Bra Vs. Compression Shirt

[aboywithgirls]

It's definitely a matter of preference. However once you get to a certain size, the scales will start to tip towards comfort. Even at that, each individual is different.  Some men with larger breasts are more mentally comfortable compressing larger breasts even though they are more physically comfortable wearing a bra that supports their breasts. 

[Emcginty]

Under armor sports bras have an outline of a tank top.  And will really compress the chest.  I wear the under armor ones during my physical training time in the military.  No one says anything and if they do you can just say it's that new fitness device to measure your body rates.

[brock123]

Disclaimer: First time poster, long time lurker.

I've only been dealing with this for about 6-8 months now, and I'm small (38B/40A) but while struggling to find my interim solution (I will inevitably opt into surgery if the Endocrinologist can't help me) I have tried a lot of things.  So far I've found that simple compression bras, like Fruit of the Loom sports bras, make me the happiest overall.  

I have a couple compression shirts, one from Underworks and one from Spanx, but I generally dislike wearing them.  The Underworks shirt is more effective, but it's way too long for me, it covers me down to almost the bottom of my briefs, which makes commonplace tasks a bit unbearable.  The Spanx shirt is less effective for the chest, it seems to be more geared to belly flattening, but it's more comfortable overall and I can tolerate it for much longer.  I've given up on the Underworks shirt altogether and only wear the Spanx shirt when I need something that looks "proper" with dress clothes, like a white shirt and tie scenario.  By the end of the day, though, it has to come off.

On the bra side of things, for me it depends on what I think I need for the situation.  I have a couple Underworks "Extreme MagiCotton Sports and Binding Bra"s that are extremely effective, and I'm talking about a completely flat chest here, but they are so tight they hurt my back and after a couple days of use cause chest pains as well.  The neckline on these garments is high, you will see it under a normal button-down shirt, but it's very t-shirt like in appearance in my opinion.  I also have a few Coobie and Bali seamless bras that feel great and are pretty comfortable to wear, but they are encapsulation bras and make me look/feel too feminine -- I want to hide the "girls", not showcase them.  I've never worn these outside of the house.

My comfort zone right now is with Fruit of the Loom sports bras (sized models, not the S/M/L/XL ones) and the Champion C9 sports bras available at Target.  The Fruit of the Loom model 9012 - "Women's Tank Style Sports Bra" is pretty tight under the arms and can't be worn all day, but if you can tolerate that it's pretty effective.  The Fruit of the Loom model 9036 - "Women's Strappy Sports Bra" looks more feminine in the mirror but provides a less uncomfortable experience for me and equals the effectiveness of the model 9012.  I have also found that the Champion C9 sports bra available at Target, perhaps exclusively, is an equally effective and slightly more comfortable version of the Champion "Infinity" sports bra.  I have three of these - one Grey, one Nude, and one White.  I won't wear the White one as it's too tight, but the Nude and Grey fit very well.

In summary, I like bras much more than I do compression shirts, but having a compression shirt or two is a must for certain situations.

I sincerely hope you find a solution that works for you, and I hope that you post it for us to see, it may just end up being the silver bullet some of us have been looking for

[MarcoB]

My comfort zone right now is with Fruit of the Loom sports bras (sized models, not the S/M/L/XL ones) [...].  The Fruit of the Loom model 9012 - "Women's Tank Style Sports Bra" is pretty tight under the arms and can't be worn all day, but if you can tolerate that it's pretty effective.  The Fruit of the Loom model 9036 - "Women's Strappy Sports Bra" looks more feminine in the mirror but provides a less uncomfortable experience for me and equals the effectiveness of the model 9012.

I've found the same thing about the 9012 and 9036.  I generally like the 9036 (but not the racer-back version), but my favorite for comfort so far seems to be the Jockey Air Seamfree.  The FotL 9036 is similar at less than 1/3 the price, but its thick seams might make it a little harder to hide.  The FotL's also don't come in skin color.  You get 3-packs of black, white, and grey.

[aboywithgirls]

Wearing a bra for over 30 years ( as well as trying everything known to woman and man to deal with my girls), it really boils down to this: Comfort vs. Concealment. On one hand, you have the Concealment from using compression shirts, tight sports bras and binders. These aren't very comfortable for wearing all day, every day. On the other hand, you have bras which are specifically designed for comfort and support. Unfortunately these generally don't provide as much Concealment. 

I comes down to the individual for what works best. In my case, I wear a bra. I'm a 38H now in most of my bras so a compression shirt is out of the question. I settled on a years ago. I wear a regular underwire bra. It's what works for me. Most of us with a B cup or greater will most likely end up wearing a bra and not worry what the world thinks.

[mgr]

I agree with ABOYWITHGIRLS.  For me it is comfort (38C) and the heck with having some projection.  I wear an underwire bra everyday because they provide the most comfort.  In my mind, there is no reason to be uncomfortable.  However, i typically wear button down shirts.  I wear a little compression when I golf so the golf shirt fits better and does not accentuate my chest. It is still there though.  Wearing a golf shirt without something holding me would be uncomfortable and a bit to revealing with my larger nipples. 

I have purchased gynecomastia vest and have sent them right back.  Way to hot and compressive.    I wish you luck!

[brock123]

My comfort zone right now is with Fruit of the Loom sports bras (sized models, not the S/M/L/XL ones) [...].  The Fruit of the Loom model 9012 - "Women's Tank Style Sports Bra" is pretty tight under the arms and can't be worn all day, but if you can tolerate that it's pretty effective.  The Fruit of the Loom model 9036 - "Women's Strappy Sports Bra" looks more feminine in the mirror but provides a less uncomfortable experience for me and equals the effectiveness of the model 9012.

I've found the same thing about the 9012 and 9036.  I generally like the 9036 (but not the racer-back version), but my favorite for comfort so far seems to be the Jockey Air Seamfree.  The FotL 9036 is similar at less than 1/3 the price, but its thick seams might make it a little harder to hide.  The FotL's also don't come in skin color.  You get 3-packs of black, white, and grey.

Thank you (and everyone else here) for the feedback/commentary and "support" (pun intended).  I hadn't yet heard of that Jockey model, but it looks rather promising.  It appears to have a very low cut that may just do the trick after it's been stretched out on a typical male chest.  They seem to be in short supply in the brick-and-mortar channel, but I managed to find one online to try out -- thank you.

I feel like we're hijacking this thread a bit, but I do have one other tidbit of hopefully relevant information to share that I have gleaned during my experiences ... if you have found a women's garment that is really close to what you think you need to be comfortable/happy, check to see if it is available in a "heather" color/model.  I've found that heathered material is much more forgiving than their solid-colored counterpart(s).  As a real-world example, I cannot tolerate a solid white size 38 Fruit of the Loom model 9036 at all -- it literally affects my will to live, but the Heather Blue and Heather Gray versions of the same size 38 bra are close to "comfortable".

For me, I definitely prefer bras over compression shirts, but I can't get past the stigma associated with that. The trick seems to be finding a solution that has been designed for a woman that happens to work for a man as well.  But in the end, it's whatever YOU are feeling -- the end goal has to be whatever gives YOU the most comfort and confidence in who YOU are. I truly wish I was in that place, but I'm not (yet).  My hat is off to those of you that are, and I admire you.  For now, I'm still looking to hide what nature has given me

[RAPC]

Thanks again to everyone who posted. This has been very informative and beneficial to me. I don't really mind wearing the bra as long as I can keep it concealed. I am going to stick with it for now and keep the compression shirt in mind.

Thank You!
Bob

[rebcho]

I wear compression shirts and sometimes sleepwear style bras underneath the compression shirt. I've settled on the 997 underworks compression shirt. It's lightweight, compresses well and the least uncomfortable of the ones that I've  tried, although still uncomfortable at times. It does a good job minimizing the appearance of my breasts without too much discomfort. Bras are hands down more comfortable, but they do not hide at all if that is your goal. As my breasts continue to grow, I may end up having to switch to bras as the compression becomes too painful on tender breast tissue. folks will just have to deal with the fact that I have breasts. It's going to be an awkward conversation though with family and friends who don't know though.

[SideSet]

Bras. Only bras. 

 I am too big for a compression shirt to do anything more than squish and make me feel uncomfortable. 

I like the way a bra supports, lifts, and shapes me

[brock123]

I'd like to thank MarcoB for the Jockey Air bralette suggestion.  This is the most comfortable "Acceptance Garment" that I've found to date, by a very wide margin!  I had to return the "L" in favor of an "XL", and must advise that colors like "Cream Blush" do NOT look like they do on Amazon -- "Cream Blush" is extremely pink in reality, for example - oops! I also have problems with the straps "flipping" constantly as I move around, but I attribute that to my personal chest geometry and/or my ignorance about how to make adjustments to a bra for a proper fit.

I am having trouble wearing it outside of the house due to the thin spaghetti straps, though.  The adjusters are clearly visible (to me) under any type of shirt, and I'm still stuck on the perception that people (including my wife) aren't as OK as they think they are when they hug/touch a man and find a bra strap where a muscle was expected.

This is not an unexpected reaction, of course -- everyone here is a man trying to wear a garment made for a woman.  I just wish there was some type of silver bullet garment out there for men that happen to have a couple little boobs hanging off their chest. Something that would neither accentuate nor feminize the condition. It's undoubtedly a pipe dream

So, thank you to Marco -- and you are spot-on -- this bralette freaking ROCKS, but I can't deal with it.  As I've grown, I have found that some of my first bra attempts are now fairly reasonable looking and more comfortable than they were at the time (Kohl's FoTL 3DSCSSB I'm looking at you ...). I really wish that such a superficial problem could be dealt with superficially, but here we are.

I would like to extend my busty brethren a very sincere hope that you are able to find a solution that works for you. Me, well, I'm less than 30 days from asking an Endocrinologist how I can kill my excess Estrogen, and I'm really hoping she can help me, but for the rest of my life I am totally on board with and would like to ultimately celebrate "man boobs".  They are soft, they are squishy, and ladies like them on us as much as we do on them.  How are boobs bad? I don't know, but any man will tell you they are.

[MarcoB]

I'd like to thank MarcoB for the Jockey Air bralette suggestion.  This is the most comfortable "Acceptance Garment" that I've found to date, by a very wide margin!

You're welcome!  Since there are so many choices out there, even after the majority are eliminated because they're totally unsuited to men, I still keep thinking it's unlikely that I've stumbled on the very most comfortable; so I recently ordered a couple of Jockey Modern Micro Cami Strap bralettes, and was very disappointed.  The Air is much, much better, the best of all the ones I've tried.

I had to return the "L" in favor of an "XL", and must advise that colors like "Cream Blush" do NOT look like they do on Amazon -- "Cream Blush" is extremely pink in reality, for example - oops!

I think "light" is what Jockey calls the skin color (or, at least it matches my own skin color fairly well).  "Blush" would suggest kind of pink, right?  I use size L and it's just about perfect for me.

I also have problems with the straps "flipping" constantly as I move around, but I attribute that to my personal chest geometry and/or my ignorance about how to make adjustments to a bra for a proper fit.

I have to be careful to get things situated correctly when I put it on (a large mirror is imperative); but then it stays the way it should pretty well.

I am having trouble wearing it outside of the house due to the thin spaghetti straps, though.  The adjusters are clearly visible (to me) under any type of shirt,

I've worn mine to a couple of family gatherings and no one noticed.  With an undershirt plus dark plaid flannel shirt over it, it's impossible to see unless I hunch over and pull the shirt tight over my back, with no wrinkles.  I wore it to church last Sunday under a dark blue corduroy shirt that has a very thin yellow stripe every couple of inches in a grid, and hard examination in the mirror told me there was absolutely nothing to worry about.  It's winter in the U.S. though, and I'll have to improve my inventory of shirts that are cool and hide a bra well before the weather warms up again; otherwise I'll be stuck with the Modern Micro (not the Cami Strap version I mentioned above) when I leave the house—which is quite tolerable, but definitely not as comfortable as the Air.  I use the Modern Micro under my undershirt and jersey when I ride bike.  One cool short-sleeve shirt I have that hides it well is kind of thick, but cotton, and has dark and contrasting vertical stripes.  Hiding the Modern Micro Cami Strap bralette which I mentioned above is a different matter.  Those straps are thicker (not just wider), so the lines and bumps are much harder to hide.

[Johndoe1]

The real issue isn't that men have breasts, it's societies expectations of men and women's appearance. Because of the structure of breasts in general, they are appendages that protrude off the chest and depending on size will either stand out or sag down and have no muscle or cartilage, just are sacks of fat and glandular tissue that will and do change shape and move as the chest is moved. You basically have two options, you compress them flat as much as possible or you support them with some kind of external scaffolding that surrounds the breasts and by extension, will give some form of enhancement to the breasts even if it is just the natural shape of the breast. The amount of enhancement depends on what style of bra is used and what materials are used and how they are placed within the garment. I have found that a small layer under the shirt is enough in most cases to prevent a hand from determining a bra strap. For me, I can shape the breast anyway I want with bras so I can wear pretty much what I want and not be called out, a trick I realized women do all the time. That is why you can see a woman and sometimes her breasts are undefined while other times the same woman will have very defined and obvious breasts, or as we would say, sexy looking. Once I realized I had that much control over the appearance of the breast, that made the acceptance of them and that I am wearing a garment generally considered, female, to support and shape them as well as added comfort so they were not jiggling and flopping around, I gained confidence and the wondering and wandering eyes have dropped, exactly the oppose of what I expected after I started wearing a bra. I just treat them like women treat their breasts and I can honestly say, life has improved, even though many days I have a layer of lace and flower blossoms and hanging charms strapped to my chest. For me, it isn't what the bra looks like, but what it does for me. The lace and flowers and charms do not effect the purpose or usage of the bra so I don't even think about them.