US20160206007A1

US20160206007A1 - Nursing brassiere retrofit garment

Info

Publication number: US20160206007A1
Application number: US14/602,140
Authority: US
Inventors: Elisa Sheranian Op't Hof
Original assignee: UNDERCOVER MAMA LLC
Current assignee: UNDERCOVER MAMA LLC
Priority date: 2008-08-11
Filing date: 2015-01-21
Publication date: 2016-07-21

Abstract

A nursing brassiere retrofit garment having a front upper portion that may be retrofitted to a standard nursing bra by detachably affixing connectors to fold-down cup cover flaps of the nursing bra to provide a combined garment. The combination can be worn beneath any front-opening or pull-over blouse or shirt or worn as an outer garment. The nursing brassiere retrofit garment includes a skirt so that, when combined with the nursing bra, the combination enables a woman to discreetly breastfeed an infant maintaining her lower torso covered. Thus, a woman desiring to nurse her child need only unhook one of the fold-down cup cover flaps, and lower both the flap and a portion of the attached retrofit garment to access a breast. When the child has finishing nursing, the woman raises the flap and reattaches it along with the attached retrofit garment to the hook at the top of the bra cup.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/021,733, filed on Feb. 5, 2011, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/537,249, filed on Aug. 6, 2009, now abandoned, which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/188,464, filed on Aug. 11, 2008, the contents of all of which are fully incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

1. Field of the Invention
The present inventive concept relates to nursing apparel and, more specifically, to a garment that is operable to be retrofitted to a nursing brassiere (hereinafter, also “bra”) to provide a combined, integrated garment that permits regular operation of fold-down cup cover flaps of the bra while providing increased coverage of a wearer that may be desirable in a public setting.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventional nursing apparel suffers from a number of drawbacks. Most nursing shirts typically require a woman to go through multiple layers, slits or flaps in order to gain access to her breasts. This can be somewhat cumbersome. A typical article of clothing for nursing is a camisole, tank top or undershirt permanently attached to a nursing bra with fold-down cups. A drawback to such a combination clothing item is that each tank top or undershirt is inseparably sewn to the nursing bra. Because the number of clothing items, which combine both an undershirt and a bra, is much more limited than the number of both undershirts and bras available separately, the use of combination clothing items for a nursing woman severely limits her choice of color, style, fit and design of not only the undershirts, but also of the incorporated nursing bras, as well. In addition, because of the rather specialized nature of such combination garments, they are typically more expensive than the combined cost of individual items of comparable quality (i.e., the cost of an undershirt plus the cost of a nursing bra). Thus, a woman who desires to nurse her child and, at the same time, have a varied wardrobe, must purchase a number of these combination clothing items at considerable cost.
The cost problem is exacerbated by a further complication. The built-in nursing bras in off-the-shelf combination nursing garments may not suit a particular woman. The bra may not have certain features important to the woman, such as adequate support, under-wire construction, or a particular color, level of padding, shape, desired fabric, level of adornment, or style. The selection of a bra, whether it be one having fold-down cups for nursing, or one without such a feature, is a very personal decision. The current state of the art in nursing apparel severely limits a woman's choice in the selection of both undershirts and brassieres.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present inventive concept eliminates the aforementioned problems associated with the prior art nursing brassieres and attached undergarments. The present inventive concept provides a specialized retrofit nursing garment in the form of a camisole, tank top or under shirt, with an upper portion of which is detachably affixable to the top of the fold-down cup cover flaps of any standard top-opening nursing bra. The retrofit garment may be worn as an outermost garment or worn beneath any front-opening or pull-over blouse or shirt that is not designed specifically for nursing mothers. Because the present inventive concept attaches to the cup cover flaps of a nursing bra, the mother does not have to open and close additional layers in order to gain access to her breasts. When a woman utilizing the present inventive concept desires to nurse her infant, she need only open or raise the outer shirt, and, then, unhook and lower one of the cup cover flaps on the nursing bra to access a breast. When the infant has finishing nursing on that breast, the woman raises the fold-down cup cover flap and reattaches it—along with the attached garment—to the hook at the top of the bra cup. The present inventive concept enables a woman to discreetly breast feed an infant, as the garment attached to the nursing bra enables her to maintain her lower torso covered while her outer shirt is lifted or opened for the feeding. The present inventive concept works with practically any standard nursing bra available in the marketplace.
This present inventive concept simplifies breastfeeding procedures because the garment of the present inventive concept is attached directly to the cup cover flaps of a nursing bra and need not need to be detached from the bra in order to nurse. Thus, a woman would simply lower the fold-down cup cover flap of a nursing bra, with the attached garment releasing with the cup cover flap, as if the nursing bra and garment were a combined clothing article. It remains attached to the cover flap of the bra cup as long as the woman desired to wear that combination of garment and nursing bra.
The garment of the present inventive concept is advantageous because a woman may choose any combination of outer blouse or shirt and nursing brassiere. In addition, the woman may choose from any nursing bra available in the marketplace for use in combination with the specialized nursing garment of the present inventive concept. She is no longer limited to purchasing one of much fewer nursing bras which have a nursing garment permanently attached.
While primarily intended for use by nursing mothers, the present inventive concept can also be used by non-nursing women. The garment of the present inventive concept can also be attached to the uppermost portion of the cups or to the straps of any standard, non-nursing, brassiere. When used in this manner, the garment functions as a layering undershirt worn beneath a blouse or outer shirt. A front-opening blouse can even be left unbuttoned or open, thereby presenting the same general appearance as a regular camisole under the shirt.
The aforementioned may be achieved in one aspect of the present inventive concept by providing a nursing brassiere retrofit garment. The garment may include a strapless garment body having an upper portion and a skirt depending therefrom. The garment may include a pair of attachment devices secured to the upper portion, the attachment devices enabling the garment body to be retrofitted to a nursing brassiere to form a combination. The retrofit garment may be operable to permit operation of the nursing brassiere without detaching either of the attachment devices from the nursing brassiere. The pair of attachment devices may be operable to be retrofitted to the nursing brassiere by laterally or vertically engaging the nursing brassiere such that the pair of attachment devices are slidably secured to the nursing brassiere. The retrofit garment is secured to the nursing bra only using the pair of attachment devices and without aid from any other attachment devices.
Each of the pair of attachment devices may be operable to receive a portion of the nursing brassiere therethrough. The portion of the nursing brassiere may be at least partially detachable from the nursing brassiere. The portion of the nursing brassiere may be convertible between an attached configuration and a detached configuration. The detached configuration may be operable to allow the retrofit garment to be secured to the nursing brassiere. The attached configuration may be operable to prevent separation between the retrofit garment and the nursing brassiere. The pair of attachment devices may be hooks, O-rings, or a combination thereof.
The retrofit garment may be operable to allow a user wearing the combination to simultaneously fold down a cup cover flap of the nursing brassiere and a portion of the garment body to nurse a child without detaching the attachment devices from the nursing brassiere and without manipulating or directly contacting the retrofit garment. The garment body may be knitted from spandex fibers combined with at least one other type of fiber selected from the group consisting of cotton, modal, linen, flax, jute, hemp, wool, silk, polyester, nylon and acrylic fibers. The garment body may include a single panel or front and rear panels. The front panel may be shaped like the front panel of a conventional camisole having a front upper edge with a bilaterally-symmetrical wave pattern. The wave pattern may have two spaced-apart peaks, a central trough which joins the peaks, and an arcuate half-trough on an outer side of each peak, each arcuate half-trough transitioning to a rear upper edge. The nursing brassiere may be a previously-existing nursing brassiere that is acquired separately from the retrofit garment. The retrofit garment may be used with a plurality of previously-existing nursing brassieres.
The aforementioned may be achieved in another aspect of the present inventive concept by providing a method for retrofitting a skirt to a previously-existing nursing brassiere without impairing functionality of the nursing brassiere. The method may include the step of detaching cup cover flaps of the nursing brassiere so that the cup cover flaps are able to pivot relative to the nursing brassiere. The method may include the step of securing a pair of attachment devices of the skirt to the cup cover flaps of the nursing brassiere to form a combination. The method may include the step of attaching the cup cover flaps of the nursing brassiere so that the cup cover flaps are not able to pivot relative to the nursing brassiere. The pair of attachment devices may be secured to an upper portion of the skirt. The pair of attachment devices may be slidably secured to the nursing brassiere by vertically or laterally moving the pair of attachment devices relative to the nursing brassiere.
The skirt may be a strapless, sleeveless, bare-shoulder, pull-over garment body formed from stretch knit fabric. The skirt may have a bottom hem and an upper edge. The pair of attachment devices may be spaced-apart and/or non-releasably secured to the upper edge. The pair of attachment devices may be operable to be releasably secured to an uppermost portion of the cup cover flaps. The pair of attachment devices may include one pair of hooks, one pair of O-rings, or a combination thereof. The skirt may be operable to allow a user wearing the combination to simultaneously fold down one or more of the cup cover flaps of the nursing brassiere and one or more adjacent portions of the skirt to nurse a child without detaching either of the attachment devices from the nursing brassiere.
Other systems, methods, features, and advantages of the present inventive concept will be or will become apparent to one with skill in the art upon examination of the following figures and detailed description. It is intended that all such additional systems, methods, features, and advantages be included within this description, be within the scope of the present inventive concept, and be protected by the accompanying claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying figures, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate an implementation of the present inventive concept and, together with the description, serve to explain the advantages and principles of the present inventive concept. In the figures:

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a retrofit garment manufactured in accordance with the present inventive concept;

FIG. 2 is a rear elevational view of the retrofit garment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of oval region 3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of oval region 4 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged top plan view of a silicone rubber O-ring used as a first of two alternative strap attachment devices in the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged top plan view of a strap attachment clip used as a second of two alternative strap attachment devices in the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 7 is a front elevational view of a female mannequin torso and neck that is wearing a previously-existing standard nursing brassiere that has been retrofitted with the retrofit garment of FIG. 1, with a first fold-down cup flap in a detached configuration and a second fold-down cup flap in an attached configuration, to provide a retrofit combination;

FIG. 8 is an enlarged view of circular region 8 of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is an enlarged view of circular region 9 of FIG. 7;

FIG. 10 is an enlarged view of circular region 10 of FIG. 7, but with the garment attached to the fold-down cup cover flap with the silicon rubber O-ring, rather than with the strap attachment clip; and

FIG. 11 is an enlarged view of circular region 11 of FIG. 7, but with the undergarment attached to the fold down cup cover flap with the strap attachment clip, rather than with the silicon rubber O-ring.

The figures do not limit the present inventive concept to the specific examples disclosed and described herein and are not necessarily to scale.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The following detailed description references the accompanying figures that illustrate the present inventive concept. The illustrations and description are intended to describe aspects of the present inventive concept in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the present inventive concept. Other components can be utilized and changes can be made without departing from the scope of the present inventive concept. The following detailed description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense. The scope of the present inventive concept is defined only by the appended claims, along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.
In this description, references to an “embodiment” or “embodiments” mean that the feature or features being referred to are included in at least one embodiment of the present inventive concept. Separate references to an “embodiment” or “embodiments” do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment and are also not mutually exclusive unless so stated and/or except as will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the description. For example, a feature, structure, act, etc. described in one embodiment may also be included in other embodiments, but is not necessarily included. Thus, the present inventive concept can include a variety of combinations and/or integrations of the embodiments described herein.
The present inventive concept includes a retrofit garment product that may be used as an undergarment or as an outermost garment, and a method of using the retrofit garment product. Although a presently preferred embodiment of the retrofit garment product looks much like a strapless camisole, it will be obvious to those having ordinary skill in the art that other types of sleeveless garments, such as tank tops, can either be manufactured as a new item in accordance with the present inventive concept, or an already-made garment can be modified to achieve at least similar functionality.
Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, a presently preferred embodiment nursing retrofit garment 100 has the appearance of a strapless, sleeveless, bare-shoulder camisole. A presently preferred embodiment of the garment 100 has a garment body that is sewn together from two pieces of fitted, warp-knit fabric that is a blend of a 95% cotton fibers and 5% spandex fibers; a skirt having a front panel 101 and a rear panel 201, which are sewn together in vertical side seams below the arm pits of the wearer. The garment 100 has a bottom seam 102 and preferably sufficient length to at least completely cover the wearer's midriff. Though a cotton/spandex blend is the presently preferred fabric for the garment 100, a combination of spandex fibers with other fibers is also contemplated. For example, the cotton component may be replaced with modal, linen, flax (i.e., linen), jute, hemp, wool, silk, polyester, nylon or acrylic fibers. In addition, spandex fibers may be combined with two or more of the other listed fibers. Because of the importance of using stretchable knit fabric in the manufacture of the present inventive concept, and because spandex—a manmade organic compound—is a primary component of most stretchable fabrics, a brief description of the material is deemed appropriate. Spandex (an anagram of the word “expands”), or elastane, as it is more commonly known in Europe, is a synthetic copolymer that is made into fibers known for their exceptional elasticity. Chemically, spandex is made up of a long-chain polyglycol combined with a short diisocyanate, and contains at least 85% polyurethane. It is an elastomer, which means it can be stretched up to a certain amount without sustaining any appreciable molecular damage. When released, it recoils to its original dimensions. These fibers are superior to rubber because they are stronger, lighter, and more versatile. In fact, spandex fibers can be stretched to almost 500% of their length. First formulated by chemist Joseph Shivers at DuPont's Benger Laboratory in Waynesboro, Va. in the early 1950s, it revolutionized many areas of the clothing industry after it was first incorporated into fabrics in 1959. For clothing, spandex is usually mixed with cotton or polyester, and may account for as little as two percent of the final fabric by weight. Clothing incorporating small amounts of spandex therefore retains most of the look and feel of the more prevalent fibers. In North America it is rare in men's clothing, but prevalent in women's.
Still referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, when laid out on a flat surface, the vertical side seams 103R and 103L, which join the front panel 101 to the rear panel 201, are on the outer vertical edges of the garment 100. The front panel 101 is shaped like that of a conventional camisole, having a bilaterally-symmetrical wave pattern upper edge consisting of two spaced-apart peaks 104R and 104L, a central trough 105 joining the peaks 104R and 104L, and arcuate half- troughs 106R and 106L on the outer sides of the peaks 104R and 104L, respectively, which transition to the rear upper edge 202 of the garment 100. A major difference between the garment 100 of the present inventive concept and a conventional camisole is an absence of a strap which would otherwise interconnect each peak 104R and 104L to the rear upper edge 202 of the garment 100.
Still referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the entire front upper edge (including components 104R, 104L, 105, 106R and 106L) and the entire rear upper edge 202 are hemmed by wrapping them with bias binding ribbon made of the same cotton-spandex blend as the front and rear panels 101 and 201. A front bias binding ribbon 107 is used to hem the edge of the central trough 105, while a much longer rear bias binding ribbon 203 is used to hem not only the rear upper edge 202, but also the edges of the arcuate half- troughs 106R and 106L, as well. As the rear bias binding ribbon 203 is sewn to both the rear upper edge 202 and the arcuate half- troughs 106R and 106L, it reinforces the top of each vertical side seam 103R and 103L. Though the garment 100 shown and described in FIGS. 1 and 2 has a scooped neckline, the basic design is adaptable to many other neckline styles, such as horizontal, V-neck, and buttoned faux vertical slit.
Referring now to FIGS. 3 and 4, which are enlarged views of region 3 of FIG. 1 and region 4 of FIG. 2, respectively, it will be noted that each peak 104R and 104L on the upper edge of the front panel 101 is equipped with two fold-down cup cover flap attachment devices: a silicone rubber O-ring 301 and a strap attachment clip 302. The strap attachment clips 302, which must be fairly rigid, are preferably stamped from sheet metal, such as brass, stainless steel, or aluminum (which is then can be heat treated for durability and anodized for corrosion resistance). The clips are preferably coated with a polymeric plastic compound, such as nylon or polyvinylchloride. The color of the coating can be selected to match the fabric color of the garment 100.
Both attachment devices (i.e., O-ring 301 and the strap attachment clip 302) are attached to their associated peak 104R or 104L with a small loop formed by an end of the rear bias binding ribbon 203. That is to say, each of the opposite ends of the rear bias binding ribbon 203 passes through a silicon rubber O-ring 301 and through an attachment slot 401 in the strap attachment clip 302, is folded behind the front panel 101 (i.e., to the inside surface of the garment 100), thereby forming a loop 402 of generally minimum diameter. The rear bias binding ribbon 203 is trimmed to leave a short tail 403, which is sewn to a front portion 303 of the rear bias binding ribbon 203, to an end portion 304 of the front bias binding ribbon 107, and also to the stretch fabric of the front panel 101, on the inside of the garment 100. Although the strap attachment clip 302 works fine for standard thickness fold-down cup cover flaps, the O-ring 301 is more easily able to accommodate fold-down cup cover flaps which somewhat thicker (i.e., more heavily padded).
Referring now to FIG. 5, the O-ring 301 is shown unconnected to the under garment 101. When not subjected to distorting forces, the O-ring 301 has a toroidal shape.
Referring now to FIG. 6, a strap attachment clip 302 is shown unconnected to the garment 100. As previously stated, the strap attachment clips 302 should be fairly rigid, and preferably stamped from a stiff sheet metal. Though brass, heat-treated anodized aluminum and brass can be used successfully in this application, stainless steel is considered the preferred metal. The strap attachment clips 301 are preferably also coated with a polymeric plastic compound, such as nylon or polyvinylchloride. The color of the coating can be selected to match the fabric color of the garment 100.
Referring now to both FIGS. 7 and 8, which is an enlarged view of region 8 of FIG. 7, a conventional nursing brassiere 701, having fold-down cup flaps 702R and 702L, and partially open cups 703R and 703L, has been strapped to a female mannequin torso 704. The garment 100 has been pulled over the mannequin torso 704 so as to cover the nursing brassiere 701 and a lower portion of the torso 704. The right peak 104R of the front upper edge of the garment 100 has been secured to an uppermost portion of the right cup flap 702R and the left peak 104L of the front upper edge of the garment 100 has been secured to an uppermost portion of the left cup flap 702L with a strap attachment clips 302. The left cup flap 702L has been unsnapped from the left cup 703L and partially folded down. Each bra cup 703R and 703L has a central aperture 705R (not shown) and 705L, respectively, that exposes the nipple and areola of the respective breast. The fold-down cup cover flaps 702R and 702L can be positioned so as to either cover or expose central apertures 705R and 705L, respectively. In the view of FIG. 7, the right fold-down cup cover 702R is covering right central aperture 705R, while the left fold-down cup 702L, in its folded-down position, has exposed the left central aperture 705L and an upper portion of the female mannequin's left breast 706L. The right and left over-the shoulder straps 707R and 707L, respectively, of the nursing brassiere 701 are permanently and adjustably secured to a top aperture 708 of a plastic link 709R or 709L. A bottom aperture 710 of each plastic link 709R or 709L is permanently secured to an uppermost portion of its associated bra cup 703R or 703L, which is folded rearward to make a loop 711 of minimum diameter, and then secured with stitches 712 to the rear of the bra cup 703R or 703L near the very top thereof. The central body 713 of each plastic link 709R or 709L incorporates an upwardly angled hook 714, to which an eye member 715, that is secured to the uppermost portion of each cup cover flap 702R and 702L, releasably attaches. The apex 716 of each cup cover flap 702R and 702L passes through an aperture 717 in the eye member 715 and is folded down to form a loop 718, also of minimum diameter, with the apex 716 being sewn to the back of its respective cup cover flap 702R and 702L near the very top thereof. Each eye member 715 has a rectangular eye 719, which snaps over the upwardly angled hook 714 of its respective plastic link 709R or 709L.
Referring now to FIG. 9, the garment 100 is shown covering the same conventional nursing brassiere 701 on the same female mannequin torso 704 as in FIG. 7. The differences are that the left fold-down cup flap 702L has been raised to its fully-closed position, with the eye member 715 snapped to the upwardly angled hook 714 of plastic link 709L, and the right peak 104R of the front upper edge of the garment 100 has been secured to an uppermost portion of the right cup flap 702R with the O-ring 301, rather than with the strap attachment clip 302, as in FIG. 7.
Referring now to FIG. 10, a close-up view is shown of the right peak 104R attached to fold-down cup cover flap 702R with the silicon rubber O-ring 301. The associated strap attachment clip 302 has been folded behind the peak 104R of the garment 100.
Referring now to FIG. 11, a close-up view is shown of the left peak 104L attached to fold-down cup cover flap 702L with a strap attachment clip 302. The associated O-ring 301 remains unused and has been folded down on the front of the peak 104L of the garment 100.
It should be understood that the rear upper edge 202 of the garment 100 is positioned just below the level of the wearer's armpits, and retain retains its vertical position on the torso because the garment 100 is fitted to the woman's body, and because the rear upper edge 202 is coupled to the arcuate half- troughs 106R and 106L, which are secured at the peaks 104R and 104L, respectively, to the woman's brassiere, which in turn is help up by the right and left over-the shoulder straps 707R and 707L, respectively. A woman dresses herself by strapping on her nursing brassiere 701, then pulling the garment 100 over her head and over the nursing bra 701.
Each peak 104R and 104L of the garment 100 is then secured to an uppermost portion of each fold-down cup cover flap 702R and 702L of the nursing bra 701 using either the attached rubber O-ring 301 or the strap attachment clip 502.
Though only a single embodiment of a garment that attaches to a top-opening nursing brassiere have been heretofore disclosed and described, it will be obvious to those having ordinary skill in the art that changes and modifications may be made thereto without departing from the scope and the spirit of the present inventive concept as hereinafter claimed.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A nursing brassiere retrofit garment comprising:

a strapless garment body having an upper portion and a skirt depending therefrom; and

a pair of attachment devices secured to said upper portion, said attachment devices enabling said garment body to be secured to a nursing brassiere to form a retrofit combination,

wherein,

said retrofit garment is operable to permit operation of said nursing brassiere without detaching either of said attachment devices from said nursing brassiere.

2. The retrofit garment of claim 1,

wherein,

said pair of attachment devices are operable to be secured to said nursing brassiere by laterally or vertically engaging said nursing brassiere such that said pair of attachment devices are slidably secured to said nursing brassiere, and

said retrofit garment is only secured to said nursing bra using said pair of attachment devices.

3. The retrofit garment of claim 1,

wherein,

each of said pair of attachment devices is operable to receive a portion of said nursing brassiere therethrough, and

said portion of said nursing brassiere is at least partially detachable from said nursing brassiere.

4. The retrofit garment of claim 3, wherein said portion of said nursing brassiere is convertible between an attached configuration and a detached configuration.

5. The retrofit garment of claim 4,

wherein,

said retrofit garment can only be secured to said nursing brassiere when said nursing brassiere is in said detached configuration, and

said attached configuration is operable to prevent separation between said retrofit garment and said nursing brassiere.

6. The retrofit garment of claim 1, wherein said pair of attachment devices are hooks or O-rings.

7. The retrofit garment of claim 1, wherein said retrofit garment is operable to allow a user wearing said combination to simultaneously fold down a cup cover flap of said nursing brassiere and a portion of said garment body to nurse a child without detaching said attachment devices from said nursing brassiere or directly contacting said retrofit garment.

8. The retrofit garment of claim 1, wherein said garment body is knitted from spandex fibers combined with at least one other type of fiber selected from the group consisting of cotton, modal, linen, flax, jute, hemp, wool, silk, polyester, nylon and acrylic fibers.

9. The retrofit garment of claim 1,

wherein,

said garment body includes front and rear panels,

said front panel is shaped like said front panel of a conventional camisole having a front upper edge with a bilaterally-symmetrical wave pattern, and

said wave pattern has two spaced-apart peaks, a central trough which joins said peaks, and an arcuate half-trough on an outer side of each peak, each arcuate half-trough transitioning to a rear upper edge.

10. The retrofit garment of claim 1, wherein said nursing brassiere is a previously-existing nursing brassiere.

11. A method for retrofitting a skirt to a previously-existing nursing brassiere without impairing functionality of said nursing brassiere, the method comprising the steps of:

detaching cup cover flaps of said nursing brassiere so that said cup cover flaps are able to pivot relative to said nursing brassiere;

securing a pair of attachment devices of said skirt to said cup cover flaps of said nursing brassiere to form a combination; and

attaching said cup cover flaps of said nursing brassiere so that said cup cover flaps are not able to pivot relative to said nursing brassiere.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein said pair of attachment devices are secured to an upper portion of said skirt.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein said pair of attachment devices are slidably secured to said nursing brassiere.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein said skirt is a strapless, sleeveless, bare-shoulder, pull-over garment body formed from stretch knit fabric, said skirt having a bottom hem and an upper edge.

15. The method of claim 14,

wherein,

said pair of attachment devices are spaced-apart and non-releasably secured to said upper edge, and

said pair of attachment devices are operable to be releasably secured to an uppermost portion of said cup cover flaps.

16. The method of claim 11, wherein said pair of attachment devices includes one pair of hooks or one pair of O-rings.

17. The method of claim 11, wherein said skirt is operable to allow a user wearing said combination to simultaneously fold down one of said cup cover flaps of said nursing brassiere and a portion of said skirt to nurse a child without detaching either of said attachment devices from said nursing brassiere.

18. The method of claim 11, wherein said skirt is knitted from spandex fibers combined with at least one other type of fiber selected from the group consisting of cotton, modal, linen, flax, jute, hemp, wool, silk, polyester, nylon and acrylic fibers.

19. The method of claim 11,

wherein,

said skirt includes front and rear panels,