600-Year-Old Bra Discovered In Medieval Castle

600-Year-Old Bra Discovered In Castle Rewrites The History Of Lingerie

Archaeologists in Austria have found a set of bras from the 1400s that have changed the history of lingerie forever.

Prior to the discovery in Castle Lengberg, Tyrol historians believed the story of the bra began in the late 1700s with French corset-maker Herminie Cadolle.

But the discovery of the garments - which were found buried in a vault by researchers from the University of Innsbruck - means we now know women were wearing bras 500 years before that point.

The four items resemble modern bras and include eyelets that suggest they were once fastened with lace like a corset.

Fibre samples were tested by the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zürich who confirmed that the items dates back 1400s. They were probably sealed in the vault around 1485, when the castle was renovated.

"We didn't believe it ourselves," Beatrix Nutz, the archeologist who discovered the garments, told AP.

"From what we knew, there was no such thing as bra-like garments in the 15th century."

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