Acquiring clothing for cross dressing

LegacyUser

Ok I'm a registered member but am logging on here as "Guest" to remain anonymous, for now.

I just have a question for any cross-dressers here on this site. And i dont want anyone taking the piss or whatever, serious chat please.

So i've recently discovered that i quiet enjoy wearing womens clothes, but have just tried on bra and thong, but i an really turned on by the idea of experimenting a bit more - tights, shoes, make up, sexy lingerie, etc. And my question is, where do you personally go to buy lingerie, make or whatever for yourself? is it easier to but online or just go to your local Pennys / Ann-summers / etc to buy them?

Just to note, i am currently moved back home wit my parents and wanna be discreet about it. Also just wondering about converting womens clothes sizes to mens clothes sizes. How do i know what size is right for me?

rainbow kirby

Aiiiiiiiiii wrote: »

Also just wondering about converting womens clothes sizes to mens clothes sizes. How do i know what size is right for me?

Trial and error really - it's a good idea though to know your hip/chest/waist measurements and that can be used to try and match things up. You would also probably be better off to try and look at tall ranges to make sure the length is right, particularly in the torso.

Just as an indicator though - for picking a female outfit for fancy dress purposes for a male friend who is 5'8" and about 12 stone, we put him in a size 14 top and skirt from Penneys.

Aard

I've bought make-up in Boots a few times, and nobody's ever done a double-take. As long as you don't make a big deal out of it, nobody else will. For clothes, I once bought something in Penney's on O'Connell St, which wasn't the best move. Dundrum would have been better.

coolvale

i have bought on ebay but you really want to know your size, i have bought from oxendales in the early days.
you will find that in the early days you will buy things that dont suit you.
is there someone say a female friend you could ask to go with you to advise you?
you will find most shops are ok after all they are there to make a sale.
you may pm me if you wish.
good luck.

TylerIE

Iv often bought 1-3 items for female friends as presents etc in shops and never a big deal.

I think Pennys / Dunnes would be good as you can browse the stuff with minimal attention paid to you and perhaps even try the stuff on depending on how busy the store is. Furthermore if shy when you buy ask for a gift receipt (Dunnes do them anyway) and then it looks like a present for someone else - Plus you can bring the stuff back if its the wrong size and have a good excuse for same.

Also as Dunnes etc have such easy return policies it may be the perfect place to experiment with sizes.

I wouldnt buy more than two or three items at a time if your trying to be discreet though.

As for Anne Summers - I seriously doubt the staff there would look twice,
but Id get used to sizes etc by experimenting elsewhere.

I dont CD so afraid I cant help on sizes

LegacyUser

Firstly forget about embarrassment, plenty of straight guys buy their girlfriends clothes/underwear as gifts now a days that all their staff are trained to expect men buying womens clothes and most stores expect TV/CD's to be coming in in male mode to buy clothes so a lot of the bigger stores (Dunnes, Penney's, M & S etc) train their staff to actually be helpful if asked (Chances are it'd be an older, female member of staff that would ultimiatly help, I don't know why that is but 90% of the time it is, I guess they are just less bothered by it) this falacy of there being such a thing as "Gay friendly"/"Trans friendly" is a load of crap because money is money so the store owners don't really care who's buying as long as that person is paying and staff are trained to respect customers no matter what they are buying or what their gender, they can't afford not too.

As regards other customers "Looking at you", why do you care? do you know those people? let them look, if asked an hour later I'd be willing to bet they couldn't pick you out of a line up so ignore them. At worst that night they'll be at home eating their chips vaguely remembering the "Tranny" they seen buying a blouse in Dunnes, snigger about it a bit and then move on with their lives and never think about you again so who cares? but then again while they are at home having a Mc Snigger and large fries you'll also be at home enjoying your latest purchase so won't give a toss (no pun intended) anyway will you?

As regards sizes it depends in the type of clothing, the bottom half is pretty easy, leg lenght stays the same so thats like for like, if you are a size 32 waist in mens jeans you are a size 12 in womens, if you are a size 34 waist in mens you are a size 34 in womens and so on. The top is the hard part to judge because thats when the actual item makes a difference so say you are a size 32/12 waist then chances are your body is pretty uniform all the way up to your ribcage (unless you have a beer belly or something so this advice is based on if you are pretty uniform from navel to just under your chest, I'll explain why later) then say you are buying strappy underwear (A cami set) then buy the knickers in your normal size and the top one size higher so if your waist is 12 your top should be 14 because (the explaination) as a male your ribcage is larger and a bigger size on top will give more "give" for lack of a better word although going as far as a 16 for the top be even more comfortable for you, you know your body so it's a judgment call but while judging don't forget most underwear straps are adjustable so just because it looks to short on the rack doesn't nessassarly mean it is, just when you are deciding remember that (and I'm not sure if this is what you want or not) that the size 14 will pretty much fit to your chest but if you wanted to wear a padded bra under that more room would be needed hense a larger size.


Now outerwear, you're shoulders are wider than the average girls so you have to take that into account (Considering you also have a wider chest too, even wider if you have a padded bra on) but mens upper clothes don't often come in sizes other than "Small", "Medium", "Large" so it can be hard to equate that to a female 32, 34, 36, etc so don't waste money on an expensive top trying, "Small" male would be about 34/36 female (In this case it depends on the shop, penneys and Dunnes tend to be more generous with their sizes whereas somewhere like M & S can be more conservative so a 34 that would fit you in Penneys wouldn't be the same in M & S especally for fitted clothes) go to somewhere like Penneysand spend 15 on say 5 T-shirts ragging in size from your male size to the 4 other sizes above so (lets assume size 32 again) a size 32, 34, 36, 38, 40 and try them on and which ever fits the most comfortable add a size to it so if the most comfortable is a 34 then if you are buying a blouse buy a 36, why? because you also need room for that padded bra I talked about earlier or you'll be popping buttons everywhere.

Shoes again an easy fix but complicated solution, firstly always buy a wide fit shoe (trust me you'll thank me for that little nugget of advice someday). If you are a size 8 in mens you are a size 9 in womens FLAT shoes(Although in Penneys and Dunnes you could find size 8's that fit perfectly, I kinda get the feeling sometimes that they deliberatly try to hook the TS market because they do it so well) the 10 if you plan a night out, size 10's can easily be found in Evans and don't look as big as they sound, as an example Paris Hilton is apparently a size 8 and that's only an inch smaller than a size 10 and trust me no one ever really pays attention to your shoes, ask Andy Dufresne!

Finally

Ist said

"I think Pennys / Dunnes would be good as you can browse the stuff with minimal attention paid to you and perhaps even try the stuff on depending on how busy the store is."

No, this will never happen, you can not, should and never would be allowed try womens clothes on in a shop for one simple reason, Dunnes and Penneys aren't a dressing service and if the are good enough to respect you as a customer then you should be good enough to respect them as a retailer and using their dressing rooms as such is unaccetable.

TylerIE

quick advise wrote: »

Firstly forget.................. ask Andy Dufresne!

Thank you for your detailed and informative reply, which I have little doubt will be of use to many people not only the OP. However....

Finally

Ist said

"I think Pennys / Dunnes would be good as you can browse the stuff with minimal attention paid to you and perhaps even try the stuff on depending on how busy the store is."

No, this will never happen, you can not, should and never would be allowed try womens clothes on in a shop for one simple reason, Dunnes and Penneys aren't a dressing service and if the are good enough to respect you as a customer then you should be good enough to respect them as a retailer and using their dressing rooms as such is unaccetable.

I beg to differ here, my only concern re trying on clothes was the OPs personal embarrassment.

A shop which offers individual male and female changing room surely cannot say to a man "your only allowed bring those clothes into the male dressing room". If he wishes to try on tshirts or tops that are designed for ladies I cannot see any justifiable reason for the shop to refuse him.

For practicality and to avoid major public attention I dont think it would be advisable for a man to go to a gents dressing room with only ladies apparel, but if he was to have two female tops with a male top I cant see the staff paying major attention, as he will be trying them on behind closed curtains.

The shops provide dressing rooms for customers to gauge sizes and appearance.

Bobby42

i've gotten make up in boots without any hastle, and i've gotten lingerie in m&s and the staff there were really friendly about it.

vocalvenus

Hi there folks, found this thread on a search and just wanted to ask a quick question!...I'm a girl from London living in Dublin City Centre and what I want to do is set up a reasonably priced discreet clothes shopping service for cd's and tv's with an emphasis on a friendly personal touch that clients could have confidence in..maybe aimed more at those who are not so much into the social 'scene' side and would value a service where by they could meet a female and just shop for the clothes they would like in a discreet way?

..is this something you think people would be interested in? I did this for a couple of cross dressers In London, one was a personal friend the other just required clothes but did not really feel comfortable going into stores for himself...any help/suggestions??

Aard

I'm not particularly well versed, but I imagine that such a service would be especially popular with transgendered people, particularly if they have no idea how to dress for their body type, or how to mix and match clothes. (I saw it on Oprah once...)

George.ie

There is a shop in Blanchardstown called the lingerie factory outlet and the staff in there are brilliant for helping CD to choose the right clothing and also if they haven't got anything in stock that you would like they can order it in for you. I have been there several times and i feel really comfortable going in.

The shop is out pass Blanch centre in Ballycoolin and they are great.

Azure_sky

I'm transsexual rather than a crossdresser but if you want cheap clothes I recommend second hand shops. Most of the stuff they have would be regular womens clothes, and I'm assuming you want more sexualised clothing. I guess an adult shop might cater for crossdressers.

LegacyUser

I'm in the same boat as the thread creator. I have a thing for cross dressing, tried on a few knickers, leggings and bras when I was young, and looking to fully cross dress but I would feel embarrassed about going into a shop and buying women's clothes or make up/cosmetics. I could ask my ex girlfriend who I'm friends with now to buy some but it would feel weird. I also always think of asking her to put make up on me but again it would feel weird. By the way I'm coming here as a straight man that is into cross dressing.

L.Jenkins

Please create a new thread and don't be dragging up old ones.