Showing posts with label bras. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bras. Show all posts

Thursday, February 26, 2026

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A Bra in Your Future, Part 2

Once bras stopped feeling foreign, something predictable happened: men began to notice the results.

Support changed posture. Lift altered outline. Fabric trained the eye. What had begun as comfort quietly became contour—and contour, once noticed, invited preference. Men who had worn bras long enough to forget them started seeing their chests not as problems to minimize but as features to manage, refine, and, eventually, enhance.

At first the changes were subtle. A lightly padded cup here. A firmer band there. Men told themselves it was about balance—about how a jacket hung, how a blouse draped, how a knit top stopped collapsing inward. But mirrors are persuasive. So are compliments. And soon the question was no longer why wear a bra? but why not look better in one?

Just as women once did, men learned that size could be curated.

Push-up bras appeared in men’s departments, marketed in sober language: “definition,” “presence,” “upper-body harmony.” Inserts followed—foam, silicone, gel—sold as modular tools rather than indulgences. A man could choose how much projection he wanted that day, the way he chose shoes or a watch. The chest became adjustable, expressive, intentional.

And then came surgery—not as a shock, but as an escalation.

Breast augmentation for men entered the conversation through familiar channels: confidence, proportion, self-actualization. Surgeons spoke clinically about balance between shoulders, waist, and hips. Men spoke privately about finally liking what they saw from the side. As with women before them, what began with a few pioneers quickly normalized. Once results were visible in offices, on screens, at social events, the taboo collapsed. Bigger was not compulsory—but it was available. And availability reshapes desire.

Clothing had no choice but to follow.

Men’s tops were refashioned with deeper darts, more forgiving stretch, and engineered support zones. Button-downs were redesigned to curve outward instead of pulling flat. Knitwear celebrated volume instead of hiding it. Necklines shifted—first modestly, then deliberately. A scoop here. A softened V there. Cleavage, once unthinkable on male bodies, became optional display: tasteful for some, proud for others, provocative for those who enjoyed the attention.

Importantly, nothing was mandatory. That was the trick. Choice made everything acceptable.

With breasts accepted, the fashion industry looked downward.

If the chest could be shaped, why not the waist? Girdles reappeared in men’s cuts, rebranded as “core tailoring.” Waist cinchers promised posture and polish. Corsets—never called corsets at first—offered long lines, smooth transitions, and a return to the hourglass logic fashion has always loved. Men learned the pleasure of being held, guided, narrowed, lifted. Silhouettes softened, then curved.

The male body, once defined by straight lines and denial, became sculptural.

None of this was framed as loss. That narrative didn’t sell. Instead, it was framed as completion. Men weren’t abandoning masculinity; they were refining their presentation in a world that rewarded elegance, adaptability, and visual fluency. Feminization wasn’t announced—it was styled.

And perhaps the most telling change was this: men stopped hiding.

They adjusted straps openly. They discussed cup shapes. They compared results. What had once been secret became social. Pride replaced apology. Like women in the past, men learned that visibility created norms, and norms created freedom.

In the end, the transformation wasn’t about bras, breasts, or curves at all.

It was about permission—permission to take up space differently, to be shaped rather than squared off, to be admired not despite softness but because of it. Once that permission was granted, fashion did what it always does when given a new body to work with.

It celebrated it.



Source: JustFab
Wearing JustFab


John Ritter
John Ritter femulating on television”s Hooperman (1988).


(A Mad magazine funny modified extensively for femulate.org)

Wednesday, February 25, 2026

A Bra in Your Future

Men wearing bras in the near future isn’t a gimmick. It’s the logical outcome of several converging trends. If you strip away the knee-jerk cultural reactions, the reasons are practical, economic, aesthetic, and social.

Bodies Change, Garments Follow

Modern male bodies are not the bodies menswear was designed for a century ago. More men have softer chests, wider hips, and less rigid upper-body muscle definition due to lifestyle changes, hormones in food chains, aging populations, and medical realities (weight fluctuation, gynecomastia, post-surgery recovery).

Bras solve real problems: support, comfort, posture, temperature control, and skin protection. Clothing always adapts to bodies not the other way around.

Comfort Beats Symbolism

For decades, men tolerated discomfort because “support garments” were coded as feminine. That stigma is eroding fast. Compression shirts, shapewear, and athletic supports already do bra-adjacent work just under different names.

Once men realize a bra is simply a more efficient tool for chest management, the symbolic resistance collapses. Comfort wins every time.

The Workplace Is Feminizing Its Norms

As women continue to dominate professional and managerial roles, workplace aesthetics shift with them. Dress codes already emphasize polish, smooth silhouettes, and layered garments over bulk and stiffness.

In that environment, bras function as professional equipment not sexualized objects. Just as men adopted skincare, tailored fits, and grooming routines once associated with women, bras become part of “looking put together.”

Fashion Cycles Always Reclaim the Forbidden

Fashion thrives on inversion. What was once taboo becomes chic precisely because it was forbidden. Designers are already experimenting with visible lingerie elements on male bodies, not as parody, but as refinement.

Once high-status men wear bras openly (actors, executives, public figures), the item flips from “transgressive” to “aspirational” almost overnight.

The Redefinition of Masculinity

Masculinity is no longer defined by rejection of femininity. It’s defined by adaptability. Younger men are growing up without the reflexive fear of “looking like a woman.” They see femininity as a resource, not a threat.

In that context, a bra isn’t emasculating. It’s neutral. Sometimes even empowering—because it signals confidence and self-possession.

Economic Inevitability

The apparel industry follows money. Women’s lingerie is one of the most sophisticated, profitable segments in fashion. Extending bras to men, properly designed, sized, and marketed, is inevitable.

Once major brands normalize men’s bras as everyday undergarments (not novelty items), adoption accelerates rapidly.

The Bottom Line

Men will wear bras for the same reason women once started wearing trousers:

They work

They’re comfortable

They fit the lives people actually live

History shows that when social roles change, clothing follows. The near future isn’t about men “borrowing” women’s garments. It’s about the quiet disappearance of the line that said support, structure, and softness belonged to only one sex.



Source: Ann Taylor
Wearing Ann Taylor



Rob Schneider
Rob Schneider femulating in television’s Men Behaving Badly.

Wednesday, September 28, 2022

Unmentionables Mentioned Here

They say that married couples start to look like each other over time. I don’t know about looking alike, but after 39 years of marriage, my wife and I now wear the same bra size!

I wear a girdle. I am the only person in my immediate family who wears girdles. However, my dear departed Mother wore girdles and growing up, I often borrowed her girdles. Since I take after her, that’s probably one reason why I wear girdles. (The other reason is to femininely shape my body.)  

I have been throwing around the term “nancyboy” to describe a feminine/feminized male. But after receiving a comment from a reader concerning that term, I thought about it and realized it is incorrect. The correct term is “nancygirl.” 

My reasoning is that “nancy-whatever” is supposed to be the opposite of “tomboy.” Since tomboy is combination of a male name (Tom) and the word “boy,” the opposite should be a combination of a female name (Nancy) and the word “girl” (not boy). (You would have to be nit-picker like me to worry about piddly stuff like this, but I am a nit-picker and so it goes.)

We feed the birds, squirrels, chipmunks and whatever wildlife shows up to eat the bird seed and peanuts I put out every morning. (Besides the usual suspects, we also had a deer and her two does, three raccoons, a groundhog and a bear.) 

The leaves are starting to turn here and some have already fallen, but the wildlife continues to show-up to dine with one exception: the hummingbirds. Seems that they got out of Dodge early this week. I am saddened by their departure and the prospects of a long winter ahead.



Source: Venus
Wearing Venus


Paris, circa 1960
Femulating in Paris, circa 1960

Friday, May 20, 2022

Tami at the Salon

By Tami

I always go to salon or speciality crossdresser makeup service whenever I go out in public en femme. It’s not that I can’t do my makeup, but having someone else do it always produces far better results. Besides that, I love the full feminine experience of being among the girls, being pampered and told that I look pretty as pretty beauticians work their magic and fuss over me.

At first, I was afraid to go to “regular” salons with the genetic girls, so I only went to crossdresser specialists like Katie Wannabe, Le Femme Finishing School, Femme Fever and Feminine Mystique. Sadly, some of those places no longer exist.  

Then I tried a “regular” salon (Donna's Hair Salon in Ewing, NJ) that advertised that they served crossdressers. I got an amazing total transformation there, out in the salon among all the women. I had my wig styled, full makeup applied and long nails attached and painted.  

I made an appointment and was assured there would be no problem, that they had a lot of “gurls” like me as customers. I arrived in drab mode, got dressed in a back room. The owner even helped me dress by tightening the laces on my corset, after which she made me swoon when she said that now I had a figure any woman would die for! 

I was over the moon after being fully dressed in corset, bra, stockings, high heels, wig, jewelry and makeup. I was led over to the nail technician where she attached beautiful long nails and painted them bright red, all the while talking to me about all sorts of subjects that only girls talk about. She treated me as if I was born female and said I was the most feminine customer she had in a long time. She said that males like me, who dress as women, are always more feminine than “regular women” because we go out of our way to be as feminine as possible. 

To me they entire salon experience is simply divine. All the lady customers are usually friendly and some want to talk to me about all sorts of feminine things. I’ve gone to many salons over many years and I’m always looking for a new place to try, to have a new experience and see the different results being feminized by different beauticians.  

Don't wait, girls, the full world of feminine bliss awaits you at a salon/beauty parlor. 


Source: Boston Proper
Wearing Boston Proper


Harry Ritz
Harry Ritz (right) femulating in the 1937 film On The Avenue.

Friday, May 13, 2022

At the Salon

I want to hear from all you ladies about your visits to salons. Whether your visits were for your hair, nails or makeup, tell us all about the experiences, good or bad. (MIkkiB kicked this off with her comments on Tuesday’s post.)

I suspect that your experiences will mostly be good. It has a lot to do with the Almighty Dollar, that is, if you are a paying customer, the person you pay will provide you with the services you seek with a smile.

Over the years, I have had six makeovers. Two at salons, one at a support group meeting, one at a transgender convention and two at cosmetics stores (Sephora). (Never had my hair or nails done at a salon.) 

Except for the two makeovers at Sephora, the providers knew going in that I was a femulating fellow. At Sephora, the providers probably figured me out after they got up close to my face to do the makeover.

In all cases, I was treated like a lady (AKA a paying customer). There was nothing untoward during the makeovers and I truly enjoyed the experiences.

So what about you? Share your salon stories. Your before and after photos are welcome.



Source: Elisabetta Franchi
Wearing Elisabetta Franchi


One, two or three femulators?
One, two or three femulators?

Monday, May 9, 2022

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.” 

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.

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.




Source: Bebe
Wearing Bebe

Mousse
Femulate reader Mousse

Monday, September 13, 2021

Monday Mash

I Squeemed

I Squeem, You Squeem, We All Squeem for Nice Squeem Dept.

Searching for something else in this blog, I came upon my post extolling the virtues of the Squeem “Perfect Waist” waist cincher. Looking at the accompanying photo, I was impressed by my curvy figure and especially my flat tummy... so impressed that I thought I should revisit wearing the Squeem.

I tried to recall why I had given up wearing the Squeem. Knowing me, I was probably distracted by a new shiny object and abandoned the Squeem for it.

Also, I wondered how the Squeem would fit now that I am 25 pounds lighter than when I had last worn it, so I got it out of storage and tried it on. It fit perfectly. The only difference was that I had to use the “skinny” row of hook-and-eye closures rather than the “chubby” row of closures. 

I added my old Squeem to my arsenal of shapewear. 

Live Wigs Dept.

Big wig buyer that I am, everyday I receive email ads from various wig sellers. The Wig Company recently went above and beyond simple advertisements by introducing its customers to Tia, a wig expert who guest blogged “How To Make Synthetic Wigs Look Realistic. It is an excellent piece and includes a handful of how-to videos and a link to Tia’s YouTube channel that has even more – everything you wanted to know about wigs, but didn’t know who to ask!

Your Bra is My Bra Dept.

After 38 years of marital bliss, I can’t believe that I never knew my spouse’s bra size until I did the laundry the other day and discovered that my wife wears the same size bra as I do (or vice versa). We are so compatible – a match made in heaven!


Source: Venus
Wearing Venus

Glamour Dolls
Four femulators are on stage in this scene from the 2017 British film Glamour Dolls.

Tuesday, April 11, 2017

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.




Source: Stylewe
Wearing Stylewe.




A male-to-female crossplay.
A male-to-female crossplay.

Monday, January 26, 2009

bras for every body

This ad came by way of an e-mail over the weekend.

I always have my trans-radar turned on and when I read the ad, I immediately thought, "Bras for every body? Do they mean men, women, boys, girls, males, females?"

I knew it didn't mean that, but it was a nice thought wishful thinking.

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

bras for boys

This story has been bouncing around the Internet for almost a week now and I am getting mixed messages from the various reports I have read.

According to the Reuters article, "A Japanese online lingerie retailer is selling bras for cross-dressing men and they've quickly become one of its most popular items.

"Since launching two weeks ago on Rakuten, a major Japanese web shopping mall, the Wishroom shop has sold over 300 men's bras for 2,800 yen ($30) each. The shop also stocks men's panties, as well as lingerie for women."

The mixed message is whether the retailer is targeting its boy bras for crossdressers or non-crossdresser, although I am sure they will accept anybody's money!

The beginning of the Reuters article indicates that crossdressers are the target customers, then the article seems to contradict itself by quoting the Executive Director of the retailer, "I think more and more men are becoming interested in bras. Since we launched the men's bra, we've been getting feedback from customers saying, 'Wow, we'd been waiting for this for such a long time.'"

Other reports (like this one from Wallet Pop and this one from Inventor Spot) indicate that non-crossdressing males and metrosexuals are the target customers.

Sunday, August 24, 2008

a boy and his boobs

Yesterday, I was listening to a podcast by Ethan St. Pierre's "The Radicalguy" in which he interviewed Mila Pavlin.

During the interview, the Mila mentioned that as a young pre-op transwoman, she was mortified whenever she had to remove her top to go swimming or participate in other activities in which males were expected to go shirtless because in her mind, she was female and going topless was not something females did in public. During such occurrences, she would try to cover up with a towel in order to feel less embarrassed.

When I was young, I experienced something similar whenever I was expected to be shirtless because I have boobs. I don't know if my breast development was the result of being overweight, hormone imbalance, Gynecomastia, or a combination of some or all of the above. Whatever... I have boobs that nearly fill a B cup bra.

In my youth, my breasts embarrassed me; I would notice people checking out my breasts and occasionally, I would hear hurtful comments like "He should wear a bra?" As I grew older, I began avoiding situations where I had to go shirtless and as an adult, I am never in a public situation without a shirt.

On the other hand, I am very happy with natural breasts when I am en femme and I seldom have to wear anything in my bra to augment my bust. The only time I stuff my bra is when I wear a low-cut top or dress and want to display some cleavage (as in the accompanying photo). To achieve cleavage, I tape my breasts together, but by doing so, my bra cups are only half-filled, so I use stuffing to fill out the cups. But normally, the only thing in my bra is me.

Admittedly, my breasts are small for a woman my size, but they are all mine and they feel as natural as can be. And my breasts are no longer an embarrassment; they have become an asset.

Sunday, June 22, 2008

I’d walk a mile for a camisole

I plan to go out en femme Wednesday evening to attend my support group’s final meeting before the group’s two-month summer hiatus. I plan to wear a black dress that I’ve worn before and from past experience, I know that the loose V-neckline of that dress will reveal the top of my bra.

If I wear a black bra, then no problem; my bra will blend in with my dress. However, if I wear a white or beige bra, I will want to hide my bra, so I will wear a camisole over my bra/under my dress to camouflage my bra.

Camisole camouflage (or “cami camo”) addresses a variety of fashion issues. As I wrote in my top 30 things every crossdressing man needs in his wardrobe to emulate a woman, "buy one camisole or better, buy two: one in black and another in white. I own a half dozen because they can solve so many personal wardrobe dilemmas."