Breastimonial: The Peek-a-Boob Button

The 'peek-a-boob button' is the shirt button across the bust that pops open on busty women. If you see it happen, tell her quietly and quickly. To prevent it, size up or choose shirts with hidden plackets, add fashion tape or a hidden snap between buttons, and try stretch fabrics.

The Peek-a-Boob button…for women out there who have big boobs, you know exactly what I’m talking about. The boob button appears when you wear a button down shirt and you have big boobs. It’s the button that lays across your boobs and more than likely this button will pop open at least once or twice per day. Or If the button doesn’t lay directly across your boobs then you end up with a gaping hole between the two tightest buttons. A.K.A. The Button-Down Boob Gap, "‘Peek-a-Boob” gap,  gaping in the chest area. Or as one friend described it that thing that looks like a toddler is playing hide-and-seek. 

And what’s worse about the boob button issue is that hardly anyone will dare say something to you about it. I compare the boob button to having food in your teeth. You're having dinner with friends or your out with your boyfriend; you’re all smiles and laughing. Then, you notice one of them has something green stuck between their teeth. What is it? Lettuce? Spinach? Seeds? But it doesn't really matter…the question is, should you mention it?

This is the same question you ask yourself when a woman you might not know very well has the infamous boob gap embarrassing wardrobe malfunction. Should you tell them? What is the correct etiquette? Or just let someone else tell them and pretend you didn’t see it? Is there even a polite way to mention it? Can you even keep your eyes off the boob gap long enough for someone else to tell her? Probably not!

I can vividly remember my first peek-a-boob shirt experience. I was 22 years old, a young professional working for a top consulting firm. I was looking fabulous in my business attire and I was on a conference call with a client along with a handful of male co-workers in the same room. Well I guess at some point my shirt popped open and I had no idea it had happened. But I clearly remember seeing a few co-workers glancing in the direction of my breasts. I had no idea. My boobs were so big that I couldn’t even see all the buttons on my shirt from my downward view. At the end of the call, I went to the bathroom and stepped in front of the mirror…and there was my shirt wide open at my breasts and my black bra was showing through. I was horrified! I quickly adjusted the shirt as much as I could but realized I had worn out the button hole and the button wouldn’t stay. Luckily, I had brought a little button down sweater to the office and wore that the rest of the day. From that day forward, I learned to do the boob shirt test.

The boob shirt test consists of putting on the shirt and then sitting down, standing up, walking around, standing up super straight and tall, waving my hands, making a lot of gestures, and finally reaching for things. I do the test whether I’m trying on a new shirt with buttons or just getting ready for work or a video call. 

So should you tell a woman you don’t know very well that she has an embarrassing peek-a-boob wardrobe malfunction? Yes! Here's why. When later she looks in the mirror or feels something airy between her breasts hours later,  she’ll probably think to herself, "Why the hell didn't someone tell me?"

But how do you tell her?

Some ideas…

• The quick comment. ”Hey! Your shirt.”

• The eye contact. Make the super-solid eye content with her and look at boobs with wide eyes and return to the super-soild eye contact.

• The hand gesture. Make eye contact and then the discrete hand motion to your chest with a gentle point towards her chest.

…then return to the conservation, like nothing is happened.

Try making your own Peek-a-Boob shirt with your own Boob Pillow.

Shop now

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Do you have a Breastimonial you’d like to share? We’d love to hear from you! Just send us an email at help@boobypillows.com. We’ll never publish anything without your permission.

Frequently asked questions

How do you stop a button-down shirt from gaping at the chest?

Use double-sided fashion tape or sew a hidden snap between the buttons, or buy shirts cut for a fuller bust.

How do you tell someone their shirt is open?

Privately and simply: 'Hey, a button popped,' with a quick gesture so she can fix it.

What shirts work best for big boobs?

Wrap tops, stretch fabrics, hidden-button plackets and brands that size shirts by bust.

Breastimonial: The big question...are those my boobs on the pillow?

Whenever someone asks 'are those your boobs on the pillow?', founder Karla answers with a smile and an awkward pause. The truth: the boobs on The Booby Pillow are way too big to be replicas of hers, but she's definitely the inspiration.

Whenever I show a new person The Booby Pillow...there is almost always an awkward moment. The moment when they ask "...are those your boobs on the pillow?" I usually don't answer right away. I just smile and let there be a moment of awkward silence. I allow their face to start to go from a smile to poker straight with a little hesitation building (like "oh shit, why did I ask that question?!") and their weight starts to shift from one leg to the other leg. They might even try to quickly change the conversation.

So why is it so hard to talk about boobs? Even a conversation between women and boobs can be awkward. For example, I have a friend who I have drinks and dinner with all the time and I think she has fake boobs, but I have never asked! I have asked other women who are in the same circle of friends, but no one knows!!

And what is the proper etiquette to talk about someone's boobs? Why is this such a mystery? Well, it is not an easy answer. It depends on the relationship, situation, conversation, and the person’s personality. Are they cool or are they super formal? For a guy, I would tell you to let the girl make the first move. If a woman casually mentions her boobs in conversation, then you can talk about them in the same context. Make a comment about the same subject where she mentioned her boob or even a small joke. Also make sure to acknowledge what she said (so she doesn’t think her boob comment made you uncomfortable). Then, watch her body language. Is she now nervous or uncomfortable? If she seems awkward change the conversation immediately! What not to do? Do not get flustered or start flirting heavily by telling her she has really great breasts or by staring at them (which we all know you want to do…but don’t). And definitely do not start making a sex jokes.

For women, it’s easier. A quick compliment about how fabulous her boobs look in that sports bra or dress will spark conversation. You can even have a conversation about types of bra brands or about how your boobs are bouncing so much during the exercise class.

Another way to start talking about boobs is to show them The Booby Pillow. If they love the product, it means they love boobs! It will totally open up the conversation. They will lay on the pillow, play with the boobs and definitely squeeze them! Then the conservation will more than likely flow into talking about boobs, other peoples’ boobs and their own boobs.

So to answer the original question. Are those my boobs on the pillow? The truth is…that the boobs on the pillow are way too big to be replicas of mine. But I’m definitely the inspiration ;)

Whoever’s they are, they’re only on the real Booby Pillow, sold here and on Etsy. Accept no imitations.

Boob Pillow = Conversation Starter

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Do you have a Breastimonial you’d like to share? We’d love to hear from you! Just send us an email at help@boobypillows.com. We’ll never publish anything without your permission.

Frequently asked questions

Was The Booby Pillow molded from a real person?

According to Karla, the boobs on the pillow are way too big to be replicas of hers, but she's definitely the inspiration.

My First Breastimonial

A breastimonial is a true story about life with breasts: the fun, outrageous, sexy and sometimes awkward moments, told by Karla in The Booby Pillow blog series. It's not a dictionary word, but it means a real-life testimonial about her own boobs.

Hi! This is Karla...and this is my first Breastimonial.

What is a breastimonial? Well, it’s definitely not a word you’ll find in the dictionary. To me it means a story about my experience with my own breasts. A real life testimonial about my boobs. Breastimonials are the true stories of my life and my breasts. The fun, the outrageous, the sexy, and the sometimes awkward moments living with my breasts. Find out what happens when a woman stops being self-conscious and starts getting real...Let the Breastimonials begin!

You can read every confession in one place on our Breastimonials page.

Why am I writing about this? Well for starters because it’s my breasts that have inspired our fantastic Boob Pillow but also because it’s a part of my life that I think relates to many people - whether man or woman. I think breasts are something that everyone thinks about but few talk about. It’s a topic that you maybe don’t want bring up during a conversation but there they are…it’s the unsaid thing sitting between you and the other person. And if you have big boobs, like I do, or you’re showing cleavage…the other person is definitely trying to look but also trying not look down at your boobs. And I think it’s fascinating to explore all the ins and outs of how I feel, how other women feel about their breasts - and how the experience of their own life and the world around them has been shaped by their lady bumps.

With this series of blog posts, my hope is to change the conversation about boobs. It’s meant to be a way to celebrate beauty of breasts in a fun, respectful and playful way. Maybe we can all learn a few things together along the way.

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Do you have a Breastimonial you’d like to share? We’d love to hear from you! Just send us an email at help@boobypillows.com. We’ll never publish anything without your permission.

Frequently asked questions

What is a breastimonial?

It's not a word you'll find in the dictionary. Karla defines it as a story about her experience with her own breasts: a real-life testimonial about her boobs.

Can I share my own Breastimonial?

Yes. Send an email to help@boobypillows.com. We'll never publish anything without your permission.

Part 3. The Design Phase or "How hard could it be to put boobs on a pillow?"

Designing The Booby Pillow meant working out how to make a mold for a memory foam pillow. Our founder first tried manufacturers on Alibaba, learned he needed a 3D design, and found a college student to build one. Part 3 covers how hard it really is to put boobs on a pillow.

After understanding that the way to create a memory foam pillow involved creating a metal mold I set out to figure out how to shape a mold. My first stop was Alibaba and I hoped that if I sent some mockup images of what I needed then a pillow manufacturer would create the mold for me and off we’d go. The idea was simple: take a memory foam pillow and put boobs on it. In my mind it seemed so simple.

What could be so hard about putting boobs on a pillow?

I started contacting several manufacturers in China through Alibaba. Things started off easily enough but I soon realized this wasn’t the right process. They asked me for 3D designs and specific file types. I had no idea what they were talking about so it was back to do some research and find someone who could help me create a 3D design. My first stop was Craigslist. I lucked out and found a college student who was into the project so we worked out an arrangement where he’d create the 3D design in exchange for college credit hours. I was on cloud nine. And looking back it was a stroke of luck to get to work with him because it got me started on the path of designing the pillow but best of all he created the Booby Pillow logo which I immediately fell in love with.

Working on creating the 3D design was a big highlight. What could be better than designing the perfect pair of breasts that you can hold any time you want? More research was needed, and research was done. I knew I wanted the pillow to be as wide as a medium throw pillow. It shouldn’t be too narrow that it didn’t work as a pillow but it shouldn’t be too wide or the boobs would look too small relative to the size of the pillow. I settled on a pillow 15 inches wide and set out to find the best shape boobs that would compliment that size in the best way possible. Along the way I came across some pretty technical and simply fascinating research. Who knew so much hard science was looking at boobs. For example this research paper published by the National Institute of Health investigated what would be the most attractive position for the nipple and areola on women’s breasts. As part of their research they surveyed over 2,000 men and women!

But the internet is full of great reference material so I gathered some of the best I could find… for the sake of research.

And after a few trials we finally started to develop the design that looked like the real thing. We had the right dimensions for a pillow and had a sensual set of boobs combined with it.

The first 3D model comes to life

Finally! After months of work and research our boob pillow had come to life. Now it was time to actually make it…

Frequently asked questions

How is The Booby Pillow made?

It's a memory foam pillow, which is made using a metal mold. To get one built, manufacturers asked for a 3D design in specific file types.

How wide is The Booby Pillow?

15 inches wide, about as wide as a medium throw pillow. It's wide enough to work as a pillow without making the boobs look too small.

Who created the 3D design and the logo?

A college student found through Craigslist created the 3D design in exchange for college credit hours, and he also created the Booby Pillow logo.

Part 2. The Research Phase or “How in the world do you make a boob pillow?”

Before making The Booby Pillow, our founder researched what already existed: a few cheap-looking pillows on Etsy and Amazon, none with a realistic shape or high-quality memory foam. Part 2 explains why making one meant a digital design and a metal mold.

Once the idea was born, the next logical step was to start doing as much research as possible. I needed to understand a few things. First of all I wanted to know if there were already other similar products for sale. I did the searches necessary to find a few cheap looking pillows on Etsy and Amazon. None of them had the realistic shape I wanted, and none were made of real high quality materials like the memory foam we use. I also came across the boob sex toy category. These are dense, waterproof, latex materials used for masturbating. The shapes of these are fantastic but I made the decision early on that we didn't want to create just another sex toy.

Years later, those knock-offs started copying our photos, which is why we only sell the genuine Booby Pillow in two places.

I wanted the Booby Pillow to create a totally new category of product that somehow could fit between sex toy and home decor. It's definitely taken some time but I think we've struck the perfect balance. Customers love how realistic the pillow is and good it feels to hold or lay on - but they're just as comfortable having it visible in their home. I think it's a telling sign for example that many of our customers are women who buy the pillow for their husbands, boyfriends or partners.

The next type of research was all about the shape and size we should design. Since I wanted the material to be memory foam I knew it would need to be cast out of a mold, and I figured that the mold would need to be made from a digital design. I didn't know that right out of the gate but after reading a few articles I quickly understood this was the case. I almost ended up going in a totally different direction though. One of the first business relationships that presented itself was with a well known Hollywood props designer. I learned about him through some friends who hired him to build clear plastic mannequin bodies. They were super realistic so I figured he would know exactly how I should create my pillow. And as soon as I told him about the idea he loved it and wanted to partner up. At first I thought this made a ton of sense. A well known and highly talented Hollywood prop designer helping make the world's sexiest and most realistic boob shaped pillow; a no brainer. But once I started learning more about the process of creating props for Hollywood I realised it was very different than what I'd need to manufacture the booby pillow. You see, Hollywood props are made by hand. The initial idea may be drawn, sketched, or made digital. But the next steps involve hand making the sculpture and using it to create a mold made of latex or rubber. The figures that can then be cast from these molds become prototypes and the process repeats itself until you have just the right shape. This works great when you want to make just a few copies but it doesn't work well if you want to create hundreds or thousands of replicas because the rubber or latex molds can’t hold up for that high volume of units.

To make a high volume of figures you need a mold made of either aluminum or steal. And molds of this material can't be created by pouring molten metal around a hand made object. Instead these molds are made by taking a solid block of the metal and cutting it using a CNC (Computer Numerical Control) Router. So a digital design was needed from the start to cut the mold. Long story short, I realized that while the prop designer was highly talented it just didn't make sense for the product I wanted to create. I've been through a few business partnerships and I think it's incredibly important to understand what each person brings to the table before agreeing to work together.

The next part of the research was the most fun; finding the right shape...

Frequently asked questions

Were there boob pillows before The Booby Pillow?

Yes, a few cheap-looking pillows on Etsy and Amazon. None had the realistic shape or high-quality materials, like memory foam, that the founder wanted.

Why does The Booby Pillow need a metal mold?

Memory foam has to be cast from a mold. Hand-made latex or rubber molds can't hold up to hundreds or thousands of units, so high volume needs an aluminum or steel mold cut by a CNC router from a digital design.

Part 1. Why would I create a pillow with boobs?? Because why not!?

The Booby Pillow started with a simple idea: why not a pillow with boobs? Part 1 tells the origin story, from a living room in Barcelona in 2010 to a games startup that had sold boob and penis bean bags. It's the start of the How It's Made series.

I’ve always been a boob guy. My high school girlfriend didn’t have them but by college I was dating a girl with some of the biggest and best boobs on campus. Don’t get me wrong, I nice ass is so damn sexy. But there’s just something about boobs that drives me crazy. I love big ones, natural ones, perky ones, bouncy ones, you name it. Later after college I started dating my current partner and her boobs are one of the things I love about her the most. She knows that and she loves it too.

But ok, why a pillow with boobs? I’ve worked most of my professional life in software and when the idea popped into my head it set me on a whole new path. Finally I’d be able to make something real, something people could hold and touch. Software, for all it’s complexity and creativity is never really there. Plus boobs are just good and fun and they make me and others happy. I’d spent years thinking seriously about new products that solve boring business problems. Why should life be so serious? Why not rejoice and enjoy the simple and fun things in life?

I honestly think that if we all took a step back and just accepted the simple pleasures in life we could all be a little happier and the world a little more peaceful. There should be no shame in admiring a pair of breasts. It’s natural and if done with love and joy then we should enjoy it!

The original inspiration for the booby pillow popped into my mind in 2010 while living in Barcelona. I say "my mind" because to this day my girlfriend swears the idea was originally hers. And my best friend who was visiting us at the time also claims it was his idea. My take is that ideas are a dime a dozen but execution is worth a million bucks.

The origin of the idea was a stroke of luck with the right puzzle pieces falling into place. One of those pieces was meeting the founders of a games startup who were funding their fledgling company using their own cash. No outside investors, no friends and family money, just their own cash. They had managed to build up funds by selling their previous business, a boob and penis bean bag company. That's right. These entrepreneurs told us about their bean bag company and the process of filling giant boobs and penises made of bags half their size. It was hilarious and genius. Here I'd been making money in tech for nearly 10 years when these guys came into my life and taught me an important lesson. Ideas don't have to be one of a kind to work, they can be simple and well executed. The impression had been made.

The other puzzle piece was our living room. After traveling for 8 months my girlfriend and I moved into a barceloneta apartment with a couple other roommates. The apartment furnishing was pretty simple and that was also true for the central room in the house. We had a large coffee table with cushions all around. No couch, chairs or other furniture. But it was perfect. We'd have friends over and lounge in that living room for hours. And it was in that room having this conversation with our new entrepreneur friends that the idea was born. 

What better pillow than one with breasts? We immediately fell in love with the idea. Breasts are beautiful and pillows, like the ones all over our living room, are an essential part of our lives.  And if our friends could make boob bean bags then I should be able to figure out how to make boob pillows right?

Little did I know at the time that I was embarking on one of the most challenging product projects of my life... 

Frequently asked questions

Where and when did the idea for The Booby Pillow come from?

The original inspiration popped into the founder's mind in 2010 while living in Barcelona, after meeting the founders of a games startup that had sold a boob and penis bean bag company.

Why was The Booby Pillow created?

After years in software, the founder wanted to make something real that people could hold and touch. Plus, in his words, boobs are good and fun and make people happy.