The Pirate’s Guide to Busty Fashion

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“The code’s more what you’d call guidelines than actual rules.” – Pirates of the Caribbean

I’ve had a larger chest since I was probably 13 or 14. I got busty fast, and without the comfortable warning I would have received from family precedent. In the decade since then, I’ve heard a lot of rules about how to dress with a larger chest. Some of them are right. Some of them are wrong. Some of them are optional.

And, as you’ve probably figured out, I’m not really one for “rules.” They can be good guidelines to get you started, but it's so much more important to do the things that make you happy and comfortable.

Here are my "essential" guidelines for busty girls, though they really aren't what you'd call rules.



Under the Wear

I refuse to tell you to wear shapewear, minimizer bras, sports bras or binders to reduce the size of your chest. I often hear those as “essentials” for busty lolitas, but I know that most of them aren’t the most comfortable thing and I’d rather have you dress comfortably than have you have bitty boobs for the day. If you are comfortable with those options and want to pursue them – truth be told, I have a binder that I wear on occasion – then go for it. I will not tell you that you have to.

However, I will say that it’s important to choose undergarments in the right size. You deserve to have a bra that fits right. You deserve to have underwear that doesn’t pinch or slip out of place. You deserve to have comfort, and every outfit will look better when you’re comfortable.

Accent Your Waist

Some people will insist that very high waists and underbust pieces aren’t right for the bustier lady. I, personally, think they’re wrong. Yes, underbust pieces with a fitted waist accent the bust, but they also accent what is, for me, a much narrower part of the body: my waist. Yes, my boobs are front and center, but I look really good.

Separates are Your Friends

I have this issue all the time: dresses don't fit in more than one place at once. Fit perfectly through the bust? They're often a sack beneath. Fit at the waist? Smoosh city up top. Because of this fit issue, I prefer separates. This goes double for my Lolita wardrobe because all the skirts sit at my natural waist, cinching in the tops I wear and creating an hourglass silhouette that most dresses simply do not give me.

That Goes Double for Stretchy Straps

When I do wear dresses, I often have the issue of the dress-mullet: shorter in the front and longer in the back. The one thing that really fixes this for me is dresses with some form of elastic through the straps or repositionable straps because I can adjust the cut a little bit to avoid that problem. It doesn't always work, and it can tend to pull a JSK or OP down lower in the front, but to my mind it's much better than having a hi-low cut that wasn't there before.

Get Toxic Messages Out of Your Headspace


This is the big one: kick the shitty messages out of your headspace. This is especially good if you're interested in fashion where a waifish or childlike silhouette is preferred. Your boobs don't exclude you and they certainly aren't a reason why anyone else should try. You're awesome and your boobs are awesome and the hate they may get because of fashion is not worth listening to.