Got Milk

Male-to-female crossdressers can create the appearance of a female bust in several ways, ranging from simple clothing tricks to highly realistic prosthetics. The best method depends on comfort, cost, body shape, and whether the goal is a convincing everyday silhouette or a more dramatic presentation.

Breast forms

The most common option is a pair of silicone or foam breast forms worn inside a bra. Silicone forms have realistic weight, movement, and softness, while foam forms are lighter, cooler, and less expensive. Forms come in different shapes, including triangular, teardrop, asymmetrical, and full-coverage styles.

A properly fitted bra is essential. Full-coverage, pocketed, or mastectomy bras hold forms securely, although many ordinary bras work well when the band and cups fit correctly. A snug band provides most of the support; shoulder straps should not be doing all the work.

Adhesive forms

Some silicone forms can be attached directly to the chest with built-in adhesive or medical-grade body adhesive. This allows more freedom with lower necklines and can produce more natural movement. The skin must be clean and free of lotion, and only adhesives designed for skin and compatible with the forms should be used.

Anyone with sensitive skin should test a small area first. Forms should be removed slowly with the recommended adhesive remover rather than pulled off.

Breastplates

A breastplate is a single prosthetic piece that covers the chest, often extending toward the neck, shoulders, or upper abdomen. It can create cleavage and allows the wearer to use low-cut clothing. High-quality breastplates can look convincing, but they tend to be heavier, warmer, and more expensive than separate forms. The edges may also need to be hidden with clothing, jewelry, a scarf, or makeup.

Cleavage techniques

Crossdressers with enough natural chest tissue may create cleavage by pulling the tissue inward with a strong bra, tape, or specialized cleavage devices. Makeup can enhance the illusion by adding subtle shadow between the breasts and highlighting the upper curves.

Tape should never be wrapped completely around the torso or applied so tightly that it restricts breathing or circulation. Ordinary household tape can damage skin; body-safe fashion or medical tape is safer.

Padding and homemade methods

Socks, foam pads, fabric inserts, water-filled bags, and rice-filled stockings have long been used as inexpensive substitutes. They can work under modest clothing, although they usually lack the weight, movement, and consistent shape of commercial forms. Water-filled items can leak, and loose materials can shift, so they are less dependable for extended public wear.

Bras that create shape

Padded, push-up, plunge, and molded-cup bras can create a bust even without separate forms. Some crossdressers combine a lightly padded bra with smaller forms to achieve a smoother, less artificial transition from the chest to the breast.

Longline bras, bustiers, and shapewear can also help by shaping the torso, defining the waist, and keeping the bust in proportion.

Clothing choices

Clothing can make as much difference as the prosthetics themselves. Wrap dresses, gathered necklines, ruching, darts, princess seams, patterned fabrics, scarves, and structured jackets help create dimension. Very thin or clingy fabrics can reveal the outline of forms or gaps at the chest.

Proportion matters more than simply choosing the largest cup size. A bust that suits the wearer’s shoulders, height, waist, and hips usually looks more believable than oversized forms. For many broad-chested wearers, moderate forms with a wider base produce a more natural silhouette than narrow, highly projecting forms.

The most convincing result generally comes from combining a suitable bra, correctly positioned forms, balanced clothing, good posture, and realistic proportions. Comfort matters too: a slightly smaller bust that stays secure for several hours will usually look and feel better than a larger one that shifts, overheats, or causes strain.

Wearing Boston Proper 

Sebastian Muntean femulating Corina Chiriac on Romanian television's version of Your Face Sounds Familiar.
Click here to view this femulation on YouTube.

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. 

Wearing Boston Proper

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

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.

Wearing Elisabetta Franchi

One, two or three femulators?

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.

Wearing Bebe

Femulate reader Mousse

A B C D

My Father's Day self-gift

I have “boobs.” 

It is likely that gynecomastia is the cause, but I never sought medical advice because as a femulator, I am happy with my breasts. Why mess with success?

Over 20 years ago, I had a bra-fitting and it turned out that I had B cup breasts. But during the past six months, I noticed that my breasts seemed to be getting bigger. So I used a tape measure and an online bra size calculator to determine the current size. The results were surprising: I now have D cups!

The change is not due to weight gain. I weigh almost 30 pounds less than what I weighed when I had B cups measured. 

My D cups are probably due to the decrease in testosterone that most 70-year-old girls like me experience. I wonder what other feminine characteristics await me!

Wearing Unique Vintage

Michelle takes home a “find” from the California Historical Radio Society open house.

Décolletage

I received the following request: While looking at your photos, I noticed cleavage. Could you do a post on how to achieve it? I've tried but it never works for me. Thank you so much.

Up front (pun intended), I want to be clear that your mileage may vary because breast-wise I am naturally well-endowed for a male. I won't go into the reasons why I have feminine breasts because I don’t know for sure myself, but I assure you that my girls fill a B-cup (and as a trans-girl, I could not be happier about those circumstances).

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

I now use a painless method to create cleavage, which is just as effective. 

The key to my painless method is to use a padded push-up bra, like Victoria's Secret Bombshell push-up bra. Victoria claims it adds two cup sizes, but the bra alone does not provide me with cleavage. I add breast forms to the mix, as follows:

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

I have gone whole evenings without my breasts 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).

By the way, 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/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 birdseed/dried green peas.

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

By the way, I made my breast forms about 40 years ago and they are still good to go today. 

If you have any questions, I will gladly try to answer them. In the meantime, practice, practice practice and your fine work will proceed you.

Need advice concerning femulating or other crossdressing-related matters, then e-mail me and I will happily give you my opinion on the matter. My e-mail address is stana-stana at sbcglobal.net.

Wearing Bella Dahl

Lynn of Yet Another T-Girl Blog fame. Lynn's blog predates Femulate by almost two years. Reading her en femme adventures inspired me to start writing my own blog. 

Go Figure

This presentation moved one of my
friends to ask if I was on hormones!

I mentioned in my previous post that I lacked a female derriere. And I gave up trying to do something about it because the results were not satisfactory and more trouble than they were worth. I will forgo the padding and femulate with the narrow waist and wider hips that my girdle and long-line bra assimilate.

Although I lack a female derriere, Goddess has blessed me with female breasts. I assume I have Gynecomastia, but I never sought out medical help for the “problem,” so I don't know for sure.

Personally, when it comes to Gynecomastia, it has been a cup half empty or cup half full scenario.

In my youth, the cup was half empty.

My peers abused me and bullied me because I was a feminine boy, which was bad enough. Revealing my breasts just gave my abusers more ammunition, so I avoided participating in any activities that involved going topless because when I went topless, it did not always go well.

For example, I will never forget a game of touch football at a family picnic. I was unlucky enough to be on the skins team and my breasts were bouncing around during every play and became the object everybody’s attention (so it seemed). When one of my uncles made a crack that some of the players needed bras, I was so embarrassed that I had to hold back the tears.

However, as I got older and began to embrace my womanhood, I learned to appreciate my feminine body. When I wore a revealing blouse, I discovered the joys of Gynecomastia ― add some push-up bra inserts and a little makeup and my breasts rivaled many women’s breasts.

Today, I am proud of my breasts. They bring me joy because they so represent being a woman and I am proud that I am a woman. Even when I am in boy mode, I just have to touch my breasts to remind me that I am a woman and it brings a smile to my face.

So, as an adult, the cup is half full (actually, the cups are nearly full).

Wearing Ann Taylor

The girls give Shia LaBeouf a makeover in a 2000 episode of television’s Even Stevens.
You can view the episode on YouTube.

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.

Every Cloud Has A Silver Lining

Have you noticed lately the ads on television for law firms willing to sue pharmaceutical companies whose drugs caused boys to have Gynecomastia? Personally, when it comes to Gynecomastia, it has been a cup half empty or cup half full scenario.

In my youth, the cup was half empty.

My peers abused me and bullied me because I was a feminine boy, which was bad enough. Revealing my breasts would just give my abusers more ammunition, so I avoided participating in any activities that involved going topless because when I did go topless, it did not always go well.

For example, I will never forget a game of touch football at a family picnic. I was unlucky enough to be on the skins team and my breasts were bouncing around during every play and became the object everybody's attention. When one of my uncles made a crack that some of the players needed bras, I was so embarrassed that I had to hold back the tears.

However, as I got older and began to embrace my womanhood, I learned to appreciate my feminine body. When I wore a revealing blouse, I discovered the joys of Gynecomastia ― add some push-up bra inserts and a little makeup and my breasts rivaled many women's breasts.

Today, I am proud of my breasts. They bring me joy because they so represent being a woman and I am proud that I am a woman. Even when I am in boy mode, I just have to touch my breasts to remind me that I am a woman and it brings a smile to my face.

So, as an adult, the cup is half full (actually, the cups are nearly full).

By the way, the photo above was taken after I got dressed to attend the Avon representative Christmas party in 2012. I missed last year's party because of a snowstorm, but the forecast is good for tonight, so I will be attending the 2014 installment of the Avon rep Christmas party this evening.

 

 

 

Wearing DailyLook.

 

 

 

Professional femulator Terry Durham, circa 1973.

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).