In 1947, Christian Dior changed fashion forever with his “New Look” — a style built around an hourglass silhouette, nipped waist, and a full, rounded bust. Women across the Western world rushed to dress the part. But by 1952, one name dominated the cultural idea of the perfect figure: Marilyn Monroe. Her shape set the standard, and the fashion world scrambled to help everyday women meet it.
La Resista Corset Co., based in Bridgeport, Connecticut, had a direct answer to the problem. The company developed and marketed an inflatable bra under the brand name Très Secrète. The design was straightforward: plastic pads sat inside the cups of the bra, and the wearer could blow them up using a small straw to achieve whatever size and shape she wanted. It was a simple concept, but it caused a sensation.
The Très Secrète came in two distinct styles to suit different outfits and occasions. A version with traditional straps sat alongside a strapless option, giving buyers flexibility depending on what they were wearing. The range showed that La Resista wasn’t just selling a novelty — they were selling a practical wardrobe solution aimed at women who wanted to wear the Dior-inspired fashions of the day without compromise.
Live demonstrations were a key part of the product’s rollout. Models showed audiences exactly how the inflation process worked, making it clear that the bra was easy to use and discreet enough to wear under everyday clothing. The demonstrations drew curious crowds and helped turn the Très Secrète into a talking point far beyond the lingerie industry.
The 1952 debut was treated with the kind of fanfare usually reserved for high fashion. Models took to a proper stage to present the product, lending it an air of legitimacy and glamour. The event was photographed, and those images give us a rare window into how consumer products targeting women’s bodies were marketed in the early postwar years.
Up close, the plastic pads inside the cups are visible. They were designed to be lightweight and flexible, conforming to the body once inflated. The material had to be durable enough to hold its shape under clothing while still being soft to the touch. La Resista clearly put engineering thought into the product, not just marketing.
To prove the pads wouldn’t pop or fail under pressure, models stepped directly on them during demonstrations. It was a bold move meant to reassure skeptical buyers that the product was built to last. The stunt worked as a piece of theater — few things convince a crowd faster than watching someone stand on the very item being sold.
Men were present at the demonstrations too, and some took an active role. In one photograph, an unidentified man inflates the bra’s pads using the small straw while holding a cigarette in his other hand, as a potential buyer watches closely. The scene captures the casual, almost theatrical atmosphere of the product launch.
Buyers scrutinized the bra carefully as models walked a catwalk showing off the finished look. One woman, cigarette in hand, leans in for a closer inspection of the bra on a live model. These buyers weren’t passive observers — they were making real purchasing decisions, and the live format gave them the chance to evaluate the product in motion.
The salesman at the center of the event made the mechanics of the bra fully transparent. He inflated the pads directly in front of the crowd, removing any mystery about how the product worked. Transparency was clearly the strategy — the more people understood exactly what they were buying, the more confident they felt spending money on it.
The Très Secrète later earned a place in exhibitions documenting the history of lingerie, a recognition of just how unusual and culturally specific it was. It sits as a physical artifact of a moment when women’s fashion was tightly bound to one celebrity’s body and when manufacturers moved quickly to profit from that fixation.
The salesperson — likely a company representative — ran the entire presentation with structured, prepared material. Whether reading from a script or a set of instructions, he kept the event organized and informative. La Resista treated the launch like a business proposition, not just a publicity stunt, with personnel trained to explain and promote every detail of the Très Secrète to the room.
Behind the presenter, advertisements for the bra are clearly visible on display. La Resista had invested in proper marketing materials to back up the live demonstration. The full picture — the stage, the models, the crowd, the printed ads — shows a company that understood how to generate attention and turn curiosity into sales in postwar America.
