90 years of the M&S bra...and how their ever-changing sizes and styles reveal so much about women's place in the world

The average bra size in Britain is now a 36DD, making today's bras bigger than ever. In the 1920s, the average bust size was a 31A and M&S sold a simple white cotton bra. 


Top row, pictured from left: M&S made bras in feminine satin in the 1930s; by the 1950s bras were conical in shape; the 1960s bra, made of Bri-Nylon and Lycra, was considered revolutionary; in the 1970s bras were closely tailored for control with thick panelling down the sides. Bottom row: Lingerie was soft, feminine and floaty in the 1980s; cleavage was back with a bang in the 1990s; M&S, started to stock bras in larger E, F and G cups in the 2000s. Today M&S, who joined forces with model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley in 2012 (bottom right), now has 1,300 styles of bra on sale.