Woop. Old thread resurrection. I've been meaning to do this for a while, but never got around to it. But I'm now procrastinating writing a mid-term, so it seemed like the perfect time to do this
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Bra size: Good question. Uhh, the actual measurement underneath my moobs is about 34" I dunno about that whole "add five inches to get your band size" thing, so I just buy size 34 sports bras; kinda tight but they bind better. Over the moobs, my measurement is 35" so if I had to guess cup size, I'd say maybe an A.
Binder size: size 34 sports bra (Fruit of the Loom), size S Underworks Double-Front, size S Underworks Muscle Shirt
Binder model: Underworks DF and Muscle Shirt
Picture of the binder [if possible]: See below.
Location bought: Underworks
Price: $30 for Double-Front, $33 for Muscle Shirt, not including shipping
How long it lasted before it stopped binding well: Honestly haven't worn either binder long enough for them to wear out. The sports bras unfortunately start to loosen up after a few months.
Advantages & Disadvantages:
Sports bras - my usual binding method due to comfort. Binds well enough I guess, but I'm still insecure about my chest. Find myself hunching my shoulders a lot.
Double-Front - gets me pretty darn flat. Unfortunately, it also compresses my ribs quite a lot (decreases my rib circumference by about 2") and seriously restricts my breathing. I get fluid buildup in my lungs and get headaches if I try to move faster than a slow walk. I notice my abdomen protrudes quite a bit when wearing the DF; it does try to hold it in, but I guess because I can't breath that well, I stick my diaphragm out to compensate for the lost lung capacity. Needless to say, I don't wear the thing even if it works great on my chest.
Muscle Shirt - quite comfortable but doesn't bind much better than a sports bra. I can breath pretty good in it, though after 8 hours my back hurts a bit.
Other comments: I tend to wear black a lot. I use a sports bra to bind, which still leaves some visible lumps. The black renders invisible any shadows that my chest might create (with colored shirts, there is definitely some shadowing going on that gives my chest away). Unfortunately, this illusion only works from the front; the black does little to conceal the lumps as seen from the side. For both the DF and MS, I push my moobs up and out (towards my armpits).
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A frontal comparison of all three binding methods. The first pic was taken wearing a sports bra, my usual binding method. From the front it works pretty good. I don't have shirt frontal pics for the Double-Front and Muscle Shirt because they look the same as the sports bra pic. Comparing the DF and Muscle Shirt binders, you can see that the DF does compress my ribs by a fair bit (my ribs normally flare out at the bottom; the DF gets rid of this). The last pic is the DF with my tightest, most chest-hugging shirt. I can't get away wearing it with a sports bra or MS, but with the DF it looks pretty good.
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Compare the sports bra and MS shots and you'll see that they bind about the same. The biggest problem I have with the sports bra and MS is that my moobs still sit pretty low on my chest. I like how the DF brings things up; looks more like a male chest to me and less like saggy boobs. The last is a pic of the DF with a chest-hugging shirt.
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A side comparison of the DF and MS. Note the flatter contour the DF is able to achieve. It also compresses my hip fat so my jeans hang lower.
