Cadolle - Paris

Cadolle is a legendary lingerie boutique. You should know that Herminie Cadolle (1845 – 1926) was the inventor of the modern bra.
Herminie opened in 1889 a lingerie workshop on the street Chaussée d'Antin, where she invented a two-piece undergarment called le bien-être (the wellbeing). The lower part was a corset for the waist and the upper supported the breasts by means of shoulder straps.

She exhibited at the Great Exposition of 1900 and by 1905 the upper half was being sold separately as a soutien-gorge (literally, "support for the throat", but gorge in old French meant breast), the name by which bras are still known in France.

Herminie became a fitter of bras to queens, princesses, dancers, and actresses. Mata Hari was among her customers.

Cadolle's business is still running today in this shop directed by Patricia Cadolle, daughter of Poupie and sixth-generation of the Cadolle family.
You’ll find there everything you dreamed of: from bra to corset to panties and even perfumes.

For made-to-measure it’s next door at:

255 Rue Saint-Honoré Tel: 01 42 60 94 94 by only on appointment!

Don’t visit their website.. Looks like made by ancestors..