A beginners guide to taping

Masc drag artists that want to flatten their chests have a few different options, depending on the situation. For some of us, a sports bra and a large shirt are enough to make us comfortable, for others a standard binder, properly sized. But what if you want to do an open chested look and not sport a flesh toned tank or crop top?

The most common method to creating a masculine chest is tape. Some sort of tape or adhesive is applied to the breast tissue, which is pulled back and up (nipple to the armpit) in order to flatten out the chest, and provide a blank canvas for you to contour on your pecs and rippling abs. While I am by no means an expert on taping and chest contouring (I’ll leave that to Duke Carson thank you very much) I am someone who has tried many different methods, and can at least offer some opinions on the different methods available.

Is it safe?

Any binding technique can have health consequences in the long term.  We’re not even supposed to use binders, recognized as the safest way to bind, for more than 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. And unfortunately, significant studies on the long-term health consequences of binding are few and far between. The rule of thumb whenever you do any kind of binding, listen to your body and if it hurts, stop.

What can I use to tape?

KT tape: Kinesthesiology tape, also called KT tape, sports tape etc, is a little pricey and tends to come in strange colours, But this tape is specifically made to go on your skin and be worn for longer periods of time. You won’t experience nearly as much blistering and irritation with this kind of tape, and it provides a moderate hold, better than medical tape, but not as well as duct tape. It’s also available in most drug stores (Shoppers and Rexall specifically, for the Canadians)

Medical tape: Common medical tape, available at almost any drug store, is the lesser cousin to KT tape. Also designed to go on the skin for longer periods of time, it will offer less discomfort than duct tape, but worse hold than KT tape. Depending on your skin colour, it can also be less obvious than other tapes. Many white or light skinned kings will use medical tape overtop of a more secure method, in order to create a more natural look.

Pasties: Why even tape honestly. Whap your baps out. Some men just have breasts and if you’re comfortable being bare chested in your drag, then go forth and embrace your beautiful masculine self. If your town has a burlesque scene, you can probably even source them locally (or learn to make them yourself)

Duct Tape: By far the most popular option, Duct Tape will hold in place far better than any of the other options. It’s also the easiest to find in the widest range of prices, from cheap dollar tree duct tape to Gorilla Tape. However, prolonged use will lead to some serious skin irritation, blisters and permanent stretching. While any taping method, if used often enough, will stretch the tissue, Duct Tape is by far the worst for this. Think carefully about the risks and don’t push yourself.

And now, a note on taping across the back

It is the general medical consensus that you should never tape across the back of the shoulders. This is very restrictive on the muscles you need to breath and stand, and can result in some serious pain and consequences.

That being said

If you do find that your tape just won’t stay put otherwise, you can try taping across the back to secure things. I would recommend you only use medical/kt tape for this (vs duct tape) and the minute it starts to hurt or you feel short of breath, have a friend help you get it off.

Instead of taping horizontally across the back, trying a diagonal strip going vertically across all your loose ends.

Tips

Exfoliate: One of the major things that makes tape slip and detach is dead skin and oils. Give yourself a good scrub with a loofa or brush to get rid of the dead skin buildup. You can also do a first layer of tape and then peel it off to remove surface debris, but it’ll hurt, and you’ll use twice as much tape.

Anchor Points: Many seasoned kings will suggest putting a band aid, or some other covering over the nipple area to protect it from the harsh tape (this also really helps when taking it off). In addition, consider putting a vertical piece of tape where you want the edge of your tape to reach on both ends. This gives the tape something more grippy to old onto

Spray Adhesive: 10$ (or free if you can mop it) and a godsend. Spray the piece of tape you’re about to apply (lightly!) wait a second, and then secure it in place. Don’t just go spraying your whole side, or you’ll wake up glued to your sheets.

Take your tape off in the shower It’s going to hurt. But it’ll hurt less if you let the warm water loosen the adhesive a bit. You can also swap between scrubbing your face and gingerly pulling off your tape to give it time to soften.

This advice is by no means definitive, concrete, scientifically based information. These are the practical observances of one king to another. I hope I’ve provided at least some basics to help folks begin taping in a way that is safe, and that above all takes into consideration their own comfort and what they want to express with their drag. You should only tape if you want to, for your art.

Happy taping, and safe un-taping,

Dirt