What is your best disguise from being recognised when in public?

[irenetancd]

May I know what is your best method to disguise yourself when crossdressing in public?

Yesterday, I noticed that I was still able to use iPhone to unlock my phone even wearing a long copper brown wig (natural hair is short and black) covering forehead, thick eyebrows, different eye glasses and winter cap.
However, when I applied thick eyeliner around the eyes, iPhone was no longer able to recognise the face.
Could this be the best disguise from being recognised by friends when in public?

[alwayshave]

Eyeliner does not affect my phone's facial recognition, but some of my wigs do.

[BLUE ORCHID]

Hi Irene :hugs:, That just Proves that you can Run, But you can't Hide,

You are very Natural & Feminin Looking, >Orchid**O:daydreaming:O**

[Kris Burton]

So far, I just go with my usual Kris persona. With makeup, a change in hair color - indeed the presence of a full head of hair - and shaved facial hair I don't think I look too much like my male self when en femme, and anyone who I might know would be looking for a man anyway.

I'm also prepared to own it if they do - I'm not hurting anyone.

[Princess Chantal]

I would say my hair, however I have been told by my family and close friends that it is the way I carry myself. Apparently how confident, socially out going, and style brought doubt to them that it was me when they initially seen me crossdressed.

[Gillian Gigs]

One of the things you can do to help would be to get a very feminine style of glasses. In dealing with facial recognition, one of the first things that will be asked of you, is to remove your glasses. Any good CD'er always remembers to carry accessories like their purse.

[Keremy]

Recently GraceRose posted ?Facial recognition software? from everyone?s comments it?s a crap shoot whether or not the software recognizes you dressed. I am not for sure what you look like in drab but in my opinion people than know you in your male form would definitely be wanting to flirt with you and would have no clue you are who you are. You are very attractive en femme.

[kimdl93]

Perhaps not a disguise, but certainly eye shadow and liner accentuate my eyes, and lip liner and lip stick. Other than a wig, these feminize my face to the point that I sometimes don’t recognize myself :)

[Cheryl T]

My best disguise is my makeup, wig and outfit.
People tend to accept what they see unless there is something "off" in that view. If they see what appears to be a woman, in woman's clothing with makeup and hair to match they automatically think Woman.
There is a drastic difference between what people see of me in drab and what they see when I'm dressed.

As for facial recognition, my phone has no difficulty recognizing me either drab or dressed. What makeup or hair or glasses I wear changes nothing. It sees right past all that.

[Sometimes Steffi]

One of the things you can do to help would be to get a very feminine style of glasses.

I think that you already look very feminine. The big tell, IMHO, is your glasses. You should get a more feminine style or color. Also, if those are the same glasses that you wear in male mode, that could be a big giveaway.

[bridget thronton]

I think long hair, carrying a purse, wearing jewelry and fem glasses goes a long way to disguising the male me with strangers (even though this is also the every day me)

[Susan_Michaela]

Not being critical or offensive in any respect. I think you look wonderful with everything except your glasses. You need to purchase a feminine style of eyeglasses. If you wear prescription lenses many eye places offer two pair for the price of one. I just get two different feminine style anymore. All they?re worried about is your prescription and getting paid. After that they may not see you again for years sometimes. I am fortunate too to live on the border of another state with many different locations to visit in case you?re not out or afraid someone might notice you there you might know. If not they make some really beautiful frames you can buy that are clear lenses to give you the librarian look if you wear contacts or for just a change of look or style. I would suggest something like that. Before I came out my first pair actually came from a goodwill store and were almost identical to my prescription. Plus when in the sun they auto darkened being dual purpose. They were only $.99 cents. That and mascara and lipstick are my best accents to change personally.

[Snide_lobster]

I wouldn't put a lot of stake in photo recognition algorithms for determining if you are detectable by peers. There are so many factors at play, lighting, angles, what features additional items hide, accentuate. Who even knows what the software is looking at to determine it is your face? Is it the relative proportions/locations of your features? Is it influenced by color of completion, skin imperfections/patterns? Hairline? Reminds me of a TED talk about an algorithm trained to detect a certain kind of fish and ended up being biased if hands where present in the picture. Why? Because most of the training data was fishing pictures with guys holding the fish in question, so it got rewarded for recognizing when hands were present in the photos.

Now I'm not a psychologist, or a neuroscientist, but the human brain is very efficient at recognizing patterns, particularly faces. That's why smiley faces pop up every were, our brains are hardwired to recognize them. That being said, there's also a large degree of not questioning underlying assumptions, particularly based on how much one draws attention to themselves to begin with. So, while a cder might easily get clocked as a cd (sorry ladies, my personal opinion is that passing is almost entirely a myth if all you're doing is putting on clothes and makeup) unless they have reason to investigate further or suspect it might be you beforehand, that connection probably won't be made. However, if you increase your interaction with them, that sways the balance.

And to add to the rest of the comments, your disguise does look very nice as well.

[docrobbysherry]

I know this will sound crazy? But it works!:thumbsup:

I go out with no wig or makeup or shaping gear and I wear men's clothes. Then, no matter where I go or what I do? No one ever notices me!:)

[April Rose]

I wear a grey wig. I have heard more than one woman complain that women become invisible after 60. I use that unfortunate situation to my own advantage.

[Lauren4444]

I switched from glasses to contacts and small sunglasses to oversized sunglasses. Add in false lashes, overly lined lips and contouring and it?s a pretty big change.

[kayegirl]

The general consensus would seem to be around your eyeglasses, and I have to agree. My UK drivers licence has to have a photo, but I am not allowed to wear glasses for that photo likewise my passport. The silly thing is that one of the conditions attached to the drivers licence is that I wear glasses at all times when driving.

[Stephanie47]

There is no way I can hide a six foot tall, 200 lb frame from the general public. My comfort zone precludes mall walking. When I do get the urge and opportunity to coincide I prefer to go for an evening stroll in a safe residential neighborhood. I especially like the late fall and winter months when darkness arrives early. Living in the Great Pacific Northwest we are blessed with a lot of wet weather which does keep many people at home. However, I see it as an opportunity to get out and stroll with an umbrella which is useful in positioning in a manner to obscure some of my height and face; especially if it is a "bubble" type umbrella. It's usually early evening so I carry at tote with the logo of one of the two 24-hour grocery stores that are in the neighborhood. It appears as if a woman is coming home from the store and not someone just walking the streets aimlessly.

[Cheryl T]

There is no way I can hide a six foot tall, 200 lb frame from the general public.

No Stephanie, we can't hide (I'm 5'11" and 200#) but you don't have to hide. You have to OWN it.
I had the feeling for the longest time that being tall (and I love my heels) was a dead giveaway and that everyone would Read me. It wasn't my height, or my weight, it was my fear. Constantly looking around to see who was watching me was the Tell, not my body. When I stopped that and exuded confidence, acting like I belonged there like everyone else and stopped watching them they stopped watching me. Sure some people will look, but they look at anyone who is different.
If you are taller, shorter, thinner, fatter someone will stare. It's human nature.
I once went to a Dress Barn with my wife. A local CD group organized a shopping trip and I wanted to see how people reacted. I was dressed and ignored, but the group was the focus of attention. Especially the one gal who was wearing pink tights and a tutu with her hair in pigtails. The lady next to me couldn't stop commenting to me and laughing. If she only knew.

Be confident.

[Heather76]

I've never been dressed where anyone I know would see me. However, I wear very feminine sunglasses, a grey wig, lipstick, makeup, and very feminine jewelry. If anyone can tell I'm a CD, fine. I will give myself away the second I talk with someone as my voice is very deep.

[irenetancd]

Yes, the general consensus is either change the glasses to a feminine one, or ditch it for contact lenses.
Will definitely need to add on accessories too (handbag, earrings, necklace etc).
Thanks.

[char GG]

You can do all kinds of tricks/looks/glasses/makeup, etc. but the biggest giveaway that I have seen in CDers is "head posture". Usually their heads are jutted forward. They tend to stand out right away.

[irenetancd]

Yes, the head posture is so true.
I do not mind getting clocked by strangers, especially the ladies - the smile, the shocked look, the silent whisper to their friends etc.
Just prefer not getting identified when bumping into friends

[Stephanie47]

You can do all kinds of tricks/looks/glasses/makeup, etc. but the biggest giveaway that I have seen in CDers is "head posture". Usually their heads are jutted forward. They tend to stand out right away.

I had to chuckle. My wife constantly has her head "jutted forward" to the extent I had to ask her if she could not stand with a straight profile. I'll have to take a census next time I am people watching.

[Taylor186]

My best disguise to not be recognized is going to a town 45 minutes to an hour away.

[Geena75]

For me, just being Geena is quite a disguise (if you ever saw a boy vs. girl mode of mine). I worry more about other cues -- how I carry myself, gestures, my vehicle, etc. Consequently, I get away from where I might encounter friends or family -- about 10-30 miles from home seems to work. I can really be free when I venture up to the social group -- about 90 miles from home.

[MissSixties]

Wearing a face mask during the pandemic, got to be in large crowds at the casino not a second glance wearing skirt and 4" heels

[nancy58]

I've only had two encounters with people I knew, and one of them was a "maybe". The "maybe" was when I encountered someone who looked like a friend I see once or twice a year coming out of the subway station as I was going in. She looked tired, but I wasn't sure it was her, and I am certain she didn't see the male me. The second time was a few weeks ago when I encountered neighbors walking their dogs in the dark. I just gave them a wide berth because one of the dogs was barking at me, and instead of going into my house as I'd been planning to do, I extended my walk, coming back a few minutes later after they'd gone inside.

My strategy should I ever encounter someone I know in good lighting and fairly close range is that I will not show any recognition. If I hear my name, I won't react, and I won't allow my gaze to rest on their face. That's the plan, although I don't know if I'll be able to hold to it.

Basically, people depend on context a great deal, and I'd be surprised if you haven't had occasions where you bumped into someone (not when you are en femme) whom you believed might be an acquaintance, but because they weren't where you normally see them, you weren't sure. Certainty only arrives when they respond to their name being called, or if they get into the car you know they own, etc.

Having said that, I am very close to coming out to the world and letting people get to know me as Nancy. It's kind of frightening, but I am very tired of playing hide-and-seek, and I'm so close to retirement that I can do just about whatever I want to do.

[MarinaTwelve200]

My makeup. even a little bit can make me look drastically different. And I have several variants of makeup too.

[Natalie5004]

glasses. Hey, if it worked for Superman it should work for me.

Please remember that nobody really cares what you do.

[HollyGreene]

Recently, I needed a new pair of glasses. I buy them online as they are cheaper than at the optician. The online service often do special offers of a huge discount on a second pair, so this time I chose a very feminine style as my second pair.
What a difference that made to my appearance.
Well worth a try.