Hiding Breasts...I may have miscalculated

[AlyssaJ]

My work transition and full-time date is set for November 1.  This was a date that I proposed to work based on when I thought the changes from HRT would become so significant that I'd no longer be able to hide them.  I read a lot of others' experiences and it seemed like many were able to hide early changes, especially breast growth for quite a while and so that's how I came up with that date.

Well I fear I may be in for some challenge here and I'm looking for ideas.  In the past 3-4 weeks my breasts have started developing.  I don't have any significant growth (nowhere near an A cup, not even sure an AA would fit).  However, the little bit I do have is already noticeable.  Tonight while wearing a somewhat snug T-Shirt, my wife stopped me and asked "Are you budding?"  Clearly they were showing through. 

Now granted, she knows that I'm on Hormones and any change in my chest would probably trigger questions (changes that most other people might not even notice), but I've still got over three months to get through before I go full-time.  I'm concerned now that I may have mis-judged how large my breasts would need to be in order to be noticed. I'm starting to think that with my slim build and the current rate of progress, I may hit a point of no return before that November date.

At what point (size) did you feel your breasts were no longer able to be hidden? What have you ladies done to hide breasts before you transitioned in certain environments like work?  Did you have to go all out with a binder?  Did you find other methods that worked?  I'm just looking for some experiences and suggestions just in case.

[JMJW]

Your wife knows your body better than almost any one else so will be much more able to see slight changes than a work acquaintance.

[Shellie Hart]

I used to wear tight-fitting pull-over shirts during warm weather. Not any more. My breasts after 14 months HRT are very erect and obvious in those shirts. I only wear the looser button-up styles now. This helps greatly now but I am still developing so it's getting close to being impossible to hide the girls. I saw myself on a security camera tv at the pharmacy recently and I definitely have obvious breasts all the time now. I have gotten into the habit of pulling my shirt out forward to try to hide but I know soon it will be over....if they continue growing. Happy but a bit scary....

[Deborah]

Sometime in under a year they became noticeable.  At first I just wore loose shirts but later I simply just quit thinking about it and don't try to hide anything.  Since my hair is now long and I can't hide that it all kind of goes together.


Conform and be dull. —James Frank Dobie, The Voice of the Coyote

[Dan]

I'm currently a B cup and I can easily hide the beasts with a loose fitting shirt and jacket. Would be even easier with a  fairly comfortable fitting binder.

[Natalia]

When you are a bit overweight, hiding is really easy as boobs can be mistaken as moobs  ... but when you are not overweight... yep... hiding developing breasts can be a challenge.

Loose clothes can help, or using a binder (or very compressive clothes underneath)... but if you need to wear tighter clothes then your "girls" will become very noticeable, even if they are small... that's because they stand out on what should be a flat chest.

[KathyLauren]

Mine started growing at about six weeks.  For a month or two, they grew to (maybe) an AA, then they slowed right down.    Before I went full-time (which was at three months on HRT), there was a month where I wore a compression-type sports bra to flatten them when out in public, with a loose-fitting shirt over top.  That worked pretty well and no one noticed.

They haven't grown much more since then, so that technique would probably still work if I was presenting male, though just barely.  They are still about AA.  A padded bra brings them up to an A, which is respectable in public.  Though I typically wear just a T-shirt around the house, they are big enough that I can't get away with that out in public.  I have to wear a bra so as not to look like a slut.

[JillianC]

I'm noticing the opposite affect and am surprised how big they must be before they are noticeable.  After about 20 weeks, I have AAs that appear like breasts when I'm topless but are only noticeable in clothing if I am wearing tighter fitting t-shirts or small female tops.  When wearing my male clothes or work attire (polo type shirts) it just looks like I have bigger pecs.  I've asked a female co-worker a couple of times if she's noticed them yet and much to my dismay she says no.

[josie76]

Women seem to notice mine. Guys don't, thankfully. I usually wear a sports bra as that helps hold them back. However for work many sports bras will ride up when I'm reaching overhead, kinda painfully and require a lot of adjustment. I have found a sports like bra by Hanes with a really wide lower elastic band. Only thing is the elastic cups do not really hold me back.

For work I wear a heavyweight tee shirt under my button type uniform shirt. It helps. If I wear just a tee shirt women notice because of the roundness on the sides. Otherwise my spare tire seems to mostly keep them being seen as just moobs for now. If I wear a women's fitting tee then there's no mistaking something is there. Lol 😀

As I am gaining confidence a bit at a time I am worried less about people noticing. I already have longer growing and dyed hair, ball stud earrings, and pretty fem trimmed eyebrows. As my body has lost upper muscle mass my shape is harder to hide anyway. 

[elkie-t]

Why hide? Say 'we aren't getting younger...', or better yet - 'doctors prescribed me some medications and I think I got development in my chest'. Honesty is usually a good policy, you know


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[Paige]

Hi Alyssa,

I'm on low dose.  My left breast has grown a bit.  Basically I can cup it with my hand and my wife thinks it's almost a B.  I'm also pretty thin.  I'm getting very self conscious since it's summer time but no one has commented.  I try to wear loose fitting t-shirts.  I'm not sure if it's that noticeable but I sometimes get the feeling some people are looking at my chest.  Maybe my nervousness about it is making people curious or maybe I'm paranoid.

Since I haven't decided to transition and am stealth, it makes it a tad difficult.  I've been thinking of a binder or something like a sports bra but I worry that would be noticeable under a t-shirt.

Hope you find an answer,
Paige

[AlyssaJ]

Why hide? Say 'we aren't getting younger...', or better yet - 'doctors prescribed me some medications and I think I got development in my chest'. Honesty is usually a good policy, you know

Well it isn't about being dishonest, but trying to avoid letting the cat out of the bag in a way that I (and my employer) do not have control of the message.  My concern isn't with co-workers.  Heck I hardly see them anyway and yeah I would have opportunity to explain like you have above. 

My concern is our clients who I meet with pretty regularly. My company is investing a lot of money in a consultant to help them craft the message about my transition to our clients.  This is being done both in the interests of the company and well as my own. If a client notices something like breast development before they're aware of my transition, the response is a total unknown.  They could respectfully keep quiet about it and just assume I have some medical issue.  That would be a fine scenario.  However, my concern is the other very possible response which is they keep quiet to my face but it colors their opinion of me and/or my company in some negative way resulting in a loss of business or poor treatment of me personally.  While we can't control how a client will react, controlling the initial message helps prevent poor reactions where possible (some people will just be closed-minded jerks no matter what).

So hence my concern.  Now of course I could just be blowing all of this out of proportion and loose dress shirts will hide things sufficiently until I start full-time, but I want to be prepared.  I really wasn't expecting anyone to notice yet so when my wife asked, it took me back a bit.

[elkie-t]

What I said, is that you can openly admit your chest development without telling  about any transition. Just say 'it's a side effect of some medical drug you had to take'. Many men have gynecomastia and live with it


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[Shellie Hart]

What I said, is that you can openly admit your chest development without telling  about any transition. Just say 'it's a side effect of some medical drug you had to take'. Many men have gynecomastia and live with it

I had mild gynecomastia when I was very young, but my understanding is that the condition does not really get to the point where they are really as large as well-endowed girls. In 14 months I have developed breasts that would likely be judged as much more than just simply gyne. I have a very slim body and these new, buxom breasts could not possibly be passed off as gyne, but maybe because of some drug? I don't know, but I have not seen some relatives in months, and I am afraid when I do see them again, I "ain't gonna have any excuses!" I am a bit afraid of reactions, I guess. Just gotta go buy some mighty big and baggy shirts....

[elkie-t]

Gynecomastia has different levels of progression down to fully developed breasts. Some medications (probably dealing with prostate) cause breast development (and it's not unheard for older men to need this medicine).

I mean, try to minimize it as much as you like, but have a plan B if your hiding is noticed.

Once I went out with d-size breast forms in male mode to a gun range... There would be no way to hide them (and that was no reason for me to wear breast forms and trying to hide them) and I was not pretending to be a woman, still no one of redneck boys batted an eye for me or treated me disrespectfully. They just assumed it's a medical condition.

[2.B.Dana]

Breast growth is not linear. It grows and stalls. Then grows again. A loose shirt will cover many mounds and a suit coat covers it all. I wear a 40 G bra everyday in male mode without a problem. Just a larger shirt than I would normally wear and it's fine.

[Jenna Marie]

I actually did have to move up my date for coming out at work. I was wearing a tight sports bra under a loose undershirt with a loose overshirt on top of that, and people were still noticing something. By 3 months in, I was a 42C and it was coming up on the hottest part of the summer to boot, when I couldn't get away with that many layers without looking weird for that alone. I wasn't about to bind for real (that damages developing breasts), so I gave up and came out to my supervisor. Fortunately, everyone was great about it.

The main trick I did learn was that it was about changing the silhouette; if I had boxy men's shirts that were a couple sizes too big, I could make myself look square/fat rather than curvy (up to a point).

[coldHeart]

A couple of years ago i had a tumor grow on my prostate since then I,ve had to takes meds the result is now I have a nice pair of A cup boobies they might be bigger no sure but I,ve had all sorts of jokes & piss taking from my mates , now I just stopped covering up because at the end of the day this is part of the package that we want but I can understand Alyssa that with your job you currently need to cover up.
Sara

[DawnOday]

My work transition and full-time date is set for November 1.  This was a date that I proposed to work based on when I thought the changes from HRT would become so significant that I'd no longer be able to hide them.  I read a lot of others' experiences and it seemed like many were able to hide early changes, especially breast growth for quite a while and so that's how I came up with that date.

Well I fear I may be in for some challenge here and I'm looking for ideas.  In the past 3-4 weeks my breasts have started developing.  I don't have any significant growth (nowhere near an A cup, not even sure an AA would fit).  However, the little bit I do have is already noticeable.  Tonight while wearing a somewhat snug T-Shirt, my wife stopped me and asked "Are you budding?"  Clearly they were showing through. 

Now granted, she knows that I'm on Hormones and any change in my chest would probably trigger questions (changes that most other people might not even notice), but I've still got over three months to get through before I go full-time.  I'm concerned now that I may have mis-judged how large my breasts would need to be in order to be noticed. I'm starting to think that with my slim build and the current rate of progress, I may hit a point of no return before that November date.

At what point (size) did you feel your breasts were no longer able to be hidden? What have you ladies done to hide breasts before you transitioned in certain environments like work?  Did you have to go all out with a binder?  Did you find other methods that worked?  I'm just looking for some experiences and suggestions just in case.

I'm just about at that point myself. But mine are C's. So far I have been able to hide them under a regular dress shirt that I only button half way. Due to taking spiro for 25 years I had a bit of a head start and have had "A" size man boobs for most that  time. The thing really hard to ignore now are the pert nipples. I use a sports bra so they are less conspicuous.

[DawnOday]

I actually did have to move up my date for coming out at work. I was wearing a tight sports bra under a loose undershirt with a loose overshirt on top of that, and people were still noticing something. By 3 months in, I was a 42C and it was coming up on the hottest part of the summer to boot, when I couldn't get away with that many layers without looking weird for that alone. I wasn't about to bind for real (that damages developing breasts), so I gave up and came out to my supervisor. Fortunately, everyone was great about it.

The main trick I did learn was that it was about changing the silhouette; if I had boxy men's shirts that were a couple sizes too big, I could make myself look square/fat rather than curvy (up to a point).

It is hard to get through 100 degree days while wearing two shirts and a latex bra.