Now a bra has been specifically designed to be worn at night, to keep breasts lifted and separated while the wearer sleeps.
Called La Decollette, the bra’s inventor, Rachel de Boer, a former real estate agent, said it worked for her by preventing wrinkles developing and her breasts from sagging.
She said that for years she secretly slept in an old bra to which she had sewn stuffed socks that nestled between her breasts, keeping them apart so vertical lines did not develop and her decolletage remained youthfully smooth.
“It started out as my secret, I didn’t want to talk about my wrinkles or the first bra I made, which was ugly,” she said.
“I slept like that for seven years and
then I turned 40, told my friends and
they admitted they also had this
problem.”
When her friends asked for help, Ms de Boer made five more versions of her night bra.
Her friends were so enthusiastic about the results, they encouraged her to stop selling houses and design an anti-wrinkle night bra.
The La Decollette has been a hit in Europe and is now on sale at Selfridges for £45.
It consists of a soft, padded, rectangular piece of fabric that covers the decolletage from the neckline to the top of the rib cage, sitting between the breasts to keep them lifted and separated.
The cupless bra prevents the breasts pressing together while the wearer sleeps, which Ms De Boer said is the probable cause of vertical wrinkles on women’s chests.
“If you sleep on your back, then you will never have this problem. Le Decollette works because the breasts are separated through the night,” she said.
Last week Miss Frostrup, 48, said she got the tip on wearing a bra in bed to maintain her figure from the late television presenter Paula Yates.
“The best piece of advice I got was from Paula Yates. I was moaning about my breasts and she said, 'Never, ever have a breast job. Just wear a bra in bed.’ That’s what I do. I haven’t taken it off for 15 years.”
Marilyn Monroe is believed to have maintained her curvaceous 36D figure in the same way.