Rounderwear contacted me offering products for review, and while their bubble-butt gay boy underwear is pretty cute, I wasn’t sure it was for me exactly. Then, the Body Tank sections caught my eye, and I requested to take a look at the Jam Body Tank.
Glad I did. I’ve worn it frequently since it arrived.
I really don’t like full-on compression shirts. They make it hard for me to breathe. They knock the wind outta me after walking a block or two, or up one flight of stairs. They shove my chest up into my collarbone and sometimes make me feel like my neck isn’t free enough, like I’m suffocating. They make my stomach feel all weird (and some other digestion things you probably don’t want to know about). I don’t like the feeling of wearing one.
I sure do like how my silhouette looks when I do, however.
So, I picked up a “muscle shirt” a while ago, which is basically a regular tee shirt on top and then an elastic band that covers the stomach, and I wear that over my usual binder (aka sports bra—my current pick being Enell) when I want to have a smoother silhouette, or when I want to wear a button-down. It’s not as intense as my compression shirt, but it still makes a difference.
This Jam Body Tank is a lot like that, except instead of being half-shirt half-elastic, it’s all elastic. It’s a lot more comfortable than a compression shirt, but it’s not quite as effective. It doesn’t create the same straight(er) lines that a compression shirt does, but it does still help, AND I can breathe! Yes!
Here’s the description from the Rounderwear site:
Seamless compression tank that provides back support and definition to the muscles. Its detailed design and construction help pull back the shoulders, straighten the back and slim down the waist.
92% Polyamide Sorbtek 8% Elastane
• Improves shape and posture
• Slims down
• Reduces back pain
• Controls body temperature
• Machine wash
I don’t feel it pulling back the shoulders or straightening my back, but maybe I already have good posture? Kind of doubt it, since I’ve got a long history of shoulder trouble. I also haven’t noticed any sort of “body temperature” control, but maybe it knows something I don’t.
What does seem to be true is that it “provides support” and “improves shape” and “slims down.” Basically, it’s Spanx for men. And butches, and whomever might want to slim down their curves into a more linear shape.
I’m very glad to have something other than that compression shirt to wear to “slim down” my shape and make it a bit more masculine, especially for long conference days like I had this past weekend. Wearing the compression shirt for a whole day (or two or four days in a row) is hard on my body. I’m glad for the chance to review it, I didn’t realize products like these are out there and I’m going to keep an eye out for more like this.
I am very interested in this… have started thinking about some kind of binding/compression for the occasion when I want to slim down (and pass more as male). Thanks for this review.
This tank sounds a lot like some tanks they were selling like this at Target (so really affordable) last year. I don’t know if they still have them, but they do now have Hanes brand ‘spanx for boys’ that are t-shirts that have great (but not too tight) compression in the bottom half. The full compression is better though for MOC and trans* folks. I hope Hanes gets on that. What’s the price point on these tanks Sinclair?
The Jam ones are expensive—about $60. Totally makes sense that Target & Haines have compression/faux-compression shirts—I think I bought my other one at Century 21 (discount/department store). And I bet they’re way more affordable from other sources.
This sounds really great. I was wondering about the sizing though. I usually wear men’s shirts in size L, but figure maybe I should go for the medium on this for more compression. Any thoughts?
Hey targ, I would suggest an M at most—I’m usually a M or L in men’s tee shirts and I got an M, it’s definitely large enough. I might even try a S next time to see if it did a little more slimming, though a M is probably more comfortable. Hope that helps!