Falsies

  In fashion, falsies is a term used in English to denote padding for use in a brassiere to create the appearance of larger breasts. The term is also, more rarely, used for pads which create the appearance of larger buttocks. In both cases, there is a note of (more or less) amusement conveyed by the term. In a specifically humorous context, the term refers to moulded plastic replicas of female breasts that may be worn (covered or uncovered) by males for comedic effect. Typically held onto the chest by elastic straps or forming the top part of an apron, they are a perennial favourite amongst university students and at "buck's nights".

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An oddity of the language is that the term is never used to refer to plastic surgery enhanced breasts. When the artificial nature of such enhancements is discussed (often with some levity) these are often called fakes or silicone jobs.

Bosom pads

  In the Victorian Era, girls were considered grown-up when they were 15 years old. However, many girls had not developed large enough breasts to fit into adult clothes, therefore bosom pads were used.

When small, rounded breasts were in fashion, the problem was reversed. Adult women solved the problem with tight corsets and breast binding.

When used after breast removal surgery, as for cancer, the usual term used is breast prosthesis. Little levity attaches to this use of the term.

See also

• Brassiere
• Padding
• Cleavage enhancement