgical adhesive or specialist adhesives normally used to glue mastectomy breast forms to the body. Even a general purpose craft glue can be used for this purpose. One such design is called a "Diva". It has conventional bra style hook-and-eye fasteners at the front instead of the back and has cups that curve inwards, are fairly rigid and covered on the inside with a material that grips the skin to hold it in place using pressure rather than adhesive. Another similar device is called the "Busty Cleavage Creator". It uses a pair of crossed velcro straps on the front to pull the skin towards the centre, leaving an uneven surface for the breast forms to sit against. Adhesive gel bras consist of two shaped silicon gel filled bra cups that stick to the skin of the breast using built-in re-usable adhesive, then clip together to pull the breasts together.

See also: Male bra

Pathology

Painful, inflammatory keloid of the chest wall

Pale coin sized eruptions of tinea versicolor on torso

Poikiloderma of Civatte, a condition of dilated blood vessels and red to red-brown spots, is common to upper part of the cleavage, especially for those who wear sports bras or push-up bras for prolonged periods, and commonly affects fair skinned middle-aged to elderly women. It is characterized by hypopigmentation, hyperpigmentation, telangiectasias and superficial skin atrophy (occasional itching is reported), is another condition caused by long exposure to sunlight. Poikiloderma and Dermatoheliosis are treated by desquamation (skin peeling).

Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a non-contagious chronic skin disease affects intertriginous skin of apocrine sweat gland bearing areas like inframammary fold, and intermammary sulcus. It is characterized by clusters of abscesses, epidermoid cysts, sebaceous cysts, pilonidal cysts. There is no single effective treatment for HS. The recommended treatments include antibiotics, antiandrogens, corticosteroids, ciclosporins, and TNF inhibitors.

Tinea versicolor is a condition characterized by pinhead to coin sized eruptions on the body trunk and proximal extremities, often affecting the breast cleavage as a narrow band of lesions. The majority of tinea versicolor is caused by the fungus Malassezia globosa, although Malassezia furfur is responsible for a small number of cases. Topical antifungal medications containing selenium sulfide are often recommended to treat tinea versicolor.

Intermammary cleft can get attacked by plaque type psoriasis, which can in turn can cause erythematosus. Prurigo pigmentosa is a rare skin condition of unknown cause that affects depressed places on chest and back like the intermammary area. It is characterized by the sudden onset of erythematous papules that leave a reticulated hyperpigmentation when they heal.

Cosmetic hazards

Sunburnt upper décolletage (neck and shoulder)

Spending long hours sleeping on the side, which makes the top breast to bend too far past the body's midline, or long hours wearing a sports bras or a push-up bra that presses breasts together, can give cleavage wrinkles. These deep vertical creases stay longer as the collagen in skin start to breakdown with age and exposure to sun. Also women with bigger breasts, either natural or surgically enhanced, suffer more from cleavage wrinkles. Cleavage wrinkles are treated by botox.

Dermatoheliosis (photo aging) is a problem common to the cleavage exposed for prolonged periods to UV radiation (sunlight). It is characterized by hyperpigmentation, leathery texture, roughness, wrinkles, lentigines (age spots), actinic elastosis, and telangiectasias (spider veins), is a common problem for the skin of the breast cleavage. Use of strong sunscreen on the cleavage area is also recommended.

Most women have an increase of hair as they grow older, but some gets more hair on their cleavage, face and elsewhere because of hirsutism, often as a result of polycystic ovary syndrome. The hair on the cleavage is upsetting for many women. There are two ways to remove the hair — temporary (i.e. shaving, waxing, plucking, hair removal creams or bleaching) and permanent (electrolysis or laser hair removal. Contraceptive pills also help.

See also

• Backless dress
• Halterneck
• Topless
• National Cleavage Day

Further reading

• The Future of Reputation, Gossip, Rumour and Privacy on the Internet, Daniel J. Solove, Yale University Press, 2007, ISBN 978-0-300-12498-9, p. 166
• Sex in Consumer Culture, Tom Reichert, Jacqueline Lambiase, Routledge, 2006, ISBN 0-8058-5090-2
• Sex Crimes Investigation: Catching and Prosecuting the Perpetrators, Robert L. Snow, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2006, ISBN 0-275-98934-8, p. 146
• Gernsheim, Alison (1981 [1963]). Victorian and Edwardian Fashion. A Photographic Survey. Mineola, N.Y.: Dover Publications. ISBN 0-486-24205-6
• Glazier, Stephen D.; Flowerday, Charles (2003). Selected Readings in the Anthropology of Religion: Theoretical and Methodological Essays. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0313300905.
• Morris, Desmond (1997). Manwatching. A Field Guide to Human Behavior. New York: Harry N. Abrams. ISBN 0-8109-1310-0
• Morris, Desmond (2004). The Naked Woman. A Study of the Female Body. New York: Thomas Dunne Books. ISBN 0-312-33853-8

External links

• "Gender and Electronic Privacy". Electronic Privacy Resource Center.
• "Privacy issues plague picture phones". The Honolulu Advertiser.
• "Unauthorized photos". Caslon Analytics. Archived from the original on 6 December 2006. Retrieved 16 June 2011.
• "Surveillance Society: The Experts Speak". Business Week Online. Archived from the original on 26 May 2011.
• "Sargent's Portraits", an article including a mention of the scandal caused by the portrayal of cleavage in John Singer Sargent's "Portrait of Madame X".
• "The Great Divide", The New York Times, August 28, 2005
• Sarah E. Reynolds, Boobs Out! A Perspective on Fashion, Sexuality and Equality, Researchgate