An embroidered bra and images of me wearing it, inspired by Aphrodite’s bra. For more information, see below the photos.

Years ago when the perimenopause first said hi - and at the time it manifested itself in low libido and the feeling that my best years were over, haha - I dreamed about Aphrodite. She had lost her girdle and I had to go find it. Quite a fuss because I didn’t know what that girdle looked like and I was quite overwhelmed in my dream because of Aphrodite’s presence. I filed the dream and did nothing with it until the beginning of 2019. At that time the menopausal symptoms became worse and I remembered that girdle.

After hours of browsing the Internet I came across all sorts of things about the girdle, which according to many must have been a sort of belt, something on her hips. But I also found a very different view that immediately appealed to me.

So the embroidered girdle could have been a bra …
The first bra in ancient Greece was a strophion. An elongated cloth that was initially only worn by female athletes to bind their breasts. Later it became a fashion item and the strophion was worn over the tunic. And those trendy breast-bands were richly embroidered. The strophion Aphrodite wore was embroidered with “those fascinating charms, the spells of which bring all things mortal and immortal to your feet”.

I decided I needed a bra just like that.