Saw someone else mention gc2b and the quality decline, and in case y'all need alternatives, look into iguanatrend.
They are a polish company but ship to a lot of places, their sport binders cover pretty much everything and they have several styles + an option to have one custom made for your measurements if you don't fit into a standard one.
As a dude with a bust on the bigger side, the results were a pleasant surprise.
(and fyi y'all, having your bust pushed apart from one another helps a lot, if you struggle keeping them from going back into the middle, look for skin-safe tape to help support it, but please stay safe and be mindful to test it with a small patch since some adhesives can irritate your skin!!)
custom binders are a big deal!! thats great!! binders can come too long or not have enough room in the armpit areas and some people cant alter theirs or if theyre a size no one carries or their torso is formed different this might be their only options
Usually when I recommend something or share recommendations I try to test it out first, but of course I can't do this with everything, especially more expensive things like binders
but what I can do is tell you guys some things to look out for when buying binders and then what to do if it comes, and it doesn't fit right or something isn't working.
First I want to clarify I do talk quite a lot, but these aren't lectures or anything mean spirited, i just genuinely talk a lot and im doing this just because its important information.
ok so first thing with binders they need to be built a certain way just because of the weight theyre going to be holding up and compressing, you have to remember chests are fat which is weight so if its going to be compressed and held then thats going to put the weight somewhere else, in the case of binders and bras too that weight would go on your shoulders to hold the mass up and the compression aspect then puts strain on your upper back and shoulder blade area because its around youre whole torso. so remember, pressure around your torso for the compressing chest aspect and pressure on your shoulders for the holding up the mass aspect. so when youre looking for binders they need sturdy builds because of the amount of strain that goes on them(thats why cheaper low quality ones fall apart faster, they cant handle the strain) This is also why good posture with binding is so important because if you have your shoulders curving in on top of being compressed its going to put even more strain on your upper back and shoulder blades but thats a different conversation and i dont want to overload this with too much information.
this next part i was struggling to find the words, but basically the straps of a binder or bra hold up the weight of the chest, so if you don't have straps on a binder or bra nothing is holding up the weight anymore. It's going to shift around and struggle to stay put and hold your chest and if it's a binder it'll struggle to compress your chest at all or because it can't stay up it'll put pressure on the wrong parts of your torso squeezing your ribs or lower rib area as it struggles
now if its not a binder and someone has a small chest strapless could work but right now were talking about binders so it wouldn't binders need to be secure and snug to do its job.
More on the compression aspect the binder needs to be able to stretch to safely breath while it compresses your chest, this is why things like clips and zippers don't give enough so they're not safe (usually this is when id warn about amazon binders but now more and more companies are popping up selling binders in this style so its not just amazon anymore)
ok big guide on safety over now to talk about this brand specifically
because of those two things, I wouldn't recommend any strapless or zipper or clip binder remember these aren't bras they're built to compress and stretch with you, and they can't do that if they're not made to do that. It's like a safety standard to follow and remember while you shop for binders.
so while I think custom binders are great! I really wish I could get my hands on one and check the stitching and endurance or at least see the stitches more close up on their website and then also the strapless and zipper binders aren't a safe, and it's not a good sign they put those on their website, so I would tread carefully with any brand that has unsafe binder types cause you never know what other corners they're cutting (maybe not on purpose it could be an accident idk i don't want to pain them as like evil supervilian or anything i mean the custom binder is amazing and clearly their cut for the binder you got was great! so its a mixed situation and i have mixed feelings)
but! If anyone has one of these binders and was willing to send pictures of the stitching and specifically where the different types of stitches are because gc2b doesn't do their stitches consistently everywhere giving their binders even more weak spots and I don't know what the other binders do this too this brand and also spectrum outfitters and underworks. And even if they aren't inconsistent they're bound to still have weak spots all things considered so it would be nice to know and be able to like show people how to fix it. i really want to know how they're put together and where what kind of stitching is used so I could update my tutorial on how to alter fix and reinforce binders with more guides for other brands of binders weak spots
i also want to be able to compare their cuts to the other main three aughh because gc2b is the second best for big chests spectrum outfitters is the best but still all of them are still restricting by nature because they're binders but if this one is even better than that? Then that would be groundbreaking!! but I can't test it!!!
im getting off topic not everyone can alter their binder or make their own so custom binders are a wonderful thing to have access too. One thing I do want to warn about is because of the compression and the weight on the shoulders from holding up a chest depending on the chest so sometimes a binder might not work no matter what size it is, so while customs are great It's important to remember it still isn't the solution for everyone.
and one more thing for skin safe tape and parting your chest(a common problem with binders is peoples chests sliding around in the binder this is also a solution for that too) you can use trans tape or kt tape(id say kt tape because its cheaper, it doesn't have the word trans in it, and you don't have to order it online.)
and if you do have a binder thats too long and it doesnt cover enough around your armpit and side area and it ends up digging in super bad (common with gc2b and just binders in general) theres ways to fix that i have a guide on it
now here's the guide on tape
Here's the guide on altering reinforcing and repairing binders no sewing machine required/you don't have to throw out old broken ones etc there's a lot in there
and here's general instructions on taking care of binders and a breakdown of the different fits of binders and another one
lastly sometimes i get nervous about all this information because i dont like how sometimes it can sound like im shutting people down and going no! you cant do that its not safe! not allowed!!! but i really do just want to get these like safety things and nuances in there so everyone has all the information to decide which route to take and the knowledge to know which one is safe because this is great advice and a solid option but with things like binding not every option works for everyone and there arent really like regulations on binders so youll get stuff like zippers when theyre not safe and knowing all of that is just so important
edit; i had to come back to this because i saw they had open back and narrow strap options.
narrow straps means less surface area for all the weight and pressure of holding up the chest to go, its not impossible to bind this way but its going to like hurt more because its the same strain but with lesss surface area, It's difficult to explain but y'know the bed of nails thing from bill Nye the science guy? The bed of nails doesn't hurt because its the same amount of pressure(the weight of the shoulder straps holding up a chest/the weight of the person layed out over the bed of nails) over a larger surface area(the wider shoulder straps/the bed of nails) vs just laying on one nail would hurt(your weight on one smaller thing/the one nail or the smaller width shoulder strap) its the same concept. Binders have a habit of digging in already because they have to be snug and secure enough so its best to not give the binder more opportunities to dig in. (i found the bed nails thing from bill nye was the pseudoscience episode 18:12)
And for the backless binder thing, remember how compression in the binder puts pressure on your upper back? that's because that where the compression gets its leverage from its like a snake wrapping around its prey(ok violent example but stay with me here) if the snake can't properly wrap around it doesn't have enough leverage to squeeze so the binder if It's not fully wrapped around your torso doesn't have the leverage to compress, its like if you had half a corset, or you tried to squeeze and pick up something with only half your hand, It's not really effective. Again this doesn't make the company bad id just only get their sport model(the basic model has a lower neckline not ideal, but like the anon said the sport model is the best because it has the most coverage) but don't use the binder for actual sports you're never supposed to exercise in binders same reason you wouldn't exercise in a corset you need extra room to move and breathe and to many layers isn't good for you(binders have many layers of fabric to properly and safely compress that's also why you don't want to wear them if its too hot out on top of the moving and breathing restriction thing, heat stroke.) use tape for that instead. Binders are wonderful, but they do have their limits.
second edit: it says theyre basic binders are clorhine resistant so you can swim in them, please dont do that. you cant swim in binders, same reasons as up above plus compressive layers in a pool is never a good idea, also the more layers(binders have alot of layers like I said) you have the more water it holds meaning itll make it harder to get out of the pool and swim.
tape is waterproof and sweatproof and its made for sports and swimming its made to not restrict that would be safe for swimming and working out instead.
ok this is like the third edit(third official add on, I always have loads of rewrites those dont count): I went back to add all the links and I saw bill nye the science guy was all on the internet archive god i love the internet archive
oh i almost forgot lets do price comparisons and see where they ship too! oh there is alot of terms and conditions ill have to make a part two this is too much at once even for me
tldr: anyway iguana could be a great alternitive for people who need custom binders just be careful and take that company with a grain of salt considering what else is on the website(strapless, zip ups, backless, small straps binders. recommending swimming in binders naming their line "sports binders" all of these are dangerous i get into the why up there thats why its so long) going to make a part two
