What is more important?

[Kate Simmons]

When dressed in full femme, what is more important to you? How you look or how you feel? For myself it's always been more about how I feel, looks notwithstanding. What about everyone else? :)

[Rachael Leigh]

That's a good question but for me I'm going with how I look. I mean I feel great when dressed but I want to look as good as possible even if I know it's just an illusion it just complements how I feel

[ShelbyDawn]

It is the perfect conundrum; I feel wonderful but when I see how I look, it is very depressing.

[Linda E. Woodworth]

Definitely how I look is most important. If I look pretty and feminine then I feel great!

[Jean 103]

How I look. I’m aware of being dressed and speak different, I really don’t feel any different.

[Princess Chantal]

Out of those two options, I would say how it feels is more important. What trumps that is the fun factor!

[Carolana]

I like to think of it this way. How I feel is definitely the main thing of the two, because how I look simply enhances the feeling. Isn't that why we like to look at ourselves? If it didn't make us feel anything, it would be redundant to look. In fact, this is also why women like to look good. It helps them feel good about themselves. So when the emphasis is the looks, it is serving the feeling. However, I am speaking from the private sessions. Going out in public absolutely requires a good look, jus for the sake of passing. Then it's not about feeling but succeeding. I think both perspectives have merit in context.

[SandraInHose]

No doubt it's the feeling. Although even my wife agrees I've got some great legs, the rest of me proves I'm just a man in a dress. No sugarcoating that fact.

If I do look in the mirror, it's from the waist down...that way I can keep the mental illusion alive! LOL

[Angie G]

I'd say it is the feel. Idon't have the face for a girl anyway.But I do think my body look somewhat good.:hugs:
Angie

[bridget thronton]

Hard to say since they are related - but feeling good is more important

[StephanieinSecret]

I tnink it's inevitable that I will feel better than I look.

But, the better I look, the better I feel.

[docrobbysherry]

How I feel dressed depends on how good Sherry looks!:daydreaming:

[kimdl93]

I'm a poor judge, objectively, of how I look. But I feel good...right....when dressed, so that is clearly the more important to me.

[Cheryl T]

How I feel is much more important, but still closely tied to how I look.
If I'm wearing something that makes me feel just so, but doesn't look perfect, I can live with that. I'd prefer that to looking fabulous, but not feeling it inside.

[catherine56]

For me when I am dress like a woman I feel so good. I don`t need to be fully dressed, just a little thing feminine and It is ok and yes the look is important we always try to look better

[Adriana Moretti]

def how I feel....and that goes for my comfort level of the clothing I choose. I need to be comfortable in the clothes I am wearing.Being comfortable allows me to enjoy myself more, Nothing worse than being out and having sore feet from an uncomfortable pair of shoes...I am more function over fashion. And chosing an outfit that is comfortable and represents me and how I truly feel goes a long way

[Helen_Highwater]

This is s good question. If I'm forced to make a choice then feeling good is the important one. When I dress even before I get to see the finished product in the mirror I'm feeling good. If what I see in the mirror looks good then I feel even better. As others have said, around the home feeling good is what counts. If however I'm going out and about I definitely need that increase that comes with looking good to increase my confidence and carry me out the door.

[Brynna M]

If I look good I will feel good. But sometimes I don't go for the look and just want to wear a few things to feel good. I guess it depends on what I'm going for. If I'm fully dressing then the two are equally important to me. If I'm just wearing a few things for the feel good then obviously its feel

[vicky_cd99_2]

For me it has to be feel. When I get all made up I feel great then I look in the mirror. The mirror doesn't support the feelings on how I look. Ax handle wide shoulders 16 plus inch arms and a beer belly visual have to be over ridden with a great feeling.

[JessicaJHall]

I am more function over fashion. And chosing an outfit that is comfortable and represents me and how I truly feel goes a long way
Which puts you right in sync with GG trends, IMO.. It's the prevailing wind right now, sometimes too much for my taste in Boho (stumptown / portlandia) Oregon, but probably not so much in NYC or LA. IOW that makes you fashionable!
To me it's not so much what people wear, as long as they look as though they give a sh!! about how they look, and / or put a little effort into it. Male, Female, MTF or FTM.
Which brings me to the subject of this thread, looking good is feeling good. Or, at the very least, it helps!!

[Katey888]

Kate, that's like asking do I prefer breathing oxygen in or CO2 out... both are absolutely necessary or I would not benefit from either. :)

I agree with Julie about the emphasis - I want to look as good as possible because the feeling is better, but at the same time, I've done this lots without a full femme presentation, so the feeling must have been there at the beginning... Hmmmm... :thinking: They really are inextricably linked...

Katey x

[nikki2014]

For myself, it's how I look. When I see myself in the mirror I feel great. It's breathtaking on how good I actually look. Unfortunately I get all dressed up and no where to go. But in the end... I still feel good!

[Maria 60]

I only have two wigs and both are long. My wife was tired of me complaining about always untangling and finding hair everywhere, so she bought me a wig with short brown hair, I put it on for the first time today and I hate it, the longer hair wigs hide my face, but the short haired one style shows more of my face and I don't think I look very attractive wearing it. She says I look fine in it and not to make her feel bad, I decided to keep in on, and I must say it is much more easy to maintain and starting to get used to it. So you mite say I like the feel better then I look.

[franlee]

I must say it is the feelings. I can only look so good or bad an if that was the determining factor there would be very few CDer's after 35 to 40 years old when nature take it toll and the cosmetics are stretched to their limits. And spandex will not hold and mold any longer. An being honest it was always about the feelings whether the arousal of confidence in emotions or sexual it was that "Rush of Adrenalin and/or Hormones" that was the driving force to keep on doing it.
Looking good or passable was only possible in the very early days and then it was for Fun so the feelings again. If I looked good to anyone else but me it was icing on the cake but I still was the one licking the spoon. And that was the only fulfillment I did and still need.

[konnieofyork]

It's always been how i feel, solely due to the fact that i never have fully liked what i've seen in the mirror. How the clothes feel, and how that makes me feel is most important imo.

[Kate Simmons]

They are really both linked as it is a feed back/ feed forward process. You feel good about yourself if you look better, yadda, yadda. I purposely asked this "chicken or the egg" type question just to see how others may understand it. :battingeyelashes::)

[Lily Catherine]

Feeling for now, if only because I enjoy the way certain garments (tight dresses and bodices, stockings, bustiers) hug to my body. Not to mention the outer fabrics themselves. But at the end of the day, how I look will unavoidably play a massive part in 'passing'. Never mind at events where one must be dressed to the nines, presenting well enough is imperative. But within the confines of one's private dressing, I for one focus on the feeling.

[Beverley Sims]

Kate,
For me the two go hand in hand a little.
The feel is more important as you can forget how you are dressed in the process.

[Dena]

I do it for how I feel. Which is why I haven't gone for a padded girdle, though I am tempted, I know my skirts would hang better!

[MeredithG]

I have to agree that the way certain items cling to my body and the softness makes the feel of dressing the most important to me.

[Zylia]

It definitely is a feedback process for me. Cross-dressing is a visual art for me, so the look is the mos important. If I look good, I also feel good, which improves my look because it means I won't look grumpy. More literally, I would wear something slightly uncomfortable if it would make me look much better.