The equipment or the delivery

[Kate Simmons]

What do you think makes your presentation as a woman more convincing. Is it the equipment (clothes, makeup, jewelery, hair, etc.) or the delivery(manner, deportment, gestures,body movements, facial expressions, etc.). I feel for myself I use a little bit of all of it. What do you all think?:)

[Hell on Heels]

For sure the equipment, without it I am just a guy, no doubt about it. I think with all the equipment, the lack of mannerisms is easier to overlook.
Of course with all the equipment installed, I can't help but try to employee a few mannerisms as well.
It's kinda a package deal.
Much Love,
Kristyn

[Stephanie47]

The first time I saw cross dressers was in San Francisco in 1978. Two young cross dressers drew my attention because of their height. They were tall. They were well dressed. Their mannerisms were feminine, almost to the extent of exaggeration. If one expends too much effort trying to act feminine, it attracts attention. Nobody else in my large group gave them notice. They had the total package; the tools and the mannerisms.

Late last year I encountered an cross dresser who attracted my attention due to the total lack of deportment and mannerisms. Walking behind her I could discount the bulkiness of the body. There are some women built like defensive linemen. However, she had absolutely no ability to walk in boots with heels. Her ankles caved inward. She carried a purse as if were a lunch pail. Her strut was totally male. It was not her attire that drew attention. She was obviously a male in women's clothing.

Everyone on this site has access to a computer- duh! There are many instructional available to learn female mannerisms. Wasn't it Huck Finn who was discovered as a boy wearing a dress because he closed his legs when trying to catch an object. A girl would have opened her legs to catch the object in the skirt of her dress?

If you give the mannerisms conscious thought, after awhile the mannerisms become natureal:
Whisking away the stray hair on your face
Crossing your legs at the knee and not the ankles
Smoothing the skirt of your dress as you sit down

You need them both

[AllieSF]

Sit us in a corner without moving, it is definitely the equipment. You need to start that fantasy somewhere. However, getting up, walking around, talking to people, then you need a good delivery to carry the fantasy forward.

[natcrys]

Assuming one wants to pass.. either online or IRL:

For showing pictures on the Internet... equipment is key.. not just make-up, hair but also knowing what kind of clothes will fit best with your body. Also, don't underestimate the importance of lighting and posing and the expression on your face.

The next step is moving.. and I'd make a subdivision into videos and actual moving IRL, e.g. in a mall. With both cases, feminine movements and gestures are important.. so that's more on the delivery side of things.

Still though, with videos, you can edit, cut and paste.. you can take out the clips where you are filmed from an unflattering angle.. or where you perhaps might not move as feminine. Basically, it's still a 2D viewing of a 3D situation. ;)

Now, moving and presenting yourself in real life might seem harder (and in some aspects it is), but the thing is.. when you're walking through a shopping street during normal hours.. 98% of the people are too busy with their own lives anyway. So.. if the "equipment" is good enough.. and your movements are not too much like a WWE wrestler, then you can get away with a lot.

(with a video, you know people are going to look at you closely)Observe and learn.. and have female friends who will tell you that that is not the feminine way to hold a glass of wine! :p

[Lorileah]

Either will out you quickly if you overdo it. Those who over dress will attract attention, those who work too hard to act like a woman will attract attention even faster.


You do a girl tolerable poor, but you might fool men, maybe. Bless you, child, when you set out to thread a needle don't hold the thread still and fetch the needle up to it; hold the needle still and poke the thread at it; that's the way a woman most always does, but a man always does t'other way. And when you throw at a rat or anything, hitch yourself up a tiptoe and fetch your hand up over your head as awkward as you can, and miss your rat about six or seven foot. Throw stiff-armed from the shoulder, like there was a pivot there for it to turn on, like a girl; not from the wrist and elbow, with your arm out to one side, like a boy. And, mind you, when a girl tries to catch anything in her lap she throws her knees apart; she don't clap them together, the way you did when you catched the lump of lead. Why, I spotted you for a boy when you was threading the needle

[Jaylyn]

I think that it would have to be the whole package, but also I've seen some masculine GG also so might not be the whole package...

[Ressie]

Good afternoon Kate. I think both are needed if the goal is to pass to most people. Really good makeup techniques can transform a man's face into a woman's. Padding in the right places with the right clothes works wonders too. Maybe acting the part depends on acting ability?

A few days ago someone mentioned something about me keeping my knees together while sitting. Some of those mannerisms tend to continue in male mode :)

[Karren H]

Delivering the wrong equipment.... no mater how good..... is always a recipe for failure!

[Adriana Moretti]

a little bit of both for sure....however here in the north east i think we can get away with a little less on the delivery side...think Mob Wives, Jersey Housewives....something about those Jersey, NYC, Tri-State area gals got a little toughness to them...sometimes a little too much...maybe its the accent.... Drita is a good example

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_WAkYexz_Q

[Kate Simmons]

Personally I never "act" like anyone but myself but with myself concerning gestures and dancing it's mostly in the "wrist". Not in a "gay" way so much as a free expression way. Anyone who has met me in person knows what I mean.:heehee::)

[Debra Russell]

With equipment - delivery is automatic at least with me - it's like flipping a switch, but I am still me. The smoothing of the skirt when sitting, posture, standing, leg crossing, ect... all are part of me when Debra emerges .......................Debra

[Chickhe]

...are you a duck if you qua.. or are you a duck if you ..ack? In my opinion, you will be most likely be perceived as a duck if you look like one, act like one and act like one. It is not either or, it is a percentages game of probability.

[Beverley Sims]

Kate you need a bit of it all, especially hair to suit the occasion.
No use going naked in the world either.
I think most women look unattractive without clothes also. :)

[Ilsa]

For me it is age appropriate makeup and clothing and attention to my gait!

[kendra_gurl]

I like to think its more about the equipment simply because that is the fun part.
And on my good days when I can create this look no one pays much attention to the way I walk:heehee:

[mikiSJ]

Sit us in a corner without moving, it is definitely the equipment. You need to start that fantasy somewhere. However, getting up, walking around, talking to people, then you need a good delivery to carry the fantasy forward.

^^^This!

[Nikki A.]

The equipment is important as far as first looks go. But to trully pass the delivery has to be there also. By that I don't mean being the perfect belle of the ball, but rather be comfortable (or at least appear so) with how you present.

[Jamiegirl1]

I like to think its more about the equipment simply because that is the fun part.
And on my good days when I can create this look no one pays much attention to the way I walk:heehee:

Wow,you definitely have the right equipment....very impressive Kendra

[MetalGurl]

I'm not exactly sure I could say which one is more important. You could have perfected your delivery, but without the gear, you're just a guy imitating a woman's mannerism. However, if you have the right gear and butcher (or worse yet, over-exaggerate) the delivery, you're going to be outed easily. We've all seen the overly effeminate and overboardly flamboyant ones. When you're grossly flamboyant, you're not exactly ladylike, which is something I'd strive for.

Getting everything to mesh and work well together is truly a work of art to me.

[Tracy Hazel Lee]

I have some half decent 'equipment', and enough 'delivery', right up to the point of communication. Once I have to actually say something, the illusion is most definitely destroyed.

[Lynn Marie]

I had a really good comment and then I saw Kendra's post.

[KristyE]

Oh.. sorry Kendra did you say something?
Love KristyE

[Marcelle]

For me it has to be delivery but even with perfect delivery I am still a guy and that is glaringly obvious when you look at me. Luckily my height and body shape allow me to blend reasonably well (hiding in plain site) so my delivery is everything to keep people from focusing too much on the equipment.

Hugs

Isha

[erickka]

I think you HAVE to use both. The equipment helps make others see what may be more readily perceived as a woman, but without using at least some delivery, we are more apt to be tagged as a man in a dress.