Underwire bra
Underwire bras are occasionally linked to health conditions including breast pain, mastitis, and metal allergies.
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, held in place and adjusted to a snug fit by shoulder straps that crossed the back, forming an X-shape.
[8] Although development of the underwire bra started in the 1930s,[9] it did not gain widespread popularity until the 1950s, when the end of World War II freed metal for domestic use.
[10][11] In the 1940s, Howard Hughes had an underwire push-up bra designed for Jane Russell to emphasize her breasts in The Outlaw.
[35][36] The United States Transportation Security Administration recommends that women do not wear underwire bras because they can set off metal detectors.
On Sunday, 24 August 2008, film maker Nancy Kates set off a metal detector during security screening.
She said that a supervisor told her that underwire bras were the leading cause of metal detector false alarms.
During what she described as an "aggressive" pat-down search, security screening personnel forced her to remove and show her prosthetic breast.
[40] Their action violated TSA guidelines, which state that agents do not need to touch or inspect a mastectomy prosthetic.
The TSA security official applied an invasive "hand-sliding inspection" during which she "ran her hands around her breasts, over her stomach, buttocks and her inner thighs, and even touched her most private areas.
[16] Some correctional facilities, like San Quentin State Prison, require visitors to either cut their bras and remove the underwire, or temporarily use a soft cup bra provided by the institution before being granted entry.
[46] In June 2010, attorney Britney Horstman was barred from visiting her client in the Federal Detention Center at Miami, Florida when her underwire bra set off the metal detector.
That memo existed as a result of an agreement negotiated by the Federal Public Defender's Office, which represents inmates held at the institution before trial.
That agreement allows female lawyers entry if her underwire bra is detected by a metal-detecting wand.
Horstman removed her bra in a bathroom and returned to the security checkpoint braless, but was then turned away because she did not meet the facility's dress code.
[47][48] There have been several cases where the underwire from a bra has helped deflect bullets or other objects, saving the wearer's life.
[1] In 2008, a robbery victim was saved from being stabbed in the chest when the attacker's knife was caught and deflected by the underwire of her bra.
