C R O S S D R E S S I N G W I S D O M a n d C H A N G E S

[JoAnne Wheeler]

I haven't seen this thread in awhile, so here goes:

1) Who are the oldest Crossdressers on this site and how long have you

been crossdressing ?

2) What changes have you seen in crossdressing during your lifetime ?

3) How is crossdressing different now than when you were growing up ?

4) What words of wisdom and advice and comfort do you have to share ?

5) What part of your life has been devoted to crossdressing ?


JoAnne Wheeler

"I'm an all American Bluegrass Girl and Proud As I Can Be"

Answers:

1) 64 CDing since age 6 or 7 for a total of 57-58 years

2)
a) much more open
b) much more information
c) the Internet
d) more acceptance

3) ignorance and complete lack of information on the subject

4) enjoy your Feminity and accept yourself for who and what you are

5) not enough - for a long time, I was convinced that I was the only

one in the world who had all these feminine desires and that I

must be sick or some type of outcast and I tried to hide from

society - If I had only known then what I know now, life as

JoAnne would have been so much better

[jenniferj]

Sorry JoAnne,

It may just be that some of us don't like to talk about our ages.

1. JJ is about 45, but her guy-side is 57 :) I can remember wearing my sister's clothes when I was 4 - so that's about 53 years.

2-3. Things are so much more open now than when I was a kid- Other than a few very rude drag queen comedy skits on shows like Laugh-In, I can't really remember any acknowledgement that there were others like me.

I really do remember being shocked and excited by the Michael Salem ad in some tabloid about 20-25 years ago. Prior to that I knew of no obvious place to get the special things or sizes we need. Now I live about 10 miles from the Glamour Boutique!

The existance of sites like this certainly brings much more info to the front - I think my early adult dressing (castoff sister/mother/wife things, "borrowed" stuff stretched out of shape) would have been very, very different if there was as much support as there is now.

4. Be yourself! This can be a very confusing thing - even here nobody can agree on what crossdressing means or the "right" way to "do" it. Try not to hurt other people, and do what feels right to you. Don't be afraid; you are not alone.

5. Until fairly recently, JJ has hidden most of the time - coming out for an hour or two when everybody was out, or an occassional weekend alone.

Now that the kids have grown and moved out and I work from home, I can pretty much spend the work week dressed - going back to guy mode for weekend yard work and such stuff. My dear wife has been quite understanding, partly because she has reached the biological stage where she has little interest in sexual things. I think that she actually may like JJ a little better than guy-me.

Ok, let's here from the rest of you old girls! :)

-jj

[janexx]

4) Act and dress your age - or at least the age you realy look when dressed.

5) Not enough!

The rest of the questions would take pages!!

Much love, Jane

[Lorileah]

Interesting concept and I think at least half (probably more) here would be in the over 50 crowd. I am.

I don't know if I should even answer the questions as I am just a pup ;) (cough gag ahem).

<-----1)Do I look 53? Been Crossdressing seriously foe 13 years but had episodes even in my younger years. I went out Halloween when I was 8, was in dance class at 6 with tights.

2) less flash more blending. But then again maybe I didn't notice the CDs who blended before

3) more choices in clothes and I am not gay anymore (never was but all CD's were back then remember?)

4) Carpe diem, Life is short, one day you wake up and you cannot do what you put off for all those years just to make that buck or protect someone who you thought would not understand. Make sure you last words are not "Hey ya'll watch this."

5) seriously about three years but now maybe 1/2. I just am happier and more comfortable dressed and I wish life had let me be me sooner. Who does it hurt in the long run?

PS Jane...I will NEVER dress my age :)

[Sharon B.]

1) Who are the oldest Crossdressers on this site and how long have you

been crossdressing ?

2) What changes have you seen in crossdressing during your lifetime ?

3) How is crossdressing different now than when you were growing up ?

4) What words of wisdom and advice and comfort do you have to share ?

5) What part of your life has been devoted to crossdressing ?

1) I will be 55 this year but as Sharon she likes
to think she is only 40-plus. I am also a Bluegrass girl originally from Northern KY near Cincinnati, OH. Move to E-town in the 1980's and to Louisville, KY in 1992 after my divorce. Been dressing for 50-years off and on.

2)From being I was the only one that done it to realizing that there are a lot of us out there. I remember having a comic page from the paper when I was growing up that had Dagwood dressing as a woman. I kept it for a long time until my mother threw it out. When I was about 9 or 10 at the time I was downtown with my mother and she left me in part of the store, I remember being in a department store one evening where a couple were shopping in the lingerie department she was buying bra's, stockings, panties, panty-girdles, slips and anything else she could think of. The sales associate asks her if they had a fire or something as she was restocking her clothes. The woman said no that all of these clothes were for him the man that was her, he like to wear them and she was buying his own clothes.

3)It a lot more accommodating, the sales associate doesn't freak out like they used to.

4)Be who you are and love the person you are.

5)Most of my free time is devoted to my crossdressing and if I don't have the free time I make the free time to be who I am.

[susan fuller]

I am going to be 67 this month and have been crossdressing since I was about 8 years old. I like it more today than when I started wearing my mothers and sisters clothes.

[Ronah]

1. Perhaps I can be the oldest to post to date having just turned 80. I have now been dressing for some 8 - 10 years with an increasing confidence and wardrobe. There was some dabbling in my youth, but never serious, just a thrill. However I am still in the closet as the SO and family would never understand.

2. There are considerable changes in attitudes since my youth when homosexuality was a crime. Many things are now acceptable, or tolerated.

4. Advice, get out there and go when the opportunity arises. I have often been out dressed when the chances came. Once had the good fortune to have the use of an apartment and could be en femme for a whole week and thoroughly enjoyed it. That week alone, and the experiences, would be a wonderful story by itself. I aim to dress to be acceptable within my age group and if people see through me I feel that that is their problem, not mine. One incident I will never forget is an old GG in a cathedral on Christmas day who gave me a wonderful and special warm smile and hand hold as she passed me on her way out.

[Yvettegrl]

Great question/survey! I like reading this stuff. It provides some perspective for my experience.

1) Who are the oldest Crossdressers on this site and how long have you been crossdressing ?
- Fifty-six. How long? Since I've joined this group and my local one I've recalled some CD memories from WAY back. Hadn't thought of them in years... decades. Earliest one I recall is from about age five.

2) What changes have you seen in crossdressing during your lifetime ?
- It's more openly discussed. With Internet and eBay it's easier and faster to get the clothing we want.

3) How is crossdressing different now than when you were growing up ?
When I was little I liked how girl's clothes felt and it didn't occur to me that anyone else would feel that way. Now we have forums and support groups.

4) What words of wisdom and advice and comfort do you have to share ?
- Read Crossdressers.COM and join a local group. Get out a little, even if it's just for an indoor get-together. It's liberating.

5) What part of your life has been devoted to crossdressing ?
- On and off for about 50 years. Some long periods off for no particular reason. On for about the last 16 years.

Regards,

Yvette

[Nicki B]

Was the thread title designed to weed out those with failing eyesight? :heehee:

The oldest girl I've known was 84..

[beenherelongtime]

73, i would say my first inkling was about 8 or 7 but didn't start dressing until about
12 1/2. all other question have been answered by the other posts.

[Empress Lainie]

I am always hesitant to post on a thread that says

"crossdressers" since I am a transexual woman, and never really did any serious crossdressing as such.

I actually discovered and that is the word that I have always been a female person when I was 72, and have lived fulltime ever since changing my ID and name legally. I thought maybe I was the oldest to ever have started 24/7 and applied to Guinness but they would only take it as oldest to have SRS. Guess that is beyond me financially and likely even if I get my million dollar settlement from the city of las vegas for sexual discrimination in my firing. I don't think it likely a doctor will take a 74yr old with history of a 5way bypass and a pacemaker and diabetes, even though I feel better since that operation than I ever have since 1989. I would risk it.

1) Who are the oldest Crossdressers on this site and how long have you been crossdressing ? See above

2) What changes have you seen in crossdressing during your lifetime ? More openness and more acceptablility, but there are still haters out there, especially for TS's.

3) How is crossdressing different now than when you were growing up ? More social groups devoted to it, and also more openness.

4) What words of wisdom and advice and comfort do you have to share ? Be yourself and the devil be damned. Let nasty comments run off of you like water off a duck's back!

5) What part of your life has been devoted to crossdressing ? If you consider a transexual woman being crossdressed then 100% since July 2, 2007. I never wear male clothes, and hardly ever wear even girls jeans. I don't like pants vs. skirts, my preference. I may wear something androgynous occasionally. (Or is the word misogynous!LOL)