Clothes shopping goes slightly wrong

[Carrie-Anne]

As a very closeted dresser i normally buy all my female clothing on line as I am too nervous to buy from stores. But going into a local discount store in town that sells most things including male and female clothes I noticed a couple of nice skirts on a rail. They were in my size and were reduced a lot in price so too good a bargain to miss. I summoned up as much courage as possible and grabbed them from the rail and put them in the basket covering them with other things I had bought. I got to the checkout and went to one of the newer checkout women as I know a lot of the others in there. She checked everything through without a second glance and I paid and walked away thinking that went easier than I thought. As I got near the exit the door alarm went off and I stopped and looked around and in a very loud voice in a crowded place shouted to me 'sorry I forgot to take the security tags off the 2 skirts you just bought can you come back please'. So much for keeping things quiet! I did realise though that a few months ago I would have been horrified by this but I just walked back over and thought oh well, so what! so I must be improving. I still think I will stick to online shopping though in future. Carrie Anne

[Patience]

After THAT experience, you should have no problem shopping in person from now on.

Congratulations and thanks for sharing. That was pretty funny.

Xox,

Tina V.

[Tracii G]

Its more fun to shop in the stores because you can try things on first. That way you save money.
I will add nobody cares what you are buying and that includes the cashier.

[TxKimberly]

Believe it or not, it's little things like this that will help to build your confidence. You learn that the world didn't come to an end just because someone knows you cross dress.

[ClosetED]

You can see the cashier moved things through without a second glance. And the small mistake you can watch for next time of leaving the sensors, I bet did not lead to others pointing at you and laughing, but no response at all. I have bought from Savers, and they don't care. But I also prefer the online way, or supermarket with self-checkout. But you pay more.
Hugs, Ellen

[RADER]

When asked by a sales clerk about fem items, I just ask for a gift receipt, That way they think it is for a gift to
someone else.
Rader

[Wiccle]

Good little story Carrie, if it was me I would have tried to amble back without it being obvious it's me they're calling to lol. I tend to dress when buying stuff anyway.

Hope you have fun on your next trip (were the skirts worth it btw?) :).

Regards
Wiccle x
(reposting because my other post seemed to disappear)

[Mary Lawrence]

Variation on this theme. The first time I bought something while dressed was at a Walmart in another town. I went to the checkout, gave over my bra and panties, was told the price and pulled bills from my wallet. Paid and was receiving change when the SA looked at me and suddenly realized "This is not a GG." Probably from my horrible novice fingernail paint job as much as anything. I was walking away and she vigorously closed her register, calling to another SA, while stepping out into the aisle between registers. I was walking away putting the change in my wallet, got to the door and turned to look directly at her, showing my newfound level of courage letting her see me completely while she pointed at me and whispered to the other SA. I departed with no further problems and no scene. That's the only such circumstance I've had. Must be because I've switched to stick-on nails. (smiley)

[KatrinaK]

There's a fine line between paranoically shopping only with self-checkouts and proudly strutting into a Nordstrom's dressing room with an armful of dresses!

[Carrie-Anne]

Wiccle, yes the skirts were well worth it. Have had one of them on tonight. Fits perfectly too. Carrie Anne x

[DIANEF]

I've found shopping in store gets easier each time you do it, I'm still not 100 percent there but maybe 95 percent. I worked in retail and alarm tags going off happened several times a day, just one of those things.

[hellkat13]

While the feeling can be intimidating at first, nobody who works at the stores cares if you are buying male or female clothes. They are there to sell you stuff and will gladly take your money. Occasionally I might run into another shopper that might stare or make a comment but it is super rare that anyone even pays attention.

[CDYoga]

Buying the stuff isn't the problem... trying it on in the store is a whole other issue though!

[hellkat13]

Trying it on isn't a huge issue either once you get past thinking about it. Most retailers don't monitor their fitting rooms and aren't going to stop you from taking women's clothes into a stall. Now if you are presenting as a guy and go marching into a busy fitting room loaded with women you are probably going to have a problem.

[Faith Noel]

I shop just about every day after work, bought tons of female clothes. Panties,bras,slips, skirts and dresses. Never had a bad comment. Some will say, you have good taste! They really don't care what your buying as long as you got the money! One thing is make sure it has a price tag on it. It gets a little nerve racking when three SA show up and they are trying to figure out the price of a certain item. Been there done that. Have fun with it! Hugs Faith

[sammifromga]

I had the same thing happen in small department store, but all of the SA’s know I’m buying for me.

- - - Updated - - -

I ask the SA’S first, they’re always helpdful.

[KimberlyJean]

I am alot more comfortable when I shop dressed, I still find it hard to shop as him. I have been trying to rebuild my confidence though from an incident I had a while back in a coffee line.

[Stephanie47]

Those security tags can be annoying. If you're buying something with one on you have to go through a human cashier. They are almost impossible to remove without proper equipment, and, if you screw up the dye packet will ruin the clothes. I check for those devices before reaching the cashier to alert the person to remember to remove it. There are other devices which do not 'explode' but will also give rise to the dreaded security going off. They are usually thin paper tags. Heck, many times I've seen alarms going off when people walk into the store. My office key card use to set off an alarm at Target.

[Ineke Vashon]

I've found it helpful to fold items so that the bar code is on top. I use the self check-out where it's easy to scan the folded garment and have it dissappear into a plastic bag. Works for this old-timer.

Ineke

[QueenJeanette]

That cashier needs to be demoted to a floor sweeper. Not a nice person.

[Janine cd]

I've never had anyone show surprise at having me purchase all of my feminine things. My only reaction came from an SA at Penney's when I bought three bras. She smiled and said that I had made a good choice and that I would look nice wearing them.

[Michaelasfun]

Well, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, as they say. Good combat experience for you ;)

[TheHiddenMe]

There's a fine line between paranoically shopping only with self-checkouts and proudly strutting into a Nordstrom's dressing room with an armful of dresses!

It's more of a slippery slope....

I went from trying on stuff in drab at thrift stores or Kohls or Macy's to biting the bullet and going in dressed to Nordstrom. Eighteen months later, a number of the Nordstrom SAs know me by name.

Remember, the clerks don't know who you are, whether in drab or dressed.

[IleneD]

Good Lord, Where HAVEN'T I gone out. I'm on kind of a 4 week rampage now, so I've pretty much lived en femme full time for a month. That means all the errands and shopping. Pumping gas. Go to my grocery (local, yes they know me). The bank. The thrift store. Restaurants. Bars. Support group.
It's been utterly fantastic, to the point where I almost don't think about it. I just dress and go. I'm almost oblivious to any stares or comments; and they have been few. These feel like my natural clothes and the way I should be.

Carrie. Be not discouraged and have no fear. I could tell you "going out" stories that would curl your hair or laugh your ass off; all where something went wrong while I was en femme. It will happen just like it happens in your "real guy life".

Don't let this dissuade your from going out and being You. I expect it is only a matter of a couple more excursions before you're comfortable enough to actually engage The World en femme. It was a wonderful realization that I no longer went out totally "alone" in my own mind, and just cruising about in women's clothing just to prove I could do it. I began to actually engage other people without fear and be able to look them in the eye as Ilene. It was like a huge puzzle piece falling into place.

PS: The retail sales assistants LOVE you. Go dressed. I shop sometimes just for the interaction and having them fawn all over me. Who doesn't love a little TLC?! Never had a retail SA deny me dressing room access. Quite the opposite. I've had them literally lead me by the hand to the women dressing room. Have no fear. No one is taking notes or taking pictures. No one remembers your name. But they will always remember you.... fondly.

[stefcd1]

Yes, all the little instances help to build confidence. Some years back I was in Macey's trying on some really nice dresses as Stef. I was in the changing room with my dress off with my panties, bra, slip, hose, etc when a SA knocked on the door asking if anyone was in there. In my most feminine voice I replied it was it was occupied. She sang out "when have a man in here" I then opened the door and the look on her face was priceless as she saw me standing there in my slip, wig and full makeup as a woman. After that, no problem at all out and about as a woman :)

[alwayshave]

So the question is did she do it on purpose or just negligent? Probably the later. But the SA mentioning skirts speaks to the former.

[Beverley Sims]

There are some things we don't need in our lives, I have had similar incidents but I just bite the bullet so to speak and life goes on.

[susan54]

Been there. I was wearing a skirt as a man and had bought a new one so alarm goes off for man in skirt. I think they were actually more embarrassed than I was. I have had a dress from a store 200 miles away that still had the gadget in it and had to go to another department store with the receipt. I also bought a top from Coast that still had the thingy in it and I can't find the receipt so I have to wear it with a big lump in it and it means I can't wear it in public. I wish the alarms WOULD go off when you leave the shop so that this problem doesn't happen. I would rather be thought a crossdresser than a shoplifter. I don't think they leave them in deliberately but I suppose they might be distracted by serving a crossdresser.

[Teresa]

Carrie-Anne,
Don't be put off it happens all the time , I know none of this bothers me now but it does take a while so just keep doing it . Just the other day I totally forgot I was still carrying a wire basket , I'd put all my purchases and handbag into it so the basket set the alarm off , the sales staff were apologetic to me for not realising they had forgotten to collect the backet from me . I'm blond so I can claim a dizzy blond moment , I do have a few these days !

[Jane G]

LoL Nice one.

[Gillian Gigs]

As the expression goes, "that which does not kill me, makes me stronger". I have had a couple of incidences that helped me get over my shopping. One was when I was looking at different pantyhose colours to buy, this woman who was obviously mentally challenged started talking in a loud voice "why are you buying pantyhose". I gave her a dirty look and moved off until she was gone. Another time I was buying some panties, a couple of pairs didn't have price tags, so out over the intercom goes, "price check on women wear on till 5. From that point on I made sure there was tags on everything. I just laugh about it now, in the overall picture of life, it's small potatoes. If anything can go wrong, it will, so we just have to get used to it.

[Carrie-Anne]

My clothes buying saga continues! In the local supermarket i have started to buy panties and make up wipes etc as I know I can go through the self service checkout. These machines though were all upgraded recently and are now rubbish. As I hurriedly put my things through and got them into the bag the machine decided to crash and the light came on for assistance needed. A staff member came over and tried to get things right again but decided the easiest option was to start all over again. She then took all the things out of my bag to re scan them including the panties and make up wipes. Nothing was said but I expect she had a good laugh with her work colleagues when I left. As I said previously, I think I will stick with online shopping! Although one of my parcels did get delivered to the wrong address recently but they never opened it luckily. I know it would be fun to shop in the stores and try things on but that is not possible in a small town like this where many people know me. I will have to plan a shopping trip to a much larger town soon and hope for the best! Carrie Anne x

[Wiccle]

I seem to remember being in drab & having trouble when buying my white flowery-effect jumper - I'm sure the girl was wide-eyed when we were done. Some years ago I also had something delivered to a very similar but still wrong address - I went to the address & it was just sutting in their hallway so I grabbed it (politely)!

Oh the things we remember that others don't!

[BrendaPDX]

Times have certainly changed. When I was younger, SAs would give you the look... Now it is like they have been trained to be respectful, money is money.. Social movements certainly have helped, at least in my case, especially in beauty product stores, now I just wait my turn and ask for what I am looking for. But nothing like a great find in a thrift store.