How do you see yourself?

[Super Amanda]

How do you see yourself when fully dressed? When fully dressed, I have always felt that I looked real convincing. As I got older, I started to wonder if I was seeing only what I want to see, and was not nearly convincing as I once thought. I started going out dressed secretly at like 14, and when I got a car, did many more trips. I admit that most trips were either late at night, or early in the morning, yet I never got a negative comment or reaction from any strangers.
Once digital cameras became affordable, I saw an opportunity to see myself in some way other than a mirror. The pic's seem to be much more brutal than a mirror, perhaps because the image is unchanging, and when you can analyze a completely still image, it becomes easier to scrutinize.
In '03 I dressed fully at Halloween for the first time, and was overwhelmed with positive comments, and several people said things like "You could make a lot of money in Vegas",whatever that means, or "You look better than your wife!" , which did not please her.
So is it even possible to see what we want to see? Or is thinking that way a means to talk our selves out of doing something? Does this make any sense?

[Sigrid Cutie]

well me when i was younger as well i thought i look like a real woman, now as you some times depending on the day i don't see my self as passable as i would like,

but i still get all kinds of comments in the street like ppl adressing me as a girn instead of a man, even when i speak my voice is lot high pitch for a guy so you have to listen very carefully to know i'm a man,

and ofcourse my wife do not like the fact that i'm always address a a girl for example when we go to restaurants every time they arrive asking and what do you ladies want. but i really ejoy it, and i'm not even dressed up :)

but in general i do have my good days that i look passable.

[Christie ann]

The pic's seem to be much more brutal than a mirror,

I agree! I seem so much cuter in a mirror than in pictures.

[Sarah...]

I agree! I seem so much cuter in a mirror than in pictures.

Well, you can move around when looking in the mirror. But not in a photo. Takes much longer to get the view you are happy with in a photo.

Or...

You can just forget pictures and get on with living :)

Sarah...

[JoAnne Wheeler]

To some extent, we crossdressers are all living in a dream world - we see

this lovely lady that we have created and we think that she is beautiful

because we made her - we look in the mirror and we are so pleased with our

artistic ability - sometimes our dream shatters when we face reality and then

realize that it is only a dream - but dreams aren't all bad - we each want to

"build" / "create" / "assemble" / "sculpture" / "clothe" / and "paint" that lovely

female creature that we long to be at times - BECAUSE - that female creature

has lived in us from birth and we long to let her out into the world - BECAUSE

- that lovely female creature is us (at least part of us)

JoAnne Wheeler

[Karren H]

I agree! I seem so much cuter in a mirror than in pictures.

I used to look great with my old 1 megapixel camera. Not as good with my 5 megapixel one.. Sigh..... So I feel that I fully pass if you use one of those cameras on a U2......... . From 60,000 feet!! Lol.

[Cary]

Since I've been here, I've seen alot of beautiful girls. Most of you I couldn't pickout even if you were the only genetic male in the crowd. I look at the pics and say WOW! For me all I can see in the mirror is a guy in a dress. I'm not downing myself. It's just I got some work to do and you girls are great teachers.

[Kate Simmons]

I see myself just fine. If anyone wants to critique me, let 'em. Just their opinion anyway, they don't sign my paycheck.:battingeyelashes::)

[Jess_cd32]

Well, you can move around when looking in the mirror. But not in a photo. Takes much longer to get the view you are happy with in a photo.

Or...

You can just forget pictures and get on with living :)

Sarah...


I agree, just be happy and enjoy your cd'ing regardless if your passable or not.
Take 100 pics and you'll have some you like. Take only a handfull and your chances of getting one you like are slim to none. Edit the ones you do like, noise reduction in a pic can change it from trash to a keeper along with other edits.

When I see myself fully dressed I like what I see for the most part, I just love my walk:daydreaming: Theres always going to be something we'd like to change. I don't consider myself passable, esp with my height and a few other things. I could work on the others but being that tall its always gonna be a tough sell. Just enjoy it, cd'ing is very fun for this one:)

[boardpuppy]

I see myself as a piece of work in progress. Someday I hope to only have 2 or 3 drab things that need work.

[Teri Jean]

Sarah,
The idea of being convincing goes through many of our minds and yes for some it is important. I for one thought that maybe I was fooling myself until I dressed for my sisters-in-law around Halloween and the comments ranged for very nice to no man should look better than the women. Since then they have been my judges on style and makeup which is a big help.

The mirror can be more forgiving than the camera but safe to say they can also be a measuring stick, so to speak, but those who know you are the real critics. Whatever one is striving for, have fun and enjoy. Huggs Keli

[Marjory]

Up till about 35 I was convincing. I think, after that, I began to go downhill.

[joann07]

I set very high standards for myself and try my very best to look natural and as feminine as can be. I know that the mirror doesn't always show how I really look and so I use pictures that I take of myself as a measurement of how I truely present myself.
If something doesn't looking right in the picture, I will go back and find ways to correct it.
I think I've done a pretty good job so far, but I know there are things I still need to improve.

Hugs!

[megan163]

It's true we see what we want to see in the mirror. No different then anyone else under any circumstances though. I mean, I have pics in drab that look awful, when at the time I thought I was stylin'. Anyway, in your case, Amanda sweetheart, you may just be the real thing. I reviewed your posts and you look great in all of them. Hard to tell you're not a GG.:)

[BLUE ORCHID]

Anything worth doing is worth doing right set high standards for yourself
especialy with your crossdressing do you want to look like a
WAL-MARTshopper or a NORDSTROM shopper personaly I prefuer
the NORDSTROM look give it 110% all the time
you will look and feel better.
.................................................. ...................ORCHID

[Tasha McIntyre]

How do you see yourself when fully dressed?

Like the extension to my personality that has always been there, just waiting to be given the chance to shine


The pic's seem to be much more brutal than a mirror.

I agree and it stinks :doh:
I take 100 photos and maybe keep 3 or 4. the photos have nothing on what appears in the mirror, but that's life!

Tash :)

[docrobbysherry]

It's all about the ILLUSION for me, Amanda!:D

I make sure NOT to wear my contacts when CDing. I can't see the "man in a dress" as easily that way. :brolleyes:

My pics r WAY better than live, for me!:)

[marny]

it is on the same topic. If you have been mammed you must be doing something right . I guess past 50 I would be optimistic hoping to be miss instead of mamm. :tongueout

[Kayla Shadows]

How do you see yourself when fully dressed? So is it even possible to see what we want to see? Or is thinking that way a means to talk our selves out of doing something? Does this make any sense?

Even though I see myself as a work in progress,I feel good when I get dressed.Anything is better then just looking like a guy in guy clothes..but even then Ive still been called a girl at points in my life.Its possible to see what you want to see when you realize that nothing is perfect.The world isnt perfect and you dont have to be anybody but you.I had a discussion with someone about this subject.How,through the magazines and tv, the idea of perfection and beauty is spread and pushed upon us as the truth and how people should be.People make themselves sick to create this image and it causes damage in a lot of lives.This disease they spread with what beauty is supposed to be is not reality.Like some kind of sick twisted shepherd leading the sheep right to the wolves mouth.

Just dont get me wrong.I think life is about creating yourself.I think it is great for people to work towards making themselves into the vision they want to see and trying to change what they would like.We just need to do it in a safe way and not rush anything.


So I feel that I fully pass if you use one of those cameras on a U2......... . From 60,000 feet!! Lol.

Lol,you are so bad.You pass as Karren and thats all that matters :)

[kellycan27]

It's not really about how I look as much as how I feel.I look better on some days than on others, but I always feel sexy and pretty.

[Lisa Golightly]

I got told off recently for over-analyzing my photos... I thought one looked very... 'boyish'... Apparently after much harping on it turns out I just look miserable... pouty and stern of eye...

Awwwww... He teases me rotten :)

[iwearstockings]

I am a man wearing sexy clothes :^)

[Sakura Rini]

i would like to think that i would be passable if to worked on my face with make up and plucking eyebrows. im going to have to try sooner or later

[carolinebrookes]

I think it depends on the mood of the day.

There are some days, I can take 100 pictures and over 50 are of decent quality.
Next time only 1 might pass for good.

The same applies for the mirror. I can see a woman looking back sometimes, but more often than not i think "Who am I kidding?"

If I happen to be out and about, then I know that if I carry myself properly, then most people won't give me a second glance. Of course I'm not foolish enough to think that some won't see past the illusion that I've created.

As for looking "boyish", There are very many real women out there who try to create a "boyish" look and a lot look very sexy when they pull it off leaving slight doubts in the viewers eye as to what sex they are. I'm happy enough if I have done that sometimes.

[adrienner99]

When dressing at home, I know I DON'T look convincing--not in bright red lip gloss and six-inch heels. I never see real women in such makeup or shoes.

I look more convincing when I go out in the day, but I don't do that much. I wear flats, light red lipstick, gray skirts and sweaters, etc.

The number of CDs who can pass fully in public is comparable to the number of young boys playing football who actually end up in the NFL...

It's not just how we look. It's how we feel, and how the dresses and heels and petticoats make us feel.

[Kelsy]

I used to look great with my old 1 megapixel camera. Not as good with my 5 megapixel one.. Sigh..... So I feel that I fully pass if you use one of those cameras on a U2......... . From 60,000 feet!! Lol.

Karen

Distance is in my favor aswell!!:D

Kelsy

[Sherry-Stephanie]

LOL...I think we tend to under any condition look at ourselves from a much much more critical point of view....most people would only look and decide "OK".. "that's good" ..."OK".. "not so good" or " ugh, that's bad"...and move on...but we as the human psychy goes....will stop and micr scope thatpciture out and look for every little aspect what makes up that picture of our self and look for any and all "flaws" that picture contains and then bring them out into our mind and the mind will then anaylize each and everyone of these precieved "imperfects"...and we'll see how we can correct these flasws or in someway worry about them at a magnitude that is way beyond what others would see as being a "flaw" within us....simply because they don't see it and we do because of our tendencies to "microscope" our own picture and I think we even try and see beyond the picture and try and see what we think are are "flaws and in doing so we can easily then valid to ourselves through the pciture that indeed thes features are in fact "our flaws"....and the picture either highlights or confrms that we're in trouble because of these flaws and then we become obsessive in trying to fix them or worry about them....JMHO...

Oh and how do I see myself???? Well I'm not totally to the point that I feel like I've nailed the total and complete "female look" like some of the girls here have achieved....but I see in most case "a woman" in my pictures, as opposed to just a guy wearing woman's clothes...and I think that I project a somewhat "stylish" and somewhat "sexy" woman as well at certain times and at others times, with some photos... and they are the ones that no one else gets to see...a less than sexy woman...or in other words...a "yuk woman". So those we just sinply hit the "erase" feature on the camera and chalk it up as a "camera malfunction"....

[TGMarla]

I don't know whether I really pass or not. I suspect that I do pretty well. After all, most people will give you little more than a passing glance anyway. Since I tend to overdress a little, I probably get a second look as well. So if anyone wants to scrutinize, they'll notice that I'm taller than most women. Sooner or later, if they notice my hands, they'll be a dead give away. There's just little I can do about them. They are guy hands with nice nails stuck on them. But for all practical purposes, I'll get by okay. We all have our "guy in a dress" days, though.

But the question was how do we see ourselves, not do we pass or not. I see myself as a facsimile of the woman I think I should have been. I'm not as petite as I wish I was, my face is too fat, my waist is not thin enough, I have a small butt and hips, and I'm too tall. Other than that, I enjoy being pretty, and I do the best I can with what I have to work with. It could be a lot worse.

[Dannie Lefae]

How I see myself in my mind is alot different than what I see in the mirror. I guess I see the "inner girl" when I think of myself dressing and while I am dressed, but then I walk by a mirror and am brought back to reality. There are many things about me that I am unhappy with. My masculin facial muscles and expressions, my arms etc. etc. I just try to stay away from mirrors :).

Em

[Fiona K]

Once digital cameras became affordable, I saw an opportunity to see myself in some way other than a mirror. The pic's seem to be much more brutal than a mirror, perhaps because the image is unchanging, and when you can analyze a completely still image, it becomes easier to scrutinize.


Brutal but honest, never trust a mirror, it's filtered by your feelings at the time. A photo viewed later is a more objective way to judge- however direct flash is just nasty for anyone!

[AvaDawn]

I see myself as convincing, but like I'd want to be anything else. =P

[victoriamwilliams1]

I see myself as a woman, any other way will show outwardly.

[msginaadoll]

Well I see a lot of my mother and sisters in me. I tend to be hypercritical of myself, actually more so than others. Im not sure where I am on the whole passing line. When went to bowling alley walked through a crowd with no strange looks, or at least none i detected. I just try not to take myself too seriously- after all as a guy who saw my pic said You look like Fred Flintstone in drag." I guess Im just me-The Good Bad and the Ugly.

[Lisa Golightly]

Then, in front of a mirror you have immediate feedback. And since we've spent all our lives looking at and analysing the human face, and since a tiny twitch of the lips or narrowing of the eyes can make a vast difference to our expressions, we rapidly adopt the most flattering pose. In front of a camera, even if we're posing deliberately, we don't have this advantage.

Interestingly we see a reverse image in the mirror of ourself to that in a photograph... As such they are different... One is how we ourselves daily, the other is how others see us... As such when we look at a photograph of ourself it can be like looking at a relative stranger.