View Full Version : A guy in a dress
Cissy Suzie
03-14-2005, 06:32 PM
Wow what an odd, offbeat week I had last week.
I found out Wednesday that an uncle had passed away. He wasn't terribly old, but he had emphysema, and simply refused to stop smoking. He would take off his oxygen apparatus and walk outside on the porch and have a smoke. So, he reaped what he sowed. No big suprise there.
The funeral was Saturday in Tennessee, a few hours drive from Atlanta. I saw cousins, and other family I hadn't seen in years. It was fairly depressing, a funeral, and seeing people who, if I wanted to associate with, I would, but I don't.
It was like taking a trip back into my childhood. I was always "different", always keeping a secret, and usually terrified. Not that I was an unhappy kid, but I was a crossdresser and was a victim of molestation, which I never told anyone about.
So, I spent a day back in the bosom of my family, and looking around myself I saw several cousins who had various addictions, some have been in prison, and others who have had horrible lives, including one little girl who was beaten so badly when she was a baby that she became severely retarded.
All I could think of during the day was getting back to the city, back home, and back to my version of sanity. I wanted Sunday to come, the day when Suzie Rules! I got home late Saturday nite and got absolutely sloshed on vodka shots from the freezer.
Sunday finally came and I drug out all Suzie's makeup and picked out a nice pink skirt suit. I spent time making up and thought I looked pretty nice. I got dressed and took a couple of pix.
I looked like a guy in a dress.
I know this happens sometimes. Does this happen to others? Is it a mood thing or what?
Anyone who has looked at other pix I have posted knows that I can look much better. Anyway it was a disappointing end to a crappy week.
I hope you all don't mind me venting a bit here. Seems some of you might understand.
http://www.geocities.com/cissysuzie/pinksuit.jpg
Richelle
03-14-2005, 06:56 PM
Dear Cissy Suzie,
I think we all have had those days, where we feel like a “guy in a dress”. In know for sure that I have. I do believe that part of it mood. When we are felling down, it shows on how we apply our make-up, stand and everything else that we work so hard on, that comes much more natural to a GG.
Just remember that the mood will pass and that all of us girls are here for you.
Richelle
Ava Mouse
03-14-2005, 07:03 PM
If it's any consolation, I honestly think that picture looks great! I don't recall seeing your other pics, but I'm going to check them out if you think this is your worst, then wow.
Nice, candid pose, good color & quality, & nice dress.
Still, yeah, I have those 'guy in a dress' days... It can affect your confidence, or your confidence can affect your mood, too. I guess even colorful CD's have grey days... ;-)
Holly
03-14-2005, 07:10 PM
Suzie,
I think just about everone, GG's included, have those days when nothing seems to work. Don't let one bad day spoil your entire outlook. Given what you had just been through, how you were feeling was quite understandable. Concentrate instead on how Suzie brings out the better parts of you. Cherish those times. Look beyond the dress and the makeup... you'll like what you see there far better.
Cissy Suzie
03-14-2005, 07:32 PM
If it's any consolation, I honestly think that picture looks great! I don't recall seeing your other pics, but I'm going to check them out if you think this is your worst, then wow.
Nice, candid pose, good color & quality, & nice dress.
Still, yeah, I have those 'guy in a dress' days... It can affect your confidence, or your confidence can affect your mood, too. I guess even colorful CD's have grey days... ;-)
I must say, Thank you Thank you Thank you!!
You may be the most passable "Grrl" I have ever seen so a compliment from you is much appreciated! I guess I just wasn't feeling particularly pretty so I see what I felt maybe? Who knows? But thank you. :)
Sharon
03-14-2005, 07:47 PM
Vent away Suzie! Some of us have been doing more than our share of that lately. :o
I also know what it is like to feel like an outsider with extended families -- I suppose it is pretty common as we grow older and see cousins only at funerals and weddings.
Your photo looks wonderful and you look very comfortable with yourself and very natural.
Tamara Croft
03-14-2005, 08:11 PM
I have to agree with the girlz here, I certainly have bad days.... nothing goes right, you snap at everyone.... (PMS is the main thing for me) but the week leading up to it, I can be an absolute nightmare.... I have the most aweful mood swings...... nasty is an understatement....
Put the week you have had into perspective... funeral, bad memories, family that you probably didn't want to see. Add all this up...... it's very negative.... so your probably on a bit of a downer and tried to cheer yourself up, only to make yourself more down because in your eyes you think you look like a man in a dress!!!! This isn't the case... you look great and you vent away all you like..... we are all here to listen to you. :)
Tamara x
Deborah757
03-14-2005, 08:40 PM
I know the feeling well but I looked at your pic and I think you are being too hard on yourself. It doesn't look bad at all. It may be little consolation but it looks better than what I think I look like most of the time. The depression from funerals and the like usually take me a few days to get over, so I'm sure you will be feeling better soon.
Kate_Uhler
03-14-2005, 10:44 PM
I'm with Ava, you really do look good. A bit sad, which is understandable at the end of your week.. but still I wouldn't be that hard on yourself..
That said, I ALSO realllllly do understand when the girl 'spell' just won't hold and you turn in to that drab pumpkin in party dress. Hardly the fairy tale we're looking for. Sometimes I don't dress when my heads not there regardless of what my body is asking for. I suspect there are days GG's look in the mirror and well they don't have the great excuse, like we do. *smile*
ExTra-Hugs and Kisses cause after that week I know you can use it...
kate
StephanieCD
03-14-2005, 10:58 PM
I'm going to take the mirror I just bought at K-Mart back... all it shows me is a guy in a dress :(
That's what I get for buying a cheap mirror.
I know how you feel, hun. ;)
Fallen Angel
03-15-2005, 01:17 AM
honey, ive been there too!! its not easy when you have to work twice as hard,look at your self and say UHG! i just think you were around to many negative things and dressing up wasnt helping to lift your spirits ive found out that the magic is in our own mirrors no body elses. and where are such mirrors here!! our beauty come from those inside this mirror our friends. xxxx
Marianne
03-15-2005, 01:25 AM
Suzie,
very nice pic. Still too much sadness in your eyes tho. Remember, they are your family, you can't choose them or change them (you don't have to associate with them, but you can't change them).
All of us ( me included), sometimes feel that way. We slap on makeup and our best outfit, and then we look in the mirror. We see only the surface, not the underneath. We see ourselves as we imagine others to see us, yet at the same time we place a filter on that image knowing how we were born, knowing how we are, knowing how we dread others seeign us. We don't pause to look properly, nor do we pause to imagine, to dream, or to ask ourselves if what we see is perhaps filtered by the media.
Every day, I see billboards, television, magazine covers. I see newspapers with photos from the Oscars, from shows, from Hollywood. I loko at them, and I dream, I imagine, I yearn. If only I could look like that.
If only I were 30 years (well, ok, 40 years, shaddap Nina!), younger, a hundred pounds lighter, with unlimited funds, no responsibilities, a good dentist, a great makeup artist, and another lifetime to spend making myself into an image. An image of what?
Not for me, I am who I am, I am what I am. I'll never be on the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition, nor will I ever be a Playboy centerfold. I *could*, perhaps, end up in the back pages of 'Home and garden', (if I had a garden!).
I can't change it, I can only make the most of who and what I am. I am an almost-50 year old guy who likes to dress up and attempt to look pretty. I can spend an entire weekend attempting to do so, and end up taking hundreds of photos before perhaps finding one that I feel looks good.
But you know what? I'm proud of who I am. I'm proud of what I am. I *do* get pissed off and depressed when the 'mask' doesn't work for me. I *do* get upset when that new outfit arrives in the mail and the goddam camera just doesn't give me the image I *think* I look like.
And I don't care. My camera doesn't lie (well, actually, it does, a bit!).
Chin up Sis. Stand tall (especially tall in the heels), you are facing your nightmares and dealing with them. You are recognizing who and what you are. You are sharing your innermost thoughts, your innermost feelings, and your innermost self with us. Us. We , the people (yada yada), who can actually begin to understand what drives you, we who can begin to understand you.
All those fears you have? We have them too.
All your nightmares? Us too.
You are NOT alone.
You will *never* be alone, not as long as you have this one safe little place here to vent, a place where we understand.
(that goes for the rest of y'all too)
Tristen Cox
03-15-2005, 05:58 AM
I think it's a mood thing, the picture doesn't look like a guy in a dress at all. But I have done this myself and it was only the frame of mind at the time. Sometimes I'll take what I 'think' is a lousy picture and later go "wow I looked great wtf is wrong with me?" Happens on and off. You had some things on your mind and you may have been just reflecting them after you looked at yourself. Take another view when you have a few days to forget it. Bet you'll like who you see ;)
Love
T
stevie h
03-15-2005, 06:03 AM
hi cissy
nice photo, looking good.
and i,m not just saying that.
You look cool.
sevie
xx
windycissy
03-15-2005, 10:37 AM
We all have our bad days, but in all honesty, I tought the picture of you in the pink suit was perfectly passable. Attitude is everything. After the day you went through, it's understandable that your usual sparkle as Suzie didn't come through. As they say, a smile is your best camouflage. There have been times when I've gotten all dressed up, but the "look" just wasn't right, so I stayed home. And you should see some of the out-takes on my digital camera! Ask Windy (http://snurl.com/askwindy)
Cissy Suzie
03-15-2005, 12:49 PM
I appreciate all your kind remarks and encouragement. I am a bit overwhelmed at the responses. I guess my mood affected what I saw in the pic I posted. It is, as everyone seems to say, not all that bad. I must have just been a bit down and like Grace Slick said, "You're only pretty as you feel"
Thank you all for the mood elevation ;)
Oh and by the way, Tristen, you are right. There is a problem with the forum's server or the host for the site. It sometimes lags as long as 3 miutes to get a page loaded, and sometimes I get messages about problems with the data base.
Thanks again everyone! :)
Midnight_Minx
03-15-2005, 01:56 PM
It's not often that this type of mood strikes, but I have come to the thought process that it's much in the same vein as when GG's just don't feel they look attractive.
Give it some thought. You know your own self. You know your flaws, you know your strengths, and you know your appearance, CD'd or not. If you're mind is troubled, you will be drawn into the pessimistic side, focusing on your flaws, or on what your mind pulls out to you, to say "you don't look female".
Either way though, we always have the happy reality that this is not how others see us. They don't know our flaws, they don't know you, aside from what they see. :) A great help sometimes.
We are all like a piece of music. If the player of the music makes a mistake, the audience will not notice if they continue on with the score. :)
~Viv~
donnie123abc1
03-15-2005, 02:54 PM
That was a heartfelt story, Suzzy. Family is important to me too. Just as it was with my father. We all continue to grow everyday......to become the person that we were destined to be. Not just male or just a female but a whole person. Complete in every way. Thats all anybody can ever expect of us is for you to be YOU and me to be ME.
Dawn Marrie (Thats Who I Be !)
Sweet Susan
03-15-2005, 10:55 PM
If the picture you tacked on is an example, I don't think you look bad at all. Anyway, I once had a day such as what you described, and when I took a look at my pictures, I didn't dress for four months. It can be depressing, that is for sure.
Polly
03-16-2005, 02:59 AM
Hi Suzie,
I'm a straight CD & you look quite stunning to me.
I'm sure you'll have a better week, this week.
Best wishes,
Polly
Mikey
03-16-2005, 08:00 AM
Hon, Its a mood. I think that you look great. I love the suit it's color is definately you. I hope that you feel better. I get those moods quite often myself. I don't know why but I get fed up with something small and I think about just tossing my fem clothes because I don't feel pretty. I then take a nice bubble bath and get over it.
Hugs :)
Mikey
Peggy Sue
03-17-2005, 12:37 AM
:) You look great in that pic you show. I wish I could look so good. Just remember how great you feel when you have on all your satiny, lacy undies with your makeup on. Look at your femme image in a mirror from a distance and I bet you'll get a better feeling. Stay with it and know all your sisters here go through similar feelings from time to time. ;)
Cathe TV
04-22-2005, 10:27 PM
Marianne is so right! You look wonderful in that pic, hon, but the sadness shows through. I think this is all too common in the CD community, especially for those who are not lucky enough to have - if not helping and encouraging spouses - accepting ones. Being a CD is unfortunately a lonely existance for most of us, I think. Are there not many of us who in the loneliness of night sit alone, thinking about our lives, and shedding tears about what might have been - or could be still if we had support? I certainly have, and except for a brief period during which I had the love and help of a very understanding mother in law might not be here today. It's difficult to live an existance where people either don't understand or think you're some kind of freak of nature... and all because of a completely harmless hobby, so to speak. GG's who routinely complain that men are common visigoths with no sense of gentleness or nurturing, then complain that we're not "masculine" enough for them. They want us to be able to express a tender, caring and emotional side, "cry if you feel like it - it's okay for men to cry!" - then look down at us when we do and say it's "unmanly"
Personally, I have always been more emotional than my wife (and maybe many women), but since my heart surgery in 1996 have been unable to control my emotions. Many time I have sat watching something on TV that left me hopelessly weeping, tears running down my face. My wife is uncomfortable when this happens and refuses to look at me - so I sit in the dark and cry alone. This from a women who years back would complain that I was cold and uncaring because of my occupation (figure it out). I honestly believe I feel/felt so comfortable as Cathe was that as a woman I was free to show a side of me that I could not as a male. It is and was so "freeing".
You girls who have accepting and supportive wives have no idea how lucky you are, and those wives or SO's are to be commended and loved with all of your being. You are angels. I only wish I could have found a spouse like you.
Keri_T
04-22-2005, 10:36 PM
Cissy Suzie, you look great! I've seen a few of your other pictures...the only real difference I can see is your body language. It says a lot, and reflects a lot of sadness, so maybe that's why you feel down about your picture.
Also, I'm sorry to hear about your Uncle. I do hope you feel better. :)
(Um...I feel I should say more...but...Oooo nvm I feel stupid now...)
connie rotten
04-22-2005, 10:48 PM
oh well girlfriend . the illusion with me is always within . my girl in the full length mirror comes out she isn't put on. the key word to me in your thread was drug. darling the whole thing is about drag giggle :D
Elysia
04-22-2005, 11:36 PM
You don’t look like a man in a dress to me. You look like a woman feeling a little melancholy. I agree with Vivian. GG’s must deal with all the complexities of the real world. No one is going to look like a teenage fashion model in every moment of their lives. I could go on about how manipulative media images create ridiculous expectations for us all. If we fall into that trap we’ll never be content with ourselves. There is something genuinely beautiful about this picture, femininity expressing in the real world, there’s an authenticity in it that’s not matched in campy glamour shots.
GypsyKaren
04-23-2005, 12:15 AM
I was in a down mood swing a couple of weeks ago and it definately led to a bad make-up day. Got made at the drugstore, went home and felt like a man in a wig. I got over it though and been back out into the world. Life goes on and you just deal with it.
GypsyKaren
chrissy_Sissy
04-23-2005, 12:30 AM
I have to agree with the girlz here, I certainly have bad days.... nothing goes right, you snap at everyone.... (PMS is the main thing for me) but the week leading up to it, I can be an absolute nightmare.... I have the most aweful mood swings...... nasty is an understatement....
Put the week you have had into perspective... funeral, bad memories, family that you probably didn't want to see. Add all this up...... it's very negative.... so your probably on a bit of a downer and tried to cheer yourself up, only to make yourself more down because in your eyes you think you look like a man in a dress!!!! This isn't the case... you look great and you vent away all you like..... we are all here to listen to you. :)
Tamara x
I feel like that all the time, i really want to find a place where i can go to be properly dressed and done up (makeup) then taken out on th etown does any one know of any
LindaLeeColby
04-23-2005, 03:57 AM
Suzy
It was, is perfectly natural given those deep seated feelings, the moment itself and those few not so fond memories sparked by it all. Another's mortality often reminds us of our own and depression, often temporary, is also a given. You brought back memories repressed, and into a life you've fostered outside of them so you couldn't help but find yourself a little less willing for your best efforts. I'm also of a mind to say that it wasn't necessary for those best efforts but just enough, to bring you back to your context. This will pass and so will you once again when this has found its way into a memory.
Hugs
Linda Lee
derminator
04-23-2005, 05:44 AM
Seems like it's a state of mind thing... the reflection you see is merely a mirror of your feelings...... like anything... just take the good with the bad.... and remember that the sun will always rise again tomorrow!
Cissy Suzie
04-23-2005, 09:18 AM
I almost forgot that I had started this thread! Imagine my suprise late last night when I got online to check my various emails and this forum, before going to sleep!
Thank you all for your replies. At the time I posted the thread I was just feeling a bit thinly stretched, tired, and more than a little depressed. I am much better now. :cool:
Speaking from the perspective of someone who has always been pretty much a loner, feeling rather isolated most of the time, it's pretty cool having found this place. Woo hoo!
My only problem now is trying to keep from spending all my money on more grrly clothes! I am trying to save for a vacation trip to the South of France late this summer to see the lavender and sunflower fields at harvest time. :p
Thanks again everyone! ;)
Joellen Anne
04-23-2005, 01:23 PM
Darling, You make a very Lovely Woman
Wow what an odd, offbeat week I had last week.
I found out Wednesday that an uncle had passed away. He wasn't terribly old, but he had emphysema, and simply refused to stop smoking. He would take off his oxygen apparatus and walk outside on the porch and have a smoke. So, he reaped what he sowed. No big suprise there.
The funeral was Saturday in Tennessee, a few hours drive from Atlanta. I saw cousins, and other family I hadn't seen in years. It was fairly depressing, a funeral, and seeing people who, if I wanted to associate with, I would, but I don't.
It was like taking a trip back into my childhood. I was always "different", always keeping a secret, and usually terrified. Not that I was an unhappy kid, but I was a crossdresser and was a victim of molestation, which I never told anyone about.
So, I spent a day back in the bosom of my family, and looking around myself I saw several cousins who had various addictions, some have been in prison, and others who have had horrible lives, including one little girl who was beaten so badly when she was a baby that she became severely retarded.
All I could think of during the day was getting back to the city, back home, and back to my version of sanity. I wanted Sunday to come, the day when Suzie Rules! I got home late Saturday nite and got absolutely sloshed on vodka shots from the freezer.
Sunday finally came and I drug out all Suzie's makeup and picked out a nice pink skirt suit. I spent time making up and thought I looked pretty nice. I got dressed and took a couple of pix.
I looked like a guy in a dress.
I know this happens sometimes. Does this happen to others? Is it a mood thing or what?
Anyone who has looked at other pix I have posted knows that I can look much better. Anyway it was a disappointing end to a crappy week.
I hope you all don't mind me venting a bit here. Seems some of you might understand.
http://www.geocities.com/cissysuzie/pinksuit.jpg
stephanie1977
04-23-2005, 01:38 PM
Suzi, I have to agree with the majority on this one, You look great. Everyone has their off days when it seems like no matter what we do it isn't turning out right. I know in my case it winds up that "I" am my own worst enemy sometimes. There are days when I might be down in the dumps and no matter how many times I try to get everything right, I always feel I look bad. Keep faith hon and this will pass too. My condolences for your loss of a family member.
Hugs, Stephanie ;)
kathy gg
04-23-2005, 02:09 PM
Hi,
My only comment on this thread is not so much how you 'look' but that I think with alot of cd's (my hubby even) there is sometimes a big expectation to look fabulous/sexy/glamorous/perfectly feminine when the opportunties and moments happen and one gets to fully express this. And when you are feeling bummed either from family issues/work/your health/ or whatever that negative mood reflects in everything. And then taking a picture you see that the moment maybe did not live up to those huge expectations that so many have set as a standard for themselves.
We are all our own harshist critique. Being born female, and having certain expectations for how I want to be seen each day has changed so much through the years. Being at home I dont' have to look like I just walked off a runway. There were times when I was working that I would not feel I was pretty enough/my hair was horrible/ ect ect/skin to dry/too oily/too many zits...when you have to daily critique how the world is going to view you EVERY SINGLE DAY you step out the front door you begin to step back from having to live up to some almsot unlivable expectation of being a woman. Most of us eventually get to some peace (or not) with our looks, our bodys, our weight, hair, ect...but it is something that has taken my 30 yrs to really feel comfortable with. And that is from me having to live every day ..not necessarily 'lowering my expectation' of myself, but being realistic with who I am and what I have to start with. I am not perfect looking (or feeling) everyday. Some days I feel all those wonderful things "sexy/glam/hot" but I have stopped trying to be that every single day.
Which brings me to your post....
no one should put so much pressure on themsevles every time they get the chance to express themsevles. But I know that is hard to make happen when femme time is not to be taken for granted....
Here is hoping you will be less harsh on yourself in the future.
many hugs
kathy in canada
Anita
04-23-2005, 02:20 PM
Suzie the pic is great. The sadness shows in your eyes and the half empty vodka just over your shoulder says you had beter days
Have another shot and consider that derssing helped you over the events and b...ll x to if it was not (in your opinion ) the best pic yet
Tomorrow is another day
love Anita x
Cissy Suzie
04-23-2005, 03:20 PM
Thank you Kathy, I think I remember you from another CD forum?
If you are the same Kathy, I am glad you found this place. I appreciate your input, yes it is hard sometimes because due to limited time to play dressup I really want to look and feel my best, and I know that won't happen every time.
As a GG you at least start out with the basic "appearance" ;) and you can build on that to look nice everyday. As a CD I start out as a hairy, sometimes hungover, hurried and harried aging hippie with a lot of makeup and grrly clothes.
Sometimes I can really look very nice, when I was younger in my 20's with very little facial hair and almost no body hair I could pull off the "look" almost without effort.
Now, I am older, and the effects of testosterone over the years has taken its toll, making the illusion ever harder to achieve. Such is life I guess :mad:
Thank you for your post, I value any opinion I can get from a real girl! :p
And yes Anita that is a half empty shot of vodka back there over my shoulder, as I remember I spent most of the last part of that weekend pretty much sloshed, and that may have had something to do with how I looked that day.
Thanks again ya'll for your replies and input :)
Cissy Suzie
05-29-2005, 06:00 PM
LOL again I had almost forgotten this thread, thanks Susan for looking, and yes I have at least a million pix that I have deleted as well. Sometimes it just doesn't happen no matter how long I take with the makeup and all. Then suddenly there will be a day when I just look as Suzie as can be!
I wish there were a lot more of those days :)
jjjjohanne
05-30-2005, 06:33 AM
We all will look a little like a guy in a dress... because we are. You definitely look better than most in that picture! For me, my biggest guy traits are my jaw, my height, and my shoulders. To combat the shoulders, I have found that a blazer helps to mask them away. For instance, something like this: http://www.chadwicks.com/chadwicks/product/product.asp?pf_id=66770&dept_id=-1&parent_id=51&
Cheer up! Everything is going to be ok!
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