if you can give tips

[slamddoger]

what tips would you give to some body new to crossdresseing.

[lauraabdl]

Guess I will be the first to repley.
Be what ever you feel like, only you know how you feel at any one time.
Experiment around with styles an colors, use your local thrift stores (saves money) and you get to chose from so many great styles and colors, the choice are endless and the chance of finding the right sizes are astonding. In the long and short of it enjoy yourself and being a crossdresser. Life is too short to be a what if kinda gal.

[Joanne f]

Guess I will be the first to reply.
Be what ever you fell like, only you know how you fell at any one time.
Experiment around with styles an colors, use your thrift stores (saves money) and get great styles to choose from. In the long and short of it enjoy yourself and being a cross dresser. Life is too short to be a what if kinda gal.

I agree with that , you have to pick you own style , do what you like and not what someone else thinks you should like and just have fun .

[Jocelyn Quivers]

Buy measuring tape.
Pace yourself when shopping. Do not purchase everything you see in sight. Learn what styles and what types of clothes look good for your build.

[MJ]

big tip be honest up front with your S.O from the get go

just enjoy your dressing we all got to start somewhere take your time have fun..

[renee k]

First, Get a makeover at a MAC counter or by a makeup artist.

Two, Get your wig cut and styled to match your facial features.

Three, Observe GG's note their mannerisms, ie; the way they carry
themselves, their walk, etc;


All this if want to go out in public. Plus hook up with a local support group. You can do alot of networking with them to find folks and business's that will help you along the way.

Renee

[Karren H]

Up the limit on your VISA card!!

[Joni Marie Cruz]

What Jocelyn said. (Hi Jocelyn!<Joni stand on her chair and waves>) Take time to develop your own look and style and don't let others dictate what you should wear. Watch what real women are wearing in fashion magazines as well as out on the street and use them as a starting point. Most of all just have fun being yourself.

Hugs...Joni Mari

[Karren H]

What Jocelyn said. (Hi Jocelyn!<Joni stand on her chair and waves>)
Hugs...Joni Mari

Ohhhh and never ever stand on your chair and wave.. Very unlady like and not to safe either. OSHA would site you in a heartbeat!! :D

[Katesback]

Get a GG to take you shopping and buy a reasonable vardrobe. Dont buy crap you wont wear!

At that point go to a MAC makeup counter and get a makover and ask them to teach you how to do makeup! You will spend money to buy the stuff but you will learn SOOOOOOOOOOOO much!

[Wen4cd]

1. Do not dress as a girl, or try to be a girl. Ever. You can't do it. You will ultimately fail to your own despair.

Instead, be the girl that is you. That girl is absolutely as real as you are, and as vital if not more, and is in every person, whether they are CDs or not.

Much of your happiness in CDing will hinge on this. The dichotomy "a girl" -vs- "you" is going to be a pretty big issue in your life, I promise. Better try to deal with it sooner rather than later. "A girl" is a non-entity. You cannot be it. You can only be you.

[AliceJaneInNewcastle]

Hmm. Let's see...

Be honest about it with you partner or a potential new partner, preferably within the first dozen dates.

Take up belly dancing and perhaps yoga or tai chi in order to learn how to move and to gain the flexibility and grace of a woman.

Get your body shaping sorted out before you get too enthusiastic about buying clothes. Your skirt or pants size should be the same women's size as your top. Ideally, your breast size should be in proportion to your shoulders, the widest point of your hips should be the same width as your shoulders, your buttocks should balance your breasts and your waist size should be 70% of your hip size. Get the underwear, breast forms and padding right then buy clothes that fit that size.

Do not assume that a GG friend will be able to do makeup that will make you look female. Transgender makeup is different to GG makeup and everybody is different.

Wear a wedding ring at first when en femme, even if you're single. It is a subtle way of not only declaring that you're a woman with a partner, but that you are unavailable, reducing the likelihood of unwanted close male attention that you might struggle with until you gain confidence.

The key to going out is confidence. If you know that you look good, that helps to boost your confidence. If you look realistically female in your body proportions, get your makeup right and dress appropriately for where you're going, you are more likely to either pass or at least have no negative behaviour from other people. Positive responses will increase your confidence rapidly. Once you gain confidence, you might use less or no hip padding, less makeup, etc., but if you try to do that to begin with, you're likely to experience negative behaviour from others, which will damage your self confidence and you'll struggle to go out again.

I could continue, but that'll do for now. I'm sure someone will disagree with me. ;)

[chinagirl]

Have a lot of patience. Be prepared for a lot of disappointment. Getting to the stage where you look good in a dress takes the majority/sizable minority of us years to achieve. The right wig style and colour, the right style of clothes, the right kind of make-up, the right pose and facial expression - all these can take years to get right. For all the photos I have taken, I must have thrown away / deleted about 90%. Be thick-skinned. And be honest with yourself about what you are doing, why you are doing it, what you want to achieve, and what you really look like in the mirror, instead of what you want to see.

Thats's what I would tell myself, starting down this road, aged 13 (20 odd years ago):2c:

[windycissy]

Some excellent suggestions already, like getting a wig that's right for your face at a wig salon, but that's expensive if you're pinching your pennies - you can find inexpensive wigs on the web but you get what you pay for and this is the single most important purchase you'll make...trial and error is the only way to find and perfect your inner woman, above all have fun with it! You can find plenty more practical tips at Ask Windy Cissy (http://snurl.com/askwindy)

[Janet Bern]

First thing I would do would be to develop a female name. Slamdoger isn't particularly feminine
Good luck
Janet

[Joni Marie Cruz]

Ohhhh and never ever stand on your chair and wave.. Very unlady like and not to safe either. OSHA would site you in a heartbeat!! :D

Hey, who you callin' ladylike? It's okay, girl, I've had reinforced handrails installed, I wear a cute pink safetybelt clipped to the handrail and my 5" pumps are steeltoed and have nonskid rubber soles. Oh, and I have a hard head...I mean hat...a hard hat.

Hugs...Joni Mari

[kimdl93]

I've been dressing a long while, but mostly underdressing (now that I know what to call it :) ), and dressing openly with my SO for 10 years now...but as yet, I'm not comfortable enough with my appearance to go out.

The important first step would be confiding in someone, preferably your SO. I think being able and willing to open yourself and be accepted as you are by someone else (intimate or note) up diffuses the negative feelings that a cross dresser imposes on herself. Obviously, if you have an SO, start there. But if you don't have a person in your life, an understanding friend, even revealing yourself (figuratively speaking) to a sales person can help you feel more at ease and at peace.

[PretzelGirl]

Echoing some of what was said, don't hide from your partner, be careful about assembling a wardrobe - be smart about it, get a makeover.....

On top of telling your partner, I would listen carefully to what makes them uncomfortable. Don't go forward into any of those areas. Talk with them about why they are uncomfortable. Sometimes these things can work out with love and time. Just doing it anyways will likely kill the possibility that it can be worked out. And I am not just saying that. My wife has been in on things from the beginning and this is how I handled it. Now, there are hardly any problem areas because we grown through this together.

Like a makeover, if you have long hair, go to a salon and let them cut it and help pick a style. Once you have a style and have had a makeover, play with it all. As long as you aren't going out, who cares if you make a mess. That is how you learn sometimes.