Abstract: A garment with a seat area, a waist area and a crotch area, has a rear portion for defining the seat area and part of the waist and crotch areas, a front portion connected to the rear portion and defining part of the waist and crotch areas and an elastic panel assembly connected to the rear portion at least at the waist area and the crotch area. The panel assembly covers an inner surface of the rear portion over the seat area and comprises two sets of plural substantially vertical seams spaced symmetrically on opposite sides of a vertical center axis of the rear portion for defining at least two vertical elastic panels on each side of the center axis that are connected to the waist area, and an elastic lower panel such as a crotch panel or horizontal lower panel, connected to the crotch.

Abstract: A method of manufacturing a breast-covering garment pad having a thicker summit area, as well as the pad itself, includes holding a sheet of resilient and formable material of uniform thickness, such as thermoplastic foam, and forming the sheet to have a graduated thicker summit area corresponding to each breast summit of the pad or a garment including the pad, and a surrounding thinner area. Each pad thus has a thicker summit area for extending over the nipples the breasts.

Abstract: A molded breast cup for a brassiere includes a molded cup form and laminated structure of a first panel of a flexible foam material and a second panel of flexible material. The first and second panels are substantially coextensive to each other and define a breast cup perimeter shape. The first panel of flexible foam material is of varying thickness, providing a zone of greater thickness at a region or regions away from the perimeter at a general area where the nipple of the wearer of the brassiere will normally be positioned in order to provide greater thickness of material or density of material at such regions to reduce the visibility of the nipple through the brassiere.

Abstract: A method of manufacturing a pad for a breast covering garment provides a fabric sheet with an upper neckline, a lower channeling and an underarm and adheres a foam sheet of compressible material to the fabric sheet. A first portion of the pad is adjacent and along the upper neckline containing only fabric of the fabric sheet, and a remaining portion of the pad is between the first portion and the lower channeling containing the compressible material of the foam sheet. The method includes providing the foam sheet to have a thickest end at locations of the underarm and the channeling which are spaced away from the neckline, and the foam sheet becomes gradually thinner toward the neckline to a location that is near to, but still spaced from the neckline where the sheet of foam ends at the first portion of the pad.

Abstract: A method is provided for making a bra pad having a rigid foam that is thickest at the bottom of the pad for hidden support and a stretchable softer foam for comfort and universal fit throughout the entire pad. The method includes pre-laminating rigid and stretchable foam sheets with fabric and shaving the foam sheets. The rigid foam sheet is shaved so that it has a V-shaped recess and a gradually sloped interface between the V-shaped recess and remainder of the sheet. The stretchable foam sheet is shaved so that it has a pair of elevated areas. Then, the top surfaces of the shaved foam sheets are affixed together to form a pre-form assembly and the pre-form assembly is molded under heat. The pair of pads are then trimmed out.