Thread: Another Egyptian costume bra revelation

A few days ago I cut into an Egyptian costume bra and found that it was a foam cup lingerie bra covered with interfacing. Today I cut into another one and was surprised to see that the bra was made of jersey backed vinyl fake leather, covered with lace. The kind of fake leather that handbags and shoes and upholstry are made of. Wow. Smelled it and yep, its vinyl all right.

So what have some of the rest of you found when doing deconstruction of Egyptian costume bras?

Souzan the curious

"baseball" leather sewn over a lingerie bra

A regular bra, cut at the edges for shaping, lined with white fabric and a stiffener of some sort used.
Back strap was wide elastic, doubled.

One of the lower end costumes I rehabbed about 4 years ago was made of linen with this stiff mesh plastered to it... and I do mean with actual plaster to hold it's shape. It looked like they applied the plaster AFTER sewing the beads and sequins to the linen and mesh base. It was pretty sturdy, but I was so surprised to see that sort of construction.

Originally Posted by Lesedi

One of the lower end costumes I rehabbed about 4 years ago was made of linen with this stiff mesh plastered to it... and I do mean with actual plaster to hold it's shape. It looked like they applied the plaster AFTER sewing the beads and sequins to the linen and mesh base. It was pretty sturdy, but I was so surprised to see that sort of construction.

What you are describing sounds like the plaster gauze bandages that we used to use to make masks back in the 80's. I can see how you might be able to apply those after the beads and sequins, because you cut it to size, then dip into water and then apply, but it does seem like an odd way of doing it, and you wouldn't want to sew through it afterward, I imagine.

Here is a pic of an egyptian costume bra. I am taking the appliques off and rebeading to another bra. Kindof crumpled, wire on top bra edge. It's going into the trash.

Originally Posted by dunyah

What you are describing sounds like the plaster gauze bandages that we used to use to make masks back in the 80's. I can see how you might be able to apply those after the beads and sequins, because you cut it to size, then dip into water and then apply, but it does seem like an odd way of doing it, and you wouldn't want to sew through it afterward, I imagine.

Yeah, it was damn near impossible to add stuff to it! There were only a few sequins and beads missing, so I did repairs. It was only one color, just a typical Egyptian slightly better than airport special, so I added some beading in a complimenting color... took forever! I don't even remember how many needles I broke on that one. I had some pretty horrendous callouses when I was done too.

Though it was odd construction and a pain to alter, the plaster method seemed to hold up very well and keep its shape nicely.

I've found actual coat hanger wire whipstitched to the underside of bra cups, white vinyl bra cups (murder to sew through, awesome stiffness) and the plaster thing mentioned above.

It's also amusing to find scrawls in Arabic inside them, I imagine it says 'left side' or 'right side.' Maybe it actually says 'Kilroy wuz here?'

I started to "strip mine" a too-big basic Turkish bra for sequins/beads. Hilariously found the notes inside that it was supposed to have a 32" band...more like a 42" band!!! Wonder what the cup size was originally supposed to be, considering it's large enough to wear as a hat. The cup is hard foam, the peaks at the top seem to be reinforced with coat hanger wire, and there's some sort of plastic behind the actual cup, like that stuff used to make the clamshell packaging for electronics.

Guess the idea here is that you use whatever you have to hand. For the vinyl bras you could easily use the left over scraps from an upholstry shop. Plastic clamshell bras! Well thats an idea. Took the underwire out of the while vinyl fake leather bra. Copper wire encased in cotton bias tape sewn to the vinyl cups. Guess thats better than coat hanger wire.

Found cardboard cups underneath the fabric & comfy foam lining on one bra-- I never would have guessed it; I guess the use of cardboard is actually pretty common, which is why those in the know say don't ever *soak* your costume bras--the cardboard (or plaster or whatever) could disintegrate!

So what have some of the rest of you found when doing deconstruction of Egyptian costume bras?

I found ... sponges ! yes, like the ones we use to wash the dishes. I felt the padding was bizarre, so I opened the lining and found this unusual padding !