I think I just confused some poor guy, LOL...

[ellbee]

Just got home from the grocery store, as I realized I needed some cleaning supplies.


My outfit? Steel-gray women's pullover hoodie, long black layering tee underneath, a pair of full-length work-out leggings (all black, but they have this sort of femmy, subtly embossed triangle pattern on them) & men's running shoes (all my current women's pairs are too "girly" to wear in guy-mode, at least at this stage for me).


Enter the store, and there's an overweight, nerdy-looking 20-something guy standing near the entrance, reading this week's flyer. He's kind of in the way of the stack of plastic carry-baskets. I stopped & one of my legs was like 2 feet away from him... And I see him look over & check it out! :laughing:


"Oops, excuse me," I say, as I reach for one of the basket-thingies.

He looks up at my face, a bit startled, and moves aside a little -- and then looks back down, staring at my leg again! :lol2:


Yeah, I know these leggings make my legs look pretty good & all, and they are a bit on the fem side. Heck, even I check them out sometimes, too. So I kinda don't blame him. Guys will be guys. They do look like chick-legs, even with the butch running shoes.

And yeah, it's probably not like it's every day someone sees a dude wearing something like these (but it is now in my town! :D ).


But I really hope I didn't confuse the poor kid too much, ha! And now I'm wondering if he'll be thinking about my yummy-looking legs the rest of the day! :roflmao:


Yeah, just gotta have fun with this stuff. It really is a trip sometimes! :thumbsup:

[Curiouser&Curiouser]

You've gotten pretty bold, Laura! Must have been fun to get that mixed response. I'm curious - how fem can running shoes be? I mean, around here, I've seen guys wearing shoes in all sorts of crazy colors, I can't imagine your shoes would set off that many flags...

[Alice_2014_B]

That's pretty cool Laura!
I've caught people checking me out at times.
It is definitely something to have fun with.
:)

[ellbee]

You've gotten pretty bold, Laura! Must have been fun to get that mixed response. I'm curious - how fem can running shoes be? I mean, around here, I've seen guys wearing shoes in all sorts of crazy colors, I can't imagine your shoes would set off that many flags...

As for the running shoes, it's all about "balance" for me. I just started wearing ankle-clinging leggings out & about recently (bootcut yoga pants, however, are easier to do, which is what I started out with), so I'm still getting used to the water with these. And as such, going with femmy colors in a running shoe would be kicking it up a notch that much more, which I'm not prepared to do just yet (at least with leggings -- I've done so with bootcuts before, which hide a good chunk of the shoe).

I do have a women's running shoe in all-black on their way that I ordered online just yesterday, so once those come in, I can drop the men's, thank God.



As for boldness, in my prior town I used to go about dressed in guy-mode all the time several years ago. But that was typically women's bootcut jeans & a plain basic top in gender-neutral colors. A bit more of a masculine look than the leggings, IMO. Though I did wear some light make-up sometimes. I recall a women's coat a few times, too.

After I had taken a long break, I now need to build back my confidence, as I'm still a bit self-conscious out there. Getting 100% all dolled-up & going clubbing at night with a bunch of friends is one thing, which I used to do all the time. But as weird as it may seem, things are a bit different when you're doing this kind of stuff in guy-mode.



Anyway, it really isn't a huge deal. Since I'm self-employed & work from home, these are my usual clothes now. It's just what I wear all day. And if I need to do some errands, changing just for that just seems silly & a waste of time. Though I will fem it up sometimes if I know I'm staying in, going with some really "girly" leggings and/or tops.

As for wearing leggings, hey, I used to work with a married hetero guy who biked to work a lot. And it wasn't just a 5-minute ride for him, but I believe like a good half hour, if not more. He wasn't the most fit guy out there, and he used to wear (presuming men's) black athletic leggings to keep his legs warm & dry, while giving him freedom of movement. Then he'd just change once he got to work. I used to see him sometimes on my way to the office, and I'd give him a bit of crap about it later. :D He knew I was only kidding around, though, as we were good buddies.

So, it's not like I'd be the first to wear this kind of stuff in guy-mode out in public. Just that not a whole lot of people expect to see it.


And I'm not stupid, as I can tell the difference by now with years of experience: That kid was checking out my leg, LOL. Whatever, I don't mind. Certainly wouldn't be the first time. Just outside confirmation that I'm doing something right with my fitness progress & fashion choices. And no, that doesn't now make him gay or bi or anything, if he's already hetero... Just doing what a guy, especially in that age range, does instinctively. Odds are, he simply originally assumed it was a GG's leg -- until I spoke. :laughing:


Anyway, enough rambling.

I really don't care anymore. I like wearing this look, and it's very comfy, so I'll continue to do so. :)

[Nikki.]

Here's a ramp it up challenge for your mixed mode- wear a pair of leggings with the mesh panels in them like these https://m.hollisterco.com/shop/us/p/hollister-cali-sport-mesh-panel-leggings-8219145_01?cmp=PLA_POL_activewear%20pants_mobile

I so want to but I'm just not there yet. know that if you do I will be living vicariously through you sister!

[ellbee]

Ah, I'd do it! :D

At least in the black ones, anyway.


Then again, not totally my style, either. Nice enough, though. :)

[Dana44]

Laura, I only have one pair of men's tennis shoes left and they don't look as good as my lady tennis shoes so I workout in my ladies tennis shoes as they also feel better
I do wonder sometimes if thy think I am pretty fem.

[Tracii G]

Guys have work out pants (leggings really) with mesh stripes on them so no big deal.
I wear my animal print leggings out in public in mostly guy mode to my local grocery often.
I may confuse some guys but I don't have the audacity to think they like my legs because they "look" girly.

[ellbee]

Tracii,

All I'm saying is that it's typically a hetero/bi guy's natural instinctive reaction, especially if he's in a certain age range. Just the way it is.

I was watching him pretty much the whole time, as I sort of assumed he would immediately see me come in & would step aside... Since he was already looking down at the flyer, he simply caught my leg in his field of vision, and so he looked over to check it out for a bit too long. Like I said, it looks like a chick-leg like this. Intense, consistent GG-exercises will do that.

It's only when I spoke did he look up & realize it belonged to a guy.

Why he looked back down & stared at it again after he stepped aside a bit, I can only speculate. I'm guessing he at least wanted to confirm that it was, indeed, mine -- and not some GG's who had already passed him by. But a quick glance would have sufficed. Remember, this was some overweight, nerdy-looking 20-something... If I had to put money on it, I'd say he probably doesn't have a GF, and probably doesn't even come into close contact with pretty decent (GG) legs such as mine -- yet his hormones are still raging, regardless. Call it "audacity" if you wish, but yeah, given that, I wouldn't be surprised if he wanted to check it out some more, anyway, regardless who it belonged to.

Bottom line: It looks nice in a legging. Heck, I've even also always been told by countless GG's over the years that I have really nice legs, whether I'm in guy-mode or en femme.

:strugglin