Hello, My Name is Linda: Part 4

[Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3]

The last few months I have been reporting to you about my experiences with a group called ‘Bracoholics Anonymous’. BA is a group of men, mostly crossdressers, but including some whose fetish does not extend beyond wearing women’s lingerie. A number of their partners also come along to the meetings.

As I re-read my earlier articles I get the impression that I was presenting myself as somehow the star of the show. That was hardly the case. At the regular meetings we each had an equal opportunity to present our stories and to validate each other. While I initially went to the meeting expecting that we members would be expected to help each other control and repress our urges to covet wearing brassieres that was far from the case. I was pleasantly surprised to find that most of the testimonials focused on how we could normalize our ‘fetish’ and know that we were not alone in wanting to peruse the bra ads in magazines or in browsing the lingerie sections of department stores.

When I declared that I probably owned close to 100 bras, a few of the others laughed and revealed their collections probably numbered over 200 to 300 bras. What Imelda Marcos was to shoes, my new friends were to bras.

Some of our guests proved to have treasure troves of information about our favorite subject. One was Frank/Francine who showed up the first time in male mode and said nothing. However, thereafter she was the tall, sexy Francine, always beautifully dressed with a large head of auburn red hair. She must have been an academic in her ‘other life.’ When Francine finally took a turn to speak she entertained us with some solid research on the bra and its role for feminine comfort. Her hypothesis was that a bra could do the wearer more discomfort than comfort if it were not properly sized. Francine told us that there were reputed to be some 85 different bra sizes sold world-wide. Many years ago that number would have surprised me as it seemed every woman I got past first base with was wearing a bra size 36 B which was okay because in those days I could wear a size 36 bra quite comfortably and a rolled up pair of socks in each cup nicely filled out the bra I might have borrowed. But I digress.

Another fact I remember Francine saying was that all bras were made with left and right cups being equal sizes. Few women are made that way, she contended. Francine’s conclusion was that everyone –GGs, TSs, CDs, etc should treat herself to a good bra fitting. Find what works for you in style but most importantly in comfort and stick with it.

Diagram A.

Naturally, as with any group filled with bright and intelligent people, the Bracoholics Anonymous probably had its fair share of members with an engineering background. I suspect Mary T was one. She entertained us with a marvelous explanation of the construction of a bra and how it should work to provide the wearer comfort and relief. It was as if she was teaching a class in structural engineering. I won’t go in to a lot of the details but she did emphasize the importance of the breasts, be they natural or silicone, being supported fully in the bra cups and the cups being supported by the straps and bands. See Diagram A.

She went on to show a diagram of how that in a properly fitting bra the pressure of the boobs should actually be distributed to the bra’s front bridge and to the band passing around the torso, not the shoulder straps. As I sat there listening I could silently confirm that I was feeling pressure, pleasurable pressure, at exactly those points and only a comfortable sensation of light weight on the shoulder straps. See diagram B.

Diagram B.

Perhaps unlike the female wearer I enjoyed the sensation of weight distributed from my breast forms to various parts of my bra.

One of the most entertaining talks was by Kelly. She decided to educate us about the many different styles of bras. She started by explaining why women and girls wear bras:

• Hide nipples
• Delay (but not prevent) sagging
• Prevent bouncing of breasts, and thus avoid pain and discomfort
• Make some clothes look better
• Help show cleavage
• Control sweating under the bust
• Enhance beauty
• Prevent backache and spine issues in busty women
• Act as underwear (adding insulation and reducing friction) for the upper part of a woman’s body

She got a good laugh from the audience when she explained that for the crossdresser the reasons for wearing a bra were somewhat more limited:

• Hold the breast forms in place.

Diagram C1.

She went on to explain and show how different styles of bras did a better job of certain functions than others. This was already obvious to all of us but she explained it in a humorous fashion. I wish I had all of her illustrations to show you. But for example here is how an uplift bra actually lifts up and can create an impressive amount of cleavage where normally there might be none. See diagram C.

She also had dug up an explanation of the lettering in bra sizes. Diagram c1

Kelly concluded her talk by introducing us to a great new game – Bra Bingo. She distributed cards on which were printed illustrations of different styles of bras. She invited each of us to check off each style of bra we owned or had owned and worn. She invited that for each of us that could mark five in a row could enter a draw for a special prize. 

As you can see I was able to complete one row. Some members I’m sure could fill the card many times over. Needless to say I did not win the draw.

While the group and the comments were overwhelmingly supportive one time we were given something to think about. One of the female partners asked a question of for the group. She had done a quick survey by looking around the room. She presumed everyone there – GG and TG were wearing bras. “Why was it,” she asked, “that of all the genetic women there not one showed outward signs she was wearing a bra. However among the TGs in the group almost all showed signs of a bra by having lines in the fabric of her blouse or dress, or the bra color showed under sheer fabric or in one or two cases the outline of one’s bra was exposed by a low neckline.“ (Me: guilty on that last one).

As we looked around, her observation was obvious. For some of the t-girls the reason was that they were trying to squeeze too much body in to too small a bra or garment. I don’t know why it happens that when we wear too small a bra even a relatively loose fitting blouse will follow the squeezed torso inward. It happens to GG’s too. Take five minutes at any Walmart and you will see what I mean.

For others, and I include myself in this category I just like the idea that when someone looks at me from behind they are probably going to notice the outline of a bra, usually a white bra unless it is black under black. It just seems to add to my feeling of femininity to be exposing that bit of lingerie to others.

I often like to accentuate my feminine image in front a well. I do not have very feminine breasts. I do have a reasonable set of pectoral muscles that when I tape them together can create a fairly authentic looking cleavage. So I want to show the cleavage off. Again: visit Wal-Mart and you will see I’m not alone. The problem is that to conceal my breast forms I need to wear full support bras. V-neck blouses and tees designed to show cleavage are meant to be worn with more revealing bras. The solution for me is to wear tops and bras where the colors of the two fabrics blend at the neck line. 

So where did I find my perfect full support bra? Playtex markets a bra directly aimed at the transsexual market. It is even tagged TS. The first time I found one was in a Goodwill store. I did not know it was a TS bra but the 38DD size and the $4.95 price were perfect. With the lace outer fabric and the lined full cups I thought I was buying a $70 to $80 bargain. The off-white color seemed to suit me better than bright white, too. The next Playtex TS bra I found was on the racks of a Ross: Dress for Less store. I discovered it was not a $80 bra but was selling at Ross for $7.95. This one was beige so I also bought it. What I like about the Playtex TS bra are the ways their cups fully take my breast forms and their straps comfortably distribute the weight of the forms. 

Even when I read the label and found out the Playtex TS did not stand for transsexual but instead for true support that has not diminished my love for my new favorite bra.

Conclusion: I enjoyed my association with Bracoholics Anonymous. However as with all good things it had to come to an end. The end came for me when traveling around the country I could not find a BA group anywhere else. Then I woke up one day and realized it was all a fantasy in my dreams. I hope you have enjoyed my fantasy.

If you would like to get together in a chat room and talk about our favorite bras let’s do it. Or feel free to share your best bra stories below.

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Tags: bras, brassiere, crossdressing, featured, Transgender

Category: Transgender Body & Soul, Transgender Fun & Entertainment