Short sleeves and fuzzy arms

[Kari_A]

Fuzzy = How to say arm hair and not sound gauche :). So the thread about favorite cd season got me thinking about an unsolved summer quandry. Many, if not most, summer styles leave the arms fully or partially uncovered. When dressed in those styles it seems best to minimize that fuzzyness but shaving or trimming would be quite noticeable when dressed inevitably in men’s short sleeves. Some kind of cover up with long sleeves of very light fabric is the only solution I’ve come up with but that doesn’t go well with many outfits. Anyone have some other solutions?

[Linda E. Woodworth]

I went hairless on arms, chest, back and legs almost 2 years ago. Nobody has said boo since then. My daughter only noticed my legs after 14 months.

So the solution is to shave, wax or epilate the arm hair off and not worry about it.

If you can't go with that suggestion then I say ignore it. That's what I did until I went hairless. Again, nobody said anything.

[TheHiddenMe]

The solution is to shave them. I have on and off for about the last year and no one has noticed. I spend lots of time in short sleeves, between coaching tennis, playing golf, having two summers (my wife and I go to Australia from mid-January to mid-March), and going regularly to the local Y.

I also shave my legs and wear shorts a lot also. No one has noticed them either.

I do triathlons so if some one asks I will just tell them I shave both as part of my triathlon training (for one thing, if you are outdoors a lot, you are always putting on sunscreen and it's easier to apply sunscreeen with shaved arms and legs.

But again, no one has never asked so I presume they haven't noticed.

And if you are out (or at the gym), you will see other men have hairless arms and legs, so it's not that unusual.

Just go for it.

[Tracii G]

I have had mine shaved since 2006 and all my very manly outdoorsy friends have never said a word.
Even when I had shorts on.
Had a GF of one of them ask me wow do you shave your legs? I said yeah I hate to sweat and she said if it helps keep you dry then might as well.
She always talks to me or comes and sits with me at events we go to so maybe shaved legs attract pretty women.
Not my thing sadly I swing the other way LOLOL.

[April Rose]

Buy a beard trimmer. There are a number of them on the market. I bought a Philips Norelco version from CVS that was inexpensive, and came with a number of attachments that allow you to trim at whatever length you feel acceptable. I reduced my arm hair to a length that is acceptable to me in either mode. My wife never noticed or commented.

[Hell on Heels]

Hell-o Kari,
Same here...shaving! I did use a pumice stone to gently rub the fuzz off (I’m no inovator, ancient Eygyptians did it)
It thins out the fuzz a bit, without leaving a noticeably trimmed length of hair. (Don’t rub too hard though, trust me!)

Nobody has ever asked why I shave my arms. If and when they do my answer will be “to remove the hair!”
Much Love,
Kristyn

[Kari_A]

Thanks for all the replies! I guess I knew the only real answer would be shaving or trimming. Shaving I’d worry that even if no one said anything that they really did notice and were repressing curiosity. I’m very not out about any of this. Perhaps I could trim before summer so once the long sleeves are gone there isn’t the discontinuity of doing it when someone might notice it getting shorter.

[Dee Baker]

in the summer I use clippers with 1/4 or 3/8 guard. That is what I did in my avatar photo. Sometimes in the winter I use Nair.

[Maid_Marion]

I find the hair on my arms grows pretty slowly compared to leg hair. It is thin and much less noticeable but I shave it occasionally.

[Kari_A]

@Kristyn: I love the answer: to remove the hair. Perfect! :)

[Hell on Heels]

Feel free to use it anytime Kari.
Unless we’re standing next to each other and asked the question simultaneously. Then it’s MINE!

[Rachelakld]

I like my battery powered beard trimmer, set to about 3 or 5 millimetres.
I also use it on my legs but without the plastic spacer

[Jean 103]

not worry about it..

Need I say more?

[Tracii G]

If no one knows you crossdress why would they think you do just because you shaved the hair off your arms?
Sit and think about how silly that sounds, they have never seen you crossdress so why would they associate that you crossdress now?
Do you look at a male friend and see he shaved his arms is that what you immediately think?
If you are afraid they will think you are gay? Just remember gay men don't shave their arms so if you have hairy arms now you have arms that are akin to a gay man because most of them have hairy arms.
You are worried over nothing just shave or trim them and be done with it.

[Kari_A]

AccuY
If no one knows you crossdress why would they think you do just because you shaved the hair off your arms?
Sit and think about how silly that sounds, they have never seen you crossdress so why would they associate that you crossdress now?
Do you look at a male friend and see he shaved his arms is that what you immediately think?
If you are afraid they will think you are gay? Just remember gay men don't shave their arms so if you have hairy arms now you have arms that are akin to a gay man because most of them have hairy arms.
You are worried over nothing just shave or trim them and be done with it.

You’re right, that does sound silly. I suppose you could misread my previous post to imply such a concern but I simply meant that it’s a somewhat unusual thing to do in the general population not that someone would leap to such a radical conclusion.

Really not sure why consideration of potential homophobia made its way into this.

[Helena]

I started out shaving my hands. I remember when I I first went above the wrist, but only where might be seen from the end of shirt sleeve, I freaked a little, thinking I had gone too far. Now I always have shaved arms without any comment. Funnily enough on a hiking trip this summer some of the group asked if I shave my legs. I replied yes, without any qualification or excuse. In fact one chap tried to offer me the cycling one but I said I don't do it to any extent where that would be beneficial. They then asked about my chest, again yes, but that broadened the conversation to man scaping. Never mentioned my arms lol.

[biancabellelover]

Threads similar to this come up fairly regularly, with similar answers.

Personally, I think that as a group we are way too much in our own heads about so-called “tells” that will out our crossdressing to our friends, family, and general community.

Hairless arms and legs generally don’t get noticed. Plenty of men naturally don’t have a lot of body hair, and plenty of men who have had their body hair removed are not crossdressers. Athletes (e.g cyclists and triathletes) shave their legs and sometimes arms. Bodybuilders shave their entire bodies, and some just do it for aesthetics.

Like other respondents here, I removed my body hair and no-one has noticed. In my case over 18 months ago.

Michelle

Oops, sorry, ONE person noticed; a friend at a yoga class.

[Roxanne Lanyon]

A smoothly shaved body is heaven to a feminized soul!
Roxanne

[Aunt Kelly]

In decreasing order of cost... Laser, EPL, epilator, razor.
And yes. No one will notice.

[michelleddg]

My wife has an expressed liking for hairy arms and I have an expressed liking for being married, so I generally don't shave them. However, I am willing to shave (or Nair) my hands and use a regular old pair of scissors to trim down the wild hairs. And, although I'm pretty much all gray now, in my salad days when I had dark body hair I found that bleaching my arm and leg hair produced pleasing results.

Good luck, have fun! Hugs, Michelle

[JulieB]

Im with April Rose on this one. Use a beard trimmer to keep arm hair at reasonable length. Every where else is pretty squeaky clean of body hair.

[Krisi]

Anyone who says no onw will notice if you shave your arms (or legs or whatever) is not thinking this through. Some of us have little hair on our arms and legs and shaving might go unnoticed. On the other hand, some of us naturally have very long and heavy hair on our arms and legs and it this is suddenly gone, friends and co-workers will probably notice. One size does not fit all.

I think the suggestion to use a men's groomer with the guides to "trim" the hair is a good one and that's what I do. If you want to, you can do this is stages over time so the hair slowly gets shorter. Of course, this is a commitment, you can't very well go back and forth from long to short and back again.

One caution if you shave - it's going to grow back and be noticeable, particularly on your hands. People will notice when you shake hands with them and that's hard to refuse.

[Alice B]

I have kept my arms and legs shaved or waxed for years. No one has ever said anything, including members of my golf club. In this modern world it is no big thing.

[Cheryl T]

I was totally afraid of the comments when I decided to come out to my wife 15 years ago.
The first time she saw me dressed I made sure to shave EVERYTHING. I loved it so much I just couldn't bear to be hairy again, so when spring came and it was time for me to revert to my beloved shorts and short sleeves I was nearly panicked. I finally donned the baring bottoms and sleeveless shirts and said, WTF.
I received exactly 2 comments. One from a coworker who told me she loved my legs and another from my M-I-L who asked why. I just said I never like being hairy and wanted to try it without and now liked it and was going to stay that way.
Other close friends and co-workers never said a thing to my utter surprise.

I'm still smooth all over and can't imagine being any other way.
Go for it, you might be surprised how few people say anything and how thick your skin can be.

[Teresa]

Kari,
Take a look at other guys , do they all have fuzzy arms and hairy legs ? no they don't , and do they have a problem proving they are still men ? Nope !

I admit I hate my body hair so I shave most of it everyday , when I started did people notice ? No not really , I had to tell my wife I'd shaved my legs when I first started .

The one qusetion is if you are in the closet does it really matter ? Going out you really have no choice , it has to go .

The modern trend now is hairless men , Nivea advertise products for hairless chests , many taking part in sports shave their bodies . I get the sneaking feeling this trend will seriously catch on , I find body hair now totally repulsive , the added bonus is you don't sweat so much so you have less body odour .

Try doing one arm and see how much people notice , I think you will be suprised how little people look at you closely .

[Jenny22]

Reduce it slowly over time. Buy an inexpensive hair shaver with attachments that allow for different heights of hail. Start with the longest and gradually shorter ones. People shouldn't notice the lessening, and they will probably not notice when you shave it all off; that reminds me .. mine need a shave.

[Elizabeth G]

Buy a beard trimmer. There are a number of them on the market. I bought a Philips Norelco version from CVS that was inexpensive, and came with a number of attachments that allow you to trim at whatever length you feel acceptable. I reduced my arm hair to a length that is acceptable to me in either mode. My wife never noticed or commented.

This is exactly what I do and my wife hasn't noticed either.

[Beverley Sims]

No leg hair, and the arms get Naire'd occasionally.

No one notices only the wife who comments about my hairy arms if I am slack.

[docrobbysherry]

Yrs, but u won't like it!:doh:

I don't have fuzzy arms but I DO have old, battered, arms with terribly spotted and damaged skin!:sad:
So, I wear arm covers I make myself by bleaching/dying white or pink girl's tites!:battingeyelashes:
299466

The other alternative is short camis, sweaters, etc.:thumbsup:

[Jenn A116]

After trimming my arm hair for about a year, I finally went and had them waxed. That really did the trick for me and there has been minimal regrowth. Nobody has noticed or said anything and its been several months since the waxing.

[Tracii G]

Kari I made the gay comment because some CDers worry about being called gay thats all not saying that you were gay.
I'm gay myself and have many gay male friends and arm shaving is not something popular among them.
I'm the odd ball out of my group of friends because I am the only one that is trans.

[Kari_A]

Kari I made the gay comment because some CDers worry about being called gay

Well I can say I’ve never been worried about being called gay even when out dressed but thanks for the explanation. I guess I never thought the two were related but then I’ve never considered the question in any depth either.

[Georgia K]

Some really great advice here as I've been debating weather to shave my arms as well

[Becky Blue]

I hear you on Arm hair I hate it so much. Live in the northern hemisphere now and move to the Southern when it warms up there??

[Ressie]

My neighbor asked why there was no hair on my legs a couple of years ago. The truth is, my leg hair is very sparse, but I told her that I shaved my legs to see if the hair would grow back thicker - and it didn't work. Not much on my arms either, but there are a few manly hairs that show up in the sun light. I trimmed them with a beard trimmer recently.

Arm and leg hair is a dilemma for most MtF CDs. Pick your method of making it go away.

[Krisi]

Fuzzy = How to say arm hair and not sound gauche :). So the thread about favorite cd season got me thinking about an unsolved summer quandry. Many, if not most, summer styles leave the arms fully or partially uncovered. When dressed in those styles it seems best to minimize that fuzzyness but shaving or trimming would be quite noticeable when dressed inevitably in men’s short sleeves. Some kind of cover up with long sleeves of very light fabric is the only solution I’ve come up with but that doesn’t go well with many outfits. Anyone have some other solutions?

Well, crossdressers, like actual women, should be choosing their outfits to make their best presentation. Not only is arm hair a problem for many crossdressers, underarm hair is a problem with short or sleeveless tops and dresses. If you can't shave your arm hair or underarm hair, it's best to chose clothing that doesn't show this hair. That's my "solution".

In the warmer weather, many of us acquire a "farmer's tan" from wearing men's short sleeved shirts. This is another thing to consider when choosing women's tops or dresses.

[marlacd]

I've kept clean pits for years, year round. Last summer, between work and dull razors that I'd forget about buying when out, I let it slide for awhile. One hot afternoon, I got the hint that I'd not done that. About the only thing you own outright, is your bod. If someone points out that you're shy a bit of body fur, counter with- "I wasn't for sale, the last time I checked. Did you buy me? If you did, I WANT a raise. (And weekends off)

[Joan58]

".

In the warmer weather, many of us acquire a "farmer's tan" from wearing men's short sleeved shirts. This is another thing to consider when choosing women's tops or dresses.

I solved the farmer tan problem last summer by wearing a racer back tank top every time I mowed the lawn. Still have those tan lines. Shaved arms and pits year round.

[Helen_Highwater]

Kari,

I would recommend, basically for your own sanity, start by trimming and work on reducing the hair over a period of time. That period may be shorter than you at first think as you realise no-one is taking much notice. I use a one of those ear and nose hair groomers and hold it a few mill away from my skin and gently move it along the arm, cutters parallel to the arm. Unless your hands are gorilla hairy it's unlikely anyone will notice if they go smooth.

[Nikki A.]

Underarms are clean shaven for hygienic reasons. I thin out my arm hair with a trimmer and I'm pretty satisfied over all.

[Asew]

Well my solution is to not shave my arms or legs and not worry about it. But I grew up with a sister who was proud of not shaving her legs and my wife sometimes goes without shaving for a while in winter. No one's ever said anything about my hairy arms or legs in feminine clothes :)

[Sandra_Dodds]

I've managed to get away with shaving my legs, but arms or chest is a bridge to far for my wife. She describes having hair on the limbs as being masculine, by which she is inferring that full body shaving is effeminate. Being fully shaved is something I want to do but I would prefer to stay married more.