How did you crossdress when you were 4 or 5?

[Sometimes Steffi]

There's a thread about self acceptance, and many responses say that they started crossdressing at age 4 or 5.

What did that look like?

I started dressing when I was about 12. I don't really remember how old I was, but I was old enough to stay home alone. It was during those alone times that I started trying on some of my mother's panties, girdles, bras and stockings. And, everything I tried on fit pretty well.

I don't know what would have happened if I tried to crossdress when I was 5. Nothing would have fit and it just wouldn't have felt right.

Discuss.

[Cheryl T]

Well for me it began one day with my curiosity and a pair of my mom's nylon panties.
I wondered why mine and my dad's were these cotton things and hers were so different (saw them in the laundry). One day I decided to try them on and I just loved how they felt. Something in me clicked and from then on I would try them whenever I could. After a while I tried her bra. Again so different from anything else. It just felt magical. To this day they are my favorite feminine items.
A few years later I wore her dress and tried her high heels and you know where that brought me.
It was never about how it fit, but how it felt and how it made me feel inside.

[NancySue]

I believe I was around 6, when next door neighbor sisters, one rainy day invited me to play games which turned into dress up. Initially, I had no interest, until they coaxed me to put nylons on. BAM..it was like a lightning strike. I?ve never forgotten it. Then the journey began as I invaded Mom?s hose, girdle, etc. At that time, not much interest in anything else, but that changed. Now, daily, automatic, panties, hose and bra, skirt, shorts, top and flats with a flit of my favorite perfume, a touch of makeup and flats. It makes my day.

[Kris Burton]

I like to think I did not begin to crossdress until well into adulthood. I do remember clomping around in my mothers high heels when I was about 5. She was good about it, she just said put them away when you're done like any of my toys. Some have said that was my first experience, but I'm not so sure since I also enjoyed clomping around in my father's steel toed work boots.

[RoseReve]

Hello,
it all began for me around 6 to 8 years old, when I was dying to see my mother go out of the house for a few hours and I would rush into my parents' bedroom and put on her panties, pantyhose, bra, shirts, skirts, rocks, make up, jewels...and I was so happy.

[Glenda58]

My neighborhood was all girls when I was 3 to 6 years old. And they would have tea parties with no boys aloud. I cried that I wanted to play so the older girls would dress me up in their sister's cloths. After that all I wanted was to be a girl. And now I'm getting my wish.

[sara66]

I started with mom's bra and heels. That is the earliest I remember. The only time i was ever caught I was around 8 or 9. I was wearing my sister's panties, white with yellow ducks. I know I was wearing nylons and dresses by 10 or 11.
Sara

[alwayshave]

Steffi, my mother stored much of her overflow clothing and lingerie in one of the closets in my bedroom. One of these closets also lead to the attic. I had the chance to try on her lingerie and clothes. I just loved the way the lingerie felt. I was hooked.

[BLUE ORCHID]

Around 4 or 5 with mom's Hose & Heels,

[Jeri Rene]

Around 6 I think. When my mother was working (father was a drunk and never wanted me around anyway) I would stay at my Aunts (moms sister). My cousin (female) and I would play "dress-up". My Aunt was divorced so no adult male clothing. I became obsessed with her slips, still have memories of wearing half slips over my tighty whities. Not clear why then but when I got older,early teens, I "rediscovered" them.... the silky smooth feeling on my skin..... it just went from there, expanding out into other clothing types. Relatives or (shamefully) the neighbor's clothes lines until I started buying my own.

[Fiona_44]

I was around 9 or 10 when I first got interested in women's underthings including girdles and slips. And I have had that interest all my life.

[kimdl93]

I wore my older sisters slips one a few occasions. I was very cautious, because I had already gotten the impression that this was not allowed!

[Brynna M]

My oldest crossdressing memory is playing dress up with the girls in daycare when I would have been in prek or kindergarten. I remember trying on my mother's clothes where in the house we lived in from 3rd grade. I think it's interesting that among the flashes memory I have from very young are instances of CDing with favorite family vacations etc.

[Bea_]

I have vague memories of my older sister and one of her friends dressing me up as a girl when I was about five years old. It really had no influence on me to continue. I remember being mesmerized by all the bras in the sears catalog but not as something for me to wear. it wasn't sexual but there was major fascination.

Other than a couple of random opportunities to try feminine items out of curiosity, I had no real inclination to dress until my fifties after some major trauma. Not sure if the dressing would have taken place without the trauma.

[abby054]

When I was five years old, living with my grandparents, I was an inquisitive little fellow who would ask just about any question without thinking much. I liked to swim but the brief nature of little guys swim trunks left a lot exposed. I remember asking my aunt, who was age ten at the time, why I could not wear something more covering, as she did. Because you are a boy and you wear what boys wear was the only answer I could get.

There was a pair of fraternal twins my age at the church. I hung around with the twin boy. I remember his twin sister and the beautiful dresses that she wore, again asking my aunt why I could not look so pretty. Same answer.

The pink fog dissipated for a few years, though I read the girls sections of the big catalogs that my family received. I knew my size though we had no money to get clothes, new or otherwise. I wore the castoffs of several of my slightly older cousins, all boys. Without girl relatives in that age range, there was no opportunity for raiding the clothes bins.

At age nine, the pink fog returned. I was back with my nuclear family by then. I asked my mother to dress me in a floor length skirt, an off the shoulder blouse, and a kerchief to cover my hair. She dutifully did as I asked. My sister two years younger accepted me enthusiastically. I marched in a Halloween parade dressed that way and went trick or treating with friends and family with little trouble. Even at that age, I could compartmentalize well and I ignored any comments. Nothing further came of it.

It was age 12 when the pink fog returned. I assembled a stash that I kept for my teenage years until joining the Army at age 17.

[Marcia Blue]

At the age of five, when left alone. For very short periods. I tried on my mom's clothes and her lipstick. I know I tried on her bra and tops. All that were too large. The lipstick I liked the most.

[Christie ann]

I remember putting on lipstick while quite young. I also remember my dad’s reaction

[susan2010]

My sister's petticoat was like a Siren calling me into a trap. I haven't escaped yet.

[HelpMe,Rhonda]

Clip on earrings

[SaraLin]

When I was that age, my younger sister was actually bigger than I was, so I would "borrow" one of her dresses and hide it under my pillow to put on at night.

A bit later in life, I discovered boxes of clothes in my grandparents' attic. These must have been things my mom and aunts wore when they were little, because I could fit into them. I just LOVED that.

Unlike so many, I wasn't (so much) interested in the underthings. I wanted to wear dresses and LOOK (in my head, at least) like the girl I was supposed to be.

[Petra1]

Steffi,

I'm right there with you. I also started around 12 or so. And then when my family would go camping for the weekend and I stayed home alone, look out!

[Michelle1955]

All my friends on my block were girls my age, so we all played together. I fit in with them just fine.
Spent lots of time looking at j c penny and Sears catalog.
One day while at a friends house playing we both switched panties and underwear. Going to say like 5.
Had a good time, then her mother called us to come to the kitchen for lunch.

Had a hard childhood always wanted to be a girl.
Teenage years were very hard the girls developed and wanted to be a girl along with them.

[Michaela Jane]

I don't believe that I ever did crossdress at that age. As the eldest of a family of five, the only female was my Mum, it actually never crossed my mind to try on her stuff.
I knowingly tried on my first ever panties at age 52, when I was looking for a thong to replace my old black one. All the mens stores sold gross looking thongs & I found a nice one in the womens section. Wifey said I could get it and the rest is history.

[bridget thronton]

Probably only high heels at 4 or 5

[Stephanie47]

The earliest recollections of trying on anything feminine was one of my mother's full slips. She hanged the laundry to dry on a clothesline that was strung in the long hallway corridor to the bedrooms. I was fascinated by the nylon fabric which was nothing like my boy clothes. At first I just fondled the fabric, but ultimately I had to try the slip on. There was also a drying rack in the bathroom over the tub. I do remember I had to stand on the edge of the tub to release the clothes pins to take the slip down. I had no desire to be a girl. I consider full slips to be my gateway drug to becoming a cross dresser.

A number of years ago my life was drawn to watching a television show about past lives. That show sent me to the internet to do some reading on the subject. There were some rather convincing case studies concerning young children who knew too much and with great detail about a past life. The articles suggest those memories fade away as the child ages: usually three or four. I've mentioned this before on this site that as a little kid I had a vivid memory of myself as a young woman who had been brutally murdered and left in a dirt field only attired in a white slip. I wonder if that memory experience imprinted on my mind and directed me to somehow adopt that woman into my gender expression. Crazy?

[Sometimes Steffi]

I'd like to run AI on this thread to get a summary, but I don't know how to.

But there are some interesting insights.

Many of us (not me) played dress up with local girls our same age.

Many of us (not me) were either let alone at a young age or were (not me) able to rummage around in mom's or sis's clothes while they were still around the house.

Many of us (not me) started with slips.

And from the other thread, many of us (not me) were force femmed by being a model for mom's seamstress side business or were actively force femmed by their mom who really wanted a girl. Where was dad when this was happening? I think some of these might be considered sexual abuse of a child today, if the authorities found out about them.

[Jasmine23]

I was about 4 or 5, there was this velvet dress that I was just drawn to hung in my sisters room, I remember thinking I have to try this on, but, even at that age I knew this was "wrong", so I waited until the coast was clear and tried it on, it fit perfectly, then I heard someone coming, it was my older sister, so I hid in the wardrobe, unfortunately after awhile I knocked, over some shoes, she heard me and said whoever is in there come out ,(looking back now, I think she was actually afraid), I reluctantly came out, she burst out laughing and ran to get my mum and other sister, I took my chance and crawled in under the bed while also trying to take off the dress, at this stage my sister had returned with my mum and other sister. They tried to encourage me to come out from under the bed while also playfully teasing me, but, at this stage I was so embarrassed I just couldn't face them. I eventually came out and I remember one of my sisters trying to cheer me up as I had been crying. I can't really remember much else, but, I don't ever remember it being mentioned again. Thankfully my dad and brothers weren't home at the time, don't think they were ever told.

It was the first and last time I got caught, but, apart from putting on heels, clip on earrings and putting lipstick on whenever I got the chance I didn't dress up again until I was around 12 or 13.To this day I still can't explain the urge to wear that dress, it was just irresistible to me.

[Jodi79]

I was not that young. Don't really remember when it started - maybe mid to late elementary school. It started with my mom's panty drawer and eventually into her closet when I was home alone on occasion. I also have a aunt that is only like 6 yrs older than me and when at my grandparents house I would get into her drawers and closet. When I was in middle school to early high school when she went to college she left a lot of clothes at home so I also took advantage of that.

I always wished I had a sister that could and would dress me all pretty - but I only had a brother.

When in high school I started buying my own panties and one time my mom found them. She made some pretty snarky comments once but nothing after that time. Really haven't done much with it since college until recently again.

[CynthiaD]

I started at age 3 with red nail polish. Mostly panties and slips through grade school. I added bras and dresses in high school.

I was in fifth grade when I realized that most boys didn’t want to sneak into their mothers’ closets and try on their clothes.

[sometimes_miss]

I was likely about 4 when I first did it on my own; mom always spent lots of attention on my older sister, getting her ready for school. So, one day, feeling ignored, I went to my sister's room, took one of her dresses, put it on, and went to my mom and said, 'I'm ready to go to school, too!'.
Of course, mom wasn't having it, took me back to my room and changed me back to my boy outfit. We later walked my sister to school as usual. When we came home, she asked me if I really wanted to wear the dress, but said it in such a way as to imply that my answer should be no, so that's what I said. But I still envied my older sister. It would be a few more years before the onset of events which would trigger my lifetime of crossdressing and feelings of expecting to eventually becoming a girl.

[Evelyn37]

My first memory of trying on feminine undergarments was maybe at age 6 or 7. It was our neighbors brassiere. I don?t know the size but she was well endowed.

[BiancaEstrella]

I had a cousin my same age whose shoes were 1 size smaller than mine, and I was heartbroken over it. I wore my grandmother's too-big-for-me shoes around.

At age 8 there was an aunt whose shoes I fit perfectly and I loved "organizing" her shoe closet (trying them all on).

[JesseVF]

For me (I think at age 5) it was the open bottom girdles my mother and much older sisters wore. Then quickly bras stuffed with something soft - with a slip even better. No interest in actual fem clothes until around age 60.

[KrissyTN]

I started when I was closer to 7 ... we had a clothes hamper in the bathroom and my Mom would fold up her bra and leave it on the stack of towel (or in the hamper). I remember looking at it one day and I wondered what it would be like to try it on. After that, I always looked for the opportunity to try on bras, panties and pantyhose whenever the opportunity arose.

[Ashlee]

I remember visiting my relatives in Alabama and rooming with my female cousin, we were 7 and I was always wanting to and was wearing her pantyhose and my uncle removing them. Pantyhose remain my favorite item to wear when I dress, Wolfords are absolutely amazing in how they feel on legs. I'll buy some for my makeover trip in Dec. to wear.

[Dutchess]

or were actively force femmed by their mom who really wanted a girl. Where was dad when this was happening? I think some of these might be considered sexual abuse of a child today, if the authorities found out about them.

100% it is and its sad and sick.

It was /is abuse then too ... I hate to say it but a lot of these women are definitely predators that would do something like this. We've had others here tell us the same story ..
These women normalize their behavior and teach the victims to keep it quiet . So dad doesn't even know ..The victim doesn't see its abuse but instead thinks that it is love . It definitely is not. It messes men up for life .

Both my fiance that died and my ex-spouse had dressed were victims of women like this also.
My fiance's mother was angry that his dad/her husband committed suicide and therefore left them. She made sure to drill it into my fiance's head that all men sucked horribly and shouldn't even be on Earth/allowed to live and that women were the be all end all of the entire universe.. she did that from the time his dad died when he was 9.

My ex spouse was dressed and paraded around in secret by a grandmother when his parents would drop him off there to go out on the weekends . He refuses to tell me which grandmother as well .. she would get him all dolled up started at about age 5-6 and made sure he knew not to tell his parents .

Fast forward 20 years plus or minus and they become my clients and they want to live out these sick fantasies. I get up to 20 of these people a day sometimes so it's there it is happening..

I have had some pretty tense conversations with plain feminists and terfs alike about this .. they do not like to admit/or hear about it, that this happens, but it does .

[HollyGreene]

At the age of about 3 or 4, all the kids in the street were boys. Then a family with a girl moved in nearby. I'd never really seen a girl and I was enthralled. I loved the long hair and the pretty dresses. And yearned to look like that.
At age 6 I found a bag of my mother's now unused clothes, and there was a chiffon nightdress that I tried on. I liked it so much I kept it and hid it under my bed and used to sleep in it, quickly changing into pyjamas in the morning.
By that time, I had a younger sister. As soon as she had grown big enough that I could squeeze into some of her clothes, I was hooked.

[Sabine Janus]

I got dressed up by a sister when I was quite young(<6). Been at it ever since.

The interesting part is i have no memory of when I was told it was "Bad/Shameful" and subsequently hid it. (We all know it was different back in the day)

[Christina89]

I have memories from when I was about 7 or 8 years old watching tv with my mother and I remember it was around back to school time and they were running advertisements for back to school shopping. One of the ads was a JCPenny ad for girls clothing, I looked at my mother and asked if I could get those clothes this year, she said ?no those are for girls?. Little 7 or 8 year old me was disappointed and I felt a little deflated cause at the time this was 97ish and the girls clothes looked better compared to the boys so I didn?t think it would be that much of a difference and I also liked the way they looked. I also asked again at Christmas time that year, when they were advertising winter clothes and was shut down again. After that I felt defeated and didn?t want to try again. Flash forward a year to the summer of 98. A new family had moved in across the street and we became friends. They had 2 daughters around my age, 1 was older by about 2 years and the other daughter was 2 years younger than me. So I was the middle child with them. We all went to the same schools so we all went back to school shopping together to make it easier for all of us. There were times when I had to wait to shop for my own clothes cause we always stuck together. Well while waiting I remember I saw a nice skirt and shirt that I liked and I mustered up the courage to try what I tried last year again. I grabbed the 2 items and asked my mother if I could try them on and get them. Everyone laughed jokingly and my mother was slightly mad and embarrassed at the same time, but little 8 year old me wanted them. My mother then explained 8 year old boys aren?t allowed to dress in 8 year old girls clothing. So once again I was defeated. I gave up and pushed down my feelings and desire for those clothes. I guess the pink fog left me for a bit. When I was about 12 years old I remember being home alone and watching tv. I was watching a show called ?Totally Spies? as I was watching there was a scene then felt similar to my back to school shopping experience with one of the main characters not being able to get the skirt and top she wanted. After watching that scene the pink fog came back and hit me hard. I went to my mothers room and found one of her skirts and tops, I found a pair of panties and a bra and tried them on and I could feel little 8 year old me finally being able to wear the skirt and top that he wanted to wear.

[Richelle423]

I remember being 5 or 6 years old and walking around the house with a towel wrapped around my waist with a clothes pin to hold it wearing it like a skirt.

[Lorna]

We are all different! I didn't have a sister and didn't have any interest in wearing female clothes until I entered my teens - by which time some of my mother's things fitted reasonably well. Had i tried wearing those hings when much younger, they would have fallen straight down to the floor!

[Kate Jennings]

I was about four, and it was the days when women wore furs, and girdles, and wigs.

Like it was yesterday, I vividly recall looking out the window, my family was in the front yard. My Mother's fur stole was on a chair. It was left there from when she had come home the night before. It smelled like perfume and cigarette smoke. I was overcome by a strong desire to wrap it around my shoulders, and I did...I remember its lining felt cool, as it sat on my skin. My next dressing memory was reaching into my Mother's dresser, [How was I alone at that age? Was I? I don't remember] and trying on a pair of her bras and panties...I recall placing her fake pearls around my neck, and liking the look so much, I then ran to her closet where I tried on one of her many frosted blonde wigs. Young as I was, I was driven to wear her lipstick. I picked a shiny golden tube of coral pink, a popular color back in the day, I remember my hand shaking as I nervously traced my lips as neatly as I could. I walked around the upstairs of our home. Staring at myself in every mirror we owned. I loved what I looked like...And, to be honest, today, when I dress and give that final shake of my wig, I still see that same young woman looking back at me today.

[Myra Thomas]

I cannot remember how old i was when i started, but it was with my mother’s help, and in full with my older sister’s underwear and velvet dresses and shoes. My recollection is that i would dress regularly when my father was not around!, and it felt so natural. When a little older at around 10, i wpuld underdress in my mother’s corset and stockings and on occassions her swimsuit, oh such bliss. The earliest photo i have of me dressed is at the Queen’s coronation fancy dress party, pushing a doll in a pram! Those were the days.

[Linda E. Woodworth]

It was my mother's hosiery for me.

I remember sneaking into her drawers and trying on her stockings and pantyhose before trying on her lingerie and a dress.

I must have been about 10 when this started.

I don't remember doing anything at an earlier age although my mother would gaily recount the time I came down wearing her lipstick and walking like I was in heels. I don't remember any of that.

[Maria 60]

I don't remember my age but it started with my sisters pantyhose and then her and my mothers slips. For some reason I felt like the bra and panties were a very personal item and never wore my sisters or motherss. The first time I wore a bra or panties was when my wife bought me a pair when I told her about my habit. For me it was mostly pantyhose and the occasional wearing a slip.

[tiffyjo]

Mom had a "rag bag" upstairs in my closet and I found an old pair of her panties in it. I tried them on when I was probably about 8 or 9 and I was hooked. I almost wonder if maybe she wanted me to find them. I almost bet she knew I was wearing some of her items. Memories!!!

[Pumped]

It wasn't unusual for my mom to run over to the neighbor's for a while. I figured out that meant an hour or so alone. I would grab one of mom's bras from her dirty clothes and stuff it with socks or what ever I could find. I remember using a towel as a skirt.

[Sometimes Steffi]

Interesting responses.

As the OP, the reason I asked is that nothing that I could have borrowed from my mom would have come close to fitting me when I was 5. Not that my mom was big, but that I was 5.

Furthermore, I have very few actual collections of anything that happened to me before I was 5, except some really traumatic events like my emergency appendectomy. I guess you girls have better memories than me,

[Stacy Darling]

What happened back then?
I was a boy? in a military suburb surrounded by women and mainly girls.
All the men were =, out.
So I played with the girls, dressed up and didn't tell about Mummies hoping in the bath with me.

Guess I was content at the time and quite happy in a frock,
still am.

[JustineFallow]

When I was a baby, the day I grabbed a pair of pantyhose and put it on was an occasion of great hilarity. My mom even took pictures! A seed was planted.

Fast forward to four or five: It was a pretty dry period for CDing. I was never left alone at that age, so sneaking a pair of pantyhose was out of the question. Around that time Mom caught me trying on a pair she had left on the bathroom floor, and told me not to do that anymore because people would call me crazy. That was rather distressing to hear back then! But the urge never went away, so I'm sure I tried again once or twice.

It wasn't until I became a latchkey kid that I knew I could indulge until one of my parents was due to come home. By that point, I was trying on *everything*: hose, panties, bras, dresses, and heels. (Never did makeup, though, because I was afraid I'd stain something or leave behind a trace after taking it off.)

[Giselle(Oshawa)]

around age 11 alone at home i open my mother's underwear drawer and within minutes had on her girdle and nylons, the next time i added her bra to the equation and
and stuffed it with other nylons. I think my mom suspected(runs in her nylons?) but never called me on it.
Soon after my mom brought home a dress for me to wear on Halloween and asked me if i wanted to try it on?
I refused( in hindsight a huge mistake?) After that somehow knowing i stopped raiding my moms underwear drawer.
Throughout puberty i always had the urges but repelled them so i could fit in with the boys.
But as we all know the urge/compulsion never goes away!

[BrendaPDX]

Like you I started about age 12 with pantyhose, bra, and a dress all from the Goodwill or thrift store. Been hooked ever since!

[Rachelakld]

I wanted to ride my sister "big 2 wheeler girls bike" (instead of my trike), but didn't want anyone thinking I was a sissy, so I wore my sisters pink leotard, so anyone seeing me would think it's just a girl riding a girls bike - nothing to see here.
Unfortunately, instead of people on the empty country road some 150 meters away, my whole family saw me from 30 meters away :)
I would have been 4 and a half
After that, my family let me wear my sisters pyjamas if I wanted to and she wasn't wearing that pair.

[Karren H]

Think I was 7. And it was basically moms nylons, high heels, long line girdle, padded bra and a frilly pink baby doll nightie. Probably looked horrid but felt amazing!

[MsEva]

Wow, going back a long ways to be sure. Not exactly the first time dressing but at the age of five or six I can remember going Christmas shopping with my mom. We went to the department store in Scranton Pennsylvania. It was Chrismas and the store was so beautiful. Toys were on five at the Globe store, THE department store back then. On the second floor was the Women's Lounge. I thought it was so unfair that I could not go in to the lounge with Mom. The women back then dressed so beautifully! Not like today. They were dressed to the nines for sure, especially with the holidays coming. I like a bunch of other boys had to wait out front of the lounge. I remember how wonderful the women looked. I thought to myself that I wanted to join them. Maybe if I were dressed as a girl they would let me visit. The women, dressed elegantly in their finest sat in wonderfully comfortable chairs, Mom stopped in every time before heading up to the toy section. They sat and chatted, had a cigarette and made small talk. I was enthralled and thought that is what I want. I think it was after that I sort of thought I too could join them. I think I went into Mom's dresser and tried on stockings and a girdle so I too could feel like them.

[Nicci]

I didn't start till I was about 9 or 10. And honestly starting that early made figuring out how to hide the bits after puberty harder. When I started I could put a tight swimsuit on and squish everything flat without much effort because it hadn't started growing yet. Which is generally what I did. Then I could put on a sisters dress or shorts and walk around feeling feminine. Truly didn't learn how to tuck till I was about 20. Before that and after puberty I just folded everything back. Which worked for when I looked down or in a mirror but made outfits fit odd let alone the discomfort when I sat down or tried to drive or ride a bike dressed under my public clothes. Once I learned the proper way to tuck things got a lot easier

[Ressie]

My first experience at age 4 was on Halloween. We were going trick or treating. My mom said that I didn't have a costume so she had me wear my sister's coat.

By age 7 or 8 I found a pair of silky panties that fit perfectly. I wore them for a few days until my mom noticed what I was wearing. I also remember playing dress up at one of the neighbor's houses and trying on high heels.

[missjoann49]

Without getting into a very long story, my experience did start very young around the age of 4 or 5. I was an only child, and my mother had always wanted a girl. My dad had worked a lot of nights, so whenever he wasn't home she would dress me as her little girl and started calling me Joann. I am now into my mid 70's and well into my journey of who I was meant to be

[GretchenM]

Well, at 4 or 5 I didn't crossdress - we were so poor I was lucky to dress at all. However, that did not change that strange feeling I had that somehow I would prefer to be a girl. In part, even girls from poor families dressed much better and prettier than the boys. So in that sense, I felt that if I was a girl I wouldn't have to wear the almost rags I did. Yet there was much, much more to it than that. Remember, in 1949 and 1950 nobody had much as we were still coming out of the poverty that gripped the nation after WW II. But the feeling that somehow I was a lot like the girls in my mind obsessed me. Didn't know what to do about it - I didn't have a sister, but I sure wanted one. Still though, I behaved like an acceptable boy even though inside there was a great war brewing that would explode two or three years later. Definitely trans characteristics, but without any fine definition.

[Kari D]

I was about 8 or 9 and my parents had dropped me off at my aunt?s house while they were taking a long weekend vacation. That afternoon, I spilled tomato soup all down the front of myself. All of my clothes were soaked with the red tomato soup, even my undies. My aunt said to go to the bathroom and take my clothes off, wash up, and get into a new pair of clothes. That?s when I realized my parents had driven away with my little duffel bag of clothes for the weekend.
To solve the problem, my aunt gave me one of her cotton nightgowns to wear while my clothes were being washed and dried. When I came out of the bathroom, my aunt started giggling when she realized I was going to need an additional piece of clothing. A bit later she handed me a pair of her panties to put on. They were so soft and satiny! And the feeling I got wearing them under the cotton gown was euphoric. Bam! That was it. I begged to wear them the rest of the weekend. I was infused with the desire to wear women?s clothes.

[Lacey New]

I don?t remember having any interest in crossdressing until puberty set in around 12 or 13. Then I started noticing girls and the changes in the shapes of their bodies and the clothes they wore. Especially interesting was their underwear. I spent quite a bit of time looking at the pretty lingerie in the Sears and JC Penny catalogs. Eventually, I just had to try some on a d here I am on this website years later.

[Sabine Janus]

Sister dressed me as her dressup doll.