What if men's fashions were different?

[Geena75]

A number of years ago I would daydream about what I would wear if mens fashions included skirts, dresses, hosiery, heels, etc. At the time I felt that such a situation would be the answer to my CD urges.

So the question is: If "feminine" fashions were acceptable as male fashions, would you still want to dress fully as a woman? Would, say, a LBD which accented the male form be enough?

Personally, I would certainly take advantage of the style, and it would delete most of my CD activities. I couldn't say if would answer all my desires, though.

[Karren H]

Id still want to dress ... look... act like what ever women were doing.... except if women only wore jeans.... then I'd jump off a cliff....

[Sarah Marie]

Geena,
Good question. I think part of the allure/desire is to be totally feminine. Merely wearing leggings or a skirt while outwardly male wouldn't satisfy the CD urge for me. That's not to say that I wouldn't wear more androgynous or feminine clothes if they were in fashion.

[Madilyn A.]

good question....love the what if's.....since as a male I have always tended to dress a bit more uplevel than many other males in any particular setting....I would in your scenario get rid of my male attire, and dress a bit more glamorous, than most occasions called for, heels and dresses, and yes stockings, always. Flats around the house though.

[Kate Simmons]

I would always dress as an action/adventuress except when I'm dancing, then I get frilly sometimes. :battingeyelashes::)

[Beverley Sims]

I side with Karen here, except life is too short to jump off cliffs and I will still wear jeans. :)

[MarciManseau]

Id still want to dress ... look... act like what ever women were doing.... except if women only wore jeans.... then I'd jump off a cliff....

You'd still play hockey, but in a short skirt with lots of jewelry and curls :) She shoots, she scores!

[AshleyBunnyX]

i think for me the appeal of crossdressing is exactly what it implies, wearing clothes of the opposite gender. that's where the thrill comes from for me. doing something i'm normally not supposed to do. that's the reason i find the idea of wearing so many different types of female garments inherently interesting. if it was just a matter of liking certain styles of clothing for me i probably wouldn't like half of the female clothing that i do. i mean, if that was the case i'd just wear kilts instead of skirts. it's definitely just about being taboo for me. xD

[Lorileah]

There are men's fashions exactly as you describe. I don't seethe members here abandoning the site to dress like men in feminine style fashions.

[JustWendy]

I think many of us are not only attracted to the softer look that women’s apparel offers, but a softer look in general that goes beyond clothes to include makeup and adding gentle curves. To wear a dress that just hangs like a sack from our broad shoulders wouldn’t be enough.

Wendy

[Rachael Leigh]

I would without a doubt wear those styles if offered in male clothing. I wonder though how different they would be, I would think less flowers and patterns and not all the same colors

[gennee]

I'm a conservative dresser but I like to be stylish. I love colors, some of the modern styles and a little flair. I would like for men's fashion to be less button-down when, say, going to a party. I worked in the business world for years. One lament I had was that the men almost always wore dull ties. I wore brightly colored conservative ties. I got my fashion sense from my mom when I was fifteen and it has really helped in selecting styles and colors.

:)

[Katey888]

Hey Geena - do you mean like they were 500 years ago (below - kinda..)? :D
It'd be great to try all that slit silk, hose, earrings, etc. don't you think :devil: and some of us would get to keep their beards!
Seriously - this is today's absurdity with what constitutes male and female fashions - female fashions are very much male-defined today; we all cause such a stir here because we threaten that definition... just my :2c:
Katey x

[geek]

There are men's fashions exactly as you describe. I don't see the members here abandoning the site to dress like men in feminine style fashions.

I can't say I've ever seen particularly feminine men's clothing. On the other hand I've never purchased high-end men's clothes, so I suppose its possible. As to if I would wear feminine cut men's fashion, such as a LBD for men, maybe.

[rah]

i love leggings idk why they are not part of male fashion, u can wear them under shorts with boots :)

[Cheryl T]

If men's fashions included heels, hose, skirts and dresses then what would female fashions be????


I'd still keep being me and presenting female. It's not about the clothes and hasn't been for ages. They just let others see how I feel on the inside.

[Lorileah]

I can't say I've ever seen particularly feminine men's clothing. On the other hand I've never purchased high-end men's clothes, so I suppose its possible. As to if I would wear feminine cut men's fashion, such as a LBD for men, maybe.

do a search on here for men's skirts or similar. There are many threads about it in media and clothing

[Cynthia Anne]

I think I'd still dress as a female! Which would cut my time down in getting ''ready''! I'd have so much free time on my hands! I could focus on the more important things perhaps like getting rid of ALL THE CLIFFS!!!!!

[LaraPeterson]

First of all, that's never going to happen (please oh please let it never happen). For me, and I imagine lots of us, dressing covers much more than "attire."

Hey Katey, where did you get that pic of me?

[Jorja]

Well, if it were up to me I would just go around naked. Clothing is so restrictive.;)

[windycissy]

I do believe if I could dress like Louis XVI, I'd have no need for skirts and dresses:

[Tina_gm]

Someone made a point about past fashions. Colonial Americans for example. Today they are called capri's and are a woman's fashion. Men back then were quite decorative with formal attire. Similar fashions today are designed for women. I enjoy dressing in both men's and women's clothing, so I do not know exactly how I would react if clothing was either opposite or just completely gender neutral.

[Eryn]

There are two interests my dressing. Yes, I like to be creative with the clothes I wear and being en femme allows me to do that, but I am also attracted by feminine styles of socialization. Being dressed allows me to explore both of these interests. If men were allowed to dress more creatively I'd still be stuck with the testosterone-poisoned male modes of interaction so I'd probably still feel the need to blur the boundary.

[JohnH]

It would be nice to be able to dress in what we now interpret as feminine attire but still be able to talk in a deep masculine voice as I have.

Johanna (John)

[Sabrina133]

then i'd dress like Mary Antoinette

[Zylia]

One of those "what if everybody had an extra nose on their foreheads would you still find people attractive" kind of questions again. My cross-dressing habits are based on the world I grew up in. If I grew up in a completely different world (LBDs for men *shudders*) my cross-dressing habits probably would be different as well or perhaps even non-existent.

[julia marie]

Id still want to dress ... look... act like what ever women were doing.... except if women only wore jeans.... then I'd jump off a cliff....
I'm with Karren on this one. I'll go with what women are wearing. About the cliff thing, just remember that if you jump off a cliff in a skirt, go headfirst. It would be unladylike to have the skirt fly up around your shoulders, if you know what I mean.

[UNDERDRESSER]

Bit of a mix of responses, but most of you seem to feel that it's more than just the fashions.

I am mostly in the male fashions need to change camp. I have very little interest in trying to look like a woman these days. I do wear skirts and stockings, not heels, (I need more height like I need an extra hole in my head) I don't wear forms.

I have slowly been getting myself used to being seen in such, I still have concerns about reactions, though so far everybody seems quite accepting. I am currently in an experimental phase, trying different kinds of skirts, see how they combine with male sweaters, shirts, jackets, (thank heaven for thrift stores!) I want to visit an Indian fabric shop my GF has been to, see about getting an Indian style embroidered tunic, I think that could give me one of the looks I'm going for.

Partly it's to behave in what some might call a feminine way, it's sort of a rejection of what is commonly thought of as what defines masculine behaviour. I think of myself as a man, but I don't like how some people say I should be.

[devida]

I guess I'll speak for what, at least I hope, is a silent minority. There are a few in this forum who don't want to be either female or male in presentation or gender. They want to be something in between. So the urge to cd means for me, and, I hope, not just for me, a rather deep and psychic refusal to conform to gender norms of either masculine or feminine. A refusal, in other words, to accept, for ourselves, a binary identification. So for us your question, Geena75, does not really for cds like me make any sense. I am not interested in dressing fully as a woman because I don't want to pass as a woman. I also don't want to dress as a man because, as far as I am concerned I am only biologically a man, not psychologically. Interestingly enough couture for men agrees with me, as you can see by the recent runway shows in New York, Paris, London, and Milan. Men's fashions, at least there, have become neither male nor female but something in between. The shows feature men wearing skirts, dresses, and hosiery as well as lace and tops that most people would call blouses not shirts. Heels, and bras not so much...yet. I have to emphasize this isn't just fashion, it's a much deeper current in contemporary society which couture is reflecting. Couture follows social trends. Revolutionary as it may sometimes seem couture is a response to society. I think being transgender is a spectrum, all the way from underdressing to passing to surgery. We are all at some point on this spectrum but the spectrum is not necessarily an itinerary. Some of us are quite happy wherever we are. At least I hope this is the case. I hear so little from people like me on this forum that I sometimes wonder!

[heatherdress]

Yes - I would still enjoy dressing in skirts, dresses and heels. I would enjoy wearing them most of the time. However, we would no longer be called crossdressers if men's fashion included dresses and heels.

[Tina955]

If men's fashions were say more feminine in any way, there would still be people that have problems with men wearing them. Example: I was wearing a men's tank shirt that is a hot pink I picked up at Walmart. Well some adolescent yells out "hey look at the queer in the pink shirt.

Underdresser, have you checked out skirt cafe? They are all about men wearing skirts as men. But don't talk about cding, and your name probably wouldn't go over good either.

Tina

[NathalieX66]

Gender identity is a social construct.

If only women were entitled to wear certain things, and groom in a certain way that was opposite of the way men do things, and vice versa, and society put a taboo on either gender crossing the line of the other gender for whatever reason, then I believe it is putting humanity in a very rigid box. I don't believe you can cheat your way into expressing yourself as having a feminine side like getting your ears pierced, or wearing a pink shirt. People just simply like what they like.

I honesty think that Steven Tyler of Aerosmith is on that line where he wants to be androgynous and feminine, but without the stigma of something else. Has he ever been seen wearing a dress and heels? Would he dress like Jennifer Anniston every day? Is this the real him? or is he too scared to go the full route?

You either get full license to go out dressed as female, or you don't. I feel the need to break that rule, because gender is not important to me. I just like what I like.

[ShelbyDawn]

Interesting question...
For me, I believe I would definitely take advantage of the male skirt concept as well as the stockings. That would not alter my need to CD, though.
The best illustration of would be my underwear drawer; it is full of men's bikini briefs and women's panties. They are cut about the same and for the most part fit about the same but the male ones haven't been touched in a very very long time except to move them to make room for more panties...
I don't pretend to understand it but there is just something inside me that needs to associate with a more feminine me.

:hugs:

Shelby

[NathalieX66]

Oh yeah. Now I remember why I grew up as a crossdresser. ...... David Bowie, yeah that's it.

[Tina955]

This may be a dumb question, but what is an LBD?

Tina

[Erica Marie]

I think that would be wonderful. Then what how would you determine who or if any of us would be crossdressers. I would for sure wear more womenly fashions. I dont think I would be one to go heavy on the make up or wig. But I would feel very comfortable in casual womens wear such as leggings and long sweaters for winter and a nice skirt and top during summer. Like some of the others mentioned, more of androgynous look.

[ShelbyDawn]

Tina,

An LBD is a "little black dress", the foundation of every ladies wardrobe. :)

:hugs:
Shelby

[Daphne Renee]

Not a bad question. I am not certain. I think I would probably still want to dress as a female though.

[Laura J]

I would still probably want to dress female, whatever that was.

[UNDERDRESSER]

Underdresser, have you checked out skirt cafe? They are all about men wearing skirts as men. But don't talk about cding, and your name probably wouldn't go over good either.

TinaOh yeah, I'm on there as well, if you've read my posts you might figure out my name on there. Really should change my name on here, doesn't reflect where I think I'm at these days.

[dominique]

First of all it would take a major shift in society to accept it. As for me I would still wear womens clothing because that's who've I come to be over the years, but it would be easier to dress that way with out the scorn of others.

[Maria in heels]

And my answer would be:

Yes, I would then be dressing fully as Maria, all of the time!

[Tina955]

Shelby, thank you for the answer to LBD. As a crossdresser, I should have figured that out.

Tina

[Marcelle]

Okay . . . so being the military at work I dress in combat fatigues so who is dressing like who? Are men dressing like women or vice versa . . . this clothing thing is so confusing sometimes :)

On a more serious note, I think if men's fashions were more feminine (including such things as skirts, hose, heels etc.) they would still be men's fashions and my proclivity is to dress in the fashions of the opposite gender. Besides, knowing guys, even if we had skirts, dresses, heels, in our wardrobe department, they would all be heavy wool, conservative, buttoned down, practical and drab (three colours, black, grey and brown). :)

Hugs

Isha

[Maryesther M.]

I subscribe to another forum which promotes the wearing by men of skirts but excludes the 'crossdressing' element, pushing instead for general acceptance by Society of males in skirts if they wish to wear them.

For me that's all very fine, but crossdressing is going the whole way, with forms and nice femme wig, make-up &c &c, which is much more demanding (and expensive!). That's what I get my 'buzz' from.

M.

[jilliannichols]

HAVE dressed in conserative skirts in drab in select places not too big a deal a few stange looks mostly just ignoring them

[deebra]

To directly answer your question, "if feminine fashions were accepted as male fashions" that would be great. We could dress, go public and be accepted, not looked at as freaks for those that don't pass. This would put us more accepted when we CDed fully as a woman from the female male fashions. BTW women look pretty washed out and plain when they get out of bed in the morning so imagine how much better men would look in soft form fitting colorful clothes and some makeup to mask the flaws. It would be society just getting use to a new style and CDs being the only group that's still discriminated against would go away. So why haven't clothing designers and manufacturers moved in this direction???? We all know how they manipulate us to buy new styles every year, would mean more sales for them.

[Geena75]

One thing is true -- if we wore skirts/dresses/hosiery from the men's dept. we wouldn't be crossdressers.

I agree with the one respondant -- if it wasn't taboo it wouldn't be as exciting.

It would be interesting if norms of 500 yrs ago were today. Watch some old Errol Flynn films with a degree of envy. Replace the stockings with nylons and there you are. Although I'd look more like Alan Hale than Errol Flynn.

Perhaps a way to phrase the original notion is "What if clothing styles were all gender neutral?"

[Chari]

Fashion has always been strange, as females can & do wear male attire, like "boy friend & military style" items, and society accepts it as "fashion". See a guy in tight pants or a skirt, hose, silk shirt, a bit higher heel shoe, light make up, fancy jewelry, and he usually is ridiculed or avoided. Perhaps it would be better if fashion could be barrowed from either gender for either gender as long as the wearer was confident and comfortable in whatever they chose to wear, and all societies would accept it.