Then and now

[Lorna]

My thanks to everyone - quite a lot of you - who kindly took the trouble to respond to my post and its question. The replies are interesting and thoughtful.
A couple of things stand out. First, it seems that most respondants tend to find more traditional dress styles of the 1950s to 1970s more appealing than later decades - as I very definitely do. That applies even to quite a few posters who indicate that they are of a younger generation. Relatively few responses identified modern dress trends as especially attractive in themselves but, as is certainly the case, those who aspire to blend with women in public accept the need to wear contemporary attire.
I think perhaps the real distinction is not so much our age but our purpose in crossdressing. Those, like me, who crossdress because they want to experience the sensations associated with women's clothes, tend towards wanting to wear the skirts, dresses and underwear associated with a more formal period while those who aspire to become or try to fit in with everyday life as a woman are more likely to adopt the jeans/shorts/yoga items that match their contemporaries. Not, I think, a surprise.
What remains unclear is the extent to which, for example, a young teenage male today is as motivated to crossdress as I was at that age by the female attire they observe around them today. Of course, I can't know how I would feel about it if I was, say, 15 now but I can know that at my present (old) age dressing in current typical female clothing holds no appeal for me at all. Thanks again to everyone - and to all who make this both an interesting and well-run site.

[Snide_lobster]

Younger cd here. Outside of specifically targeting a retro look I don't have any specific interest in older clothes styles. Sure dressed in 60s gettup might be fun, but wouldn't be my go to in any sense of the word. I guess my style is pretty modern, I wear what I pick up at thrift stores which more often then not are party dresses that wouldn't be out of place for girls my age. I do feel this forum has a lot of members older than myself (absolutely no problem with that), that may be skewing the results a certain direction.

[Lacey New]

Lorna, I can relate to what you have to say. I remember the days of the old JCPenney and Sears catalogs. About 600 pages but in each one, there were maybe 30 pages dedicated to all sorts of pretty and fascinating lingerie including high rise nylon brief panties, lacey full and half slips, nylon camisoles, garter belts, nylon gartered stockings, etc, etc. For me it was a dream to get locked in a Sears store overnight and to try on every piece of lingerie I could find. Nowadays, those items in their pretty pastel colors are impossible to find.