WOMEN'S SLEEPWEAR, LOUNGEWEAR AND ACTIVEWEAR GARMENTS WITH INTEGRAL BREAST SUPPORT
A garment for sleepwear, loungewear, activewear, etc. is disclosed. It includes a fabric shell and a support structure. The support structure includes a pair of cups configured for receipt of a wearer's breasts and a back portion configured to accommodate the wearer's back and includes a first layer, a second layer, a pair of elastic shoulder straps and an elastic band. The first layer is formed of a soft fabric. The second layer is formed of a soft foam material and is located between the first layer and the fabric shell. The first and second layers are secured together by plural stitch lines. The elastic band is secured to the bottom of the support structure to extend about the wearer's torso to provide support for the wearer's breasts. The fabric shell is secured to the support structure and has a portion extending downward to form a skirt section of the garment.
This non-provisional utility application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) of Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/115,889 filed on Feb. 13, 2015 entitled Women's Sleep, Loungewear And Activewear Garments With Integral Breast Support, the entire disclosure of which provisional application is incorporated by reference herein.
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENTNot Applicable
INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISKNot Applicable
FIELD OF THE INVENTIONThis invention relates to women's garments and particularly to sleepwear, loungewear, and activewear, garments including an integral support system for the breasts.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONMany garments for sleepwear, loungewear or activewear are available and have been disclosed in the prior art. Such garments commonly include a simple interior bra in the form of a fabric shelf with a bottom elastic and no other support. Others have built in bras including underwires. The patent literature also includes various patents for sleepwear having built-in bra, such as U.S. Pat. No.: 2,211,549 (Semons); U.S. Pat. No. 2,624,049 (Granne); U.S. Pat. No. 2,896,630 (Adler); U.S. Pat. No. 3,316,915 (Howell); U.S. Pat. No. 3,746,007 (Hand et al.); and U.S. Pat. No. 8,403,724 (Chapin). Such prior art garments, while generally suitable for their intended purposes nevertheless leave much to be desired in the way of comfort, support, safety, simplicity of construction, etc. Thus, there presently exists a need for women's sleep, loungewear and activewear garments that provide the wearer with adequate, comfortable, safe and stabilizing support to the breasts that is healthy, while giving a natural look to the breasts.
The subject invention addresses that need, while also providing a garment that also enhances the wearer's posture, relieving neck and shoulder strain that often is experienced by women with larger breasts.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONIn accordance with one aspect of this invention a garment, e.g., a nightwear garment, comprising a shell and a support structure is disclosed. The shell is formed of a soft fabric. The support structure has front portion including a pair of cups configured for receipt of a wearer's breasts and a back portion configured to accommodate the wearer's back. The support structure comprises a first layer, a second layer, a pair of shoulder straps and an elastic band. The first layer is formed of a soft fabric. The second layer is formed of a soft foam material. The second layer is located between the first layer and the fabric shell. The first layer and the second layer are secured together by plural stitch lines. The elastic band is secured to the first and second layers below the cups and configured to extend about the wearer's torso to provide support for the wearer's breasts. The shoulder straps are connected between the front portion of the support structure and the back portion of the support structure. The fabric shell is secured to the support section and has a portion extending downward below the support structure to form a skirt section of the garment.
In accordance with another aspect of this invention the shell is disposed over the support structure to form an outer layer of the garment and wherein the first layer of the support structure comprises an inner layer of the garment.
In accordance with one preferred aspect of this invention the support structure includes at least one of a front center stitch line located in the front portion between the cups, a top stitch line across a top portion of each of the cups, a bottom stitch line across a bottom portion of each of the cups, and a pair of side stitch lines located between respective ones of the cups and respective sides of the back portion of the bra section.
In accordance with one preferred embodiment of this invention the support structure includes a front center stitch line located in the front portion between the cups, a top stitch line across a top portion of each of the cups, a bottom stitch line across a bottom portion of each of the cups, and a pair of side stitch lines located between respective ones of the cups and respective sides of the back portion of the bra section.
In accordance with another preferred aspect of this invention each of the shoulder straps comprise adjustment rings located adjacent the back portion of the support structure for adjusting the length of the shoulder straps.
In accordance with still another preferred aspect of this invention the soft fabric shell is selected from the group consisting of cotton, Lycra, polyester, silk, rayon and combinations thereof and the soft fabric first layer of the support structure is selected from the group consisting of cotton, Lycra, polyester, silk, rayon and combinations thereof.
Referring now to the drawings wherein like characters refer to like parts there is shown in
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The garment 20 also includes a pair of shoulder straps 40 secured to the top of the garment. The straps 40 are conventional and preferably formed of any suitable elastic material. To that end, each strap is in the form of a loop which is connected to conventional adjustable ring 42 (sometimes referred to as a “lingerie strap slide and ring” and which may be nylon coated or plastic) so that the length of the loop can be adjusted. This feature enables the wearer to adjust the straps as desired to accommodate her breast size, shape and placement. As best seen in
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As mentioned above the support structure includes plural stitch lines. Those lines provide the support structure with its desired shape and contour and together with the foam layer 32 cooperate to provide the desired support and separation for the wearer's breasts. To that end, as best seen in
The combination of the cup stitching and side stitching provide shape and lift and separation between the breasts, allowing the support structure to support and uplift the bust line in a natural and comfortable way, without the need for an underwire. The planar (non-pre-molded) foam layer 32 between the shell 22 and inner fabric layer 30, as shaped by the aforementioned stitch lines also provides an additional support element and natural structure and shape to the cups of the garment. This arrangement is unique and significantly different than the prior art, since most prior art built-in bra garments are comprised from a pre-molded piece of padding that cause the bust line to appear unnatural, as the breast tissue must fit exactly into the molded cup which is limiting for most women, size-wise. Prior art shelf bras typically cause the bust line to appear as one unflattering tube shape.
It should be pointed out at this juncture that while the exemplary garment 20 as described above is in the form of nightwear or sleepwear, that embodiment is merely exemplary of various forms the subject invention can take. In this regard, since the garments constructed in accordance with this invention make use of a multi-seamed multilayer support structure including a foam layer that provides the required comfortable support it can be incorporated into any type of garment. That garment can be sleepwear, loungewear or activewear, and can be made by merely attaching the support structure to any type of fabric shell, be it a nightgown, t-shirt, tank top or shirt, such that the garment covers and supports the breasts and the upper back. In fact, while the exemplary disclosed embodiment makes use of the support structure 24 attached on the inside of the shell 22, it is contemplated that the support structure can be attached on the outside of the shell, if desired. In any case the garments of this invention allow the wearer to comfortably sleep and lounge while providing healthy and substantial support, stabilizing the bust. In addition, the support structure of the garments of this invention also enhance the wearer's posture, relieving neck and shoulder strain that often is experienced by women with larger breasts.
Without further elaboration the foregoing will so fully illustrate our invention that others may, by applying current or future knowledge, adopt the same for use under various conditions of service.
Claims
1. A garment comprising a shell and a support structure, said shell being formed of a soft fabric, said support structure having front portion including a pair of cups configured for receipt of a wearer's breasts and a back portion configured to accommodate the wearer's back, said support structure comprising a first layer, a second layer, a pair of shoulder straps and an elastic band, said first layer being formed of a soft fabric, said second layer being formed of a soft foam material, said second layer being located between said first layer and said fabric shell, said first layer and said second layer being secured together by plural stitch lines, said elastic band being secured to said first and second layers below said cups and configured to extend about the wearer's torso to provide support for the wearer's breasts, said shoulder straps being connected between said front portion of said support structure and said back portion of said support structure, said fabric shell being secured to said support structure and having a portion extending downward below said support structure to form a skirt section of said garment.
2. The garment of claim 1 wherein said shell is disposed over said support structure to form an outer layer of said garment and wherein said first layer of said support structure comprises an inner layer of said garment.
3. The garment of claim 1 wherein said support structure includes at least one of a front center stitch line located in said front portion between said cups, a top stitch line across a top portion of each of said cups, a bottom stitch line across a bottom portion of each of said cups, and a pair of side stitch lines located between respective ones of said cups and respective sides of said back portion of said bra section.
4. The garment of claim 2 wherein said support structure includes at least one of a front center stitch line located in said front portion between said cups, a top stitch line across a top portion of each of said cups, a bottom stitch line across a bottom portion of each of said cups, and a pair of side stitch lines located between respective ones of said cups and respective sides of said back portion of said bra section.
5. The garment of claim 1 wherein said soft fabric shell is selected from the group consisting of cotton, Lycra, polyester, silk, rayon and combinations thereof.
6. The garment of claim 1 wherein said soft fabric first layer of said support structure is selected from the group consisting of cotton, Lycra, polyester, silk, rayon and combinations thereof.
7. The garment of claim 5 wherein said soft fabric first layer of said support structure is selected from the group consisting of cotton, Lycra, polyester, silk, rayon and combinations thereof.
8. The garment of claim 7 wherein said shell is disposed over said support structure to form an outer layer of said garment and wherein said first layer of said support structure comprises an inner layer of said garment.
9. The garment of claim 1 wherein said shoulder straps are elastic.
10. The garment of claim 4 wherein said soft fabric shell is selected from the group consisting of cotton, Lycra, polyester, silk, rayon and combinations thereof.
11. The garment of claim 4 wherein said soft fabric first layer of said support structure is selected from the group consisting of cotton, Lycra, polyester, silk, rayon and combinations thereof.
12. The garment of claim 10 wherein said soft fabric first layer of said support structure is selected from the group consisting of cotton, Lycra, polyester, silk, rayon and combinations thereof.
13. The garment of claim 12 wherein said shell is disposed over said support structure to form an outer layer of said garment and wherein said first layer of said support structure comprises an inner layer of said garment.
14. The garment of claim 2 wherein said shoulder straps are elastic.
15. The garment of claim 1 wherein said shoulder straps comprise adjustment rings located for adjusting the length of said shoulder straps.
16. The garment of claim 14 wherein said shoulder straps comprise adjustment rings located for adjusting the length of said shoulder straps.
17. The garment of claim 2 wherein said support structure is secured within said shell by a stitch line.
18. The garment of claim 17 wherein said plural stitch lines of said support structure comprise a front center stitch line located in said front portion of said support structure between said cups, a top stitch line across a top portion of each of said cups, a bottom stitch line across a bottom portion of each of said cups, and a pair of side stitch lines located on respective sides of said support structure adjacent respective ones of said cups.
19. The garment of claim 18 wherein said soft fabric shell is selected from the group consisting of cotton, Lycra, polyester, silk, rayon and combinations thereof.
20. The garment of claim 18 wherein said soft fabric first layer of said support structure is selected from the group consisting of cotton, Lycra, polyester, silk, rayon and combinations thereof.
Type: Application
Filed: Feb 8, 2016
Publication Date: Aug 18, 2016
Inventors: Allyson Brown Fanger (Los Angeles, CA), Elizabeth Zox Friedman (Los Angeles, CA), Deborah Beth Kaplan (Studio City, CA)
Application Number: 15/017,739