1940, Walter Emmett Williams was issued a patent which described a wire framework, shaped like a spiderweb, that encircles and covers each breast to provide support. Although development of the underwire bra started in the 1930s, it did not gain widespread popularity until the 1950s, when the end of World War II freed metal for domestic use.

In the 1940s, Howard Hughes had an underwire push-up bra designed for Jane Russell