Corsets, Clinchers and Basques
Most of us trannies don't have a perfect female figure - far from it! In addition to having chests and arms that tend to be too muscular, we don't have a waist or hips that look anything like those of a real woman - we are square, they are curvy! Now if you're happy just to dress the part, put on the make-up, wig, clothes and shoes and leave it at that (as many transvestites are) then that's just great. But there are those special times or special situations where doing something extra to make yourself look more feminine is worthwhile. You might also like the feel of having your ribs crushed - whatever takes your fancy! Enter the corset, waist-clincher, basque or bodice.
Actually, before going any further, let's just clear up one thing - a corset and a waist-clincher are usually made of tough material and are 'boned' which is to say that they have struts to help them take on the particular shape they are trying to achieve. Thus, corsets and clinchers are the things to use when trying to take on a female shape. A basque (also know as a bodice and also sometimes called a teddy/teddie in the UK), pictured on the left, is more of a cosmetic item that is designed to look like a corset but which does nothing to alter the shape of the person wearing it. We have included reference to it on this page as the terms are often misinterpreted - though it really doesn't matter what you call it as long as you know what the differences are.
The Good, The Bad and the Wrong…
 Waist Clincher |
 Underbust Corset |
 Overbust Corset |
- Over or Under? Corsets typically fit in one of two places, either over (i.e. covering) or under (i.e. leaving uncovered) your boobs. Now for a regular girl, who has real boobs, using an underbust corset and leaving their breasts uncovered (to be covered separately by a frilly bra, maybe) might look great. For most T*Girls it just doesn't work as the boobs in the bra don't form the right shape when pushed and squeezed by a corset - so it is best to use an over the breast type (with a bra underneath to hold your breastforms in place). The exception here being waist-clinchers which tend to finish way below the boobs and only have the effect of making your waist look more realistically feminine.
- The Long and Short of It Transvestites' bodies tend to be much longer than regular girls. Most corsets are designed specifically to fit the body length of regular girls and hence will not fit trannies properly, either coming too high around the waist or not covering the boobs properly. Pay special attention to the length of any corset you fancy buying before purchasing it. Longer ones are available both from specialist tranny retailers and from some more regular outlets but are much rarer (and, sadly, often more expensive).
Sizing a proper corset can be quite difficult. They typically come in sizes which are measured in inches, in the same way that bras are. A 26 inch corset is the size which your waist can shrink to if pulled tight, not the size you are around the tummy before you put it on. Measure around your tummy and then decide how tight you want to be pulled. Losing up to 4 inches is quite possible and not too uncomfortable; any more than this and you're very much into the territory of the kind of pain that is more typical of that experienced in dark corners in fetish clubs! You do see some girls with corsets tied unfeasibly tight but this takes both practise and stamina and is most definintely not for your average tranny!
