Storage Units - Anyone has tried this?

[GiovannaBotta]

Hello!
So, I was thinking... has anyone tried to rent and use a storage unit (U-Haul, others) as a "dressing place"? I usually rent hotel rooms, but then you have check-in and check-out times, and the price... so I was kind of thinking about that idea?
It would a good place for...


Storing clothes, shoes
Leaving wigs out of the boxes, in a wig stand
Dress up and change back


Of course, you'd need some equipment, as a good light, a big mirror and some surfaces where to put stuff, like a hanger, and so on... and there's the obvious disadvantages, as lack of bathroom facilities, no water, heat...

Has anyone tried this?

Xoxo
Giovanna

[Sandi Beech]

I actually have two storage units. One that is fairly large and holds normal things like Christmas decorations, the other is a small 5 by 5 that now holds my stash of clothing that I was keeping in the attic. I have dressed in my large storage unit before. You really just need something tall to get behind when changing clothes so that no one will see you. Amazon makes some inexpensive zip up clothing racks that will hold 25 lbs of dresses so that is large enough to hide behind when dressing. I have not put makeup on there, but it would work with a small desk , mirror, and led battery lighting I suppose. My climate is very warm most of the time so heat is not an issue but lack of air conditioning is. Some places provide climate controlled storage which would be better and probably cleaner but more expensive. Prices do vary a good bit depending on location. My storage unit is less than a mile away so it is pretty convenient. Also, access to my facility is only open from 6 am until 10 pm so late night changes would not work for me. I also typically use hotels when I am on the road for work. I am just using the storage unit to keep prying eyes out of my hottie attire ; )


Sandi

PS. Just thought I would show you what I hang my clothes in. These things are pretty nice. Lightweight and inexpensive. I like them because they zip up and will keep my clothes clean.

Just look up whitmore portable clothes storage on Amazon.

[Zoeytgtx]

My storage unit has a definite disadvantages to dress in:

1) Lack of electricity for lighting and climate control
2) Getting to small due to my ever growing wardrobe

Zoey

[Tricia Lee]

I had a storage unit for dressing up for a while. If you can swing it, go for a climate controlled one for sure!

Mine was not climate controlled. I ended up hanging plastic sheet and using a kerosene heater so it wasn't quite as cold in the winter.

Also, I had a car battery and power inverter to have electricity available for lighting.

Not the best solution, but cheaper than hotels, and better than changing in the car!

Thankfully I'm past all that now.

[Rebecca60]

Remember most units have them security cameras every where. I did think of that but the fees came up. And in central Arizona it has to be air conditioned.

[alwayshave]

I have a storage unit that I use for storage. The problems I see with it for dressing is no interior lighting, that is the light comes in from the hallway. Also, no electricity within.

[Debbie Denier]

Closest I have had to a storage unit was a lock up garage. Used it for my car when at work and also stored some clothes. No lighting etc so not useful for much else. Gave it up when I changed jobs.

[Meghan4now]

My storage unit has a definite disadvantages to dress in:

1) Lack of electricity for lighting and climate control
2) Getting to small due to my ever growing wardrobe

Zoey

Exactly, and do you really need another unexplained cost? I had a double wide one for years at a good price, $100 a month. That's like a new wig every month or two. Of course mine had equipment, not cloths, but I saw what the weather changes did to certain stuff over time. I can imagine what it would do to clothes, wigs and cosmetics.

I do like the out of the box thinking to solve a problem. Too bad the best solution, coming out, is not on your list. It can cause friction, but may be less destructive than the eventuality of the big secret being discovered in the wrong way.

[kellyanne]

The best venue I know of has too many flaws - one has to either get them to allow your vehicle in the main docking area or
walk on foot to the site managers desk, sign in and proceed through another secure door. So there is privacy in the locker but not en route.

After a few extended stay times I think they would wonder what the person who has not reemerged was up to.
I don't think they would care about CDing , they just like to be reassured no nefarious activity is taking place on the property.


Could you scale down to an outskirts motel and keep access for longer?
A trucker type venue where costs may be lower and privacy respected?

[GiovannaBotta]

Exactly, and do you really need another unexplained cost? I had a double wide one for years at a good price, $100 a month. That's like a new wig every month or two. Of course mine had equipment, not cloths, but I saw what the weather changes did to certain stuff over time. I can imagine what it would do to clothes, wigs and cosmetics.

I do like the out of the box thinking to solve a problem. Too bad the best solution, coming out, is not on your list. It can cause friction, but may be less destructive than the eventuality of the big secret being discovered in the wrong way.

Oh I'm not even thinking this for me... there's a lot of girls here in Vancouver that would appreciate something like that, and I have a good friend that has to keep everything inside her car, at all times. My wife knows about Giovanna, doesn't want to see it (she says she needs some time, but doesn't killed the idea of seeing me dressed), but has no issues about my wardrobe being at home. My problem is that I can't dress up at home for now...

There's a lot of flaws on that idea, that's why I brought this up here, to see what people have to say. So far, the answers have been great and very helpful. :-)

[DianeT]

Giovanna, over the course of 30+ years in the computer business, I have used all kinds of storage units:
The Byte : for not storing more than you can chew
The Kilobyte : for storing Mr Ren's wardrobe (with a tipo)
The Megabyte : for storing prehistoric giant sharks
The Gigabyte : for storing musical instruments
The Terabyte : secret storage for male stuff (for female stuff use the secret Terabithia storage)
The Petabyte : another name for a kennel or a cattel
The Hexabyte : for storing Mr Potter's school books
The Zettabyte : for storing zets (if you don't know what a zet is, then you probably have no use for this one. And if you do, please write to us, we would love to hear from you).
The Yottabyte : for storing cruising bots

Happy Xmas.

[Jamie MacFaile]

I used to store my clothes in a storage unit, in suitcases and a cardboard wardrobe. Not ideal, but allowed my collection to grow. Half-dressed at home, then finishing touches in the car.
Since I'm newly single and now in my own apartment, problem solved!

[abby054]

AngelaYVR posted this gem about six weeks ago. https://www.crossdressers.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=324305&d=1636235721

Over the Rainbow Transformations, a dressing service in Portland, has wardrobe storage as one of its services. It costs about the same as a local storage unit.

zet, noun, plural zets. 1. a collective noun, a grouping of items with something in common, however weakly. Known to exist only in parts of the USA where the letter s in the word greasy is pronounced as the letter z. Does not exist and cannot survive when introduced among locals in Boise, Idaho. 2. an item for fouling flavors in cooking, used among dyslexic chefs, obtained by scraping the surface of a zucchini rather than a citrus fruit. 3. a skin blemish on the upper lip, large and angry, big enough to distort the speech of its victim, who exclaims, I gotta big zet below my dose. 4. the sound made by an anteater in the comic strip, BC, when ants become scarce and he resorts to preying on fleas.

[Sometimes Steffi]

I have a 5x5 storage unit.

At first I got it to prevent discovery of a few boxes of girl stuff that would have been tossed if discovered at home. The space was unheated and was usually at room temperature - freezing in the winter and roasting in the summer. It was all wood which turned out to be a disadvantage. It burned down a couple of years after I moved out. Someone apparently left a halogen light on when they left. I suspect that someone jury rigged power to the unit by tapping off the main power.

My second unit was quite an upgrade. It was a 5x5 in a multistory building. The outside was all cinder block and the inside was all metal. It did not have climate control, but due to the construction of the building, the temperature was decent at all times.

I made myself right at home. I built a wooden shelving unit out of 2x4s and 1x4s to hold my boxes, and I installed a small closet rod to hang two fabric shoe hangers which held about 6 pairs of shoes each. I also bought a small portable closet unit like Sandy's, only smaller, and a small IKEA-like dresser.

They kept raising the price of the unit every 6 months or so, so I moved my locker every couple of years when there were lower prices on storage lockers, thus resetting the monthly cost. When I didn't have much girl stuff, it was a pretty easy move that took a few hours. As my locker got more full, it became more and more work. Once, I even moved everything to a sister building 5 miles away and back again to take advantage of "stock market prices."

Right now, my locker is filled to the brim. We had some renovation done on the house and I decided to move everything I had ro the storage locker that couldn't be hidden in a draw or a cabinet outside the reno area. After the reno was done, I didn't have "time alone" to move my girl stuff back home, and by the time I did, my space at home was filled with new purchases.

If I upgraded to a 5x10, I could probably use the storage locker as a 5x5 storage room and a 5x5 dressing room. You can do a lot with low-power LED lighting today, certainly for a makeup mirror, because that's what I use for doing makeup in a car. You can also use a computer system backup power supply for more extensive lighting. Charge it at home, and bring it with you to the storage locker fully charged and plug in modern LED lights. I haven't done the power calculation, but I expect that it would work fine.

There are two main problems. One, there are cameras everywhere. Don't expect to escape without being caught on camera. Also, the cameras display visibly in the front lobby for the viewing pleasure of the clerk in charge and anyone making a transaction at the front desk. The company that I leased with used to have resident managers who lived in a hidden apartment on premises, and I got to know them pretty well. I wouldn't have minded if they saw Steffi on the CCFV. But the facility has recently been bought out by a larger company, and the person at the "front desk" is the agent "du jour." I would not be as comfortable of them know about Steffi as the prior resident agents.

Second, like said above, there are limited hours, and it closes overnight at about 10 PM. Sleeping in overnight is strictly forbidden by the terms of use. But, I've always found it much harder to get dressed that to get undressed. It's pretty easy to transform back to male using a public bathroom and my car, than girling up. It would work for me, if I needed it. Right now, I have a GG friend who lets me dress at her place. Manning up before I go home is still on my own.

Any questions, post them here and I'll respond.

[Julia B]

So much time, energy, and money is wasted hiding our clothes, makeup, and our true identities from others.
I wish everyone would stop hiding and instead celebrate ourselves.
Ladies get out there in the world! There is a lot of us and we should be proud of who we are.

[Sometimes Steffi]

If it was a Wonderful World, I wouldn't have to hide everything from my wife. But due to DADT, if I didn't hide it, then I wouldn't have to because I'd be living alone. There are many times that I think about living alone.

[abby054]

Derek Bok said if you think education is expensive, try ignorance. As a CD corollary, I know from experience with my wife that if I think hiding is expensive, try coming out. It is clearly evident to me that coming out would vastly more expensive in many ways for the other aspects of my life than hiding. Not being one to repeat big expensive mistakes, I will continue to hide.

[Sandi Beech]

Giovanna,

You know that would be an interesting idea if you had a few people chip in to share a single larger storage unit. FYI , they do ask what you are going to be storing because they have some restrictions. When the lady asked me, I was honest and showed her some pictures and we had a nice chat about it. I would not worry about the cameras. I doubt they even bother to look unless there is a break in as it is boring watching people unload their junk. Also, those plastic shelves you can buy at lowes and Home Depot are easy to assemble and tear down for moving if necessary. They help get the small stuff off the floor- highly recommended.

My only mistake is I should have gotten a 5 by 10 so I will probably move eventually.

Sandi

[GiovannaBotta]

So many awesome ideas. You have been great, all of you.

I agree with Sandi about the cameras, and here in Canada, at least in Metro Vancouver area, nobody cares about you being dressed - the only things that I heard when dressed where compliments! What people would care are illicit activities, and that can be solved for.

For me, it would be important because as I am in a DADT-ish relationship, my wife sometimes gets a little bit worried when she sees that I have way too many shoes (why so many heels? Can't you wear a sneaker - well dear, that defeats the purpose), and it would be a way to ease the pressure. I'd leave at home only one or two outfits and shoes, and the rest there. I'm still trying to find someone to share, but people are SO scared of everything, they still have to see by themselves that nobody really pays that much attention to you.

Some great ideas that I've seen here:

- Battery LED lighting (this is great!)
- Climate controlled unit

I'll actually get in touch with some places here and be very blunt about the idea, and see what the reaction is. Then I'll share! Maybe someone will benefit.

If Vancouver had a transformation service, they would earn good money storing people's clothes!

[Rachelakld]

used one when I was building a house and had all my furniture stored, mirror, clothes and wigs were always closest to the door since I was changing regularly.
I do think you have to be okay in public, because once changed there's not point staying in the storage unit.

[melissalynn]

There was a storage company, Manhattan Mini Storage I think, that had an ad on the NYC subways about using a storage unit for a transformation. It's probably online somewhere.

[Sometimes Steffi]

I'll actually get in touch with some places here and be very blunt about the idea, and see what the reaction is. Then I'll share! Maybe someone will benefit.

I've found the multistory units much more accessible than the garage style units.

Also, be careful of anything dangerous, like something that could start a fire.

[Krisi]

We recently rented a storage unit to help with moving to a new home. It was not inexpensive.

It was climate controlled and there were restrooms in the building, but no electricity or lights in the unit itself. For dressing, one would have to have battery operated lights. I'm not sure about closing the roll up door while you are inside, that might be possible or it might attract unwanted attention from the manager on duty.

There are cameras, of course, and at some point, waliking in as a man and walking out as a woman might attract some unwanted attention. Also, women using storage units don't typically come and go in heels and fancy clothes so if that's your stile you will look out of place.

So foe some folks, it might work, but it's not an ideal solution.

- - - Updated - - -


So much time, energy, and money is wasted hiding our clothes, makeup, and our true identities from others.
I wish everyone would stop hiding and instead celebrate ourselves.
Ladies get out there in the world! There is a lot of us and we should be proud of who we are.

Most of us live in the real world and the real world can be cruel. Wives leave us, family members disown us and we get fired from our jobs or overlooked for pronotions. Sometimes people want to harm us for being different.

We all have our unique situations and we must adapt to them as best we can. That means, for many of us, we have to hide our little "hobby" from some or all people.

[Sallee]

There was a gay bar here that would rent out the back rooms with lockers for us girls. It was great. Heat, light, bathroom everything needed even a bar you could get into with out going outside. What fun but about 3 years ago a developer bought the building and the oldest gay bar in SD closed down as did our storage area. A few of us girls got together and rented a storage locker not anywhere near as nice but it works There is no climate control, but we are in San Diego so it doesn't get that hot or cold usually. The lighting sucks but I have put some mirrors in it and will bring some better battery operated lights and it seems to work ok. i use it for dressing and getting out on the town when the urge strikes
So if you can get together with some other girls and join in to rent an a unit. Just look around to find on that works Most owners could less as long as you pay the rent

- - - Updated - - -

I agree with you Giovanna There is a service like that in the SF Bay area but I am not near there. Generally people just don't care everyone's life is complex. Also if looking to rent be upfront people only care for the most part about the $$

[GiovannaBotta]

Nice to see that it can work for some, Sallee. This is exactly what me and three other girls from here are looking for.
On January I'll do a "tour" of some places to decide on something, we already got a light and a battery to power it, if necessary!