Nursing brassiere retrofit garment

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.

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, 
 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.