just clothes ?

[Regan]

I agree with everyone, the clothes are a wonderful tool for making me feel the way I want to feel on a daily basis. I just feel so much more complete when I am a lady.

[Nikki A.]

Quote from Lorileah
If tomorrow men's clothing looked just like women's but still said "Men's" on the tag would you start wearing them?

Actually, yes I would as a male if I could and not be fired or harrassed. That being said, my fem side can also be expressed in wearing jeans as long as I want to present as a female (the make up, hair, and "enhancements".

[Brenda456]

Clothes can be soft and pretty. I like soft and pretty. . .

[Suzette Muguet de Mai]

They are just clothes, like we are still just a man in a dress. Its just some take it further and believe they are actually female but born wrong. It all boils away to being simply "Testosterone enveloped in threads".

[StephanieT]

It is more than just clothes to me. I relate it to being an actor and assuming the role of the character I am playing. I had the role of a macho male pounded into me when I was young and YES literally pounded into me. When I get to dress, I allow myself to be softer, genteler and more sensitive. Something that is hard for me in my traditional male role. I also like feeling more attractive with a little makeup on. Even dressed as a guy, I put on some makeup and feel better. Maybe it is a self image thing, maybe something is missing in my life, but dressed up I feel more complete. And yes if heels, a skirt and makeup were acceptable for a guy, I think I would get the same feeling. Today I went to my counseling appointment in womens jean, heels and otherwise a guy. My therapist gave me compliments and loved the heels. I am finally accepting that I am who I am. The rest of the world can deal with it even with 4 inch peep toes and nail polish on a guy.

[josee]

It is just clothing when you come down to it. If you feel feminine then you can do that in jeans (sorry Karren) and a T-shirt. You can do that in flats not heels. It is who you are. The clothing is just a big flashy billboard. It is how you get noticed (or notice yourself if you are still in the closet). It is what is in your mind and in your heart. All the labels as to who can wear what is all set up in people's minds. There is no reason a dress is female except some moron years ago decided it should be and people bought it. Practicality aside (which was an excellent argument women could use when they decided it is just clothes) it is a bit of cloth. It does not make you anything more or less than you are anyway.

Are the clothes important to you being a TG? Then I would say it is a fetish more than anything else. If you can sit at your desk in a three piece suit, tie and oxford shoes and still think of yourself as pretty, then it is who you are.

I think you are on to something here Lorileah. They really are just clothes. Lying on the bed they can't do anything to me. And then I put them on. Then the clothes can help get me into a more feminine frame of mind. But that feminine mind is there all the time, it just has been repressed due to peer pressure and such.
I have been taught by society that I am supposed to "act like a man". I am still the same person though in my work uniform of steel toe boots, all cotton dickie type pants and shirt as when I pull on a slip, a bra and a dress.
However, when I brush on that foundation, coat my lashes with mascara and line my eyes, when I pull on the hose, slip and dress that encourages and strengthens my feminine mind to come more to the front and begin to take over.

Some times I wonder when I am really crossdressed, in a dress or my work uniform.
Does that make sense to anyone?

[Tanya C]

Perhaps they are just clothes. But it's the reason we wear them is what gives them significance.
Personally, I wear women's clothing to physically express the feminine side of my personality. There are times when I wish to look feminine as well as feel feminine. And with all due respect to Lorileah, a suit and tie just doesn't cut it. It has nothing to do with fetishism but rather an expression of gender identity.

[Tara D. Rose]

I guess for some , it is just clothes. And for others, it goes far beyond clothes. For the TG spectrum goes far beyond just clothes for so many and for some others, it can only be just clothes. I cannot say that it is and I cannot say that it is not, just clothes, for each of us, it is so different from one to another. As far as the way I live my life and on my TG side I can say with all certainty, that it is far more then just clothes, but I also realize that for so many others, it is just clothes. And so I ask, for those that feel it is just clothes, and clothes only, are these the ones that start cd'ing later in adulthood only?
L&R................Tara

[Sandra]

Wow what a turn around, time and time again I have seen threads on here by GGs and they have been told "but it's only clothes" when they have been having trouble accepting. Guess in the future I'll point members to this thread when the saying comes up "but it's only clothes"

[noeleena]

Hi.

So this is were the difference comes in , im still a female / woman reguardless of the clothes & no matter what i wear or not, tho i hated male clothing & if i had to wear male clothes i would change that to suit myself as a woman.
Percepsion of who you are is not allways how you look or what you wear,

...noeleena...

[jillleanne]

It's never been just about the clothes. I just didn't know it at the time as a child. It's all about showing myself and others my feminine side and who I am as a person. It's a personal and public expression of my normal feminine self.

[Badtranny]

Wow what a turn around, time and time again I have seen threads on here by GGs and they have been told "but it's only clothes" when they have been having trouble accepting. Guess in the future I'll point members to this thread when the saying comes up "but it's only clothes"

I know Sandra I am a little surprised too, I was sure this thread would go another way. It IS difficult to keep track of things around here.

[Joanne f]

For some it can be just about the clothes and accessories but for a lot it runs much deeper than that as the clothes can start you off on a connection with something within yourself, a feminine side that once accepted seams very difficult to ignore which also has a habit of growing more that disappearing .

[StephanieT]

Wow what a turn around, time and time again I have seen threads on here by GGs and they have been told "but it's only clothes" when they have been having trouble accepting. Guess in the future I'll point members to this thread when the saying comes up "but it's only clothes"

Well in a way it is only clothes. We are still the same person, we just put on the clothes and the makeup. Yes, we may act a little different but hopefully after the initial excitement of dressing and the pink fog clears, the difference will be an improvement.

[Lucy_Bella]

Wow what a turn around, time and time again I have seen threads on here by GGs and they have been told "but it's only clothes" when they have been having trouble accepting. Guess in the future I'll point members to this thread when the saying comes up "but it's only clothes"

For some no it's not just the clothes, I understand that they don't need the clothing to feel feminine ( it is stamped in their DNA at birth) .. Me , hell yes it's the clothes!! Why ? because just like the under dressing ,the fit and cut of soft female clothing is letting you know that feminine feeling is possible feeding that urge ( fetish , turn on ..???? etc ).. In fem I am a pervert with reason to emulate what I so much desire.. I don't need clothing to feel Macho ..

[JessicaM1985]

For me it really is just clothes. Granted, wearing them helped me to discover who I am, but now that I know, I'm still Jessica even if I have a 5" goatee and looked like a grease monkey. That said, I prefer the clothes and makeup because I feel more comfortable in them. But I'm not a girly girl either. I love my t-shirt and jeans look. But I sure wouldn't mind wearing a bra and panties either. The wig and makeup just better illustrates the person inside and for all to see.

[KrystalA]

Yes, it realy is much more than just the clothes. There is that euphoric feeling that comes with dressing, feeling, and looking feminine. It comes as a whole package deal.

[TGMarla]

It certainly was the clothing that got me started. Dresses, heels, pantyhose, all forbidden fruit for a guy. Curiosity won out, and once I tried it, I found that I really liked - no, loved - wearing feminine things. Back then, I was such an undersized guy compared to other males my age, that it brought on something of an inferiority complex. I noticed that such musings were not at all important to girls; they seemed so much more comfortable in their skin than I did. I didn't know anything of the competitions that girls had between them, and the grass seemed greener on the other side. I felt so comfortable, so right presenting as a girl and pretending in my mind that I was atually female. That has never really gone away, either. I grew to be really obsessed with the clothing and the presentation both. It got really bad at times, and I'd long to transition and actually "be" a woman. But life, as it has a habit of doing, got in the way, and I grew into the life I already had.

Now it's more about the clothing than it is about some inner manifestation. Don't get me wrong; that inner woman is still there, and always will be. She just knows that she's never going to get that female genetalia she so longed for. And she's much quieter these days because of that. I love presenting as a woman and weaing women's clothing. I'm dressed to the nines right now as I type this. I absolutely love it, too. But things change over time, and now I can enjoy my girl time for the clothing more than I used to. In those days, it was all about being female, and to an extent, it still is. But I can now dress without all the turmoil in my head over it all. And in many ways, that makes it sweeter.

[NicoleScott]

Broad generalization to follow:
If we wear feminine clothes to express an internal feminine identity, it's not about the clothes. Identity dressers: it just feels right.
If we dress because it brings some kind of pleasure, it is about the clothes. Pleasure dressers: it just feels good.
We're not all the same.

[SANDRA MICHELLE]

It's so much more than "just clothes", for me and for many others. It is a tough task to put it into words or to try and explain it to someone that doesn't know what I am all about so I don't try. They say the clothes make the man, well they make the woman also, so that's part of the answer. I want it all when I want it and society and life is keeping me from it, well I am keeping me from it, nobody else to blame. I'll just be the secret girl I have been for 55 years and maybe in my next life I'll be the girl I have always wanted to be. Oh Sandra get a life!!!!

[Tara D. Rose]

That may or may not be true Sandra. But I can say with all certainty, It has never been me. I am always consistant on here. My post's coincide with eachother everytime. And I'm not even a politician. ..lol...
L&R....................Tara

[rexy]

Thanks girls to all the replies , it is sooooooo much more than " just clothes "

[eluuzion]

The baby shoe in the curio cabinet is just a shoe.
Grandma’s locket on your necklace is just a locket.
The breast cancer bracelet on you wrist is just wide rubber band.
Grandma’s diamonds set in your ring are just diamonds.
The name/image on your skin is just ink.

yeaaaah, right

“Every picture tells a story” (Rod Stewart)

I believe that it is not the items and events themselves that create the emotional attachment, but the meanings we assign to them.

I am innately curious. When I was a kid I often felt uneasy about interactions with people. Not in the sense of being shy or distant. I mean a feeling that I was not getting the “truth”. At first I thought some people were just lying to me. It did not feel like intentional lies designed to deceive me. It was more toward the feeling people were “hiding something“, but not specifically from me…but as if what I was hearing and viewing was just “not the real story”, or “complete story.” It was more of an uneasiness, like I just “did not get it”. (I was just naturally perceptive)

I just made a spy game out it. Whatever I saw and heard were just a camouflaged clues connected to what was “really” going on. My job was to figure out the meaning, using all of the other cues to piece it together. (non-verbal, etc). I discovered it worked well. It improved with age and targeted education. The “up” side is that I ended up being pretty good at reading people and meanings. The “down” side is that people ask me a lot if I am a “cop” or “spy”.

My point in posting the above is simply to provide some background to explain my perspective on the topic.

In my opinion, if you want to know what is going on…pay attention to what things “mean”, not what you hear and see on the surface.

So my answer is ...No...there is no such thing as Santa Claus
and there is no such thing as "just clothes"

[Claire Cook]

It's not about the clothes for me, anymore, it's become something...deeper.

Yes, I think that's how I feel. It's like, well, me, and I'm just not right unless I'm at least partly dressed.

[DanaR]

It has nothing to do with the clothes. If you look around, you'll see that all girls dress like this.