Breasts and Bras

Alison sent me a link to an article about breasts, the variety of their shape and the best and worst bras for each shape.

I was surprised by how many breast shapes there are. Turns out that mine are Full Bottom and accordingly, I should wear a shelf bra, which "is a type of either demi-cup or three-quarter-cup bra that lifts breasts in order to enhance their appearance, shape, and cleavage." 

I usually wear a push-up bra, so close enough.

If I wear something that would reveal cleavage, I insert a pair of enhancers in each bra cup to give my cleavage a little oomph. But most of the time, I go au naturel (or as close to au naturel I can get wearing a push-up bra).

Note that if you wear falsies and want to use the breast shape article for bra-shopping guidance, go by the shape of your falsies and not your God-given endowments.

And may the falsies be with you.

Wearing Stylewe.

A male-to-female crossplay.

DIY Breast Forms

Hello Stana,

Thanks for all your time and effort producing your blog. If I may, I would like to make a critical observation on something you wrote recently that I think will benefit readers and offer all your readers some advice that could be very useful.

Recently, you mentioned making a set of boobs with the assistance of birdseed! Honestly, this approach was acceptable many, many years ago when there was no realistic alternative – but nowadays, there are so many realistic breast forms available, it is a minefield knowing which gorgeous accessory to choose and where to spend our money.

Equally, some breast forms are so expensive that for some of us, they are out of our budget or the expenditure cannot be justified. Therefore, anyone would be forgiven for taking your advice and exploring the birdseed option.

I would like to suggest an alternative that will consign the birdseed option to history (where it belongs – please do not feel offended!) and be a viable choice for many transgirls - balloons.

I am sure many of us have tried party balloons before, but their downside is that they puncture easily and are mostly on the small size.

There is available a large balloon that is used to send meteorological equipment into the stratosphere. These meteorological balloons are by nature of the task for which they are designed, manufactured to exacting standards from materials that are tough, resistant and durable. They can be inflated with air to enormous size – a property that doesn’t interest us as we intend to fill them with water – but it demonstrates how capable they are. They come in various uninflated sizes and what you need to decide is which one to choose, rather like which size of cup do you need.

What you are trying to achieve is as follows:

• Fill the balloon with water so that it stays floppy and does not start to become round in shape.
• Tie a simple loose knot and DO NOT cut the end off. A knot is safer than string, which may cut the balloon.
• Slip into your bra and check the required shape and fullness.
• If you need more/less ‘bust’ remove, undo the knot and add/remove water.
• Repeat this process until you are happy with the result.
• Do the same for your other boob, but in order to create a matching pair, weigh your first one and then accurately measure out an equal amount of water for the second one. This is best done in a jug, but remember to allow for the weight of the jug. Use a funnel to make pouring easier.
• When you are finally happy with the cup size, make sure you expel all air (to avoid watery sounds when you move) before tying the final knot which needs to be secure. Still do not cut the end off the balloon. You may wish to make alterations later. Also, it is possible to devise various methods to secure the balloon end and anchor the "balloobs" in your bra to stop them falling out.
• I would suggest going for the natural color that is almost like a skin tone, otherwise white would do.
• Before wearing, I suggest warming balloobs in the washbasin, but if you don’t they soon reach body temperature.
• A search on the Internet for meteorological balloons will bring up many sites. Prices can be way over $150 (£100), but you should be able to find a suitable balloon for $15-$20 (£10-£15). The only considerations really are color and more importantly, uninflated size.
• They may contain latex and if you have an allergy. then consider making a pocket in your bra to keep them away from your skin.
• The balloons are manufactured to be highly durable and tough so you should be able to lie on them without fear of bursting, but do watch out for any protruding under wires from your bra.
• I am still on my first pair of balloobs that I made almost 20 years ago. They can lose a bit of water in time and it is a good idea to wash them after wearing in warm soapy water to keep the hygiene level up.
• Finally, I can add that if you have only experienced birdseed or socks for a breast shape, your balloobs will feel quite amazing and worth the time and effort.

Regards and Best Wishes,

Catherine

(If you are interested in birdseed breast forms, the recipe appears at the end of this post. – Stana)

Wearing BCBGMAXAZRIA.

Drag Ball in the UK, circa 1970.

Get Curvy

Recently, people have commented positively about my figure and Billie asked, “I would like to learn your secret to a wonderful and very womanly body!”

Over 50 years of femulating, I have tried various methods to achieve a girlish figure. I will not bore you with that history; instead, I will concentrate on my current modus operandi for getting curvy.

From top to bottom, I wear a bra, waist cincher, and panties. Over the bra and waist cincher, I wear a shapewear cami and over the panties, I wear a shapewear brief.

Waist Not Want Not

I wear a waist cincher to reduce my waistline by a few, but noticeable inches. My waist cincher is so old that the brand name tag is unreadable and I don't remember the brand, but it is nothing unusual. It is a dead ringer for this 12-inch long, front hook-and-eye closure Maidenform waist cincher that is available from JCPenney's, Kohl's, Macy's, etc.

Occasionally, I strap on my heavy-duty underbust corset if I think I will need a little extra curvature, but normally, my waist cincher is all I need.

For the Girls

Victoria's Secret claims that their Bombshell push-up bra will add two cup sizes. It is heavily padded to accomplish that feat. Since I am blessed with small, but decidedly female breasts, wearing a Bombshell bra makes my girls outstanding in their field without anything extra.

I am sold on Vicky's Bombshell bra and that is the only kind I have bought since they were recommended to me by a saleswoman at Vicky's. I think you will be happy wearing a Bombshell, but  if you are flat-chested, you probably need to wear a breast form to fill out the cups of the Bombsell. (Later, I will describe how to make your own breast forms.)

For the Boys

I wear panties under a Bali shapewear brief, although the shapewear manufacturers' claim that panties are not necessary "because they all make shapewear with a cotton crotch or an accessible crotch."

That being said, I wear panties to help manage my boy parts down under. I tuck and the panties help keep the tucked parts in place. I have had less success maintaining tucks wearing shapewear without panties, although your mileage may vary.

Whereas the panties keep my boys in check, the Bali shapewear brief flattens my tummy and rounds up my cheeks to achieve a more attractive and more feminine shape.

Smoothing Things Over

Over the bra and waist cincher, I wear Bali's cami torset top. It is a cami with the front cut out to allow you to wear whatever bra you want. Meanwhile, it smooths out any uneveness that may occur between the bra and waist cincher and it also eliminates the back fat that has long been an issue that I thought I would never conquer.

I tuck the shapewear cami into the shapewear brief to keep the cami from riding up.

Voila! That is how I achieve my girlish figure.

There are a lot of layers and they can warm you up, but I solved the overheating issue by wearing short skirts! Short skirts and a fab figure are a winning combination!

Back to the Girls

I mentioned above that I don't wear breast forms because my natural B cups sitting comfortably in a Bombshell bra are more than adequate. But if I am wearing something revealing that will show off cleavage, I use breast forms to help create that cleavage.

In the past to create cleavage, I used surgical tape to squeeze my breasts together then added makeup to enhance the squeeze. It was very effective, but removing the tape was very painful and often resulted in skin abrasions and minor bleeding that took days or weeks to heal.

I now use a painless method to create cleavage ― a combination of a Victoria's Secret Bombshell push-up bra and breast forms, which is just as effective as taping and a lot more comfortable.

I insert a breast form into a bra cup with one hand, lift my breast with the other hand and place the form under my uplifted breast. The uplifted breasts create the cleavage and the heavy padding of the Bombshell bra holds everything in place just like the surgical tape had done so in the past.

I have gone whole evenings without my girls moving out of place, but if there ever is any slippage, I can quickly lift my breast(s) back in place when I have a private moment (like in a stall of the ladies' room).

Makeup For My Girls

After my girls are in place, I add makeup, applying two shades of bronzer or powder. A dark shade adds depth to the shadows of the cleavage and a light shade enhances the front of the breasts to make them look more outstanding.

I apply the darker shade in the space between my breasts and sweep the powder upward and outward, creating a V-shape along the “natural” curve of the breasts, then I blend the powder until it looks like a shadow and not a strip of powder.

A little goes a long way, so don’t overdue it. You can always add more dark powder if needed; removing it is more difficult.

I apply the lighter shade to the front of my breasts and blend it back towards, but not all the way to the dark shade.

DIY 

I made my own breast forms using a female impersonator's recipe: birdseed in a sock. (I actually used dried green peas instead of birdseed.)

1.  Use birdseed or dried green peas to fill a thin sock (not a thick heavy sock) to the cup size you desire.

2.  Tie off the sock as close as possible to the ball of seed or peas.

3.  Trim off any access sock and fold the remainder over the knot. Under a bra, the knot does a good job of femulating a nipple.

I made my forms over 30 years ago and they are still holding up.

And so it goes.

Wearing JustFab.

Peter Outerbridge (right) in the 1999 Canadian film Better Than Chocolate.

My Girls

Cyrsti wrote about " breast size obsessions in cross dressers and transgender women" yesterday, which got me thinking about my "girls."

I never obsessed about having big breasts.

I was cursed/blessed with feminine breasts. In boy mode, I obsessed about hiding them. But in girl mode, I was proud of my natural breasts. I was happy with their size, so I never wore any padding or falsies (unless I was trying to squeeze my breasts together for enhanced cleavage).

The only problem is that for decades, I wore the wrong size bra --- a size too small. My bra was was making my breasts appear smaller than their natural size.

When I finally submitted to a bra fitting by a professional, I discovered the error of my ways and began wearing the correct size bras, which displayed my breasts as nature had intended.

All good except some tops and dresses that used to fit the flatter-chested me, no longer fitted the more bosomy me, but such is life!

 

 

 

Wearing Diane von Furstenberg.

 

 

 

Actor Michael Andrews femulating in that television movie Murder Me, Murder You (1983).

Enhancing Your Figure Inexpensively

This guest post comes from a long-time femulator and Femulate reader, Patio.

If you are a femulator, you probably would like to present the appearance of breasts. You will find that Amoena breast forms are wonderful, but expensive, although you can find them on ebay at reasonable prices, along with Amoena bras with pockets for the forms.

I started out as many of  my femulating friends do, with breast forms that were, shall we say, too ample. With time I used more appropriate forms.

I have also used adhesive breast  forms and found that the adhesive comes in many different strength: too weak, just right, or too strong. Recently, however, I was visiting a Jo-Ann fabric and craft store and in the aisle where they sell shoulder pads and other dress making needs, I found Dritz Adhesive Silicone Cups.  I bought some in A-cup size and found that for me, on a smoothly shaved chest, the adhesive was perfect. They stayed on all day and peeled off without pain.

Jo-Ann often has sales at 40% off, so a pair cost me $16. These adhesive breast forms do have a limited number of applications, but I have used mine 30 times and they are still holding strong (so after 30 uses, it only cost me $0.50 per use). They also come in cup sizes B, C and D.

During a recent sale, I decided to try some C cup size.. The inside bowl of the adhesive form looked too large for my “nearly AA” natural breasts, but I started at one edge and rolled them into place squeezing out the air and they pulled my breasts into a perfect size for me.

I thought maybe that there was a gap between the form and my flesh, but when I peeled them off, they were adhering all the way across. The larger cup sizes are larger in area, though not much greater in thickness. For my 40-inch bra band size, the C cup proved to be a fine size.

I use adhesive forms with a bra most of the time, although sometimes I just wear them under an elastic camisole,and other times just let them stick on their own. So far I have had no failures.

If you femulators would like to try an adhesive breast form on a budget, check Jo-Ann’s for their sales and try out  the feel of attached breast forms.

 

Actor Nolan Gould femulating on television’s Modern Family, 2012.

 

 

 

Wearing Worthington.