A garment and brassiere accessory that is substantially triangular in shape having attachment straps extending outward from upper corners of the undergarment that may be looped around shoulder straps of a brassiere. In addition, a lower corner may be looped around a center portion of the brassiere. An upper band of preferably elastomeric material located along an upper edge of the undergarment keeps the undergarment securely against a woman's chest while being worn. The undergarment is preferably constructed from two layers of material, an outer layer and an inner layer so that the outer layer hides any wrinkles or indentations caused by the stress of the lower corner pulling on the inner layer while the undergarment is being worn. Additional features include extension straps that allow a user to adapt the undergarment to a larger chest and/or brassiere size or to wear the undergarment without a brassiere and detachable jewelry.
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1. A brassiere garment accessory comprising:
a body having a front surface, a rear surface, an upper edge, at least two side edges, and at least two upper corners at distal ends of the upper edge and at least one lower corner configured to be proximate to a center portion of the brassiere when in use; at least one attachment strap extending from each of the at least two upper corners, the at least one attachment strap having a proximal portion coupled to the body and a distal portion extending away from the body along the upper edge; and at least one fastener located on the distal portion of the at least one attachment strap that facilitates coupling of the at least one fastener located on the distal portion of the at least one attachment strap to at least one fastener of a plurality of fasteners located on at least one of the proximal portion of the at least one attachment strap and the body of the brassiere garment; and an attachment portion for attaching a piece of jewelry to the brassiere garment accessory.
18. A brassiere garment accessory comprising: a body having a front surface, a rear surface, an upper edge, at least two side edges, and at least two upper corners at distal ends of the upper edge and at least one lower corner and configured to be proximate to a center portion of the brassiere when in use; at least one attachment strap extending from each of the at least two side edges, the attachment strap having a proximal portion coupled to the body and a distal portion extending away from the body along proximate to the upper edge the at least one attachment strap further having at least one fastener located on a distal portion of the at least one attachment strap that facilitates coupling of the at least one fastener located on the distal portion of the at least one attachment strap to at least one fastener of a plurality of fasteners located on at least one of a proximal portion of the at least one attachment strap and the body of the brassiere garment accessory; and an attachment portion for attaching a piece of jewelry to the brassiere garment accessory.
11. A brassiere garment accessory comprising: a body having a front surface, a rear surface, an upper edge, at least two side edges, and at least two upper corners at distal ends of the upper edge, and at least one lower corner configured to be proximate to a center portion of the brassiere when in use; at least one attachment strap extending from each of the at least two upper corners, the attachment strap having a proximal portion coupled to the body and a distal portion extending away from the body along the upper edge; and at least one fastener located on the distal portion of the attachment strap that facilitates coupling of the at least one fastener located on the distal portion of the at least one attachment strap to at least one fastener located on at least one of the proximal portion of the at least one attachment strap and the body of the brassiere garment accessory; wherein at least a portion of the body comprises at least one inner layer and at least one outer layer; and the upper edge has elastomeric qualities; and an attachment portion for attaching a piece of jewelry to the brassiere garment accessory.
2. A brassiere garment accessory of
4. A brassiere garment accessory of
6. A brassiere garment accessory of
7. A brassiere garment accessory of
0. 8. A brassiere garment accessory of
0. 9. A brassiere garment accessory of
10. A brassiere garment accessory of claim 9 1 further comprising: at least one fastener located on the at least one lower corner.
12. A brassiere garment accessory of
14. A brassiere garment accessory of
16. A brassiere garment accessory of
0. 17. A brassiere garment accessory of
19. A brassiere garment accessory of
0. 20. A brassiere garment accessory of
0. 21. A brassiere garment accessory of claim 18 further comprising: an upper band located along the upper edge of the body.
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This is a reissue application of U.S. Pat. No. 8,152,591, issued on Apr. 10, 2012, based on U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/095,124, filed on Apr. 27, 2011, which was a continuation application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/778,212, filed on May 12, 2010, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,257,139, which was a continuation-in-part application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/586,622, filed on Sep. 25, 2009, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,062,093, which was a continuation-in-part application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/855,131, filed on Sep. 13, 2007. The patent applications identified above are incorporated hereby in their entirety to provide continuity of disclosure.
This invention relates to women's garments, undergarments and brassieres, more particularly, a device that attaches to a brassiere and simulates a camisole or tank top and covers a user's chest area and/or cleavage, thereby allowing the user to wear short-cut tops and dresses in formal or any other situations that require a modest attire.
There are many environments, such as work, school, church, etc., where it is considered inappropriate for women to wear low short-cut tops or dresses that reveal too much cleavage. Many women own dresses and/or tops that are formal, but low cut. Therefore a woman can be very limited in her options with regard to clothes for work and so forth. Past attempts have been made to develop garments that attach to brassieres or prevent the low cut tops or dresses to cover exposed cleavage.
However, many of these garments do not attach securely to brassieres to ensure that the garments will not come loose and also do not fit snugly against a woman's chest. A further problem with past garments is that they are not adjustable and thus are not adaptable to different chest sizes and/or different sizes of brassieres. An even further problem with past garments is that some use securing means, such as adhesives, strings, bows, etc., to attach the garments to the brassiere or to the outer garment. These past securing means have been prone to failure due to the fact that securing means, such as adhesives, do not always adhere and do not allow a user to re-use the garment without applying new adhesive. Further, securing means, such as bows, show through the outer garment, thereby making it obvious that a woman is wearing a cleavage covering device that simulates a tank top or camisole. An even further problem with past devices is that they do not attach to strapless brassieres.
Therefore, a need exists for an undergarment that securely attaches to a wearers brassiere, is adjustable to a woman's chest and/or bra size, gives the appearance of being an actual undergarment such as a tank-top, provides a re-usable securing means and can be worn even without a brassiere.
The relevant prior art includes the following references:
Pat. No.
(U.S. unless
stated otherwise)
Inventor
Issue/Publication Date
2007/0281585
Calamari et al.
Dec. 6, 2007
4,955,846
Greenberg
Sep. 11, 1990
The primary object of the present invention are to provide a garment and brassiere accessory that securely attaches to a wearer's brassiere.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a garment and brassiere accessory that is adjustable to a woman's chest and/or bra size.
An even further object of the present invention is to provide a garment and brassiere accessory that gives the appearance of being an actual undergarment, such as a tank top.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a garment and brassiere accessory that provides a re-usable securing means.
An even further object of the present invention is to provide a garment and brassiere accessory that provides a securing means that is not visible through an outer garment.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a garment and brassiere accessory that fits securely against a woman's chest.
An even further object of the present invention is to provide a garment and brassiere accessory that will attach to a strapless brassiere.
An additional object of the present invention is to provide a garment and brassiere accessory that allows attachment of jewelry to the garment.
An even further object of the present invention is to provide a garment and brassiere accessory that can be instantly taken on or off.
An additional object of the present invention is to provide a garment and brassiere accessory that can be worn without a brassiere.
The present invention fulfills the above and other objects by providing a garment and brassiere accessory that is substantially triangular in shape having a front surface, a rear surface, an upper edge, side edges, upper corners and a lower corner. Attachment straps extend outward from the upper corners. The attachment straps may be looped around the shoulder straps of a brassiere or in the case of a strapless brassiere, around the side straps of the brassiere. The attachment straps have securing means, such as snaps, buttons, hook and loop fastener, etc., located thereon. After looping the attachment straps around the shoulder straps of a brassiere, the securing means located on the attachment straps are secured to a corresponding securing means located along the upper edge of the garment and brassiere accessory. There may be a plurality of securing means located along the upper edge to allow a user to adjust the length of the loops made by the attachment straps and, thus, the width of the garment and brassiere accessory. A securing means is also located on the lower corner of the device. The lower corner may be looped around the center portion of a brassiere. After looping the lower corner around the center portion of a brassiere, the securing means located on the lower corner is secured to a corresponding securing means located on the rear side of the garment and brassiere accessory.
There may be a plurality of securing means located on the rear side of the garment and brassiere accessory to allow a user to adjust the length of the loop made by the lower corner and, thus, the height of the garment and brassiere accessory.
An upper band of elastomeric material is located along the upper edge of the garment and brassiere accessory. The elastomeric material keeps the garment and brassiere accessory securely against a woman's chest while being worn. The garment and brassiere accessory is preferably constructed from two layers of material, an outer layer and an inner layer. An advantage of having multiple layers of material is that the outer layer hides the securing means as well as any wrinkles or indentations caused by the stress of the lower corner pulling on the inner layer while the garment and brassiere accessory is being worn.
Additional features of the present invention include extension straps that attach to the attachment straps and allow a user to adapt the garment and brassiere accessory to a larger chest and/or brassiere size. The extension straps may also be used so that a woman can still wear the garment and brassiere accessory without a brassiere. For example, a long extension strap that goes around the woman's back may be attached to the attachment straps of the garment and brassiere accessory. The garment and brassiere accessory may also include attachment means for attaching jewelry to the garment. The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention should become even more readily apparent to those skilled in the art upon a reading of the following detailed description in conjunction with the drawings wherein there is shown and described illustrative embodiments of the invention.
In the following detailed description, reference will be made to the attached drawings in which:
For purposes of describing the preferred embodiment, the terminology used in reference to the numbered components in the drawings is as follows:
With reference to
With reference to
With reference to
With reference to
With reference to
With reference to
With reference to
Finally with reference to
It is to be understood that while a preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated, it is not to be limited to the specific form or arrangement of parts herein described and shown. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes may be made without departing from the scope of the invention and the invention is not be considered limited to what is shown and described in the specification and drawings.
De Sousa, Michelle E., De Sousa, Jose De Jesus
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