figures in the 1930s, corsetry maintained a strong demand, even at the height of the great depression. from the 1920s to the 1940s, corset manufacturers constantly tried training young women to use corsets but fashions became more restrained in terms of décolletage while exposure of the leg became more accepted in western societies during world war i and remained so for nearly half a century. in the republic of china in the early 20th century, qipao, a dress that shows the legs but no cleavage, became so popular many chinese women consider it as their national dress. in the 1940s, a substantial amount of fabric in the center of brassières created a separation of breasts rather than a pushed-together cleavage. in 1947, frederick mellinger of frederick's of hollywood created the first padded brassière followed a year later by an early push-up version dubbed "the rising star". in that decade, christian dior introduced the "new look" that included elastic corsets, pads and shaping girdles to widen hips, cinch waists and lift breasts. under the motion picture production code, which was in effect in the u.s. between 1934 and 1968, the depiction of excessive cleavage was not permitted. many female actors defied those standards; other celebrities, performers and models followed suit and the public was not far behind. low-cut styles of various depths were common. in the post-war period, cleavage became a defining emblem; according to writer peter lewis; "the bust, bosom or cleavage was in the fifties the apotheosis of erogenous zones. the breasts were the apples of all eyes." around this time, the american word "cleavage" started to be used to define the space between the breasts. early contemporary lais ribeiro at a victoria's secret fashion show. lingerie manufacturers controlled and constructed the mandatory bustline of the 1990s. in their heyday, wonderbra sponsored a national cleavage day in south africa every year, and the webcast of the victoria's secret fashion show became one of the internet's biggest events. according to an urban american woman, during the 1950s, "at night... our shoulders were naked, our breasts half-bare". dramatic necklaces that emphasized the cleavage became popular at balls and parties in france. in the u.s., television shows tried to mask exposed cleavage with tulle and even sketches, illustrations and short stories in reader's digest and saturday evening post depicted women with tiny waists, big buttocks and ample cleavage. in this decade, hollywood and the fashion industry successfully promoted large, cloven bustlines and falsies, the brassière industry started experimenting with the half-cup bra (also known as demi-cup or shelf bra) to facilitate décolletage. polyvinyl sacs were often the preferred implant to augment breasts into a fuller, more projected appearance. despite these developments, open presentation of cleavage was mostly limited to well-endowed female actors like lana turner, marilyn monroe (who was attributed with the revelation of america's "mammary madness" by journalist marjorie rosen), rita hayworth, jane russell, brigitte bardot, jayne mansfield and sophia loren, who were as celebrated for their cleavage as for their beauty. while these movie stars significantly influenced the appearance of women's busts in this decade, the stylish 1950s sweaters were a safer substitute for many women. lingerie manufacturer berlei launched the "hollywood maxwell" brassière, claiming it to be a "favourite of film stars". modern augmentation mammaplasty began when thomas cronin and frank gerow developed the first silicone gel-filled breast prosthesis with dow corning corporation, and the first implanting operation took place the following year. in the late 1960s, attention began to shift from the large bust to the trim lower torso, reasserting the need to diet, especially as new clothing fashions—brief, sheer, and close fitting—prohibited heavy reliance on foundation lingerie. legs were comparatively less emphasized as elements of beauty. in the 1960s, driven by second-wave feminism, liberal politics and the free love movement, a bra burning movement arose to protest against—among various patriarchal imperatives—constructed cleavage and disciplined breasts. yves saint laurent and u.s. designer rudi gernreich experimented with a bra-less look on the runway. the increasingly casual styles of the 1960s led to a bra-less look when women who were unwilling to give up bras turned to soft bras that did not lift and "were as light and discreet as possible" but still provided support. canadian government industry statistics (during the period sales figures were compiled by industry canada), panties were considered "lingerie," rather than so-called "foundation undergarments" and are not part of this data set. from the 1960s, changes in fashion leaned towards increased displays of cleavage in films and television; jane russell and elizabeth taylor were the biggest stars who led the fashion. in everyday life, low-cut dress styles became common, even for casual wear. lingerie and shapewear manufacturers like warner brothers, gossard, formfit and bali took the opportunity to market plunge bras with a lower gore that was suitable for low-cut styles. in the early 1970s, it became common to leave top buttons on shirts and blouses open to display pectoral muscles and cleavage. daring women and men of all ages wore tailored, buttoned-down shirts that were open from the breast-point to the navel in a "groovy" style, with pendants, beads or medallions dangling on the chest, displaying a firm body achieved through exercise. as a new masculine style evolved, gay men adopted a traditionally masculine or working-class style with "half-unbuttoned shirt above the sweaty chest" and tight jeans. during the 1980s, deep, plunging cleavage became more common and less risqué as the popularity of work-outs and masculine shoulder-padded blazers increased. in 1985, designer vivienne westwood re-introduced the corset as a trendy way to enhance cleavage. it was followed in 1989 by jean paul gaultier, who dressed madonna in a pink corset. soon, westwood introduced an elastic-sided variant that worked as a balcony to push up the cleavage. the push-up bra and exaggerated cleavage became popular in the 1990s. in 1992, the bra and girdle industry in america posted sales of over us$1 billion. the wonderbra brand, which had existed elsewhere, entered the u.s. market in 1994 with a newly designed, cleavage-enhancing bra. driven by a controversial advertising campaign that featured model eva herzigova's cleavage, one wonderbra was sold every 15 seconds shortly after the brand's launch, leading to first-year sales of us$120 million. the hypersexualized styles of victoria's secret became a "zeitgeist" in the 1990s. by 2013, victoria's secret had captured one-third of the women's underwear market in the u.s. in the early 1990s, sara lee corporation—hen owner of the wonderbra and playtex brands—along with uk lingerie manufacturer gossard limited, introduced a bra for asian women who, according to sara lee, are "less buxom narrower shoulders". traditional brands like maidenform produced similar styles. late contemporary bollywood actress alia bhatt wearing a sideboob gowncosplayer dressing as yoko littner in an underboob bikini top underwire bras, the most popular cleavage-boosting lingerie, accounted for 60% of the uk bra market in 2000 and 70% in 2005. about 70% of women who wear bras wear a steel underwire bra according to underwear manufacturer s&s industries of new york in 2009. in 2001, 70% (350 million) of the bras sold in the u.s. were underwire bras. as of 2005, underwire bras were the fastest-growing segment of the market. corsets also experienced a resurgence in the 2010s; this trend was driven by photographs on social media. according to fashion historian valerie steele, "the corset did not so much disappear as become internalised through diet, exercise and plastic surgery". by the turn of the 21st century, some of the attention given to cleavage and breasts started to shift to buttocks, especially in the media, while corsetry returned to mainstream fashion. according to dietician rebecca scritchfield, the resurgent popularity of corsets is driven by "the picture on instagram of somebody with a tiny waist and giant boobs". at the same time alternatives to décolletage, which were often still called cleavages, emerged from western cleavage culture. modern corset by the early 2000s, "sideboob" (also known as "side cleavage"), i.e. the exposure of the side of the breast had become popular. one writer called it the "new cleavage". in 2008, armand limnander wrote in the new york times the "underboob" (also known as "bottom cleavage" and "reverse cleavage") was "a newly fetishized anatomical zone where the lower part of the breast meets the torso, popularized by 80s rock chicks in cutoff tank tops". it was further popularized by dancer-singer teyana taylor in the music video for kanye west's 2016 song "fade". supermodels, including bella hadid, gigi hadid, and kendall jenner, contributed to the trend, which has appeared at beaches, on the red carpet, and in social media posts. in the 2010s and early 2020s, cleavage-enhancing bras began to decline in popularity. bralettes and soft bras gained market share at the expense of underwire and padded bras, sometimes also serving as outerwear. some bralettes have plunging designs, light padding or bottom support. in november 2016, the uk version of fashion magazine vogue said "cleavage is over"; this statement was widely criticized. soft bras and sideboobs became popular over prominent cleavages. soft bras consisted 30% of online retailer net-a-porter's bra sales by 2016. in 2017, the sales of cleavage-boosting bras fell by 45% while at marks & spencer, sales of wire-free bras grew by 40%. jess cartner-morley, fashion editor of the guardian, reported in 2018 many women were dressing without bras, producing a less-dramatic cleavage, which she called "quiet cleavage". according to sarah shotton, creative director of agent provocateur, "now it's about the athletic body, health and wellbeing" rather than the male gaze. according to lingerie designer araks yeramyan, "it was #metoo that catapulted the bralette movement into what it is today". during the covid-19 lockdowns, cnbc reported a drop of 12% in bra sales across 100 retailers while youtubers made tutorials on re-purposing bras as face masks; this trend was sometimes called a "lockdown liberation". enhancement throughout history, women have used many methods, including accentuation and display of breasts within the context of cultural norms of fashion and modesty, to enhance their physical attractiveness and femininity. fetishization of breasts results in significant anxiety in women about having the correct breasts and resulting cleavage. all kinds of exercises, brassières and other methods of bust improvement have been recommended and advertised to cater for this need. corsetry and bras marie tucek's "breast supporter" (1893), made of metal or cardboard plates covered with silk or canvas, from original patent applicationmary phelps jacob's "backless brassiere" (1914), made of two handkerchiefs and some ribbon, from original patent application corsetry and bras are often used to enhance cleavage; author nan mcnab claims that “it has been said the quickest way for a woman to change her breasts is to buy a bra”. before the brassière became popular, the bust was encased in corsets and structured garments called "bust improvers", which were made of boning and lace. when corsets became unfashionable, brassières and padding helped to project, display and emphasize the breasts. these were initially manufactured by small companies and supplied to retailers. women had the choice of long-line bras, built-up backs, wedge-shaped inserts between the cups, wider straps, lastex, firm bands under the cup, and light boning. in 2020, several lingerie and shapewear manufacturers, among them wonderbra, frederick's of hollywood, agent provocateur and victoria's secret, produce bras that enhance cleavage and offer more than 30 types of bra, including underwire, padded, plunge and push-up bras. development of underwire bras started in the 1930s but they did not gain widespread popularity until the 1950s, when the end of world war ii freed metal for domestic use. in an underwire bra, a thin strip of metal, plastic or resin—usually with a nylon coating at both ends—is sewn into the bra fabric and under each cup from the center gore to the armpit. the insert helps to lift, separate, shape and support the breasts. underwire bras can rub and press against the breast, causing skin irritation and breast pain, and the wire of a worn bra can protrude from the fabric. padded bras have extra material, which may be foam, silicone, gel, air or fluid, in the cups to help the breasts look fuller. different designs provide coverage and support, hide nipples, add shape to breasts that are far apart, and add comfort. graduated padding has more padding at the bottom of the cups