HAMPDEN, Maine — A local artist is part of an international project to create a replicas of the medieval bras found under the floor of a castle in Austria in 2008.
That may not sound very prestigious, but Rachel Case, 42, of Hampden is one of two women in the world working to document the finding and construction of what is believed to be the earliest brassieres ever discovered.
Case, who teaches art in Hermon, visited the Institute of Archaeology at the University of Innsbruck, Austria, to examine the artifacts. Together with Beatrix Nutz, an archeologist at the university with a specialty in textiles, Case studied the surviving linen pieces of the bras and the corset found in the Lengberg Castle.
Based on the photographs and measurements Case took of them, she has completed what she believes is an accurate replica of one of the medieval garments that, using carbon dating, was confirmed as having been made in the late 14th to mid-15th century.
The cups were constructed of two separate pieces of fabric. The garments did not fasten in the back or front as modern bras do but laced up one side.
“This is made for a very small person — probably not a full-size adult because it is so small — with very round apple-sized breasts,” Case said last month in her home workshop as she described the garment. “This is the style the archaeologist [Nutz] calls the longline bra because it looks a lot like a 1940s-style bullet bra with two-piece cups [that laces up the sides].”
The reason the find is so important, Nutz wrote in article published in July 2012 in BBC History magazine, is that before the Lengberg find all archeologists had known about medieval underwear is that “men wore shirts and braies (medieval underpants resembling modern-day shorts), and women [wore] a smock or chemise and no pants.”
References to possible female breast support by medieval writers exist, “but they are rather vague on the topic,” Nutz said. She cited two references, both written by men, that referred to “breast bags” inserted into women’s clothing.
“Up to now there was nothing to indicate the existence of bras with clearly visible cups before the 19th century,” Nutz wrote for a University of Innsbruck publication.
“There are considerable differences of opinion as to who ‘invented’ the brassiere or bra,” she said. “Among those named is the French corset-maker Herminie Cadolle in the late 18th century and Mary Phelps Jacob, who was awarded a U.S. patent in 1914.”
Case’s interest in medieval fashion was sparked by her involvement in the local chapter of the Society for Creative Anachronism. The society is an international organization dedicated to researching and re-creating the arts, skills and traditions of pre-17th century Europe, according to its website.
One of Case’s skills is making costumes for her family and other members of the group for events and fairs. She is trying to be as authentic as possible in reconstructing the bras, sewing the pieces together by hand using the same kind of finger-loop braiding found on one of the artifacts.
During her visit to Austria, funded by the Janet Arnold Award from the Society of Antiquaries of London, which supports research into the history of Western dress, Case was given some unbleached linen believed to be 40 to 60 years old. She used brass needles, linen thread that must be waxed with beeswax to strengthen it and a bone awl to poke holes for the eyelets the hold the laces.
Case also learned about sprang, a nonweft weaving or plaiting technique that creates an elastic, lace-like fabric. It was placed in between the fabric to which the bra cups were attached to hold it together, she said.
“These bras most likely were made by a resident seamstress for a woman who lived in the castle,” Case said last month. “It’s unlikely anyone but the aristocracy wore them. Because of the holes along the bottom of the bra, we think a skirt might be have been attached to it.”
Case said she has worn one of the bras she made with an attached skirt and has found it more comfortable than the one without a skirt.
“The skirt tends to hold the bra in place,” she said. “Without it, the bra has a tendency to ride up.”
The results of this investigation and the knowledge gained from the reconstructions will be published in a book by Nutz and Case in about two years. The final reconstructions will be displayed at the university in Innsbruck in 2017.
To follow Case’s progress on her website, visit craftyagatha.org.