If you are a LTD...

[Wildaboutheels]

[Long Time Dresser] How has your dressing or "presentation" CHANGED since you started watering at this site?

Maybe not at all?

Convinced you to do more with your effort?

Helped you to escape the closet?

Perhaps convinced you, you don't have to be close to "passing" to go out?

If you are mostly happy to lurk and READ and rarely post...what keeps you here?

[Ashley Lyn]

Presentation has changed from sissy dresses (and I have a bunch) to the schoolgirl (younger generation look)..
Shorter skirts, thigh highs, Mary Janes, frilly blouses.. Keep around some knee length skirts for my occasional 'nite out' in very non-public (safe) areas..
As I get older I hope to transition to the 'fit in with everyone else' presentation so I can get 'out' more in public.. Time will tell..

[Felicia Dee]

My presentation hasn't so much changed as it has evolved. But in all honesty, I think that has more to do with time and maturing tastes than anything else. Though, I have found some really sound makeup tips here!! ;)

But my main reason for being part of this site is as it's always been -- community.

[Erica Marie]

I dont want to say my presentation changed, but its more of the stages I went through. Over 30 some years it went from panties and lingerie to dressing and wigs to trying to just change my overall look to something a bit more gender neutral. When I do dress I prefer to look at natural as a male in female cloths can look.

[5150 Girl]

I think this site started my journey out of the closet. However, I think it would have been a very slow journey had it not been for my Polar Bear dragging me out one day. Yea, I had done the "driving around" thing a couple of times, however, if the artic one hadn't dragged me to Captain D's and Wally World one day, I'd probably still be shy about outings.

[Desirae]

I don't think my presentation has changed, yet, but rather my determination to take the necessary steps in order to improve my presentation in order to help me escape the closet. The members of this site have helped me to realize that life is too short to deny myself from being myself. Be it professional makeup lessons, shaving my body clean of hair every other day, and other things, I have started taking steps to get myself to where I want to go before it is too late. And I have learned that I don't truly need to be passing to get out. As long as I'm the best I can be, that's good enough.

[Badwolf]

It's changed a lot and I can't be sure how much changed because of this site.

I have definitely improved my makeup skills a lot due to a lot of good you tubers, and a few other sites.

I guess if there was one big change that I have heard over and over here since I first started looking about a year before I signed up, is to view GG's, and make sure I look relatively appropriate.

[Katey888]

Well it's definitely convinced me to make more of an effort... and although I might have backed off really stratospheric hemlines, I think I still like to be a bit of a show-off... ;)

And the idea that tops and bottoms or colours and patterns should coordinate...? :eek: That's just mind-blowing... :lol:

Makeup has definitely got better (although I do have off-days...) - largely thanks to the inspiration of many others being prepared to try and receive comments... I believe the majority of us exhibit a quiet courage to do what we feel we need to do... :cheer:

So - I have received much encouragement from the wonderful ladies here, and I feel somehow obligated to return the favour... which is why I'll continue to haunt you all for a good while longer... :D

Katey x

[reb.femme]

[Long Time Dresser]......Perhaps convinced you, you don't have to be close to "passing" to go out?......

Strangely, as I'm in IT, I'd just never looked for a CD site prior to finding this and one other UK site. A late bloomer and all that, but a long time closet dresser.

As to my passing, I've recounted here before of the guy that almost turned to stone when he saw me at the motorway services, so that is a lost cause. I only found this site a couple of years ago and it definitely made me realise I could do more with myself and I have taken that on board, but I'm definitely my own person.

I found the Beaumont Society in the UK and the contacts I made through there helped me get out en femme, but this site certainly assisted in a day to day and very personal way and for that I'm grateful. I'm always mindful though not to get caught up in what I think you've called, Forum Induced Courage? I like to think about the consequences of my actions and whether it's right for me.

rebecca

[Laura28]

This site has givin me the confidence to feel great about this side of me. I Never dressed fully before this site. Now i have 4 wigs 6 pairs of shoes a wardrobe of cloths i shave totally all year, have talked to my wife about my dressing and she is so supportive. This site has done so much for me and all the people on it i want to thank you all.

[Richelle]

I believe my presentation has changed more due to a change in employment (working from home). It has allowed me to dress more feminine while presenting as a male. So I have more casual woman's cloths to choose from when going out as Richelle. However, the site has given me courage to travel en-fem.

Richelle

[DeeDeeB]

I feel like I've been growing up very quickly in the 15 years I came out to myself and my wife. I now mostly pass on the teenage appropriate mini skirts to go out and go for a more age appropriate mid knee skirt to maxi. I feel I am just growing up again as the new me.

DeeDee :fairy1:

[Maria 60]

What keeps me here is, it feels like we all dress for different reasons but we are all paddling in the same boat together. We all have something in common, and one way or another we can relate to some and hopefully give or receive good advice from one who is actually living it in real life. This site is very special to me (even though I've been naughty lately, got a few massages deleted lately) because it was the first time I actually spoke as Maria, and completed me, I never owned a wig or make-up and to be honest never really thought about those items. The confidence has been overwhelming, I have drove around fully dressed, but that's about it. The first time I wanted to go out fully dressed, I thought it would be better to go to a commercial area, and the responses from everyone here telling me not to because it's not safe, was amazing. Advice through experience and almost like everyone here looking out for each other. Maria is more complete since being here.

[Kate Simmons]

Since I've been on the Forum not too much has changed one way or the other in relation to CDing. What has changed is I've met new friends and that's the main reason I still come here.:)

[Nikki A.]

Well I've gone from being a closeted dresser to one who has become comfortable going out dressed.
My presentation and make-up skills have improved. Almost at the point (do to age and work) where I almost don't care who finds out.
As far as why I'm still on, I hope my experiences can help others learn to enjoy this gift (or curse) that we all share

[Sharon B.]

This site has shown me I am not alone in wanting to dress as a woman, one of these day I will venture out as a woman and do some shopping as one.

[kimdl93]

So many questions! But here we go:

Yes, my dressing has changed since joining here. I was closet bound and doubted I could face myself in the mirror, let alone getting out into the greater world. I gained inspiration and learned techniques....at some point, I began to accept the possibility that I might be able to do more. I think it also helped me recognize that passing wasn't the right threshold for one of us stepping out into the world, or at least it was a needlessly high threshold. And honestly, I've gotten better at my presentation by leaps and bounds over the past few years....enough that I really feel quite at ease in most situations. I may never...no I will never pass, but most people seem not to notice me or accept me at face value.

[Frédérique]

How has your dressing or "presentation" CHANGED since you started watering at this site?

Maybe not at all? Not at all…

Convinced you to do more with your effort? Not really…

Helped you to escape the closet? I like the closet…

Perhaps convinced you, you don't have to be close to "passing" to go out? Not applicable…

If you are mostly happy to lurk and READ and rarely post...what keeps you here? The cynicism, of course! :clap:

[suchacutie]

I found this site within 48 hours of finding Tina! We knew nothing at all about being transgendered, so we grew up with this site! So, everything about Tina has changed with a lot of help and jinsight from this site!

[Adriana Moretti]

[Long Time Dresser]
Maybe not at all?



not at all...but the journey has been fun.. this is a good community of girls....thats a (FACT)................

[Michelle789]

I have come a long way since joining the forum last September. Most of these items I also got lots of help from my therapist, especially when it came to busting the psychic's programming.

- I have learned that I am a TS, and that it's okay to be a girl.

- I have learned that lots of CDers and TSes and other gender variants have been teased about being gay or being a girl by friends, acquaintances, and coworkers, and that other people might sometimes sense something feminine about us.

- I have learned that the psychic just wanted my money, and that she is a fraud. I have busted the psychic's brainwashing and programming.

- I have left the house en femme and do so on a regular basis.

- I have learned that you don't need to pass to go out, nor to go full time if you're TS.

- I have learned that we sometimes pass better than we think, and that we clock ourselves first.

- I have learned that even if we get clocked it doesn't necessarily mean disaster, and that most people are too busy to notice us when we're in public.

- I have learned that passing is 1/3 your appearance, 1/3 your confidence, and 1/3 your behavior and mannerisms, and that whether you get read as male or female depends on how how many female gender cues they see vs how many male gender cues they see, and it may depend on situation from situation and also whether you're standing still vs moving or talking.

- I have learned that male privilege viewpoints are shaped by both our life experiences as well as our underlying female identity.

- I have learned that it's not what we wear that gets us clocked, and that wearing the holy grails of crossdressing (skirts, hose, heels, makeup) are just as acceptable when going out in public as is wearing jeans and flip flops, or a nice summer dress, or maybe some unique style of your own.

- I located an amazing CD/TG/TS friendly wig shop in Thousand Oaks, and have purchased two wigs from them.

- I have improved my makeup skills.

- I have gained confidence in coming out to people (I am TS, so I must come out to people)

- I have gained confidence in presenting in public, as well as in improving my appearance too. Practice makes perfect.

- Most importantly I have learned that no one is trannier than anyone else. All of us, crossdressers, transsexuals, MTF, FTM, genderqueer, gender fluid, bigender, dual gender, androgynous, and any other gender identity or expression, we are all in this together!!!

[mariehart]

This forum has helped me in many ways. I was essentially out ten years ago and I knew exactly what I was and who I was. I've been crossdressing for at least 42 years and I essentially perfected my look and style many years ago and I used to pass very well.

By a twist of fate, I met a woman and got married. To my surprise and that of my family and friends. I never regretted it but I stopped crossdressing, purged everything. That was a mistake and I began to gradually try to find a way back which is when I found this forum. It's been very helpful because many of you are in the same situation as me and reading other people's experiences has helped me.

Now I've told my wife which I don't think I would ever have done without seeing this forum. I dress more and am in a much happier place than I was. I also have learned to be myself more. Not perfect but better.

It's interesting though that most of my posts are never answered or replied to. For the most part people tell their own stories. I find that in writing down what I'm thinking I find catharsis and I suspect most others do to. It's a bit like speaking to a therapist, not that I've ever been to a therapist. They just listen and occasionally add a comment or a challenge.

So yes this forum has helped me in many ways but then again that's the point of forums like this.

[BLUE ORCHID]

Hi Wah, Not a lot of change, but it's so much fun being able to talk with so many like minded ladies all over the world.

[Kate's at home]

This site has helped enormously in both accepting and enjoying this part of me, every day. There really is no guilt any longer. It's just a part of who I am. I also now have a much greater appreciation for the range of ideas and motivations that drive us all. Knowledge is power, and helps greatly with normalizing who and what I am. And for that, I thank you all.

Kate

[Krystenw]

Wow.
I coded after having surgery and was in a coma for 42 days.
We moved to another state.
My wife decided that she prefers having me as her sister rather than her husband.
We are both a lot happier with me presenting as a woman.
She just recently got rid of the last of any guy clothes that I have.
So I guess you could say things have changed a bit since I joined this site.

[bobbimo]

Whats Changed??? well just about everything.
When I first came out to my wife, it was all about pretty, fancy dresses, bodycon, sexi minis, hours on make up, pantyhose and high heels.
Then the more time I spent on this site the more people were talking about 'what to the real girls wear?' and started to watch my wife and most of the women in malls and shopping. They all wear fun sun dresses, or shorts, leggings in the winter, and pretty tops.
So my day to day wardrobe is short shorts and pretty Vee neck tops, and when the mood hits my I get all dressed up with a pretty dress, but sadly I rarely where heels or any shoes for that matter.
As to why am I here?? well its fun to aggravate the moderators, and I like to help share my experiences with the other girls.
Bobbi

[Seana Summer]

Maybe not at all? Not very much

Convinced you to do more with your effort? No not really since my goal is not to be a women but to enjoy wearing what I like to wear

I continue to participate in this site because there are others out there like me and I enjoy reading about their experiences and conversing with them.

I am who I am

[grace7777]

I started to read threads on this site in July of 2013 and joined the site in December of 2013. In late 2007 I started to dress en femme. My presentation has changed since I came to this site, but it was also changing before I came to this site.

Since coming here I have flown pretty on 2 round trips, one from Phoenix to Chicago and one from Phoenix to Seattle. Before coming here I would have never even thought of flying pretty, but being able to read stories from you ladies who had flown pretty gave me the courage to do it myself. Also since coming here I have checked into hotels dressed en femme, which I also probably would not have done otherwise.

I have enjoyed reading the experiences of others who have gone out dressed en femme. Joining this site has given me the opportunity to share my own experiences in dressing including one where I was very much in fear for my personal safety. Also I have gotten to know 2 members here beyond just exchanging pm's on this site. One I have met in person and the other I chat with regularly and hope to meet in person very soon.

Before coming to this site, I never considered hrt but now it is something I am thinking about, I have no idea though as to whether I will do hrt, but the odds are greater than before coming here.

I have learned that on this site beyond dressing we are a very diverse group of people, and I view this as a strong positive.

[UNDERDRESSER]

Things have definitely changed, but how much is this site and how much my SO, (who I told before dating) is hard to measure. You could make the argument that it's all due to this site and the threads, because reading about the tell/not tell options and results, probably helped pushed me to tell.
I feel like I've been growing up very quickly in the 15 years I came out to myself and my wife. I now mostly pass on the teenage appropriate mini skirts to go out and go for a more age appropriate mid knee skirt to maxi. I feel I am just growing up again as the new me.

DeeDee :fairy1:Me too, though we're talking 2-3 years not 15, and it's less about age appropriate clothing than it is "dressing" attitude.

I found this site incredibly useful to start, not so often because it showed me so many people like me, but how many people were not exactly like me, but so close. Reading the comments from others, and finding I didn't agree with their description of themselves and motivations, and finding out I disagreed, helped me define what I wasn't, and thus narrowed down my own motivations. I used to be purely a closet fetish dresser, very occasionally venturing out in the early hours as a pure thrill seeking thing. It's still there, that fetish aspect, but more and more it's about an overt need to look and feel sexy, which to my mind is not a fetish, but is something most men suppress because of social norms. More than half of this change in myself is my SO, and her attitudes on equality. That I feel and behave this way is totally valid in her mind, and she encourages me to do whatever I want. She lets me know if she think something is ridiculous to her, but if I really want to go out like that, go for it, but she reserves the right to say "you’re going on your own!" Between her and this site, being able to be myself, and thus find myself, being able to talk about things, I realise I have no wish to be a woman, or even try to look like the woman I could be. I do feel an urge to look like a very attractive woman, one that I would find physically attractive, but it would require surgery, hormones, the whole nine yards. Without that, I could look like a well dressed, (very well dressed, like a turkey!) classy older woman, but that wouldn't do anything for me. Having accepted that, I turned to making myself more "beautiful" and sexy as a male, and find that I can do that very well. This includes wearing clothes that normally considered female, but can make sense for males. Skirts that work well with a male outline, hosiery and legwear to enhance the legs, fitted shorts and pants that show off my butt. I don't use bras, forms, dresses with low cut necks, as I see thatm as displaying breasts, which are not, (to me) an attractive feature on a male. And it is every bit as satisfying as looking like a woman. And that's where I am, for me, I feel that a lot of crossdressing is that urge to have people compliment me on my "beauty" and react to my sexiness, my physical attractiveness, a kind of validation of myself. My theory that this is a driver for many on here, I have often read how guys felt themselves as weedy, or not particularly attractive as a man. Not surprising when you think about it, as a lot of mainstream thinking in that regard is being the "alpha male" There is usually room for only one pack leader. Maybe we are like those herd animal males who pretend to be a female so they can sneak their way into the herd and have a bit of fun? Another way I've said that in the past is "I want to be this way, I can't be this way as a guy? Fine! I'll be a woman!"

I still visit this site because of the sense of community, and because I realise I've not got it all, sorted and reserve the right to change my opinions.

[Beverley Sims]

I just learn something new every day.
It certainly helps with presentation.

[JustChris]

I'm relatively new here - but my presentation has changed to more of what a "normal" woman would wear instead of something that I made up in my head. The best part is that as I see other posts here I can take that apply to my own style since I can see what may fit me better or look better from others here.

It also has helped me talk about it with my wife, and maybe be a bit more daring than I used to be in what I wear on a daily basis.

[barbaraclothes]

This site has done wonders for me. Confidence has risen dramatically, the idea s and tips from all of you girls have REALLY done wonders or me. I should be starting hrt in about a month. Thank you all....