Jane Russell Cleavage The Outlaw

In 1943, Hollywood used the word “cleavage” for the first time to describe a woman’s breasts in reference to Jane Russell’s appearance in Howard Hughes’s film The Outlaw. The term surfaced when the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) took action against the movie, objecting to how prominently Russell’s chest appeared on screen. To push her bustline even further, Hughes personally designed a prototype underwire bra that he claimed would give her “five and one-quarter inches” of cleavage.

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