Kestos Explained

Kestos is a British lingerie^[1] brand founded in London in 1925 by British designer Rosamund Lilian Klin, (1899-1949) the wife of a Russian artist living in London.^[2] Kestos' major innovation^[3] to the feminine underwear in the 1930s was the development of the two separate cups model.^{[4] [5]} Rosamund Klin, director of the Kestos Corset Company, started experimenting with a pair of hankies, just like Caresse Crosby^{[6] [7]} back in 1913. Kestos' bra was the first commercially produced brassiere that had two distinct and defined cups^[8] and "the Kestos" became a generic trademark bra.^{[9] [10] [11]} Kestos was distributed in the US,^[12] UK, Canada, Australia, France as well as some other European countries^[13] and was popular through the 1930s, 1940s and into the early 1950s. The Copmpany went into liquidation in 1967 prior to the death of the Chairman Leo Klin (1877-1967).^[14]

Bibliography

• Uplift: The Bra in America, Jane Farrell-Beck, Colleen Gau, University of Pennsylvania Press, 2002 - Health & Fitness - 264 pages
• The Garden Book, Brian Castro, Giramondo Publishing, May 1, 2005 - Fiction - 324 pages
• The encyclopaedia of fashion, Georgina O'Hara Callan, H.N. Abrams, Oct 1, 1986 - Design - 272 pages
• The Story of Lingerie, Muriel Barbier, Shazia Boucher, Parkstone International, May 8, 2012 - Design - 272 pages

Notes and References

1. Web site: Bra, Kestos 1364421 National Trust Collections. nationaltrustcollections.org.uk. 2015-07-08.
2. Web site: The Sydney Morning Herald - Google News Archive Search. 2015-07-08.
3. Web site: Vintage Bras Inspire Modern Lingerie Designers on Lingerie Briefs. 4 February 2013. lingeriebriefs.com. 2015-07-08.
4. Web site: Where oh where is the underwear?. Independent.co.uk. 28 August 1997.
5. Web site: 100 years of the BRA; WE INVITE YOU TO RAISE YOUR CUPS AND TOAST.. - Free Online Library. thefreelibrary.com. 2015-07-08.
6. http://www.iffti.com/downloads/past_conferences/Ryerson,%202007/2.3-Proctor.pdf Conference paper
7. Web site: Hoorah for the bra!. 8 May 2013. smh.com.au. 2015-07-08.
8. Web site: Partial Coverage - The Kestos Brasierre: The First Of Its Kind. dollhousebettie.com. 2015-07-08.
9. Web site: Bra History - Bras and Girdles - A Fashion History. Pauline Thomas. fashion-era.com. 2015-07-08.
10. Web site: 100 Years of the Bra. 9 April 2007. Mirror Online. 2015-07-08.
11. Lauren Olds . World War II and Fashion: The Birth of the New Look . Constructing the Past . 2001 . 2 . 1 .
12. Web site: The New Yorker Digital Edition : Dec 07, 1935. archives.newyorker.com. 2015-07-08.
13. Web site: Museum of London Blog Is that Aristoc or Kira sheer? » Museum of London Blog. blog.museumoflondon.org.uk. 2015-07-08. 3 December 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20131203023110/http://blog.museumoflondon.org.uk/is-that-aristoc-or-kira-sheer/. dead.
14. Book: Uplift: The Bra in America. Farrell-Beck, J.. Gau, C.. 2002. University of Pennsylvania Press, Incorporated. 9780812218350. 78. 2015-07-08.