Binding vests....
ok so another "Informational" about some of the cosplay stuff I've done. This time it's about Binding vests! Please forgive the blabbering but I am trying to put as much information that might be helpful or useful to anyone out there. If you have improvements please =D I am all ears and lets share! helps us grow as a community!!!
Binding vest, concept:
so the idea is to try to get one's chest to lay as flat as possible. The dilemma I came across was well unwanted bulging in places that were not always easy to hide. I am a heavy set girl and well lets face it we are moving physical mass and needing to place it else where. It's not going to hide in a little pocket or go off into the nether space, it's going to remain there, period. So we have physics to work with and anatomy. We as women [even as heavy set men] are trying to look like a thin chested man. News flash, men also have breasts ;) Yes yes not as big as ours, but we are trying to compress that elsewhere. Breasts are made mostly from fatty tissues and a bit of muscle and lucky for us, fat DOES compress a bit. When I bound with an ace bandage I found it rather irritating that I'd get the fluff at the top of the bandage or...well the girls would try to escape so the Binding vest was to counter these three things: compress the breasts, hide the bulge of displacing said anatomic parts and STAY IN PLACE!
Lets take this one step further... the "open chest" binding vest. I'm horridly allergic to any sort of adhesive to my skin sans glues. I don't know exactly what it is because latex never bothers me and I've used "hypoallergenic" tape and I still get horrible hives and itching where the tape was. I'm SO Proud of my Shunsui cosplay from Bleach but to do him correctly I need to have quite a bit of my chest showing. The "openchest" vest sadly is not Truly open but it does give the illusion of such which still keeping the same three key goals of a binding vest.
The materials.
This one is rather important. For me I ran a muck and into a neoprene "belt/waist band" and used that for a little for binding. it... kinda stayed better but I noticed that it could be ungodly tight and yet it still flexed enough to allow me to breath. Breathing IS important, please remember this. I also noticed that the rubbery material even with sweating kept suctioned to my skin.
I do enjoy my Neoprene; it allows the body to readjust itself to a more condensed aria, does not restrict breathing- I can still pitifully sing to Phantom of the Opera- and it ....ready for this... stays where you put it! Exspeshaly if you taper it at the end to follow your lower ribs [more on that later] The only con to neoprene, it's HOT omg ungodly so. it is rubber after all and it's right next to your skin. So please remember to drink plenty of water and perhaps put a tanktop over your binding vest so that the tank can soak up the sweat, not your cosplay! On top of that? A simple stretch dance wear fabric to somewhat mimic my skin tone so it'll blend in a little easier.
You can find strips of Neoprene in your walmart's exercising section or even at your local thrift store! it's a very expensive material so these are the easiest and most cost effective ways of finding the materials I need. Remember, diving suits ARE made from neoprene! I've been on the look out for a new materials that perhaps will be incorporated into future binding vests but thus far I've found that the neoprene gives me what I'm asking out of a material. Anyone have any suggestions are welcomed to share!
The "science"
lets take a look at the human skeleton.... after all we're all usually built somewhat similar, shape, size and all that differs but this is about basic fundamentals.
Somewhat of a similar concept to corsets a binding vest will narrow at your waist, pulling in your ribs a little but this allows the vest to stay where it needs to comfortably. You never want to have it so tight it makes you bleed. The other horribly important thing to remember, like a corset, a binding vest is made for ONE PERSON. I made a vest for a friend, wore it and got horrible blisters on my sides because I'm much thicker then my friend. The binding vest is always about the upper part of your torsos to allow for movement and comfort.
The open chest vest it's crucial for there to be a nice thick band of material about the smallest part of your waist. There will be a LOT of pressure here and at your shoulders because the open chest vest works more with tension for the compression rather then with the regular vest which is just compressing.
Where do I start?
After you've gathered your materials there are a few ways to go about this. Since you don't need to have it perfectly fitted to you, as the Neoprene will allow for smudge room But you can do a duct tape mock up, you grab an old shirt, a trust worthy friend and wrap up yourself where you'd like the vest to go and tape yourself down tight enough that it compresses but not too tight to lose circulation or breathing....remember breathing is good! You can trim up your mock up to the unique curves of your body. remember thsiis a vest, you WILL have smething over your shoulders, this helps smooth down the bulk that likes to sneak up at the very top of the chest by the arms. it also helps for comfort!
*this is important, do NOT put a seam along your sides!!! Remember this material will be TIGHT against you! a seam directly on your immediate side will only hurt you in the long run. my suggestion is to try to place the seams just before your side but not directly in front. IF you can get a solid piece for one side and then the next, more power to you!
Now if you dont want to use a mock up you can always use a tanktop and mark where your waist at the smallest point, no matter if it's a high or low waist. If you use your mock up- do not accommodate for seam allowance. This will help take you in more, you can even go in by a good inch at each seam if you wanted! My friend who is a DD has what we call the compression vest. she's not bound but her large ladies are compressed to give her a bit of a barrow chest...and apparently great support. her bra band is a 36, her compression vest when off is only 23 inches around, it's astonishing!
A third and the option I did for my friend with the large ladies was this:
I sewed up a mock up without a zipper in the back, helped her squeeze into it and then, like the old days, had her hold onto a door handle while I yanked and pulled marking the vest where it needed to meet in the back to give her appropriate compression and still be comfortable. The mark made on either side of the neoprene served as the mark to put in a zipper.
Seams are important. So is sewing this.... this is neoprene! If you've ever worked with a material with stretch then you have a small inkling of how much you will both hate and curse this material! Know your machine and what it will and will not take. Not only will a stretch stitch [or for me a zig zag worked], a thicker sturdy needle be needed but a swear jar. I like to put a thick bit of cotton, like a duck cloth in strips along my seams. Instead of stitching the neoprene to itself instead I use the duck cloth to sew the neoprene to it, making the two neoprene sides "kiss". This not only minimizes the thickness and bulged of a seam against your body [tight, tight + bulged= pain and at worst blisters!] the duct cloth allows for the thick and stretchy material to slide through easier then it would otherwise. Another tip I've done is the same I was given for sewing pleather, use a water based personal lubricant to help your machine with this beast! It's all worth it in the end, trust me.
How do you close it?
well that's up to you. I use separating zippers mostly, but I have used a lace up style with grommets and the whole 9 yards. I place the closer USUALLY in the front so one can get themselves into it easier without needing too much help if any at all. The open chest binding vest however is the only one thus far I've found that works best in the back due to where it needs to pull and well...keep things under wrap!
remember, if there's pain something is wrong. If you fashion something on the side of larger just in case, you can always cut smaller. Neoprene is not forgiving. once you've punctured the neoprene you have already messed with it's structure stability. If you happen to sew out from the edge too far, you can always bring your duct cloth strip out further when you resew jsut to cover and return the stability to the overall binding vest.
Ok so... this is great, but I'm also interested in knowing more about this "open" chest binding vest!
alright.... so I'll let you know and I have a few pics to post. They are not very..... uh flattering on me but they are necessary ok? so please ^^;;; be nice!
As I said above the binding vest works with tension. More or less you have an upside down T on your chest when you lay this vest on you without anything pulled in or tied on. top part of the "T" should be a nice thick bit of neoprene and it will fit as low on your waist as you can get it and still be comfortable... and still... be... comfortable. Tight but dear god remember to keep it comfortable. The wider the band the more the pressure and tension is spread out and not so localized. Remember tension and pressure in one small spot leads to blisters. This is also why the bands going over your shoulders are to be wide as well. They will spread the tension in your shoulders and they will cover your breasts and keep them apart.
If you press your hands in the middle of your chest and slide them out towards your sides with pressure you should see what the concept behind the open chest binding vest is doing. The straps starting at the middle and pulling out to your shoulders is substituting for your hands. the band about your waist simply keeps everything in place AND provides the first tension point for your vest. The second is.... your shoulders. I DO highly suggest that you learn from my mistake and put some fabric on your straps where the neoprene goes over your shoulder. A cheep slippery satin is a good idea. this is because.... that's a lot of tension and pressure in one small spot that cannot be avoided. This will limit if not hopefully stop you from getting blisters!
So the bindign vest goes about yoru waist and over your shoulders..... here let me,to my embarisment show you!
Here in the back shot you can see how the band in the back gets rather wide and is laced together. Erm... the towl....I said I am a big girl and I also mentioned what is being compressed and displaced needs to go somewhere. In this case it's strait to the back and if it were not for the towl there would be the most awesome sausage rolls squeezing out from between the string! This is something you can add to your vest for comfort and to settle your own selfcontious innerbeast. I highly sugest it!
youc an see the way the vest hugs my high waist at the bottom there, the string tightening really alowes you to tighten it as need be. Agian it's important to tighten the back first. then youc an one at a time pull the straps over as you adjust yourself to be tucked both under and to the side then literaly strapped down with the straps going over the shoulder.
ever have one of those moments where you think.... "THIS IS PERFICT" exicute this said AWESOME PLAN...... to only forget how it all went together by the time you get to the con? hi... this is me as usual forgetting how something went together. I have foudn that the straps going instead of cris crossign int eh back but going strait backa nd down helps keep the straps flat agisnt your chest and therefor making you feel safe and secure that your girls are not going to exscape! However what youc an see is that there are two gromets at the top, the strap DOES have two gromets as well,t hey are suposed to line up but well this was rigged on a little differntly. The two gromets are important for the whole rubbing and tension and rubbing thing. With two points of securing the strapit evened out the pressure and helped to keep it far more secure in other wearings!
and TAda! this is what the vest looks like from the frount. I have since cut the overlapping skintoned fabric down soit meets up to where the split of the two shoulder straps is giving me more chest to show off! you can also see that aside from the large band in the frount it goes rather high on my side. This keeps the girls in without displacing mass in an akward location and evens out the pressure.
now you have an "open chest" vest that is comfortable to wear all day without worry of taking off one's very sencitive girls. Atthe end of the night I usualy wipe it down witha wet towl and hang to dry. it gets some of the ick of sweating off so it can be worn agian without problems or irritations!
Any more questiosn or specifics please ask away this is a public post and anyone SHOULD be able to post a question. flamers will be instantly deleted... Please do keep your eyes pealed for updates and edits. I'm sure to have a few!