"...which I don't recommend."

[stealthy_hayden]

So, from what the rest of you said, I finally got the courage (I am absolutely terrible at talking to people) to tell my mum more about my problems and the fact that I have quite a bit of dysphoria.

It...wasn't the conversation of my dreams.

I explained to her that I desperately needed to bind-though I'm not 100% sure she got the 'desperately needed

Comments

[the_physicist]

Have you tried a sports bra in a size too small? depends on your size of course, i'm only 30 D/32 C (UK sizing) so a sports bra works fine for me to make me look a lot flatter and stop anything moving. They look a bit like those 'granny' bras your mum is suggesting anyway, lmao, she might not realise what you're doing.

Also, therapist is a good idea as long as they aren't trying to 'fix' you. don't go near any of those, but the ones who will take this seriously, can only be a good thing as they might be able to explain things to your mum and get her to understand. maybe you can google online if there are trans friendly therapists in your area, because i wouldn't want to go to one that wasn't :-S.

[mutated_queer]

While working on your mum's reaction a bit, as well as a sport's bra, you could work on layer. I wasn't small but I wasn't big and I could get away with just layering so if you do it right your chest can look a lot flatter without being any flater

[stealthy_hayden]

I'm not totally sure layering would work. Australia has a pretty hot climate, and I'm really heat-sensitive.

[mutated_queer]

I didn't think to look at your location.

Could you try just a tshirt with a shirt over it? I'm not sure if that's reasonable for you. A tshirt with a print on it (especially a one that's quite quickly printed so keeps it stiff). Then a shirt that's a bit baggy, check is best imo. Tuck in the shirt fairly tight then wear the shirt buttoned to just below your chest. Tuck in the shirt loosely. The idea is to get it looking like any bump under your shirt is just the way it happens to be hanging/bagging out

[cai1987]

I had good luck in the southern US with a sports bra, a loose undershirt, and a horizontally striped polo shirt. The polo shirt look is pretty masculine, and the stripes help draw attention away from the bulges.

[maccaj]

I can't bind for health reasons, but I've had fairly good luck with "compression shirts/compression undershirts" (sold in the men's athletics section) followed by a loose undershirt, followed by whatever shirt I'm wearing that day. I live in the southeastern US - insanely hot and humid, and I too am heat sensitive, and that combination still lets me breathe - lungs and skin both.

If you're looking for/need to be COMPLETELY FLAT, this may not work for you, but if you're okay with a have-to-know-it's-there-to-see-it chest and a method that won't freak your mom out, this may be something to try. (When I'm feeling really dysphoric, I can fold the bottom edge of the compression shirt back up over my chest and get quite a bit more compression, still without restricting my breathing. It's not painful at all... in fact, I'm now physically more comfortable with this setup than with various binders I tried when I decided to see if I could get away with ignoring the whole 40% lung capacity thing. :))

[sekoia]

I was in a similar situation to you when I lived at home. I had a close, supportive friend of mine (whose parent was also supportive) buy me a binder with lunch money I saved up over a few months. It worked out pretty well for me, though washing it always gave me a heart attack. If you go with this, I would get an over-the-head one from t-kingdom, as these tend to look the least suspicious.

Until I was able to get that, I layered cheep, un-padded sports bras and sports swimsuit tops, which was good for short term use.