Undergarment Boudreaux showed the world that an American woman could establish and run a company, and she also caused a revolution in the underwear industry. In 1913, a New York socialite named Mary Phelps Jacob created the first modern brassiere by tying two handkerchiefs together with ribbon. Jacob's original intention was to cover the whalebone sticking out of her corset, which was visible through her sheer dress. Jacob began making brassieres for her family and friends, and news of the garment soon spread by word of mouth. By 1914, Jacob had a patent for her design and was marketing it throughout
Phelps Phelps became known as Phelps Phelps. He attended Yale University in 1916, but was dismissed from the school after paying another student to take his exams for him. He graduated from Williams College in 1922, and received his juris doctor from Fordham University School of Law in 1925. Enlisting in August 1917, Phelps attended the aviation school of the United States School of Military Aeronautics in Ithaca, New York. He joined the Royal Flying Corps in Canada, but left later in the year to attend college. During World War II, Phelps served in the reserve corps until enlisting in the United