New Books Network Isabelle Held, "Atomic Bombshells: How Plastics Shaped Postwar Bodies" (Duke UP, 2026)
Apr 3, 2026
Isabelle Held, scholar of gender and LGBTQ+ history and author of Atomic Bombshells, traces how nylon, silicone, and plastic foams moved from military labs into clothing, cosmetics, and implants. She follows material journeys from wartime tech to bullet bras, padded falsies, and breast implants. The conversation maps links between chemical firms, surgeons, advertising, and performance cultures shaping postwar bodies.
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Bullet Bra Linked High Fashion To Everyday Bombshell
- The bullet bra's conical shape connected fashion, celebrity, and everyday wear across races, classes, and genders in the 1930s–50s.
- Isabelle Held traced this shape as central to the postwar bombshell ideal and its material shifts toward synthetics.
Nylon Was Marketed As Science Remodeling Women
- DuPont developed nylon to reposition from explosives to consumer goods and marketed it as the first fully synthetic fiber.
- At 1939 fairs DuPont showcased 'Miss Chemistry' using stockings to literalize science improving women's bodies.
Wartime German Foams Became Postwar Foundation Materials
- US Army Quartermaster teams catalogued German polyurethane foams postwar and shared reports with industry, seeding consumer foam uses.
- Firms like MoBay adapted foams into shoes, upholstery, and padded foundation garments reshaping silhouettes.
