What is it about these clothes.

[Gillian Gigs]

What is it about these clothes that I don't get from my guy clothes? I got up this morning did my exercises and usual routine before deciding to get dressed up for awhile before going about my yard jobs. The feel of the pantihose, skirt, bra and camisole make me happy, I have no other word to describe it. As I am writing this, I feel at peace with myself, feeling that life is good, it gives me a boost before getting into the work part of the day. Now these aren't the clothes to wear when getting dirty outside, but even an hour before can change my outlook on the day. The only down side is having to change into work clothes later. No rants, just sharing happy thoughts.

[Ariana225]

I agree with this so much! 1 hour can make you feel amazing! Then the dred of having to change into drab

[Rachael Leigh]

If I could explain why I prefer women's over men's clothes I could make millions.
I love to shop for clothes I love to wear them, men's clothes just are something to cover me, so boring

[ClosetED]

In some ways it is simple - it is the associations your brain has laid down regarding the clothes normally worn by women that make them feminine (in your cultural background). Those associations (neurons firing) kick off chemicals (like endorphins) that are pleasurable to humans. AKA runner's high. The real question is - why did our brains develop those pleasurable responses? Genetics and environment both probably play a role. And it does not always take tactile sensations to set this process off - I can feel very good/peaceful/happy looking at my pictures with my big smile. If someone does not like the image they can so far create, then it may just be the tactile or sounds of heel clicking that triggers them.
YMMV
Hugs, Ellen
Facebook - Ellen Theprettyone

[Jaylyn]

I've often wondered about why I am so very relaxed when I am dressed. I dress get in my recliner and there is a feel of a totally different pers.on on the inside. I've wondered if it's from the time of my childhood when mom wore her hose. I used to sit and rub her legs and she would just smile at me. I've heard many youngsters especially male children enjoy sitting on the floor and rubbing their teachers hose in the old days while the teacher read a book to them. Now this would probably get the teacher and the parents a call from a social worker.
The silky hose, slip, panties, and even some dresses give me that exact feeling of peacefulness.

[Vikky]

Couldn’t agree more, the softness, smoothness, silkiness of feminine clothes just make me feel contented and help me emulate the image of a woman.
Vikky

[Tracy Irving]

There is a certain thrill to wearing an article of clothing you are not expected to be seen in.

[Tracii G]

I find it amazing how some here have a rush just putting womens clothes on.
I think its just because you aren't supposed to wear it and the taboo factor is in play here.
Some make up reasons to justify in their own heads.
Just my opinion so don't feel I am bashing anyone in particular.Seems I open my mouth and somebody gets butt hurt which is so like a man to do.

[Stephj]

I am just a underdresser but every time I put on my bra I am so much at ease my whole day is some much better don't know why but I have been wearing my bra 99 percent of the time now

[Salina]

With me I feel relaxed, peaceful, and it just feels right. Sometimes when I'm wearing a really pretty outfit there is a sense of exhilaration but it's not sexual. I'm guessing if I dressed more often it would become routine but don't think the feeling of "this is the way it's supposed to be" would leave me. I just love women's clothes plain and simple.

[alwayshave]

For me it has always been mostly tactile. I say mostly because when wearing a men's silk shirt I don't get the same thrill. So there is something more with women's clothes.

[DIANEF]

I just want to present as much like a woman as I can, it's not any kind of a thrill, sexual or otherwise, the look is far more important than the feel. The clothes are basically a means to an end. Just MY thoughts..

[Sister Rachel]

Feel that way too these days. Last Tuesday I had a day off work, spent the morning in just a plain midi skirt, cheap top and a pair of flats. It was great. I did some housework and laundry then changed into bloke gear and took some rubble the dump! A good day well spent :)

[Shely]

i don't know, i sure can't explain it either. It's certainly tactile but mostly sensual, I don't feel relaxed though, just the opposite i feel stimulated and energized. It seems to be a feeling complete in itself. It has splashed over into jewelry too, I have been collecting necklaces and earrings. All I know for sure, is that I love it. I wish i could live in these clothes, but alas that's not to be. I will have to settle for a few hours once in a while. :)

[CynthiaD]

I know just how you feel. My feminine clothing is my real clothing. My male clothing is like a Halloween costume: fun for a while, but happy to be out of it.

[BrendaPDX]

I wish I could tell you, but I can say, it relaxes me... Thank you for asking. Brenda

[sometimes_miss]

What is it about these clothes that I don't get from my guy clothes?
Simple. It allows you, for a time, to feel normal. The feedback (tactile, visual) you get from the female specific clothes reflects who you believe yourself to be, or at the very least, what you believe you are supposed to be wearing. Think of this: You're at a formal event, everyone else is in tuxedo's and evening gowns. But you're in a bathing suit. Will you feel normal? Not likely. Why? It's a regular men's bathing suit, a perfectly normal thing for a man to wear. But it's still not what you feel like you're supposed to be wearing. Compare that to how you feel when wearing guy clothes instead of girl clothes; maybe there's that same type of feeling going on. Why you feel that way, could be from different reasons as well. TS, TG, or even something conditioned into you somehow (could be by someone else, or even subconsciously, by yourself).

There is a certain thrill to wearing an article of clothing you are not expected to be seen in.
^this explains those who feel excited or stimulated.

I've often wondered about why I am so very relaxed when I am dressed.
You've relieved the stress of feeling like you're supposed to be in female clothes/role/body while actually being in the male of those. Tension relieved, you feel relaxed, 'normal'.

I find it amazing how some here have a rush just putting womens clothes on.
I think its just because you aren't supposed to wear it and the taboo factor is in play here..
Probably not. After all, there are plenty of other behaviors which are taboo that are much easier to do, and don't require the expense or trouble of dressing up. Or it might be the realization that they can finally express who they are, at least for a while. There are so many here that deny any homosexual feelings, but then admit that when they're 'en femme' they want to date or even have sex with men. They defend these feelings by attributing them to 'my girl side', not realizing that we don't have 'sides'. It's all us.

I am just a underdresser but every time I put on my bra I am so much at ease my whole day is some much better don't know why but I have been wearing my bra 99 percent of the time now
I sort of see this as similar to what I go through; perhaps the underdressing is the thing that you believe allows you to feel like your true self, while the outer, male clothing is simply what you use as a 'uniform' of sorts to fool the world into thinking that you're a standard issue male. That's sort of what I go through, though I don't need to underdress to feel that way. I just feel that the entire male outfit is a uniform, similar to what a scuba diver needs to wear to be in the water, or a racing driver's flame resistant suit that he has to wear while driving in something surrounded by gasoline.

I know just how you feel. My feminine clothing is my real clothing. My male clothing is like a Halloween costume: fun for a while, but happy to be out of it.
I can't feel like it's a Halloween costume, because that sort of implies that it's connected to something fun. I don't connect any of my male clothing to anything fun; at least, not anymore. Most of the leisure activities that I enjoyed as a guy I can't do anymore, perhaps why I spend so much time in girl clothes. To me, wearing male clothing is my uniform to wear in order to perform some type of work. When I come home, I take my uniform off, and put on my regular clothes. Girl clothes.

[kimdl93]

Some people get a "high" from running or working out. Some people get the same rush from jumping from an airplane. I suppose it may be the same thing, for god knows the reason, that some people feel better wearing women's clothes. I suppose some people feel the same thing when they find a vintage comic book or a really good wine.

[GeorgeA]

Like you and others have said there is something in the feel of the clothes that gives us pleasure. As a miad I do not care about what I look like, it's all in the tactile sensations. It remains strong even after all these years of wearing them. Unlike many of you here I do not "dress" once in a while, I live wearing them 24 hours a day (well, almost as I do shower). They are my regular clothes and not a costume. When I go out I just change my skirt to trousers and reverse later. My undies stay on all the time. As I said earlier after so many years it becomes normal but still pleasurable, which i never get out of male clothing.

[Gillian Gigs]

I am not looking to analyse the life out of this, I am just sharing happy thoughts. I have been seeing a Therapist, and her words were that it must be filling a need in my life, or I wouldn't be doing it. Some people have heightened senses and it's like the tactile sense needs to be satisfied more, and in my case the materials that to it for me come from the women's section. I like to fill my sight with colour, and with flowers I literally stop and smell them also. Feel the bark on a tree, or feel the leaf and its veils, there are just so many things to fill your senses. Sit on a park bench and listen to the birds sing, smell the aromas, feel the breeze, and look around you. Well, the pantihose, skirt, camisole do the same thing and that makes me happy, just like being at the beach,or the park. Just happy thoughts.

[GretchenM]

Gillian,

Your last post is so expressive and I suspect your semi-answer may be in there. It fills a need. Of course, where the need came from is the real question. At this point in time, I doubt anyone, expert or not, could determine exactly how that happened. The literature is full of hypotheses and it starts to look like there is no single cause. Everybody is different and gender seems to be a spectrum we tend to move along depending on situations and circumstances so we can connect the elements of our lives into a sensible and expressive way. One may say, "I have a _________ gender." Are your talking about right now, an hour ago, a year, a decade? Or is it more like the movement of air in breezes and winds? You can't see it, but you can feel it changing from moment to moment. Air movement is really complicated. Maybe gender is just like that - it shifts around in response to what we encounter so we can deal with it. If gender is a spectrum, as it appears to be, then not only do we all have places on the spectrum but we also move around in a multidimensional world that encompasses that which we call gender.

But the real hint may be your expression of all the sensory stimuli you experience from your environment. Birds singing, colorful and sweet smelling flowers, the breeze. I am much the same way. I find that when I am en femme my senses are really busy, but in drab it takes a lot more stimulation to sense the fine elements of my environment. Perhaps it is that way with you. The need is to have really active stimulation with something different. But that doesn't explain the need to look feminine. Is it genetic, environmental, a result of childhood abuse, association with being made very comfortable by females when you were very young, etc. etc.? Who knows. Does it really matter? If it enriches your life then why not? Enjoy!!!

Gretchen

[Teresa]

Gillian,
To me it makes the external connections to the outside World to the feelings inside my head. I wouldn't put it down to a single reason but a multitude of connections . It may be partially sexual , wanting to be seen as a woman , the sensitive feelings of the fabrics, the pure pleasure of how they move on your body. Maybe you could add the love of shopping and the interaction with the SAs or the pleasure of sharing an intimate thing with you partner when shopping.

A drab lifestyle gives us very little of that, so aren't we the lucky ones !!!

[DMichele]

Gillian,
Thought provoking question. For me wearing women's clothing feels like 'being home' especially after returning from business trip to an unfamiliar location. Home provides comfort and serenity enabling me yo be authentic.

[Stephanie Nicole]

for me, my dressing really has its roots in grade school. I went to a catholic elementary school and the nuns there were (and I use this term lightly) Holy Terrors, most of them could have been NFL Linebackers. When I was in second or third grade I picked on the girls (like most of us probably did at that age) the one time I was picking on this little girl, who by the way gave as good as she got, a nun must have gotten tired of my antics and said if I wanted to pick on the girls that must mean I want to be like them so she made me wear a girls uniform to classes for about a week ( 5 days in a girls school jumper was traumatic to say the least to an 8 year old boy). fast forward to my teen years and now I like the girls and once in a while (as a form of arousal) I would handle or wear some of my sisters to things help become excited, but I learned, even back then, that Iliked the way I felt when wearing her clothes and did so until I got married. I didn't really dress when my wife was around because she really wasn't accepting of alternative lifestyles. After we divorced I went back to dressing because like I said I like the llook and feel of the clothes. So for me that is why I do it