I feel bad that I keep writing posts in this forum, but I think only you guys can help me, so here I am again.

A little while back I posted asking for opinions on binders. Thanks to everyone's replies, finally I settled on getting a T-Kingdom 1700, the long velcro one, since it was closest to what I was looking for. I even went with express shipping. And it arrived this morning.

Problem? I think it's too big.

I read a whole bunch of threads about binder sizes, so I measured myself in cm, which came out to somewhere in the range where it would be XL. I'm not sure what cup size I would be, but I knew these things weren't small, so I ordered XL according to the sizing chart. I didn't uh, squeeze, to make them smaller when I measured... was I suppose to?

When I put it on, I have to pull the velcro all the way over so it's barely even sticking together for it to do much compressing. Not sure if that description makes sense. But then I'm left with this weird extra fold of the shirt fabric, which I have to tuck in or it looks weird. Not to mention the rest of the velcro that's not sticking to anything, sticks outwards. The good thing is that after I tuck it in, put a shirt on, I'm almost flat. But since it was so big in the first place, I can't help but feel like if I had gotten a smaller size, it could've made me completely flat. Problem is, since their sizing chart doesn't seem to fit with me, I'm not sure if I should go down to an L, or a M.

I'm sure it would be better for me to exchange for a smaller one, but I'm also meeting new people this weekend, and I was hoping that I could start binding, which is why I paid for the express shipping. Even if I were to exchange it after I wear it that once, I'm sure it will take more than a week for me to exchange it. Not sure if they'll still send it to me with express since I paid for it the first time, but I doubt it. I will probably be meeting these people every week, so it would be odd to be binding and then suddenly not, and then suddenly binding again, so I'm not sure what to do.

Suggestions and advice are appreciated. Thank you.

i have the same kind and yours sounds way big. :/  i suggest using a different temproary method when meeting these new people and exchanging your binder for a smaller one then switching to the t-kingdom one when the new one comes in.

I agree with what Josh said.  You can pick up an abdominal binder for around $10 to use temporarily.  They work well, but are a bit hot and sweaty.

When you measured, did you just measure your bust line, or did you take the average between bust and ribcage?  The average should give you a better idea of the size.

I was hoping not to have to spend the extra money on a temp binder if I wasn't gonna use it again, but I guess that's the only choice. I've never used abdominal binders before. Would it be better than bandages?

I just measured all the way around, like in the picture they had on the site. So I should also measure under and use the average?

Thanks for your replies!