why lingerie?

[sara66]

There seems to be a large percentage of us who started dressing when we were prepubescent. Why was the first thing most of us started with was bras, panties or pantyhose? It couldn't have been a turn on. Were we emulating the women in our lives? Did we like the tactile feeling? Just plain curiosity? Inquiring minds want to know.
I remember being around 4 and finding my mom's bra and putting it on. The only thing I could think is trying to emulate mom. I still don't know why I started wearing my sister's panties. The only think I could think is they were cutter than my boy underwear. They had cute little ducks and lace trim legs.
Random thoughts. :daydreaming:
Sara

[ShelbyDawn]

I have actually spent some time thinking about this, for me it was tactile, I love the soft silky feeling of my moms slips, satin is deadly, you know, that and I wanted to be like my sisters, whether it was jealousy or early gender dysphoria, I have no idea.
When it came to stealing my sisters panties and other clothes, it still had a tactile factor, the panties were softer and felt better than my scratchy briefs, ok, they were cuter, too and I like d that.
I also liked the way I felt in their dresses, you know the feeling of the skirt flowing around your legs the way the bodice hugs you, that kind of thing.
Underlying all of the tactile factors, I guess I liked that I felt like a girl.

It's still that way for me, I don't dress for how I look(that's a lost cause) I dress for how I feel.

[kimdl93]

For many of us, curiosity about womens wear started in preschool?and I suppose a fair number of those preschool explorations never developed into anything more. Its so hard to say what caused the curiosity to stick with some of us and not with others.

[jacques]

hello,
I did some research a long while ago based on posts on this and other similar sites -
age we started
322568
and the first item of clothing
16.6% - panties

16.0% - tights or pantyhose

7.8% - bra

7.7% - dress

7.6% - stockings, nylons or thigh high hold-ups

and why we started

11.2% - dress up games with a girl

8% - feel of the fabric

6.8% - wanted to be a female

6.5% - wanted to dress as a female

6.2% - mother dressed me in the clothes

4.9% - Halloween costumes

4.6% - curiosity

hope this is of interest!
luv J

[Stephanie47]

I fall into the 8%-feel of the fabric; specifically nylon. My mother use to hang the laundry to dry in the hallway of our apartment. When walking down the hall my arms would have to push the nylon slips out of my way. First it was fondling the material. Ultimately, taking them off the clothes line and trying them on for the feel. I also discovered the same feel with her nylon nightgowns. It had nothing to do with emulating a woman. It wasn't until puberty that my interests expanded to more of her undergarments; girdle, bras, panties (ugly grannie panties). This adventure lasted until I was too big to don her clothing.

[Maria 60]

For me I don't know why my weekness was the slip, from my first feel to seeing that 1 inch of lace would drive me crazy. I remember on summer holidays the embarrasted and shock on my younger female cousins got when we played dress up. I was playing the mom when my aunt came in the room and completed my look with pantyhose and a bra, but the minute she put on the slip on me, let's just say my younger female cousins got alittle education on how things grow. My aunt had to take me to the other room to make me calm down. I still can't figure out why my weekness for slips.

[Judy-Somthing]

The first thing I wore at about 7 was a Ballerina outfit my sister dressed me up in.
As a boy all my clothes were basically loose but the Ballerina outfit with tights was snug and it felt great and it was fun to pretend to be a girl.
After that day I put it on every time I got the chance until it didn't fit anymore.
I guess it was a sexual feeling but I was at least 5 years before puberty.

[valerie anne]

For proper dressing, my weakness is a black baby doll, with a deep garter belt, stockings and heels. My mom had all these things which I stole (and laddered!) She must have known that the stockings had been worn, and the lipstick smudged.

Today, I still feel like an absolute ***** in this type of outfit, but I get no support from the baby doll cups. I have been adding a black plunge bra to give some shape, and I have just ordered a 5 hook band bustier to produce more uplift.

I am going to be smothered in bra & negligee straps!

[LauraWeb]

Interesting discuss. I too started young. I think accessibility was a big item. Pantyhose and knee highs were easy to get. Bras were not too difficult either. I do distinctly remember that a lot of my early desire to dress up was to have a costume kit like a spy or, dare I say it, Bugs Bunny. He could crossdress like no one else and it was always killer effective. I so wished ever early on that I could do that. :)

Now that I am older, there is a lot more introspection on my female side. But I still take great pride in how accurately I can appear as a woman. (Which is probably questionable if I do.)

I also remember that even as I child I felt there was something special about women and that I felt at times like I should have been one. I don't know if I really believe in past lives, but if so, I was a woman before.

Sincerly,
Laura

[Sometimes Steffi]

From the graph, it looks like I am in the second wave, around ages 10 to 13.

You say that, "It couldn't have been a turn on." Well, it was for me. I can't remember how old I was when I first got into my Mom's panties. But, I was old enough to stay home by myself. The first time I put on panties, it turned out to be a full system test and all systems were AOK.

[GenevieveF]

For me it?s always been about the lingerie.

I was about 7 or 8 and one trash day, in the back lane I found a bag of discarded women?s clothes. I snuck them into my fort in a secluded part of our yard. There were bras, panties, stockings, a garter belt and some slips. I was very excited and tried everything on. I couldn?t believe how smooth the slip and stockings felt or how pretty the bra and panties were. I was hooked for life.

My mother had a few pairs of heels. I don?t know why I did it at the time but I snuck a pair of my mother?s heels out to my fort and after putting on my my lingerie, tried them on. I remember being very, very excited.

That started me down CD journey. For me, it?s still all about the lingerie and heels.

[SissieScott]

I started very early and before puberty/hair growth....The feel of the material on my skin was AMAZING. Now that I am older and purposely shave, I get the same feeling

[GretchenM]

I didn't start until I was about 7 or 8. By the way, studies have shown that is the most common age that boys take a serious interest in girl clothes. I loved the nylon, especially slips, but I basically went for it all because I wanted to be a girl. No sisters so when my mother caught me I was kind of banned in an attempt to force me to be a boy. Unfortunately for my mother it didn't work. I ended up kinda-sorta a girl anyway. Lesson - you can't eliminate the need to express your identity in that way when that is an integral part of who you are. At least not without driving yourself crazy denying yourself. You can manage it but you can't eliminate it.

[DianeT]

Sara, prepubescent sure doesn't mean that you can't be turned on. I started before puberty at a time I was ab-so-lu-te-ly turned on by my female heroines in comic books and fascinated by women in real life wearing skirts, hose, boots in these seventies times. Because I had not reached puberty however, my dressing sessions back then where not a sexual act but an exploration of a feminine world of softness and an intensely transgressive experiment (for a boy). But they were definitely ignited by sexuality. We are sexual beings very early in life.

[Jenn A116]

For me it was a bra. Didn't "graduate" to panties, etc until a bit later. The attraction of the bra was the illusion of boobs, with the help of some rolled up sox. Yes, as a guy I'm a boob man. That translated to starting my femme side with the bra.

[NickieWild]

SissieScott ! That is so true, the material, the feeling ! I like to feel the tightness of the clothing, but that is my thing 🤭

[Cheryl T]

It was somewhat emulation, wanting to be like my mother.
It was somewhat tactile as I loved the silky nylon panties she wore.
Once I "graduated" to having my own things and desiring to be a woman the most feminine images always came from magazine ads and men's magazines. Women were always in lingerie, garter belts, stockings, pretty bras and panties and it seemed that that was how to be feminine. I still love pretty lingerie and though I wear cotton panties half the time I still have an affinity for lovely lingerie.
Perhaps...perhaps, no one else will see it, but it still makes me feel feminine and sexy.

[kellyanne]

hello,
I did some research a long while ago based on posts on this and other similar sites -
age we started
322568
and the first item of clothing
16.6% - panties

16.0% - tights or pantyhose

7.8% - bra

7.7% - dress

7.6% - stockings, nylons or thigh high hold-ups

and why we started

11.2% - dress up games with a girl

8% - feel of the fabric

6.8% - wanted to be a female

6.5% - wanted to dress as a female

6.2% - mother dressed me in the clothes

4.9% - Halloween costumes

4.6% - curiosity

hope this is of interest!
luv J

Thank you for this graph - the bimodal nature of the curve is interesting - I would have not expected the drop in between peaks. I am surprised " feelings of freedom" or a synonymous phrase was not cited as why we started. To this day it is that same feeling of freedom that permeates me. I just love dressing, going to bed in my long gown nightie and long for the day I could walk in public and be accepted as much as another . The self isolating aspect of crossdressing seems to magnify over the years.

When I first put on my mother's bathing suit a rush of a joy of freedom came over me. It was overwhelming.

[CrossKimmy]

I personally didn?t get into my mothers underwear drawer until I was going thru puberty. I started with slips and such that look like dresses.

[Vikky]

Lingerie is definitely the thing. I would have been 5 ? 7 year old and Mum would wear a long slip around the house. It felt so smooth and soft ? I just liked the feel of it. I would sit on the floor beside the and there were times when she would slip on stockings and feed them up her legs and clip them to her suspender belt. I just wanted to emulate her. I don?t remember ever rooting around her clothes, the need to express myself as feminine came much later. I still like the hug of some female clothes, and love lace ? blouse, dresses etc.
Vikky

[Pumped]

Same here, mom's lingerie, stockings, bras. I started when I was maybe 5 or 6 years old.

[AngelaYVR]

Even when I was four I would pore over the lingerie pages in the store catalogues. “Borrowing” lingerie went hand in hand. I think at that age you can’t place why it’s such a draw but I think mostly because it felt good and, for myself, not having sisters meant not having any dresses to borrow that wouldn’t look ridiculous on me!

(I did ask to try on a dress of “my little girlfriend” down the road but it was an emphatic no!)

[Gillian Gigs]

If it wasn't filling a need, or needs it would not have happened, or more importantly, continued to happen. Still to this day there is the tactile, snug feel to lingerie and pantyhose/stockings. I believe that as you add items it adds to the over feeling, as an example wearing a skirt because it adds to the pantyhose/stocking tactile feelings. For me, my men's clothes are loose and a bit baggy. My women's clothes are soft, colourful and slinky.
I was regularly wearing lingerie by the time I was 11 to 12ish.

[Ressie]

My first experience wasn't tactile at all which is hard to believe (that came a few years later). When I was 4 years old my mom had me wear my sister's coat as we went trick or treating. So it was more about presenting as a cute little girl!

[BLUE ORCHID]

At Four years old it just seamed like a Good Idea, >Orchid**o:daydreaming:o**

[sara66]

Blue Orchid that maybe the best answer yet.:heehee:
Sara

[Meghan4now]

An additional thought, in conjunction with whatever desire or other motivator. Undergarments can been worn and hidden, or if it's a private matter, under garments are private in nature. Finally, taking it it down to the closet and most intimate bit of clothing, the undergarment may provide the most intimate emotional response.

This does not have to be overtly sexual. Intimacy can be a variety of expressions or experiences, but generally very personal which may also be very private.

[Geena75]

My start was discarded pantyhose. It was definitely tactile, I loved the touch and feel, it was my first experience of how a nylon enclosed leg felt (I was no way going to touch a GG on the leg, being in a very old fashioned rural setting). I think there was also a degree of curiosity, an 11 year old wondering what goes on under that cute dress. No wonder I had to try wearing that dress a few years later.

[Sometimes Steffi]

I didn't try on my mom's stockings until "Lauren Bacall taught me".

OK, the truth. I was alone watching a movie on TV and Lauren Bacall is in her full slip. Then, she pulls up her stockings oe by one and then pulls up her sip as she attached the stockings to the garter clips. My mom didn' have a garter belt, but she did have lot of girdles with garter clips.

[Allieboy]

I was a latch key child so I was free to explore from the age of 7. Would play sports after school on about 3 days a week and then have 2 days to try on my mom?s lingerie. The tactile feel eas wonderful and I could get aroused even at that age. As time went on wearing lingerie took precedence over sports. The wonderful feeling and calming effect of relaxing in panties, slip, garter and stockings has stayed with me for decades

[Bea_]

I was a late starter. I was in my mid-fifties when panties hit my radar. Panties, other lingerie and then open floodgates. I can say that, for me, perceived INDULGENCE is why I am attracted to women?s things, even though I?m not the least bit attracted to the idea of being a woman.

Drab is the perfect descriptor for men?s things. The is nothing indulgent about things chosen from the men?s department. And the contrast in variety of the things available to women vs men is on an exponential scale.

The attraction is equally aesthetic and tactile to me. Both senses are being indulged every time I choose my panties for the day.

[Petra_Briar]

Because that satiny feel is awesome....and add a bit of lace it is heavenly!

[stefaniec]

For me, I was first drawn to pantyhose/tights around the age of 10-11ish because I liked they way they looked on girls at school and there was nothing else like them for boy clothing. I would always see mom's pantyhose in the laundry and was so curious about them. When I finally tried them on, I was absolutely captivated by the look as well as the feel.

[docrobbysherry]

U and other may have started with lingerie, Sara. But, I was a late bloomer. Began dressing in my 50's. So, lingerie was the LAST THING I was interested in dressing in. Because the more my male body showed the less I liked my image in the mirror!:doh:

Of course, with my suits lingerie is now one of my favorite looks!

[Gilly68]

I was in the second wave and was maybe 11 or 12. I'd always dreamed about being a girl, but never done anything apart from wish really hard!

I think 11 or 12 was the age my parents decided I could be left alone when they went shopping, so I started exploring mum's clothes!

I'm like Kellyanne, for me the thing that really triggered me was my mum's one piece swimsuits. Slipping into one of those, and stuffing the cups with quite a few socks (my mum was very well endowed!) and I could see a girl in the mirror, just seeing myself with boobs and everything between my legs hidden was so wonderful!

[Erin Lafleur]

Why lingerie? Because it's the greatest invention in man/woman kind ever?
Ok, maybe not quite as practical as the wheel but far prettier, no doubt about that! Like many here, my interest in all things feminine began at a very tender age. I would try on mom's panties and half satin slips and knew immediately that it felt amazingly good and right. It still does (except that now, they're my own). That initial feeling never left me as I grew older and I began to wonder if it was simply a tactile thing given the wonderful feel against my skin. I tried silk boxers and... nuthin...
While they were comfortable, they weren't feminine and that's ultimately what works for me. I have many pairs of satin panties, all of my bras are quite lacy, my stockings are usually lace top stay ups and so on. I think women's clothing can be quite beautiful and esthetically pleasing, no different than than the beauty of an exquisite sunset or star filled night. It is truly in the eyes of the beholder.
I truly love and embrace my feminine side and pretty lingerie is an indispensable part of that. I sit on my deck almost every morning in my bra and panties and satin slip and the coffee has never tasted so good!

[Crissy 107]

Erin, That was a beautiful post and something we can all identify with!

[krissy]

me i think it was me watching my mom get dressed to go on dates i was the oldest.so i would sit by her while she told me what i had to do when it came to my brothers and sisters.she sat there in her black lace bra and garter beat with hose and panties on.then she would slip on her black slip and do her makeup i wanted to be her i thought she was so beautiful i guess thats why i love slips now.my first thing i put on was my sisters halfslip and panty.they were made togeather oh i love that slip.as i got older i put on moms clothes i put on her bra i sat at the mirror doing my makeup then i put on her sexy mini skirt and top wow i felt like i was the prettiest girl alive.:)

[Lorna]

I am one of those who falls clearly into the "second wave", i.e. those who began dressing in their teens. I didn't have any interest or inclination to do so when younger: as others have said, it was growing curiosity as a teenager about girls and what it felt like to wear their clothing that led me to try to find out. Even at 14 or 15 - and without sisters to provide the opportunities - I found adult women's clothes generally a bit too big to fit well. Slips and skirts weren't too bad and stockings were quite OK but bras and girdles were not as tight a fit as they were intended to be. Good enough to proviide a very good idea of what those clothes must feel like to the girls and women who wore them, but still not quite right. I am intigued, therefore, by the large number of contributors whose first experiences were at ages from four or five upwards - an age where even my quite slim mother's bras and girdles would have simply slipped straight off me. At five or six my legs would have been less than half the length of my mother's and her stockings would have been very much too long. I can't imagine how trying hem on at that age could have worked for me.
Please don't misunderstand: I have no reason to doubt all the accounts of early experience with women's underwear and the pleasure and satisfaction it gave to so many members here. I am just curious to know how they overcame the very real size difference problem.

[Donna Lynn]

Hello All , I am new to the Forum and need to do an introduction. But when I saw this topic I figure this might be ok as a starter I will post more about me in a new topic so you can get to know me.
Why lingerie for me, A short story of my first introduction. I was about 7 or 8 and I do not remember how the conversation got started, but a girl in the neighborhood maybe 11 or 12 came out with " show me yours and I will show you mine". So we found a place in the shed and did just that, I showed mine and she showed hers. Seeing hers was not as big a deal to me at the time I had two little sisters and had helped change their diapers, Hers did not look much different. Then she made the same deal for can I touch it? You can touch mine , So she did, not fondle but hold and have a good look. Then my turn she said only with her panties on she did not want to have any babies. She wore baby blue nylon panties, so I did rub her front on the panties nice and my little guy reacted this time did not why but I did like it . We met one more time latter that summer in the shed and she wanted to kiss I said yes if I could rub her panties . That was the last time i ever saw that girl we moved away.

[sometimes_miss]

To me, it's probably often about resolving gender identity dysphoria. At some point, our 'wires get crossed', and our subconscious tries to resolve any cognitive dissonance, such as that which is caused by feeling that we are one sex, while wearing the attire of the other. That was it for me; at 8, I had become convinced that I was actually supposed to be a girl, so the boy clothes felt somehow unnatural for me to wear. I gradually always felt like I was just a bit out of place, as a boy.
Despite growing up like any other normal boy until I was almost 7, I now felt like I was a girl, pretending to be a boy, in boy clothes. So the wearing of girl clothes resolved that uncomfortable feeling. And it remains, to this day. I only feel 'normal', when wearing girl clothes.

[Snide_lobster]

I fall into the 8%-feel of the fabric; specifically nylon. My mother use to hang the laundry to dry in the hallway of our apartment. When walking down the hall my arms would have to push the nylon slips out of my way. First it was fondling the material. Ultimately, taking them off the clothes line and trying them on for the feel. I also discovered the same feel with her nylon nightgowns. It had nothing to do with emulating a woman. It wasn't until puberty that my interests expanded to more of her undergarments; girdle, bras, panties (ugly grannie panties). This adventure lasted until I was too big to don her clothing.

Would you mind sharing how you collected that data. I'm not questioning it, just interested.

[NancySue]

Why? Lingerie as well as most other pieces of women?s clothes are, for me, simply more comfortable. My wife doesn?t understand underwires, girdles, garter belts or hose. I just smile. I, too, started early, playing dress up with the next door sisters. No big deal until I slid on a pair of stockings. I knew I was hooked..and was?still am.

[HollyGreene]

When I was a child, male underwear was almost exclusively white cotton.
When I discovered the silky fabrics with lace, and bows, in all manner of colours and floral prints that were women's panties, I was hooked.
The first pairs of panties I owned were really tiny, satin ones; one pair in pale blue and the other in pink.
I found them in a bag of clothes that were being discarded by my mother. They were still in their packaging and unused. I think my mother must have ordered them and realised they weren't her kind of thing after all and never wore them.
I loved the feel of them and being panties, were very easy to hide.
I used to wear them under my male underwear for fear of being discovered, but they still felt wonderful.