Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell

Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell 1953, originally uploaded by a.heart.17.

This 1953 shot shows Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell putting their signatures, hand and foot prints in cement at Grauman's Chinese Theater.

What is common between the economic recession and bras? Strangely, according to experts on fashion, pointed bras first stepped into the spotlight in the 1950s after the spell of recession and austerity after the Second World War. Later, Madonna too took on the task of popularizing the pointy bra during her Blonde Ambition tour, following the Wall Street Crash of 1987 and the resulting recession of the late 1980s.

Women’s return to the 50’s trend shows a desire to celebrate women's curves that has followed previous periods of economic turmoil. Some stores even claim the resurgence of the emphasis on curves provides evidence that the worst of the recession is over. There are people who emphasize that throughout the last century the trend for feminine pointy shaped bras experienced a renaissance following times of recession and financial downfalls, a return of unabashed femininity as women seek to have more fun with fashion as a form of escapism from a bad economic situation.

So, pointy bras, the cone shaped bras of the 1950s and late 1980s are back in fashion. The look, popularized by Hollywood actresses Jane Russell and Marilyn Monroe set a trend that was a huge success in the 1950s. It has been revived in subsequent periods, most notably by Madonna in the 1980s. It seems designers, fashion experts, and most importantly stylish men and women are sick of stick thin models with boyish figures who have been dominating the fashion shows for decades and now they like the more voluptuous look of Dita Von Teese. The sharp increase in sales of pointy bras show that women are not hiding their assets inside minimiser bras, but they are now celebrating their assets and using them to their advantage.

Conical bras have 48 technological components to help create that 1950s silhouette, according to fashion gurus. Interestingly the billionaire publisher Howard Hughes, who was also a film producer, is credited to have used his designing skills as an aircraft designer to develop the pointed bra that made so much of Jane Russell's assets.

Customers take influence from designers such as Louise Goldin, Jean Paul Gaultier, Louise Goldin and Dolce & Gabbana who have rediscovered the cone shaped bras as outerwear in their Spring/Summer '10 collections.