Adapt the rope path for body shape & type

Make your rope fit the person you are tying. This is one of the great, creative challenges of rope, that it is infinitely variable … allowing you to adapt it to the infinite variation of bodies out there! This includes:

Different body shapes, sizes & proportions
Different geometric shapes that you might want to enhance or minimize
Curves or a nice X or V shape
Different primary and secondary sex characteristics:
They may have penises or vulvas or neither or both,
They may have breasts or no breasts or large breasts

As the great UK-based rope educator, Esinem, says: “Tie PEOPLE, not parcels”

Different body shapes, sizes & proportions

Different bodies require a different amount of rope for the same tie. No matter who you are tying on, there are only two lengths of rope: Too short and too long. Be sure you know how to Extend Rope if needed, and various ways to Use Up Extra Rope.

Extending Rope - Lark's Head (7)

Extending Rope

Using Up Extra Rope

If you need to extend your rope, just do it; don’t comment on it. If a person does not know that adding rope is a normal and expected part of tying, they may hear “hang on, I need to get more rope” as a form of size-shaming. This is usually less of an issue with an experienced rope bottom, but a comment like this in front of someone new or someone that is sensitive about their size can be emotionally devastating.

Different geometric shapes you may want to enhance or minimize

Whether it be curves, a ‘V’ shape or ‘X’ shape, rope can be used to enhance features a person likes and to minimize attention on those they may be less confident about. The key is to run that rope along paths or in shapes that have those effects. Techniques like this that allow you to highlight and minimize shapes are generally useful skills; they can also be particularly helpful if working with a trans person to enhance those aspects of themselves that they wish enhanced.

Body Shape - Curves:

Take advantage of rope’s ability to flow. Use it to enhance those curves. There are many ties for waist, hips and chest.

If a person has a wonderful curve to their hips and butt, a Peach Tie can enhance that.

Minnesota Peach (1)

Minnesota Peach Tie

Fisherman's Hobbleskirt

Fisherman's Hobbleskirt

You can explore Rope Corsets or Matilda’s Embrace to create or enhance an hourglass shape. These can go on any body type and feel amazing. If trying corsets for the first time, start with the Quick-Release version because it is much faster to tie and it will give you practice keeping your tensions even.

Matilda's Embrace

Matilda's Embrace

Corset: Simple Wraps + Garters + Boning + Collar

Rope Corsets

Corset with Quick Release Rod

Quick Release Corset

If your partner has breasts, explore ties to enhance or constrain them. More on this below.

Body Shape - ‘V’:

You are tying on a male-presenting body, or tying a person that wants to enhance elements of themselves that lean into that look. If adding a chest harness you would want to minimize the degree to which it looks bra-like, running the lines in such a way as to minimize that effect.

You can choose a chest harness that follows different lines altogether, like the Bulldog Harness.

Bulldog Harness (1)

Bulldog Harness (2)

You could also go with RopeFairy’s Caress or other chest harness and choose where to run the straps to enhance the shape you want. For example: With one strap around the soft waist, one a slightly larger one a little higher than that, and the largest strap around the chest just above its widest point.

Body Shape - ‘X’:

You can enhance an X shape in several ways:

Using straps: With a strap of rope around their soft waist to corset it in, then strap around the hips at the widest point and around the chest equidistant from the waist strap. These can be part of different ties, but having those straps like that will highlight that shape.

This can also be enhanced by binding the limbs outward to extend that X … One way would be standing with arms and legs bound apart to posts on either side of them. Another would be a lying-down spread eagle.

Breasts - No breasts or to minimize/reduce breasts

Even if a tie seems to have been designed for a person with breasts, it can be adapted for someone with no breasts or small breasts.

Think about rope as needing to be anchored to a person’s underlying skeletal structure. If you do that, it usually doesn’t matter if they have breasts or not, unless you are going for a specific look.

The lines of most main load-bearing straps of a classic chest harness go in the same place: Across the upper chest, over the upper part of the sternum and across the mid-chest, over the lower part of the sternum.

The position of the straps remains the same: The lower strap goes just over the lower part of the sternum.

The upper strap over the sternum, on or just above the mid-point, typically about even with the arm pits.

Make sure the straps are quite tight. The rope should be sunk about halfway into the skin on their sides. This helps keep the rope in place. Don’t go too tight though, you still need to be able to slip at least two fingers under that rope.

If the person has breasts, you navigate around/under them.

If they do not, you can make the harness less bra-like by running the horizontal straps of a chest harness closer together and straight across the chest. Also, arrange any vertical support lines so they keep those horizontal straps straight and do not deflect them up or down. You can also run those vertical support straps directly across the pectorals if you do not need to navigate around breasts or if you want to minimize them.

Make a harness less bra-like by running the horizontal straps of a chest harness closer together and straight across the chest

Also, arrange any vertical support lines so they keep those horizontal straps straight and do not deflect them up or down.

Breasts - Enhancing small breasts or to give someone breasts

You can use the vertical element of a chest harness to squeeze the breasts or the flesh of the chest to give it a larger, more bulgy appearance … no matter what they had to start with. You can also lift them higher on the chest, if desired.

You can also help the straps stay in place by adding extra twists to help keep the straps apart.

OR you can do the complete opposite of that and use a technique like the Cow Hitch…

…to give your partner breasts even if they don’t usually have them!

(A'hem)

You can also use various Bra approaches to enhance the chest area in a way that highlights breasts or gives the appearance of breasts even if they are not present.

Breasts - Large breasts

Be sure to place rope straps in the proper spot. Remember, you want to tie to the underlying skeletal structure. If doing a chest harness that has a strap that runs across the lower chest, you want that strap just under where the breasts meet the chest. If your partner has large breasts, this usually means going underneath them. Negotiate how this will be done. You can do so without touching the breasts, by putting rope lower then working it upward under the breast while sliding it across the skin. Or they could lift them out of the way, or – with their prior consent – you can do so.

You can highlight large breasts with breast-focused ties like those in the Bra tutorial. The Cinch & Wrap or Cross-Your-Heart chest harnesses are also great for this, or as a base that will then allow you to “Cupcake” your partner’s breasts.

Plan for where they will be. If you are planning an arms-in harness that will compress the breasts, like the Fisherman’s Harness for example, experiment with your partner to figure out where their breasts will be the most comfortable.

Larger breasts may require support in ways that the standard form of your chosen chest harness does not provide. Many chest harnesses have a strap above and below the breasts and then add a vertical line in between the breasts for decoration or to compress and/or uplift breast tissue. In such cases, larger breasts tend to flow out to the sides unless you add vertical support straps on the outside as well to constrain them. See the Bra tutorial for tips on how to modify a chest harness to add support in various places. The LUIO variant of the Bra Frame shows ideas that may be helpful when framing large breasts.

Many chest harnesses have a strap below...

... and above the breasts...

... and then add a vertical line in between the breasts for decoration ...

... or to compress the breasts ...

... and possibly uplift them ... or all of the above!

In such cases, larger breasts tend to flow out to the sides...

...unless you add vertical support straps on the outside as well...

The Crossing Hitch is optional. You can simply run the rope under the strap, but the Crossing Hitch can help keep the support line more firmly in place.

... to constrain them.

You can also make that Half Hitch go the other way and route the new rope under the breasts to the other side instead of going around the back.

Penis - Adapting a crotch rope element to accommodate a penis or add a dildo

If a harness does not have a crotch rope element – a line running right through the middle between the legs from front to back, so as to interact with whatever is between them – it likely needs little to no modification.

If it does have one, it is easy to modify to accommodate a penis or dildo. Here are two simple ways:

Simply separate the lines of your tail and then run one on each side of the penis or dildo, keeping them against the body at the base of the penis, not running over the balls.

Optional: You can decide if you want to add a knot above or below that point. These optional elements increase the pressure on the base of the penis or dildo, increasing the sensation in the case of a penis or providing a more secure hold in the case of a dildo.

…simply run one strand on one side and the other strand on the other side of the shaft. Make sure the stands are next to the skin and not on top of or between the testes.