An ISU professor is finding out what underwear is under there as she researches the history of women’s lingerie. Jane Farrell-Beck, university professor of textiles and clothing, is taking a semester off from teaching to research and write a book about the history of the brassiere, more commonly known as the bra. She said she’s focusing on the “business history of brassieres in the United States” from 1863 to 1969. She is explaining in detail each change the undergarment has undergone. “A book like this is very hard to write, trying to pull different ideas together and make them coherent,” Farrell-Beck said. She stumbled upon the subject of bras when she was studying a disease called scoliosis, the unnatural curvature of the spine. Her research showed that the corsets and braces used to correct the disease began disappearing from stores in 1916, and she was curious to find out if these were being replaced by the brassiere. During her research, Farrell-Beck discovered that the United States patented what they called a “bust girdle” in 1863. The name brassiere, an undergarment that confined and shaped the breast, was coined in 1905. Farrell-Beck said the corset began losing popularity when nurses and a few doctors urged women to stop wearing corsets because of the health problems associated with them and encouraged them to wear brassieres. “Between 1863 and 1969 there were well over 1,200 patents for brassieres,” she said. Brassieres have been manufactured with many materials. Every time a new fabric came out it was used in bras, she said. These materials included elastic, rayon, polyester, nylon, zippers and wire – “the available technology of the time,” she said. “I think her book will be a wonderful addition to the library of all costume historians and will provide valuable insight into an unexplored area of costume,” said Jean Parsons, assistant professor of textiles and clothing. Farrell-Beck said she hopes her book will inform people about the history of the bra. “My hope for this book is that it opens people’s eyes to how the brassiere developed,” Farrell-Beck said. “Many, many people were involved in the development.” The book is scheduled to be available in spring 2002. She said she wants it to be “lively, so others will pick it up, a balance between popular appeal and scholarship.”