I'm posting here cos I guess you guys'll know the most about binding. I bought the Underworks Magicotton minimiser binding sports bra and it finally arrived yesterday. The last time I was measured they said 32 and somewhere between D and DD. I personally think I'm somwhere between 32-34 as well. The bra that I've used the most is a 34DD bra that has removable straps. I don't think it would work all that well without the straps, even though its designed to still support you like that,  which is why i think its a bit big, since other bras of the same size just dont work. So I'm a bit unsure about my size. So anyway, I bought a 34 size in the underworks sports bra.

Yesterday I put it on and thought "wow that wasn't too hard and its pretty comfy, and it works well" (though I also felt maybe it was a bit big because they moved a bit more than I expected) but by the time I'd walked half way to university I felt my breathing was weird... not like i couldn't breathe, I can take big breaths and all, and theres movement in the garment, but it was just odd. When i got to uni i stopped noticing though. Now, I think I've noticed some very slight tenderness after wearing it for 6 hours. Today I put it on and it feels a lot more constrictive and I haven't gone anywhere yet.

When I first put it on it seemed almost like it was a little to big but now I'm wondering if I bought it way too small and I was just expecting a lot out of it. Have any of you owned this product? Do any of you know how off my sizing is?

It took so long to arrive, by the time I get the size up to try it'll be too late to send this one back probably... I'll have to see how I feel today. But I feel like I shouldn't be complacent because I bought this underworks product over the full-on binders mainly cos I don't want to break my boobs since I have no desire to ever do medical things to myself (just in general, I don't go to the doctor), so I would rather keep them being correctly shaped when I'm naked and inside my home.

Few things I forgot to say, my sizes I mentioned are UK sizes but I think underworks is American? Also I have a cold going on so my breathing isn't in top shape either way.

I don't know if this will help, but the proper way to breath is not with your chest but with your diaphragm. To determine if you are doing this, place your hand just above your waist and you should feel expansion and contraction when you breath. You take in far more air through your diaphragm than you chest and if you learn to breath this way, it will reduce the movement in the binder without restricting your air intake.

Yeah I was doing that a bit - I'm used to that from some singing excercises I learnt to do. Yesterday, eventually it stopped feeling weird. I wore it for about 9 hours. Somewher towards the end it started feeling bad suddenly again and i whipped it off real quick and my whole chest (boobs and just general chest area) felt sore until I went to sleep. At that point I felt that I should buy a bigger one... but I also just lay on the floor for a bit contemplating that I would have to wait another 2 weeks for another to arrive grrrrrr Also the package says "we accept returns 14 days after sale" and the date on it says 2017-03-07....... but I only bloody well got it on the 17th - theres no way it will even get back to them in that little time, that makes no sense. Usually its from delivery wtf.

Anyway, I wonder if perhaps this is normal or what? I mean part of me wants you guys to say - oh yeah just keep on. But a lot of me wants you to say I should buy a bigger one/sth else because I see myself not being able to wear this much if its like this...

I bought an Underworks tri top binder and even though I bought it in the right size I still found it hard to breathe using it and it made my ribs ache. I knew it was the right size due to me able to get it in without too much struggle and felt sort of comfortable for the first couple of hours.

I think Underworks is just not a very good brand. I've since bought a GC2B binder which binds better and is 100% comfortable even wearing it all day.

Yeah, I had heard some things like that about underworks but I thought I was being smart by buying the compression binding bra since its technically marketed towards women so should be less intense that their tri-top. Ugh. Thanks for your suggestion but here are no outlets for GC2B in the UK... I think they do international shipping but 1) that takes 5 WEEKS 2)you have to pay for it 3) last time I ordered something from an international retailer not through amazon I got a HUGE customs charge eeeeeey

Quote from: TomTuttle on March 19, 2017, 09:56:28 AM
Yeah, I had heard some things like that about underworks but I thought I was being smart by buying the compression binding bra since its technically marketed towards women so should be less intense that their tri-top. Ugh. Thanks for your suggestion but here are no outlets for GC2B in the UK... I think they do international shipping but 1) that takes 5 WEEKS 2)you have to pay for it 3) last time I ordered something from an international retailer not through amazon I got a HUGE customs charge eeeeeey

I'm also in the UK and paid around £30 including postage; so not too bad. But yeah shipping does take forever. Plus I ordered the wrong size and had to exchange it; but customer service was good and there were no problems.

I got the sports bra too for workouts. Customer service said I should go with the 34 and when I got it and tried it on it was twice as hard to put on than both my binders. I also don't think it binds as well as the tri top binder I have which I thought was basically the same thing. Maybe it's just the binder

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Oh thanks, Elis, perhaps I will order one of them then. I'm still angry at the waste of money this was... I am stuck between not quite wanting to wear it but also not wanting to send it back because now I know how I look in it I'm frustrated by the idea of wearing the only other bras I have that really support me, which also make my boobs stick out loads. Also, I thought this was the perfect product because in life I am identifying as female and am seeing this more as a presentation thing so I liked the idea of sth that didn't look explicitly like a binder, because I don't want another LGBT friend awkwardly trying to talk to me about me being trans, my mum being any more weirded out by me than she is... etc.

Thanks, haeden, glad to hear from someone who's actually tried it. I didn't find it particularly hard to put on, but it causes lingering aches once I take it off. I definitely don't think it would bind as well as a full on binder I was just trying to be a bit half-way-house. I'm not trying to pass so it doesn't scare me that my chest isn't board-flat in it. I'm just trying to not get that moment where I walk past reflective surfaces and see the defined shape of my torso in my man clothes and think I look like a circus clown.

I was hoping that the sports bra would be less intense so I didn't feel like I was sentencing my boobs to death, since I am quite fine with them when in my house, barely dressed, no expectations... If I really want to retain that and not have a) baggy breasts b) surgery, I might have to go for a less bindy sports bra I guess... urrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh

No no no no no there is now like a lump in my chest above my boobs I dont remember that there I don't remember that there. that can't possibly have happened in 2 days that makes no sense? maybe I never noticed it before now and its always been there but wtf I don't think i ever wanna touch the thing again................................. wtf is my life.

Give it a few days to a week. It sound like you bruised a muscle with the improperly fitting binder. I suspect if you press on the lumps, they may be a bit tender. If you would like to help reduce the swelling, ice packs for about 15 minutes twice an hour would help for the first few days.

I'm sorry to hear you're going through such an ordeal with your binder. I just have the Underworks swim binder, which is alright for short stints (1-2 hrs). By comparison, the GC2B binder is brilliant. I can wear this for 12 hrs a day with work, etc, and no problems breathing or moving. When I got it, I miscalculated the size and it was too snug to fit over my shoulders, so I actually had to wait a few months to lose weight for it to fit. So it does exactly what it needs to do.

I'm also outside the US, so I had to order and pay/wait for international shipping. I could probably use this for the gym too, but haven't tested it. I'd probably try the layered sports bras under baggy shirts, but I don't have a huge chest to hide either (I think around B? Maybe a C at my heaviest.).

Its not bruising. I may just not have notice it before, but i can feel my rib really prominently on my left side and nit my right. Either I have been really unobservant previously or my bones at the most soft maleable things ever. Whatever it is it feels like a sign that I should leave this ->-bleeped-<- alone and don't look at myself sideways in mirrors.

Quote from: TomTuttle on March 20, 2017, 09:38:42 AM
Its not bruising. I may just not have notice it before, but i can feel my rib really prominently on my left side and nit my right. Either I have been really unobservant previously or my bones at the most soft maleable things ever. Whatever it is it feels like a sign that I should leave this ->-bleeped-<- alone and don't look at myself sideways in mirrors.

Strangely my ribs are the same way  . My ribs on my left poke out but my ribs on the right don't. I assume I hadn't noticed before because I didn't look at my chest at all until buying a binder. I was sorta worried for a time if my ribs are normal but I watched embarrassing bodies and two people on there had the same thing so it's not an issue. Still should be interesting when I have my top surgery  consultation to see if the surgeon points it out.

I bought one from them in my size and it was WAY too small.

If you buy from underworks, be sure to take your shoulder width and ribcage width into consideration. Best thing is to get a size bigger, I think.