Why is Being a Woman SOOoo Expensive?

[CrossKimmy]

Oh my God girls, I just have to vent here.

I am anticipating having some time to dress later this year, so I have been going shopping online. I REALLY want to buy this "hairdo" hair extensions, but the one I want is expensive. I also want to buy shoes, maybe a dress or skirt, as well as certain makeup products. I really want to go all out this time with dress, shoes, hair, and makeup but I think it's getting a tad too expensive.

Why is being a woman so expensive, ladies?

GGs, I'd love to hear your opinion.

[Cheryl T]

Startup costs are always expensive. Don't forget there are SALE racks at all the stores and there's Ebay too.

[Maria S]

I may not be a GG but I think I may know the answer.

Retailers and producers of make-up, ladies fashions, shoes etc prey on women want to look and feel the best they can. It's almost feeding an addiction like smoking or drinking. Most women would not dream of being seen without make-up. When a person gets paid things like cigarettes come before putting food on the table and to some extent make-up is the same. As a CDer to some extent I feel the same I find myself buying make-up even though money for every day living is very short.

Maria

[Beverley Sims]

Being a man is expensive too.
Grooming, smart clothing and taking women to expensive restaurants.
Especially when you miss out at the end of the night. :)
I think we women have it good.

[noeleena]

Hi,

Well Im not so sure, i have made some 14 different outfits for two quite different groups im a member of 1400 -1700 Renaissance and 1900 =14 , Edwardian plus i get given clothes that fit nicely , now had i needed to buy them i would have struggled , so i make my own clothes ,

My normal clothes some i brought new some are second hand very much with in my price range, if any i like & dont fit i redo them or add panel's so they do, most of what i wear are long skirts so i mix and match ,

I learnt sewing & makeing years ago so its really just time doing them And i get to wear them and show off what i come up with,

Makeup is allmost nill i really dont need it, just lippy & eye brow liner.thats it shoes my normal ones are leather & last well. flat heeled i prefer. Hair is allso a non issue, or wigs , though i do have 3, normaly i dont wear any only for one of our groups, i happen to be a very low cost female, yet can look smart when i need to other wise im pretty normal in day to day wear,

...noeleena...

[Zylia]

If you think cross-dressing is an expensive 'hobby', try something like playing electric guitar, photography or collecting Bentleys :D

[Kate Simmons]

Being a woman has never been cheap, no matter what form it comes in.:heehee::battingeyelashes::)

[SallyS]

Too true! I've spent ten times more on female clothing and products than male. I have more skirts, underwear, hosiery etc. than my wife :heehee:

I HATE buying men's clothes, hence the lack of varied male wardrobe that I have.

Look better, feel better in female attire....like most of us I guess?

[I Am Paula]

It is what you make it. I have $5 Old Navy t-shirts, and I have $80 Dior t-shirts. I'm wearing my payless flats, while eating breakfast, but I may put on $700 Louboutin's when I meet my sister for lunch later.
Two things that cheap just doesn't work- wigs, and makeup.
I see you're in san Diego. At least you don't have to buy winter clothes. Wool, and cashmere can wreak havoc on the wallet.

[Lorileah]

It costs a lot of money to look this cheap. Dolly Parton

[Melissa Rose]

Being a woman is not expensive. Dressing like one can be expensive (there is a difference), but it does not have to be expensive. It is a choice and there are low cost options. You may not like the options and elect not to partake in them, but they exist.

[Kelly DeWinter]

...............Startup costs are always expensive. .............

ROFL :lol2::lol2:

So THATS why women generally look for older financially secure men !?!

Now gg's don't pile on me, it's a fact .

[EllenJo]

Tamma, with a little research female clothes do not need to be expensive. It all depends on your style and taste and what you are willing to spend. The first skirt I purchased while shopping with my wife cost $9 at a consignment shop. Eddie Baur deniem original retail $54. Ebay is another good source once you know your sizes well. Khaki skirt from Target, retail $34, scored one on ebay for $4.99 and $3.25 shipping, it was new and still had the tags. Shoes are another story but a just like my male wardrobe I try to stay with classic styles that tend to stay in fashion. Of course there is always the "must have item" that seems extravagant but hey a girl needs some of that in her life also. My wife and two of her friends shop consignment shops all of the time. All three are petite and attractive and find fabulous buys at these shops for about 20% of the cost of new. She also says that this lets her buy things that she may only wear once or twice without feeling guilty. I always tell her that she has the figure to make a gunny sack look fabulous while I would make a $1000 dress look like a gunny sack.

Good luck with your shopping.
Ellen Jo

[Lorileah]

So THATS why women generally look for older financially secure men !?! Not just GGs I am looking for that too


Now gg's don't pile on me, it's a fact . At least partially true :)

[Cynthia Anne]

Well having fun is always expensive! Sometimes you have to go fishing in a pond instead of going to the ocean on a ship!

[DebbieL]

Women LOVE bargains, partly for this reason. Every woman I shop with doesn't even look at the front of the store until after she's checked out the "bargain rack". Some even pick the DAYS they go shopping because prices are lower at the end of the month, before everyone gets their government checks - especially true in military towns.

A KEY DIFFERENCE between CDs and GGs is that CDs only want to look as sexy and beautiful as they possibly can - even if they never leave the house. For some of us, it's compensating for the parts of masculinity that can't easily be hidden with make-up. For others, the goal of dressing is to experience the fantasy of being a beautiful and elegant woman in an exotic and wonderful place.

Real women, and the TS crowd, have to buy MOST of their wardrobe for the things they do every day. Unless they are in sales, marketing, or dealing face to face with very affluent customers, most women don't have to look all that great most of the time. In the summer they wear short dresses because they are cooler. In the winter, they wear leggings or pants because they are warmer. Women who work and live in climate controlled environments tend to dress more for comfort. The shirt fits looser, isn't low cut, and the pants are loose and stretch so they can move and be comfortable.

Men's clothes tend to be thicker, baggier, and completely hide the body underneath. When I've quite dressing I've DOUBLED my weight, with almost no comments. Even when I'm losing weight, most people notice NOTHING until I've lost at least 50 lbs. One of the things I love about going out femme is that it makes me more aware of my body. If Rex goes to a restaurant, he's likely to order the porter house stake, mash potatoes, gravy, biscuits, clam chowder or cream of something soup, and a veggie, with a piece of pie ala mode for desert - and that's just ONE MEAL! When I'm in "forced Rex mode" - I can easily pack away 4,000 calories in a single sitting, and I'm still hungry.

When Debbie goes to the same restaurant, it's a petite stake, steamed vegetables, onion soup, and a salad, with vinegar and oil dressing. In Debbie mode, not only is this plenty to eat, but it's probably the biggest meal of the day.

After a couple years of Forced Rex mode, Rex had a heart attack and a stroke. After a few months of Debbie mode, my doctor told me "you have the body of a 20 year old, you'd better give it back before someone reports HER missing. He's referring to my blood-work of course, as well as my blood pressure, resting heart rate, and muscle tone. If my doctor saw the correlation, he would be telling the insurance company they would save a bundle by giving me HRT and SRS.

[jillleanne]

It's not. Rather, it's dirt cheap. Let's look at it this way:

Mens Womans

shoes $ 60.00 $ 6,200.00
Shirts 30.00 1,112.00
hair 20.00 4,230.00
pants 45.00 1,118.00
underwear 12.00 1,500.00
Makeup 4.00 4,000.00
Jewelry 300.00 9,000.00
Dresses/skirts 1.00 1,1000.00

Hah, so there you have it. See told you so. Er, what was the question again?

[Celina]

I'm guessing the reason being a women "is" more expensive, is simply because women require a lot more stuff than guys? Unless you intentionally use 1500$ on shoes each time :o

[Stephy]

I think what makes it expensive is maintaining a male and female wardrobe. Wish I could get rid of one - now which one do you think that would be? :)

[Sister Rachel]

Just realised that I've spent several hundred quid ( quid is to pound as buck is to dollar for you stateside gals) on womenswear in the last year and almost nothing on bloke stuff .. starting to look a bit threadbare and scruffy to the outside world whilst swanning around at home in new lingerie, tops, skirts and dresses .. um .. yeah ;)

[RenneB]

Trying to look good in either gender is expensive. If you haven't looked outside lately, there are a lot of GGs and GMs that don't spend more than $5 on their entire outfit. Flip-flops, a t-shirt and a pair of sweats and that's on a good day.... for most of the humans in this part of the country.

For me, I prefer to look good no matter how I go out. Turning into a female takes a little more work and a little more costs as I wasn't born with a narrow waist, wide hips or large breasts so that's where most of the money goes....

Once you have the basics, hair, makeup, hips, waist, breast, the clothes... it just takes time and effort to look good....

Renne.....

[adrienner99]

This is not the full reason, but consider how competitive the fashion industry is by the advertising they do...I've often seen full-page or even two-page ads in Vogue for something like a new lipstick....the ad costs hundreds of thousands of dollars, depending on how many times they run it....how many lipsticks to they have to sell just to pay for the ad?

[Tina B.]

I don't think it's all that expensive, when you compare it to other "hobbies" Build a hot rod, you want to see your money go, or worst yet, a classic car, real money spent. Even Golf, a game a lot of men play. A good bag, clubs, balls, a special outfit, and then the green fees, I can get a couple of cute dresses for the cost of green fees.
I buy sales, and clearances, and it's cheaper than a lot of things I would have been doing as a guy. Ever priced a sail boat?

[Jocelyn Quivers]

I'll also back Cheryl's take on "start up cost are expensive." Maybe starting a women's wardrobe is more expensive than a mans. Being a men's wardrobe style is not really as important, shirt, pants, shoes and your there. For business work attire 1 or 2 suits, a couple dress shirts, a few ties, polo's and slacks or khaki's and your done. Save on hair cost by just shaving and going bald eliminating the need to go to a barber. With a woman's wardrobe once your a few years past the start up phase, and you know your look, brands, sizes, etc. The maintenance cost is not too bad, being make up, electro (if your into it), razors for shaving everywhere else, wig replacement, replacement of intimates (which should not be much a problem a few years after building the wardrobe, because most CD's me included have purchased enough hose, panties and bras to last 2 lifetimes:o)

For new outfits it's knowing where to find the deals, sales, 2nd hand clothing stores etc to hold down cost. For comparison I did a standard Goodwill Shopping spree where I purchased 4 skirts, and 3 tops for all of $40.00. Along with my massive, shoe, jewelry, and hosiery color collection dozens of different combos can be achieved with that.

Purchasing male clothes in Goodwill is more difficult because their suit collection usually never fits my build (too big) or is very out dated or inappropriate, (think 70's-80's gangsta, pimp, or over the top flashy rap star and not conservative business appropriate suits. So it's off to Khols for my cheapest option for a new suit $99 to $200 not to include dress shirt, tie etc. Not too include tailoring if needed.

[sometimes_miss]

Why is being a woman so expensive

As far as hair, most girls grow their own; they dye it 'just for a change, because change is good' (BS). Clothes, there are reasonably priced catalogs and stores, you only have to pay a lot if you want to. Jewelry, no one knows if it's a real gem unless you tell them. Women's shoes are cheaper than mine (I wear a 16). I never understood what women see in $500 shoes. Other women feed into this insanity, especially by judging other women's stuff mainly by how much it costs, designer labels, etc.. I don't know any men that give a hoot about how much a woman's stuff costs, we pretty much only care about how good it enhances her curves; Kmart stuff looks as good as high fashion stuff, especially if it's revealing. When we see a girl in a short skirt, we're not really paying attention to the skirt. Well, maybe some of us here are, thinking we'd like to wear it, but in regards to the girl we're looking at, the clothes don't matter all that much. One little black dress is as good as another; hopefully, they all wind up in a pile in the corner by midnight.

[Jennifer Kelly]

I see you're in san Diego. At least you don't have to buy winter clothes. Wool, and cashmere can wreak havoc on the wallet.

Oh we have winter here. But it doesn't snow and only lasts about 3 or 4 weeks. :)

I'm a San Diego native, so to me cold is when the daytime temps drop below 60. :) But you are correct in that I don't own anything wool or cashmere.

[jenni_xx]

CD's have it worse.

After all, we end up having to fund two sets of wardrobes!

[ReineD]

I REALLY want to buy this "hairdo" hair extensions, but the one I want is expensive. I also want to buy shoes, maybe a dress or skirt, as well as certain makeup products. I really want to go all out this time with dress, shoes, hair, and makeup but I think it's getting a tad too expensive.


There's a wide range in price for whatever you want to buy. Have you looked around for bargains? It takes homework before finding them.

How much would a suit, shirt, and shoes cost compared to a dress and shoes? IMO you can find a dress and shoes for a lot less money. Admittedly, hair extensions are an added expense, and as a man you do not have to buy makeup, so there is an additional cost there. But drugstore cosmetics come at a bargain ... you don't have to buy the pricey stuff in department stores. :)

Also, when I buy makeup it lasts a long time. So don't forget to divide the cost over the length of time that you will be using the products. You will find that you are paying only a few cents per wearing.

[Jodi]

I don't think that women's clothing and accessories are any more expensive that comparable men's items. My experience in life with men is that men are basically very cheap and won't spend anything more than they have to on most things, especially clothing. When I was working, I had to really dress. It was not unheard of for me to spend $700 on a suit, $200 on shoes, $75 on a shirt, and $50 on a tie. That totals up to over $1,000 for an outfit.

So, for me to spend $200 on a dress and $300 on a bag is not out of line.

Most women, if they are in a profession where they have to present well, feel the same way.

Most guys will spend as little as possible, and their personal appearance looks it.

Jodi

[Eryn]

Hmmm.

Harley-Davidson Road Glide Custom motorcycle: $19,799.

Ford Super Duty F-450 Lariat pickup: $61,680.

Cirrus SR-22 light aircraft: $635,900

Manly things aren't purchased as often, but they cost big chunks of cash.

[BLUE ORCHID]

Hi Tama, Being a long time CD can be very expensive too.

[DebbieL]

I've actually found the opposite. When I go shopping for men's pants, for example, I usually have to go to a big and tall shop, and usually have to pay $70-$80 per pair. Dress shirts that are thick enough and still comfortable - usually around $30 per pair.

In the plus size department, I can get women's slacks - which are long enough (34 inch inseam), and I can wear to work. Cost is arount $10-$20 per pair.

Of course, I need fewer men's clothes, because there are only a few cuts I wore for both pants and shirts, and the color selection is also rather limited and boring. And they last for years. I've had men's shirts that I finally threw out after 20 years, and even then they were wearable, I just didn't want them anymore.

I still wear men's shirts to work. But nearly all of them were Christmas presents, thank you gifts, or similar presents. Most are over 5 years old. Even the newest ones were from last Christmas. Men's styles change so little, year to year and season to season. For a man who drives an air conditioned car from his air conditioned home to his air conditioned office, the fashions don't change at all. At BEST there might be a switch to short sleeves in the hottest months of summer.

Even Men's shoes tend to be long term and limited need. Most men have their work shoes, what they wear for work, and their play shoes, the ones they wear for exercise, recreation, and just bumming around. These shoes are also designed for longer wear, and the result is that most men only need new shoes about once per year.

Even more important is that the nature of men's clothes is to make them look as much like the other men as possible. No coincidence that most men's clothing is very similar to men's military uniforms. Even the necktie goes back to WW1 when every soldier wore such a tie in case a tourniquet was needed on the battlefield. Coats got lots of pockets to gear could be carried when the soldier had to travel light, such as when under fire. The result is that men are generally expected to dress like the other men in their environment. At work, they will dress like the other men at work. At social events, they will dress like the other men at those social events - sporting events being the most dramatic example.

For women, however, clothing is a reflection of their personality, they physical situation, and their mood. Furthermore, during courtship years, their is also the desire to attract men. As a result, clothing for younger women tends to fit more closely to the body, showing curves, and showing skin in warm months. Older women often want to look a bit younger, so they still like their clothes to fit their shape, but they might want to hide bulges that come with age.

The problem for women is that everyone's shape changes. Men don't have much problem, because the clothes hide shape as much as possible, hiding irregularities and vulnerabilities that might help an enemy target. But since women's clothing is more closely fitted, changes in weight or fitness level can result in need for new clothes to replace those that are either too loose, or too tight, simply because there has been a change of 5-10 lbs.

At party and social events, especially fund raisers, there is the chance to be Cinderella at the ball. These are the events where women want to look their very best, partly for status, but also to help increase the amount raised at the event. Husbands tend to open up their wallets a bit more when they have beautiful wives at their sides, and are admiring the other beautiful wives. Romance is in the air. Compliments are given by all, and a woman wants to look and feel like she is beautiful. Since she's not the only one, she doesn't have to feel that she is TOO pretty or TOO sexy. Of course, these are also the most expensive outfits, and the ones that most cross-dressers want to wear.

[Ceri Anne]

You can get good stuff for good prices by shopping around, going to sales, goodwill etc. I got my first makup at Dollar General. Makeup brushes, $1, Makeup $1-$2 and its reasonable quality. I use better stuff now, but to get started and learn how to use it, its perfect.

I just bought 2 dresses at JCP on clearance racks. Feel free to take stuff into the dressing rooms to try them on, even in male mode. I always do. One dress was $4.95, the other was $11.95, normally in the $40 - $60 range. I've gotten new shoes from Platos Closet for $3-$12 a pair. Also the clearance racks at DSW and Famous Footwear are good. My first outfits came from Goodwill (can also try on in dressing rooms).

For wigs, I generally spend about $25-30, and find them at local independent beauty supply stores. I prefer Kankalon fiber as its heat stylable. I also found breast forms (self bra) at Walmart for $25. Actually very nice quality, see post in shopping.

From scratch, you can put together everything for one or two outfits for under $100.

[Dalva]

When I'm in a shopping mood, I'll head to the thrift stores first. I've found some great deals on everything from tops and dresses to accessories and intimates, i.e. nighties and camisoles (you gotta be very selective and careful about those items) I've also found designer shoes that have never been worn at the Value Village for under twenty dollars. Just look at the sole and inside and you can tell they have never been used.


Make up, on the other hand is touch and go. I was at the make up counter at a local dept. store last week, picking up this, that and the other things and before I knew it I had close to a hundred dollars in lipstick, eye shadow, make up sponges, concealer, etc. It adds up very fast.

I guess that it all depends on what you willing to spend for what you want to wear. You can get cheap foundation garments easily enough but I'd rather pay a little extra for Playtex or MaidenForm. Or, would you like to wear Vanity Fair panties or Jockey for Her?