Sad commentary on the current state of affairs...female clothing edition

[Leslie Langford]

On Sunday, my wife and I went to an upscale restaurant to celebrate our 51st wedding anniversary (yes, we've managed to hang in there THAT long, and counting - LOL!).

We both decided to dress in a more formal manner than usual in honour of the occasion, with me opting for a nice pair of slacks and button-down shirt, and my wife in a lovely sundress. When she came downstairs to show me what she had chosen to wear for the dinner, I dutifully complimented her effusively on her outfit...and truth be known, she did look stunning and very feminine in it.

As we walked to the restaurant from the car, my wife remarked offhandedly how strange it felt to be wearing a dress, and that she couldn't remember the last time she wore one. She also commented on how she now had to pay special attention to preserving her modesty, especially since the wind was gusting quite strongly at the time. Needless to say, like most GG's these days, she spends virtually all of her time in jeans, capris, or shorts and the like...in other words - pants.

As a crossdresser, what could I do but smile? All those negatives that my wife was enumerated are what I enjoy about wearing female clothing...and it was actually just last week that I wore one of my dresses while she was out for the day.

Yes, it's become a topsy-turvy world from the one we older crossdressers grew up in, and I for one, miss it terribly.

[docrobbysherry]

Considering the way women dress today, Leslie, nothing seems to be too risque or tasteless?:eek:

So, as long as I'm wearing underwear? I never worry at all. Whether mine show for a second or all nite out!:o

[Heisthebride]

The grass is always greener...

With time I think women have the chance to acclimate to those experiences, they become common to them and only notice them if they've been away from the experience for some time. Crossdressers tend to fixate on them, since it can be such a rarity to experience them firsthand. There are negatives too. I know that wearing and removing makeup daily can become a chore. Wearing a bra for 14 hours a day can become a burden too, and I understand why women are relieved to remove them. Imagine doing that every day for years on end. So there are good and bad experiences.

[michelleddg]

We're attending our nephews wedding the end of the month, and my blushing bride ordered 3 sparkly cocktail dresses from Nordstrom Rack, one to wear, 2 to send back. Nyah, nyah, nyah Ms. Leslie. PS - congratulations on the big 5-1, that's beyond awesome! Hugs, Michelle

[Fiona_44]

Leslie, Congrats on 51 yrs.!!!!

[NancySue]

Great story. I had a comparable experience recently. We decided to go to a local high end steak house. My wife surprised me with a beautiful feminine dress and made the same comment about not being able to remember the last time she wore a dress, hose, heels, etc. She commented how different it felt wearing hose, still not her favorite. She looked fantastic. She knows and supports my CDing and still rolls her eyes when I mention my comfort and pleasurable feeling wearing hose, underwires, etc.

[Leslie Langford]

We're attending our nephews wedding the end of the month, and my blushing bride ordered 3 sparkly cocktail dresses from Nordstrom Rack, one to wear, 2 to send back. Nyah, nyah, nyah Ms. Leslie. PS - congratulations on the big 5-1, that's beyond awesome! Hugs, Michelle

Good stuff, Michelle, but will she feel as comfortable and as "girly" in that dress as you do in yours? - LOL! "Aye, there's the rub" as Shakespeare would have put it...

[Stephanie47]

Congrats on 51........Area 51...UFO ?, Unidentified Female Object. That's about the sum game anymore around our house. The last time my wife wore dresses with any frequency was five years ago, when she wore dresses during her chemotherapy. Heck, we sleep apart for medical reasons; bad backs and snoring. She wears PJ's and I wear nightgowns, slips, bras and panties. My wife and I will be celebrating 51 in October.

[alwayshave]

Leslie, congratulations on your wedding anniversary. I will never understand wanting to wear jeans when you could wear a dress or skirt.

[Frannie7]

Congrats on your 51st--a real milestone.

[Mary Loo]

Congratulations on 51 years! I am proud of the 29+ I can boast, but 51 is very impressive. I expect to make it there myself some day, assuming we both live another 22 years.

I saw a lot of similarities to my wife in these answers, though she does still wear dresses periodically, she loves groaning and taking her bra off when she gets home from work. She only wears pantyhose and makeup on special occasions, though not so rare as to forget how they are. I posted this thought in the Loved Ones section ma number of weeks ago, but my wife feels CDs championing the things that women feel oppressed by (bras, heels, corsets, hosiery, etc) and were created to restrict their movement and comfort and ability to rise in society is somehow just a little inherently disrespectful. Yeah now I get to try to overcome those emotions!

Back to the point, we still love each other dearly and will someday be enjoying a nice dinner out for our 51st Anniversary as well.
Congrats again, Leslie.

[Leslie Langford]

Thank you, ladies, for the good wishes on the 51 years of matrimony. Actually, we had planned to celebrate the more meaningful "Big 5-0" in style last year with a European River Cruise, and had booked it just one month before the game-changing Covid-19 excrement hit the ventilator in early 2020...who knew at the time?

The following year proved to be equally challenging for us what with my wife's breast cancer diagnosis early on in, and culminating with her mastectomy. That, along with no end of COVID-19 in sight at the time caused us to cancel that trip altogether.

Fortunately, things are falling back into place now with my wife having been declared cancer-free at this point, and the rest of the world also seems to be slowly getting back to normal...well, except for that tragic state of affairs in Ukraine that continues to play out daily.

So, that fancy dinner out was just a small interim step in the right direction, and a reprise of that ill-fated European River Cruise is still in the cards for a future date.

[DianeT]

Congratulations on your wedding anniversary. Glad to know that your wife's cancer was successfully treated.

[GretchenM]

Congrats on 51. We had our 53rd in March. We have found that people tend to be a bit surprised that two people can love being together after half a century and still not be tempted to kill each other. I suspect you two found the secret like we did - effective communication, compromise, and respect for each other, even when you disagree.

You are quite right about the turnabout in fashion. Men and women have converged a bit, but I have to admit women clean up a lot nicer than men do no matter what the practical gender is. It comes down to physical shape even when imperfect and a vast amount of practice.

[CDMargret]

Congratulations on 51 years! That's so wonderful. I buy almost all of my wife's clothes. I love dressing her up as I would love to be wearing myself. Lot's of dresses and cute tops. On the really short sun dresses she wears bike shorts or short leggings. Match leggings with a soft t-shirt of the same colors on a tank top style sun dress for cooler days and oh how I wanna just strip her down and put them on...lol. She is so cute. Happy Anniversary. Cheers to so many more years.