Had something interesting happen today... lately I've been thinking that my breasts haven't been growing because I haven't had any pain for two months and my bras (36A) don't fit any better.  I barely have half an A cup after 10.5 months of HRT.  Or so I thought?

When I got fitted for a bra back in March, she said I was a 38A, but there weren't any in stock (duh) and so she gave me some 36's to try along with some extenders.  Back then, I could barely clasp the bra to its loosest setting, and it fit tightly, though not too uncomfortably.  I bought the 36A bra.

Fast forward three and a half months.  I've gained 25 pounds so that I could reach the bottom of my healthy weight range for my height because I was seriously underweight.  All this time, I've clasped my bra on the loosest setting and the eventual tightness gave way to a fairly loose fit despite the weight gain.  This morning, I realized I could comfortably clasp the bra on its tightest setting without any discomfort!  Surely the bra stretched?  I don't think so... because I tried on the bra I bought on Monday, also a 36A from Victoria's Secret, and I could clasp it at the tightest setting too.  I tried another bra I have, 36A not from Victoria's Secret, and the same thing happened.

Did my chest size really shrink by two or more band sizes?  I went from 38 to being able to comfortably clasp a 36 at its tightest without any discomfort, even with my weight gain!  I'm kind of stunned.  Is this why I felt like I wasn't developing?  Because development appeared to stop due to a shrinking chest?  With the bras clasped tighter, they fit me MUCH better than they did when I wore them loose.  But what's now loose used to be tight.

Color me confused.

Well hon,
it would be your lats (latissimus dorsi) that are shrinking as do other male upper body muscles.

I was a 40! no less, and am now a comfortable 38 after 15month HRT, AND having added 6 pounds. Not in the waist and not on my back though. Bless that.

You are thin/slim but still staring with male fat distribution the bit of fat you'd have on top would have been on your back rather, and not where girls have it - on their breast.

I learned this the first time when I was "measured" for body fat contend by my then gym instructor. Girls and boys need be measured differently due to our different fat distribution.

But in your case I guess it is mainly loss of muscle with your lats.

BTW, it is quite a known thing for just that to happen on HRT, upper body loss of strength/muscles.

Enjoy :-)
Axelle

I find that bra bands do indeed tend to stretch out after some use. I tend to get ones that fit me on the loosest hook, then as the band gets stretched out, I use the next one, though it doesn't tend to stretch out any more after that.

And different bras, even of the same band size, can have different tightness in the bands. To see if your chest has really shrunk, try on a new one of exactly the same one you have at a store

But you should definitely wear one where you don't need an extender when you have found one, because band size actually does affect how big the cup is too. A 36A bra has a bigger cup than a 32A bra, because the cup size letter designation is determined by the projection of the bust and not the surface area.

Before I started taking hormones my chest measured around 36" because of all the muscle in my latts/pecks.  Today I measure a little over 32"... it's just muscle loss. 
=)

I'll have to go back and try on a new bra of the same type I bought back in March, but I'm sure the outcome will be the same given what I noticed with the other two bras.   One of those two I haven't worn yet, but I definitely went from fitting only at the loosest setting to fitting at the tightest.  The reason I haven't worn it yet is because the cups are a bit big for me yet, unfortunately.  It just looks awkward.

Vanna, I started out with nothing up top.   Literally, I had no muscles.  So I'm not sure how much muscle I had to lose!

Axelle, that's interesting about the back fat too.  Something I never knew before!

   Yeah you must have lost some muscle in your chest area, sadly a person's ribcage cannot shrink from HRT.

Quote from: Forever21Chic on August 04, 2011, 12:02:05 AM
   Yeah you must have lost some muscle in your chest area, sadly a person's ribcage cannot shrink from HRT.

I still can't figure out what muscle, considering you could see all of my ribs before.   I mean, I know it had to be muscle, but I'm not sure where my body found it.

I've been measured as a 38 and my 36 bras seem to fit better and better lately as well. And the 38 that I bought at the time now feels too loose. The other day I tossed on an old (boy) shirt that I used to think was a little tight and now it seemed almost a little big.  This is all while my weight has actually increased by a little bit. It's all going in my legs and donk I swear!

Quote from: Zoë Natasha on August 04, 2011, 12:06:26 AM
I still can't figure out what muscle, considering you could see all of my ribs before.   I mean, I know it had to be muscle, but I'm not sure where my body found it.

Believe me, you have plenty of small and large muscles in your back, sides, and chest in the same plane as your breasts (they do the arm/shoulder moving and all kinds of other subtle stuff) - even if they aren't toned or big, they all add up. So they all subtract when they start to shrink down. A website I was reading about trans development has a measuring regime on it that makes exactly the point you're making, that it can appear that your breasts aren't developing because as they get bigger, the muscle in the same plane as them is getting smaller, so no overall size change is noticed for a while. That's why they recommend measuring the chest below the breasts as well as the breasts themselves to get a sense of the change happening.

That is good news, Less muscle on my back & sides will sure be nice, my upper body/chest is just way too big.

Yep, EXACTLY as Padma put it!

Such a bright honey, hey :-)
Axelle

I never even thought of the back muscles!  My back actually didn't look as bad as my front when I was 25 pounds underweight (but was pretty bad when I was 45 pounds under).  You could see all of my ribs in front, but not in back.  And now that I think about it, the skin of my back used to bulge a bit around the bra strap, but doesn't anymore, despite the weight gain.

Maybe everything's falling right into place!   I'm pleased as punch that my chest has shrunk...

Lovely, nice to have a chirpy Zoë.

Big hug,
Axelle
PS: Wish to be a 36 myself, yet with some these aggro females I may be fine with some lats left... to defend myself.

If you really want to know, then get an old-fashioned cloth tape measure and take your own measurements...I know that I am about two inches smaller 34 instead of 36) around than I was a few months ago.  Not really sure it is loss of muscle though as much as it may be some fat having been worked away through the time in the gym...I'm slowly getting back to where I was when I started HRT 20-ish or so years ago.

As others noted, bras are no different than other articles of clothing in that Brand X may just fit differently than Brand Z...plus the whole 'stretching' issue as they age. 

Quote from: Zoë Natasha on August 04, 2011, 12:06:26 AM
I still can't figure out what muscle, considering you could see all of my ribs before.   I mean, I know it had to be muscle, but I'm not sure where my body found it.

haha same  and well back muscles who even considers them  and great to hear its all falling into place