I think I will need something more substantial than a tight undershirt or compression shirt to hide the effects of HRT, until I'm ready go full time. I know the FTMs have a lot of experience but I'm curious about the MTF experience with binders. I'd hate to find out that they work good but disfigure the breast or something.
I have seen something called a gynocomastia vest but I havent tried it yet. One of the biggest drawbacks on any of this stuff is overheating. I just get hot too easily and star sweating, especially on my face and neck which looks funny when you are the only one in the group breaking a hard sweat. Last time I measured I had a 5.5" difference in my two chest measurements.
Well I still present as male and depending on how fitting my shirt is, it is noticeable if you're looking at my side (but most people probably aren't paying that close attention). Even when my breasts become very obvious I'm not going to make an effort to hide it 'cause I honestly don't care if people notice that.
I heard binders are terrible to use if you want to pass one day, because they can permanently change your chest for the worse.
Tight fitting sports bra... Champion and Nike both make them. Just be sure that the straps can't be seen from the back of your collar. ;)
Quote from: JennX on September 03, 2011, 07:19:05 PM
Tight fitting sports bra... Champion and Nike both make them. Just be sure that the straps can't be seen from the back of your collar. ;)
Same here. I wore a sports bra to keep my boobs down. Just gotta be careful when people pat you on the back.
Yup, I just go with sports bra... mooshes them into "pecs" haha :P
I used one of those briefly before coming out when my boobs became way too big to hide
http://www.lesloveboat.com/shop/index.php?cPath=77 (http://www.lesloveboat.com/shop/index.php?cPath=77)
They make them rather small, I had to buy a medium and I have a tiny frame, so you may want to get 1 size up, but they're great
Kia Ora JessicaH,
::) I wore tight undershirts [vests] for around 18 months, before I set them[and myself] free... Mind you it didn't really make much difference, they still poked through and I was femaled most of the time anyway...
Metta Zenda :)
I'm actually wearing one right now. It's not super tight, mostly just to keep things less noticeable. I work in a rather stuffy corporate setting and am no where near ready to out myself, and not anywhere near financial security to step out and risk needing to find new employment. It's comfortable for my purposes and does a decent job.
Again, sports bra. I wear one at work since I am not out there. Elsewhere I will wear a loose fitting T shirt when I need to hide my babies.
I still work as male and have to wear one every day for work. Coming out in a workplace full of road construction workers and other homophobic, misogynistic manly men wouldn't be a good thing, if ya know what I mean, so I'm keeping my mouth shut until I've got the money I need for my surgeries.. I make very good money in a union job, and in this economy I just can't leave and get a new job that easily.
So, to hide my B-cup breasts, I wear a compression shirt that I purchased from underworks.com. Works well, mushes everything down and just makes me look like I work out a little. It's just a strong elastic really, doesn't' put any super amount of pressure on them... just presses them down a bit and spreads them out. I've been wearing one for like a year and a half, no disfiguration.
Don't be fooled by the fact that it's a fine mesh, it does not breathe well and it is HOT, and I mean HOT to wear it in the summer if you're not in air conditioning all day. Beware of that. it helps to wear a very light t-shirt underneath it as a liner, and to absorb and wick away sweat.
It sure does feel good though when you take it off and let the girls out after a long, hot day. :)
Oh, I forgot all about sports bras. That would be the way to go then.
Yep, sports bras are the way to go safely.
That is what I am wearing in my picture. They also look like tank top under your shirt. Sometimes I wear tank top with a mathing sports bra. Can't even tail that I'm wearing it.
I did not wear binders because I went full time before I started HRT.
I was flatchested before I started transitioning.
Never wore anything like binders, ouch! I imagine they might help or force the fat distribution the right way?
Honestly, if you are in construction, look at the pects (moobies) (beer badges), whatever they are called on the overweight types there, and see if you really will stick out from the crowd even if you do start showing the new and improved kids. My bets are stronly agaainst it, but I know how proud and self conscious we can get. The first even possible "read" I got on my growth was actually someone who asked me if I was drinking again and putting on beer fat. They were totally floored when I did come out 18 months later just before I retired.
Big item on a sports (or any) bra is that you do need some protection for the newly hormonized nipples, because its going to bring a yelp when they get scraped or hit. A friend of mine came out real fast on a framing project when a 2x4 caught her on the boob and she went from A to C on that boob in under two minutes. No permanent damage done though.
I'm a project manager but not always around construction workers. I'm always doing something else and I wear as many hats as most business owners. I may be in a meeting with an energy giant in downtown Houston one day, working out of my office the next, on a oil rig location the next day, a meeting with the owner/CEO then get a call and have to respond to a tornado or other natural disaster.
I like the disaster work and my specialty is building temporary cities like this. This wan't my project but if I showed you one of mine it would be too easy to figure out who I was!
(https://www.susans.org/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1226.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fee413%2FStacyBeaumont%2FSIP0517222-fema-base.jpg&hash=5bee6fc5edb8bf580ff83cc52c40cc94ec222458)
Camp projects have me working 18 hour days in the heat which is going to be even hotter with all this hair vs. the mil/spec flat-top. ;D Honestly, I'm amazed that the CEO hasn't hinted around about a hair cut... lol.
I have the most diverse job of anyone I know and most poeple wonder how I do all the different things I do. Today I am writing a final proposal for a contract with a Houston energy services company that is worth about 30 million dollars (I better get a bonus if I get this...) and will put me in at least 4 different countries in east Africa over the next year. By then, it will have been a year on HRT and still going..... :o The girls arent huge but I do have about a 5" difference in my bust measurements with really pointy nips.
Can you not wear a tight fitting or very small size vest underneath?
I have it under control with tight fitting tank tops under my regular shirts for now. It will be a challenge over the next year though!
Wow, I am really shocked about the number of you who are on HRT and have physical changes and still are able to live/work in male mode!
As soon as I couldn't easily hide my breasts any more I though I'd go completely insane if I continued to work as male. So that was the moment when I had the talk with my boss.
Good luck to all of you!
i wore binders since i was 12. The day I went fulltime was very liberating in more ways than one!!!
God, I hated those things. Hated them worse than cough syrup!