"Out and About"...then and now.

[Sherry-Stephanie]

I'm sitting here this morning and I'm doing a little chuckling inside...thinking about yesterday and then thinking about how it was when I started dressing a year and a half ago...

Like a lot of girls here...especially the enw ones coming on the forum, I was jsut starting to dress and I would read about some of you who were going out regularly and as "matter of factly" as well....and I simply couldn't imagine being able to do that or even having the nerve to do it...OMG never!!! But I also thought how lucky others were to be able to actually be able to go oit into the real world....to go shopping dressed or even just go and buy woman's clothing without batting an eyelash....It was just something I would wish I could do....

Fast forward a year and a half later to yesterday....

I needed to replace some concealer that one of my pups got ahold of and Hmmm "destroyed"...so off to Ulta. I was dressed in male mode BTW...I also wanted to get a couple of additional eye shadows in their cream blend. I went in and one fo the SA's asked if I needed help and I told her what I was looking for...and she took me over to where it was. She asked me if I knew what sahde she used? and I said no I don't but it's for em...I dress...and DeDe did a make over for me a couple of weeks ago and she picked it out...she didn't even bat an eye and didn't have one of those internal OMG a freak namo moment in facial experession....she simply did a OK lets match your skin tone up....and she slected two shades and she said lets try it on you...and she said under the eys or on the back of your hand???? We did the hand and found the shade that worked...we chatted a bit about make up and what "challenges I ahd and how were were addressing the various issues and she seemed to throughly enjoy talking about it...told ehr how I had some pictures that I showed some f the girls working there when I first came in...however was very OK with me dressing etc and she said hey that's not a problem with most of us...actually we kind of like it because it's different for us with the regular clients aka women....So I got done there and went and selected several eye shadows and a couple of briushes...and then went to pay for the stuff...and did so with the I belong here and it's no big deal attitude....

While I did this I had a female friend with me and she was outside having a smoke but did come in and joined me...

After we left there it was off to Walmart to buy some food and other things....of which I wanted to get two bras from there...so we got to the woman's section and I went and located the bra's I wanted and selected the two in the color and size I wanted....Leaving that section we went though shoes ectiona dn I saw a nice pair of mules/slides...so I stopped looked at them and took off my shoe and tried on a size 10 and 11 and decided on the 11...so they went into the carriage....while I was doing this several woman passed us by but I didn't noticed any stares or looks but then I wasn't really paying attention....nor did I really care....any form of embarressment wasn't present...

Then it was off to Sally's Beauty Supply....went in to get some nails and selcted several different styles...and on the way out I checked out their cream eyeshadow and selected three colors. Went up to pay for them and the woman said the colors were nice...hope she likes them and I said I'm sure I will...they'll work with my coloring...and she said Oh these are for you???? and I said yup...and I'm getting to the point where I'm getting pretty good working with make up now so I can get colors and blends down...well that freakin opened up the door asd far as she was concerned...she started asking me all kinds of questions..how come I use make up and I said I dress...as in cross dresser...and she asked me about that and then we got back on make up and I told her I have whole new respect for woman and all they have to go through and doing nails and the finished looks...etc...told her I had some pictures etc....from a make over I had done a few weeks ago at Ulta..some of the comments I got from the SA's there....all in all we talked for about 10 minutes....Not sure who enjoyed it more...her from talking to a guy who dresses as a female or me expelaining and being out and up front with her about being a dresser....either way we both seem to enjoy it equally....

So yeah, I think back to where I was when I first started and where I am as of yesterday....and all I can say is it's simply amazing as far as then and now...and being out and about.

Now that's not saying everyone of you girls can be out and about...some for wahtever reason have to stay in the closet....but for those of you that someday hope to be out or can be out...trust me...it's not that hard to do it...yes it takes some getting use to, but once you "stick those cute little painted toes of yours in the water"...there is no going back and who knows....one day you'll be out and about in your own girly self either in drab or out shopping dressed going out to eat or hitting the clubs as your female self...and then just might find yourself chuckling to yourself as well....and thinking my how far I have come....and realizing that this out and about thing is a blast!!!!

Stephanie

[Nicole Brown]

Hi Stephanie,

So I am sitting her and really enjoying reading your experiences when I realize that I could have just as easily been reading my own story. Our experiences are so similar that I am thinking we may be related.

I have been dressing for more years than I like to admit to. But to focus in on your experience, I have been going out for a little over two and a half years. I too have enjoyed venturing out en fem and meeting and talking with new people. I have made many friends in local clothing stores, pharmacies, food and department stores and always enjoy the time that is spent talking with them.

There is a SA in one of the Dress Barn stores that I shop in who is such a dear. Whenever I enter this store, and she is working, I get a smile, a warm welcome and a few minutes of girl talk. This is always followed by her offering to assist me in finding what I am looking for. What a sweetheart she is. This relationship began some time ago when I was trying on a dress and had accidentally picked out the wrong size. There she was, offering to get me the correct size, and when she returned with it, she even offered to help me with the zipper. What can I say, without thinking I accepted her offer and into the dressing room she came.

She never really said anything about who I was, but I think she realized that she wasn't with a GG. This didn't phase her even a little bit, she was just a nice as could be and now every time I shop there I get welcomed like a lost friend.

Nicole

[Kate Simmons]

Being comfortable being yourself in any mode is the key to ongoing discovery SS. Don't say I didn't warn you that CDing is only the tip of the iceberg if you are really serious and follow through continuing to move forward by getting in touch with your feelings.;):)

[Christina Horton]

Great story hun. I have been dress out a year ago Aug 9th. I to laugh to my self when I think of the agonizing over going out dressed. Had I known how easy it was I would have done that in my twenties. That by the way is the 90s. I have never had a bad experience at a store , or pretty much anywhere. Roberta M (form this site) of whom I go out shopping or to meeting , clubs etc says I radiate a positive attitude to whom ever get caught in my wake while dressed, cuz I enjoy it so much. LOL. Thought I never go shopping or go out when I am home in drab anymore. I spend to much time en-drab on the road driving truck. But when I am in drab mode and talk to GGs about my CDing ( I am not afraid to tell anyone I am CD even trucker , bikes etc. They always love to talk about it. Its not something the see every day ya know. Have fun hun.

[skirtsuit]

We are our own worst enemies, I think. It was the self-precieved shame and humiliation of years of closet CDing that kept me in the house all those years, until about 1 month ago.

What a difference!

Now I can't wait for my next trip out dressed. Turns out that clothing is only the tip of the iceburg - now I think out my entire outfit and have great fun planing and wearing a nice one.

I really, really enjoy going out and being treated like 'one of the girls', but I'm not sure I would have had as much fun if I had gotten out earlier because I really hadn't matured as a CD until recently. Because I waited so long, I was able to emerge fully formed, some maybe those years of sneaking around served some purpose.....

All the Best,
Ann / SS

[Scottey1]

You are so right! I just got back from a trip out of twon where I dressed the entire time (6 days). The last day I had become so comfortable that aroundd 6:00 pm I was coming home (in a great little A line dress) and decided my brows needed a little clean up. Without thinking, I stopped at the local Walmart Smart Style (yes they do have good stylists) and asked to have my brows waxed. The receptionist said, " Sign in, Honey," then come on back. She had me sit down and lay back in her chair, waxed my brows where I asked her to and THEN SAID, "Let me do a little more - you really could use some more clean up." At that point, I dont think she knew I wasnt a gg (it was the end of the day and she probably assumed I was a gg coming home from work). I said, sure please do. She spent a few more minutes cleaning up my arch a bit (and did a great job), popped me up, I paid and was done. Didnt think anything of it until I got to my car and realized I was treated just like any other woman, because I acted like any other woman!

Hope I didnt hijack your post Stephanie, but I sure do agree with you. It takes a little time and attitude (for me 2 years), but it is SOOOOO worth it!

[erickka]

Stepahnie, you are so right. That is where I'm at too. When I lived in west central Florida I had all good exoeriences, but in boonieville middle Tennessee, I have to keep looking over my shoulder, since the dumb rednecks don't like anything / anyone they see as not normal. It is amazing how little time it takes to bulid confidence once you take that first plunge. Glad all is going well for you.

[Kathi Lake]

I agree, Stephanie. A year or so ago, I really didn't get out much (Yeah, I know. Me! :)). Look at me now. The difference? The realization that I didn't want to be the person that said, "If only" years in the future. The realization that time wasn't running backwards, but very fast the other direction instead. The realization that i was doing nothing wrong and I didn't care about stranger's attitudes towards me.

Now you can't stop me from dressing up. You can't keep me away from makeup stores and clothing stores. You can't bar me from being me.

Kathi

[Karren H]

Yeah!!! It amazes me too... I may still consider it a closet of sorts but its a big ass one!!