When going out, is it more important to you....

[GretchenJ]

A) to look like a woman or
B) to feel like a woman.

Is is worth a better experience to get the look down ( gaff, girdle, shareware, hip pads, butt pads, fake nails) in order to look the best you can. Up here in the northeast the GG outfit of choice right now that the weather is getting colder is black pants or leggings, boots and a sweater. (Dressing for maximum passing...)

Or does it seems more like a costume and you are more excited with a basic dress, stockings, bra , panties and heels for the maximum experience. ( if the body shape is not right- so be it) I would add to this list weighted breast forms, because they would feel more like having real breast. A wig is standard for both sides of the fence. - but feel free to debate this, or any items I have placed on both sides

So, I tried to answer this myself, and I said "both are important to me" (you can tell I was sitting in a lot of traffic this morning) :) so I will pose it like this...

Imagine a gauge going to 0 to 100 where 0 was maximum feel like a woman and 100 was max look like a woman. 50 would be true hand and half...What would your enfemmemeter ( yes I just invented this) read?

Mine would read 20

Thanks
Gretch

[Rachelakld]

At coffee Sunday morning looking all lady like, feeling fem (30 on your meter) when some teen boys started giving me greif. So looking lady like on the outside and the warrior on the inside laying it down to the little S-heads, i was running at 100 on your scale.

[GretchenJ]

At coffee Sunday morning looking all lady like, feeling fem (30 on your meter) when some teen boys started giving me greif. So looking lady like on the outside and the warrior on the inside laying it down to the little S-heads, i was running at 100 on your scale.

Yes Rachel - sorry to have read about your issues on the weekend, but was glad you put the smack down on the miscreants !!!

[Chardonnay Merlot]

Hi Gretchen...

Its hard to answer the question because to me one concept works in concert with the other.

"looking like a woman" means different things to different people because everybody's style is different.

At the beginning when I am getting ready to head out in en femme, I want to wear something that can stand out while blending in. When I achieve that, I find that I my mood changes, thoughts change and at that point what I am seeing is enhancing the way I feel. However, to achieve that look to the highest degree, it all begins with the feeling and attitude that is already there. It has to be in you, for it to radiate out.

50 on your scale is the way to go in my view, combined with an understand that all this is not a straight line, its a cycle.

[Candice Mae]

I just try to be my self, no need to re-invent my self based on how I look.

[julia marie]

I'll lean toward "feeling fem" in terms of what is important. Maybe that's at 30 score. That doesn't rule out "looking fem". If I think I don't "look" fem at all, I'm not going to feel fem. It's not an either/or thing.

[Rachael Leigh]

For me got to say between 20 and 30 I just like feeling comfortable and that's what my clothes are just comfortable and for sure more fashionable than my guy stuff but I don't really get out enfem but if I did that's how it would be for me

[alesha_cd]

For me, as the upper half of the meter approaches 100, the lower half approaches zero. I wouldn't want to be stuck in the middle because both extremes are important to me. I would have to gauge mine with two meters. Or it could be a progress bar starting from the middle and going both ways. In which case I'd want my bar completely filled. :)

[Sophie Yang]

Gretchen,

This is a conversation I overheard one woman telling another at the office the other day, “ honey, if you aren't feeling it, you have to dress it until you do!” Apparently, even GG's sometimes don't feel like a GG. I would say she usually looks a 90, but that day she may have only felt like 90.

For me, I'd say I am a 60. I don't spend a lot of time getting ready and most of the time the transformation comes together pretty easily. In either mode, I am a good listener. Was never much of a talker growing up, but now when out and about, I really like talking to people.

[ronny]

Relax and simply be you! People will like you if you enjoy life and communicate it to others. Transition is a process to be lived. The real you always comes out!

[Ceri Anne]

Of course, we want to look our best, but when I am going out, its all the prepping, shaving, moisturizing, mani/pedi, makeup and dressing that makes me feel so feminine. Both are important, but if you don't feel it, you will never look it.

[Beverley Sims]

Gretchen.
This is a bit like putting labels on things, I dress to pass and avoid conflict, when dressed I feel 100 percent woman.

[S. Lisa Smith]

Wow, this is hard to answer. When I look like a woman, I feel like a woman. I love looking like a woman and I love being the woman I look like.

[GretchenJ]

Wow, this is hard to answer. When I look like a woman, I feel like a woman. I love looking like a woman and I love being the woman I look like.

Excellent S.Lisa - I was hoping to provoke some thought.. I propose Tuesday to be philosophy day on the forum..
Next week - if you falsies fall in the forest , does it make a sound ? Lol

[AllieSF]

My goal is to look and act like a woman as best as I can. To be truthful, I really do not know what feeling like a woman is. In fact, there have been some recent threads discussing that very terminology. I am also with Ronny, I am being me in women's clothing and having a lot of fun doing that.

[CarlaWestin]

I'm going to roll a 70 on this or even as high as 85. If I'm really presenting the passable image as female, the guy I am will get plenty of the female vibes. I'm really not at all TS and enjoy my crossdressing from a very male perspective. I wouldn't want all the emotion that would come with being 0.

[S. Lisa Smith]

Next week - if your falsies fall in the forest , does it make a sound ? Lol Of course, if they fall, they fall off of you, you are there and therefore can hear them. If they fell and no one was there, they just would have fallen from the sky (somehow), which is impossible.

[Diane Smith]

I don't think I know what "feeling like a woman" really means. I like to feel like myself, and my self-image is usually enhanced by wearing women's clothes and makeup. So I think I'm more on the "looking like" end of your scale.

- Diane

[Erica Marie]

For me it is more of a question of blending in. I am me, not quite sure. Male exterior, female brains. So I dress to blend in and not stand out. Feeling female is all a matter of what is inside you.

[linda allen]

I don't think the gauge concept works here. As someone pointed out, I've never been a woman so I don't really know what it's like to feel like one (on the inside at least), but my goal when I dress is to look as much like a woman as possible and by looking like a woman, to feel like one as much as possible.

[Lynn Marie]

I like the en femme look, but even more I like the en femme feel. Many of my CD girlfriends pad up like crazy to achieve that perfect feminine shape and form. I prefer the feel of tight sexy shapers, lacey bras, silky camisoles, garters, support stockings, and heels. I have no interest in blending either en femme or drab and I avoid venues where that is the most important thing. I'd much rather make a statement for femininity and be appreciated for the effort!

[NicoleScott]

I'll never know how a woman feels, so it has to be "A".

[BLUE ORCHID]

Hi Gretchin, For me it's answer C. all the above.

[Chari]

To try & feel like a woman, you should dress (think & act) like a woman! Some times the need to do everything in feminine mode will be greater than other days/nights, but it is still enjoyable no matter what the attire.

[GretchenJ]

I like the en femme look, but even more I like the en femme feel. Many of my CD girlfriends pad up like crazy to achieve that perfect feminine shape and form. I prefer the feel of tight sexy shapers, lacey bras, silky camisoles, garters, support stockings, and heels. I have no interest in blending either en femme or drab and I avoid venues where that is the most important thing. I'd much rather make a statement for femininity and be appreciated for the effort!

Hi Lynn -- Those are exactly my thoughts !!! - Could not have said it better !
Gretchen

[Jenniferathome]

I am not a woman so I do not know what it feels like to be a woman. I never feel "like a woman." I am me at all times. What I do want when I am out is to blend in. To appear like any other woman and as a result, FORGET that I am even dressed. It happen occasionally.

[Alice B]

What is important to me is how I feel about myself in general. Sometime I feel like a woman and maybe sometimes look like one, from a distance. Both may depend upon who I am around and how they react to, or treat me. But, that I'm comfortable in my own skin is the key.

[kimdl93]

I'm sure you've recognized already that none of us can know with certainty how a woman "feels". Its an ambiguous concept. When I go out, I want to look as much like a natural woman as my body and facial features will allow, after mitigating with foundations, forms, make up and clothes. Now, how to gauge that - its pretty difficult and equally arbitrary. If I'm read half the time and blend half the time - does that equal 50%?

Beyond that, I feel like myself. It just happens that my "self" is substantially happier to be presenting as female, whether I'm out or at home.

[Stephanie47]

My attire when having gone out has been a dress, hosiery and heels. Underneath has been all the proper undergarments; bra, panty, slip. I wore makeup and a wig. I enjoyed the wisps of cool air caressing my legs. I really did not give it much thought if I felt like a woman. When I am en femme I feel just right. I don't think I am a man in a dress. But, I don't dwell of it either. I think, if society approved, I would impulsively decide on any given day which part of my inner self I want to project.

I started dressing for relief stress. If I were to try to mingle among the masses, I would lose that comfort and would not feel like a woman. I would feel like I would be seen-a man in a dress.