Women prefer to wear a sports bra not only for exercising, but also during resting and daily activities, highlighting deficiencies in current sports bra designs. The purpose of this study was to design, develop, and evaluate a sports bra that offers responsive behavior, in terms of breast support and comfort, both during rest and running conditions. A biomimetic design framework guided the conceptual phase, and moisture responsive plant biomechanics offered a feasible functional model. Fourteen sports bras were developed and wear- tested using college athletes. The moisture responsive panels inside the bra absorbed the sweat generated during running, making the fabric thicker when wet (statistically significant via 3D body scanning results), while maintaining comfort and perceived breast support through sweaty conditions (confirmed via questionnaire results). Adjustments to the underbust band tightness should be pursued, aiming to further improve sports bra functionality, promoting women health and their lifestyles.

Sports bras are functional garments designed to minimize breast movements, while providing support, during physical activity. Understanding the factors influencing breast support is necessary for future development of better functioning sports bras to prevent wearers from soreness and pain. Compression was found to be the most effective factor in controlling the breast support. Moreover, respiratory state was reported to be significantly affecting bra size and comfort. Therefore, our pilot study explored how females' breast area measurements change when wearing seamless sports bras of different support levels. Two medium-size seamless sports bras with low and medium compression (i.e. breast support) levels were tested with and without removable pads. A [TC] 2 NX-16 three-dimensional (3D) body scanner was used to scan three females, with three different cup sizes, with and without wearing bras. Additionally, for each condition participants were scanned at fully inhaled and relaxed (neutral) positions. In order to identify compression rate changes among various conditions, twenty-one slice measurements taken at 0.25 inches intervals between under bust and armpit levels were collected and compared. The compression rates for each slice level were calculated by subtracting the slice circumference from the no bra circumference, and dividing the result by the no bra measurement. Our preliminary findings showed that the highest compression rates were achieved without pads, in both relaxed (5.06%) and inhale conditions (4.73%), at levels below bust height. Cumulative compression rates over all levels also showed higher compression rates for the bras without pads. Visual analyses revealed smoother contour lines and a more uniform distribution of compression all around the body for the medium support bra as compared to the low support bra for both with and without pads conditions.

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