By Robyn Electra
I was 20 years old the first time I tried to tuck. I had no products, no guidance, nobody I could ask. What I had was a roll of industrial gaffer tape and the hope that it would hold everything in place long enough for me to leave the house feeling like myself.
It held. But it also tore my skin. It left marks that took days to heal. And every time I peeled it off, I told myself the pain was just the price of being who I was. I did not know any different. There was nothing else available to me.
Growing up as a Black trans woman in an environment that was hostile toward trans people and the LGBTQ+ community, I had zero access to products designed for my body. Nobody in my world was talking about tucking, let alone making anything to help with it.
So I made do. And I know I was not the only one.
What We Did Before Safe Options Existed
For years, trans women, non-binary people, and anyone who tucked had to figure it out alone. The methods varied, but the theme was the same: improvise with whatever you can find.
Some people used gaffer tape or medical tape. Others cut up tights, socks, or waistbands and stitched together DIY gaffs at home. Some doubled up on tight underwear and hoped for the best. Some simply avoided going out altogether because they could not face the anxiety of something shifting or showing.
These were not creative hacks. They were survival responses to a world that did not make space for us. The market did not acknowledge that trans bodies existed, so we were left to fill the gap ourselves with whatever was in the drawer.
Many people still rely on these methods today. Not because they want to, but because they do not know alternatives exist, or because they cannot afford them, or because they live somewhere those products never reach.
The Cost Nobody Talked About
The physical toll of improvised tucking is real. Tape pulls at the skin and causes irritation, rashes, and adhesive injuries.
DIY methods offer no breathability, no support, and no reliability. You spend the whole day adjusting, worrying, checking. It is exhausting.
But the cost goes deeper than skin. When no product exists for your body, the message is clear: your needs do not matter.
You are too niche.
Too unusual.
Too much.
That feeling sat with me for a long time. Gender dysphoria played on my mind every single day. Some people go under the knife, but not everyone can. Surgery is costly and not always accessible. I needed another way to feel like myself, and for a long time, the only option I had came with pain attached.
The harm was never just physical. The absence of safe, purpose-built products reinforced the idea that trans people’s comfort was an afterthought. And when the world treats your most basic needs as an afterthought, it gets inside your head.
What Changed When the Right Products Arrived
I spent six years developing and refining gaffs before I launched Gaff and Go in 2017. I was not doing it as a fashion project. I was doing it because I needed something that worked, something that was safe, and something that let me walk out the door without bracing for pain or failure.
A tucking gaff is a purpose-built undergarment designed to create a smooth, flat-front appearance. No tape. No DIY. Just soft, breathable fabric with a secure hold that stays in place all day. My experience and knowledge went into every design, because I was making these for myself and for people like me.
Today there are also proper resources for learning how to tuck safely. That matters just as much as the products themselves. When I was starting out, there was no guide, no advice, no one saying “here is how to do this without hurting yourself.”
The fact that those resources exist now is something I am proud to have been part of building.
The first time I wore a gaff that actually worked, the relief was not just physical. It was the feeling of being seen. Of someone, somewhere, understanding what I needed and caring enough to make it.
What Our Community Deserves
We went from gaffer tape to garments designed with our bodies in mind. That shift matters. But I also know that access is still uneven. Not everyone can afford gender-affirming products. Not everyone knows they exist. And not everyone lives somewhere they can be delivered discreetly and safely.
That is why I co-founded Trans Celebration, and why Gaff and Go runs a Pay It Forward scheme to get free products to trans and non-binary people who need them. Gender-affirming products are a necessity, not a luxury.
I believe that with everything I have.
I care deeply about the need and safety of our community. Every trans woman, every non-binary person, everyone who tucks deserves to feel confident and comfortable in their own body. Not as a reward for enduring pain. Not as something you earn by suffering through unsafe methods. As a basic, everyday right.
That is what I wanted when I was 20. And that is what I want for every person reading this now.
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About the Author
Robyn Electra is a transgender woman and the founder of Gaff and Go, a brand creating gender-affirming lingerie and swimwear for trans women, non-binary people, and anyone who tucks. She is also co-founder of Trans Celebration, a trans-led grassroots human rights organization in the UK.
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