CDing before the internet.

[fuzzybe]

The internet has always been there for me. So I was wondering what was cding like before it. Where did you find crossdressing information, support groups and friends?

I believe the internet has been great for crossdressers and other alike. Can anyone think of a negative impact internet has had on crossdressing?

fuzzy

[Stephacuse]

there is always a negative impact with good, in this case the bad impact is that we can get caught and outed easier

[Daintre]

For myself, before the internet, there was the library which had very limited information and there was the bookstores that carried the fringe magazines such as Nugget. We had a store which carried a few Empathy Press books (TV fiction) but there were ads in them and that put me in touch with the Illusions club in Calgary. It was a start. Today it is just awesome what is available.

[susanmichelle]

I can't really think of anything negative about the internet and crossdressing, to me it's really nice knowing about others and learning every day about something new and helps me deal with it to a greater degree,

Before the internet I would go to the local library as the had alot of reading materials. I would think that I started reading books by Peggy Rudd and that was good enough at that time.

[SweetCaroline]

I would have hardly dreamed of coming out as CD before the internet.

Before that, I believe a crossdresser would either have to go to Gay bars or a private "back door" like club. Since I'm straight as a male, I wouldn't have never even looked for such places or known how to find them. I remember CD support groups starting up during the eighties, and cross dressers coming forth for the first time on shows like Phil Donahue (remember him?). It was around the same time the Gay/Lesbian movement began to gain momentum, but again, at the time, I wouldn't have associated myself with that movement.

Other than that, the majority of CDers who were seen or acceptible were proformers or comedians such as Milton Burle or Flip Wilson, and they were generally out there for laughs.

Trust me, this is much better time, tho I'm guessing the time I grew up-the seventies and eighties-were better than previous times. So technology and communication are indeed making it easier for us.

[vikki2020]

Before the internet, I think a lot of us thought we were pretty much alone, no one to talk to or ask questions.Besides the shopping oppurtunities, being able to talk to others has made me 1000% more secure in my feelings.I started a thread in this same vein not to long ago--http://www.crossdressers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=72353 --lots of good answers there

[Christineblake113]

Before the internet, CD for me was a vast and lonely wasteland. Sources for clothing that I knew of were mail order companies that you might find out about in classified ads in some magazines as mentioned earlier, or local entertainment papers.

It really stunk. I'm much happer now that I can see how many people there are in the world like myself, and who have had similar experiences.

Christine

[Samantha B L]

The coming of the internet has been for the better. But before that there was information and stuff from books and magazines. There were some support groups out there but to get to them without the help of the web made them harder to find. I remember that there was just barely starting to be a little bit of acceptance in the very late sixties and in the seventies. But this wasn't across the board. This may sound sleazy and off color but a lot of nudie girlie magazines had "tv" clothing catalogs and other transvestite stuff like pictures of guys done up to look like girls. I'm talking pre-internet about a lot of this stuff but not like 50 or 100 years ago. I mean like 1976,1980,1989.Which was years ago but not ages ago! The idea that any person would dress up(and do this as thoroughly and meticulously as possible)in the clothing of the opposite sex just for pure pleasure and pleasure that is sexual,narcistic or for relaxations sake was still pretty new in the sixties and seventies. A lot of people beleived that crossdressing was more or less a prelude to "transexualism" or "homosexuality". I guess these folks thought they were casting a vote of sympathy in their own way. The first sensible information that I came across regarding crossdressing was in 1979. I found a small paperback book on a drugstore magazine rack written by some sort of shrink or therapist who outlined all the verying degrees of TG/TS/CD tendencies in men and women and this therapist was completely sympathetic and aproving. There were case histories about all the sort of stuff like what we talk bout in these threads and forums. Actually,I didn't buy that paperback book. I went back and read all of it I could read comfortably while standing by the book and magazine racks for a succession of several days going back and forth. That was quite awhile ago and I swear that I don't remember the name of the psychologist or psychiatrist who wrote the thing or the title,either. But I was very reassured. I used to worry when I was about 10 or 11 that when I was grown up someone could get me over a barrel with a law suit and say that I'm crazy because I CD! And here the latest findings are on my side and dammit if I'm not crazy! Oh well,I've gotten awful longwinded here. Like I said at the beginning of this post. the internet is much for the better. I'm finding wigs and clothes I can't find anywhere else and I have a lot of email pals through sites like this. It's a whole other social life by itself,in a way. I better stop. I'm getting lonwinded. Samantha

[Danille]

Well... before the 'net the only place you could find any info on cross dressing was by buying TV/TS magazines at the Adult book store. Occasionally there might be small ads to companies that catered to us, but that was about it. I still have some of those magazines, wish there was a place to buy vintage TV/ts mags.
Nothing but good vibes from the net, so far.
d

[Cristi]

By the time I logged onto the Internet for the first time in 1992, I had already been a crossdresser for almost 20 years. Searching for CD websites and newsgroups was one of the VERY first things I did online.

The only depiction of crossdressing I had any contact with before the Internet was the occasional crossdresser played for comedic effect on television or in the movies.

Other than that, the only indication I had that other crossdressers even existed were very infrequent 'letters' in magazines such as Penthouse or Variations. I would find those letters and read them over and over again!

There was ONE very analytical book in our local library that discussed CDing, but I never got a chance to read is because I was too embarrased to check it out!

I couldn't imagine going back to those dark days of isolation again :(

[Kate Simmons]

It was pretty much "seat of the pants" for me and I had a lot of imagination. Not too many groups around in those days.:happy:

[Z. Teoni]

Penthouse and Forum magazines were the first publications where I first read about crossdressing "sororities" and that was in the early 1970s. I was too embarrassed to buy any CD magazines that I would sometimes see in an adult bookstore during that time period. I was pretty much in the dark until the internet came along in the early 90s.

[deja true]

My first indication that there were others who thought about this was finding a paperback called "I Want What I Want", about a young man who ran away from his small town home to go live in the big city as a girl. What an epiphany! I bought that book and kept it stashed for years...read it over and over. Recently googled the title and found it almost word for word on line! It's sort of become a classic of non-porn T-literature.

Then, when I was in high school, I worked at a newstand after school and waaay in the back rows were magazines like FI (Female Impersonators)and a few others all about drag queens, no porn. I devoured those magazines without having to buy them. Nobody ever bought them, but there was always a new issue every couple of months. I think my boss who ran the stand in the daytime probably liked them, too. Heck this was in the days before transistors in radios! Chips? Those were made from potatos!

No, no intra-webs, no porn (too young). Really lonely...

Screw the 'good old days'! Today the revolution has come, and we're in it.

deja

Danille! there are lots of vintage drag queen and impersonator mags for sale on eBay, both American and English. Search for "drag" and/or "impersonator" in the books section. Those girls from the 50's were magnificent. There were often picture articles that showed how the queens transformed from men to women. I love that kinda stuff!

[SandyR]

Hiding, guilt, trying to figure it all out.


SandyR

[Dawn Marie]

Before the internet, I thought I was pretty much alone. Live in a small rural town, when I did get out I went to the next town over. The only bad thing I can think of abut the internet is that I spend too much time on it shopping.:heehee: E-bay of course.

[VtVicky]

The Sears catalogue vs. e-Bay.

The few books and articles we were too scared to be caught reading vs. dialogues with like minded people on forums like this one.

The loneliness of the closet vs. membership in a pretty large population of accepting men and women around the world.

[Oddlee]

Hiding, guilt, trying to figure it all out.


SandyR

Yeah, those things... West Side Story song sung by a bunch of punk gang members - one mentions a male relative who wears a dress... "no wonder I'm a mess." I guess I didn't have the nerve or whatever to investigate further...

Lee

[Angie G]

Before the Internet and before my wife knew I was alone in my dressing. my wife being OK with the dressing and all my family here life is good.:hugs:
Angie

[sterling12]

Growing up, almost complete isolation. A kid had no way to make contact with anyone before The Net.

My first real indication of others, comes when I find a dubious magazine in an adult book store. In the back an advertisement for a small shop in Chicago, called Rose Lee's. At age 23 I can't stand it anymore and drive the five hours from St. Louis.

Stood outside for about 20 minutes, parading back and forth and finally I work up the nerve to go inside. Rosie bless her soul, really understood the young CD. Greets me, looks at me, and says: "Do you like to dress up?" The very first time that I ever admitted to being CD. Just like someone took about 3 concrete blocks off my back.

We just had a heck of a time that day! Rosie encouraged me to try things on, offered to help me meet others in the area. What a shock! What a Rush! I don't remember anything about the drive back home. Did I go back there? Oh, you bet I did! Found out there was a bit of a subversive "Underground of Trannies." Today, it's light years better. We don't have many understanding pioneers like Rose Lee anymore, but I don't think that anyone with any gumption, and a computer, need ever be alone again.

Peace and Love, Joanie

[il.dso]

Yes, the internet really has changed the world, in so many ways.
My crossdressing has always involved feelings of excitement, joy, fear, shame, fantasy. And, loneliness, in a big way.
The internet, and especially this wonderful forum, has been GREAT!

[JoanAz]

I was raised in New York, Long Island.
It was a 15cent subway ride to the "City".
There I could as a teenager cruise 42nd st the "Porn Capitol" of the world.
Also just off Broadway there were lingerie shops with great, sexy things,
One I remember most was "Opera Length Stockings"
The thigh high of the day's gone bye.
Pre Pantyhose days. Now I am dating my self.
Also I could spend a full day in Macys & Gimbles, what a thrill
:happy:

[bEEb]

Ah yes! On Irving Park.
Do you remember the early pics of "himself" under the counter glass?
She was quite a memorable and reassuring character for sure.
Of course she was happy to help. What with the prices she gouged on those clothes I would too.
I do have fond memories of finding my early girly self in that place though.
And I was hot stuff in that lingerie I bought.
"If I could turn back time"

[Angela Burke]

It is a well known fact that crossdressing did not exist before the internet came into being!

[tommi]

One of the first magazines I ever seen dedicating a section to cding was "nugget" this is also why I think it drove the thoughts of porn and cding:(
To know now what I did back then it is amazing what is available that isn't
pornagraphic.

[Joanboy2001]

The only info on the subject that I saw before the internet came along were articles in Playboy and other mags about transvestites and boy-to-girl surgery. I knew what I was and knew there were others, but no info on the everyday things we do. Most of you, like myself, can identify with the stories on this site because we all have had similar experiences and have to deal with the same issues.

For me, before the internet, the most difficult about being a crossdresser was shopping for women's clothes, especially bras. I always did, and still do feel out of place in the lingerie department, although I do more of it now.

[Christina Louise]

Only toyed with dressing but used to think that there were probably only about a dozen people in the UK who had such a perversion.

[Jilmac]

Fuzzy, I wore my very first dress and panties in 1952 at the tender age of seven. I started dressing seriously in 1960 at age 15. True, there was no internet and I thought I was the only person in the world who loved to wear women's clothes. Dressing was pretty much hit and miss then and consisted mostly of panties. I accumulated numerous collections of clothes either from discarded clothing, (not ragged, mostly donated), or from goodwill. In my early days of dressing I had to experiment with sizes, styles, colors, etc. because there wasn't anybody I knew to help me, and was too embarrassed to admit I wore women's clothes. I have come a long way since the internet, and now that I'm a senior citizen, I feel I'm too old and dignified to wear the sexy minis and skimpy tops that many young women wear these days. But the net has helped me to become the woman I am now. Luv and :hugs: Jill

[vivian fair]

As a 70 yr old male and 65 yr old lady I can well tell how hard it was prior to the internet. But for those like myself who needed the outlet a way as found. At aqe 14 I caught a friend stealing items from my sisters wash line. So I had a fellow co-wearer. I soon joined the service and later he also joined the same service. I personally loved the services and spent the next 24 yrs in. I also loved every asspect of dressing enfemme, and did so regularly. Later I often wore femme undies under my male uniform. I discovered several other dressers in the service. I got married and my wife became my greatest friend and cheering section. I really enjoy my military time,friends,travel, and would enjoy discovering new friends who I missed while in the services.

[Nicole Erin]

The internet has always been there for me. So I was wondering what was cding like before it. Where did you find crossdressing information, support groups and friends? Friends, support group, gay clubs [not the best source] and I used to read mags like "Transformation" or "ladylike". Gathering info was not so easy without the web. By the time I got on the web, I knew most of what I needed to know, but I am still glad we have it.

I believe the internet has been great for crossdressers and other alike. Can anyone think of a negative impact internet has had on crossdressing? Well one thing - a few CD's who are completely full of s*** post fake stories and it discourages those who buy into it. There are also the ones who post fake photos. NOw honestly, I believe most CD's are genuine [I usually take people at face value] but some are WAY out there.

fuzzy

Don't be silly, the Internet came before CD'ing.

[bEEb]

There was a thin type newspaper tabloid type magazine.
It was called the "TV Times" I think.
Lots of girls (and pro's) and personal ads.
I briefly subscribed... but it never really amounted to much .

[Bravesoul]

I had to think on this a few days, but I truly remember thinking I was alone in the desires to CD, Finding and buying clothes was a lot harder.

The Internet has open up a whole new world. I am no longer alone, and getting clothes is so much easier.

I like it and think I will keep it(Internet)

:2c:

[yms]

Here in Albany New York there was a group called TVIC that ran a classified ad in an alternatively weekly newspaper. The group had a club house with a phone and you could call on meeting nights to talk to someone.

Oh yeah. And in NYC there was Lee's Mardi Gras!

[JenniferR771]

Oh yea, I felt so alone in the early days--Penthouse "Variations" an occasional Phil Donahue show. Later a few mags at the adult book store Ladylike, Transformation, Tapestry. And a few Sandy Thomas books or Empathy Press. Local library had almost nothing--considered it porn no doubt. Main city library had very little info or books. Later I went to the library computer and read a few stories on Fictionmania. And I went there almost the first day I got online on my own computer. Bought a couple Peggy Rudd books. Later I was amazed at the number of groups and links--bonanza! Became a membor of some. And i got in touch with my first real life cd. And went to my first support groups.

Huge difference.

[Selene EV]

As I recall growing up was a pretty scary time. Most crossdressers were made to look like wierdos, perverts, etc. I didn't feel like a pervert but there really was no place to get any information on the subject. As I got older I felt very alone inside and petrified of what would happen if somebody ever found out that I was one of "those" people. I didn't get my first computer until 10 or 12 years ago and I realized most of us are aren't wierdos and perverts. What a relief. Its taken some time for me to come to terms with myself but listening to others on sites like this have helped me tremendously. So to answer the question IMO CDing with the internet is much much better.

[Alex!]

Well, in comparison, it sucked for me. I dressed up and walked around in a small room now and then, then purged my stuff because I was ashamed and literally felt my odd behavior was shared by only a few out there. With the Internet, I learned I was not alone, not even close, and that I could lnk up with others like me. Sometimes, it also enables an opportunity to go out in public.

[Jaydee]

Before the internet, I was convinced that I was the only one in the world who felt the need to dress in womens clothes, with the associated guilt. I never understood the need. I knew I wasn't gay, but then what was I? I was vagely aware of stories in Penthouse, etc, but the crossdressers always seemed to be freaks. Since the internet and finding this site I am feeling much better about my self and the guilt is gone. It is better now.

Jaydee

[Laurelanne]

there were books mail clubs and pen pal forums also pic swaps etc., kinda slow but it was all there was.

[ShannonDragon]

21 years ago a bunch of us got together and formed IXE, a support group for TV, TS and TG here in Indy. Some of us knew a person or two and let them know where to meet. Word was sent out different ways. About 20 of us showed up and the rest is history.

The internet is nice but at least for me can not replace actual interaction with a live body. :tongueout

[bEEb]

Girls my age had to go out and kill a Saber Tooth Tiger to make a dress. "Clubbing" had a whole different meaning. Most jewelry was made out of rocks and bones. Everybody went braless. And the lingerie was real itchy.

[Valeria]

Tapestry magazine, a publication for TS and TV people, has been published since the '70s.

[KandisTX]

My God, do I remember what it was like before the internet. Nobody to talk to, not able to research in the privacy of your own home. Too scared to go looking in "that" section of town. Fear and shame kept me from doing a lot of things I should have been doing.

Kandis:love:

[shirley1]

i went to a private house for cders ie a private meeting a few years back run by a support group member - it had apparently been going since about 1986 long before internet came along - it finished a few years ago apparently a lot down to the internet and people finding it easier to find other venues and contact other people via the net ect - i found out about it at the time by ringing a tv helpline (beaumont society) so there have been places to go in certain places for years gone by but obvoiusly not nearly as many or as easy to find out about as these days with the power of the net !

[TSchapes]

And it's more like a nightmare.

The two biggest problems, few people understood or were sympathetic of us and the plethora of misinformation as to what and who we were. A lot of the non-porn authoritative books had to do with transsexuals. The medical community was more interested in them than cross-dressers. I remember the book "Everything you wanted to know about sex, but were afraid to ask". Both cross-dressers and transsexuals were made fun of in that book and it made me throw my girly stuff away several times.

Not until I traveled the country and ran into the Paradise Club in Cleveland and attended their meetings did I feel better about myself.

No, whatever the minor downsides of the Internet are, the young girls today are so much luckier than we were. I'm jealous!

[melissaK]

Tapestry magazine, a publication for TS and TV people, has been published since the '70s.

I was Tapestry subscriber too. You listed a personal ad in the back of the magazine saying you wanted to correspond. You went to the PO or Mailboxes Etc and got a PO Box and you listed that as your address because you didn't want pervs coming to your real home. We exchanged snail mail under psuedonyms just like we do on the net. You could be bold and arrange meetings with subscribers, just like here.

Culturally America was less open minded in those days and I think most of us favored anonymity. Still, you wrote and exchanged CD tips, CD/TS info, and comments, and made friends. I corresponded with several T girls all the way through their GRS.

Internet is way better. Thank you all you computer geeks who had a hand in this tech revolution . . .

Hugs,
lissa

[christid66]

Like so many on here, I sat at home wondering what the heck was going on and why I felt the way I did. I was convinced I was the only one who felt like that.

As I lived in the UK at the time, my only source of material was the occasional 'shock horror' story of men who dressed like women or wanted to become women in the Sunday papers. When my parents threw the papers out, I'd sneak out and tear the article out and kept them in a hidden place in my bedroom. I also like looking at clothing catalogues.

It was a shame because I was a slim teenager and could wear slim sexy clothes. I wish that were the case now:rolleyes:

[cdjenny20]

The internet has definitely been very positive for crossdressers.

I started crossdressing when I was 10 or 11 and I honestly thought when I was a teenager that I was the only one who did this. The first time I realized others did this was when I was reading a book about sex that was at somebody's house where I was babysitting. It was sort of like an encyclopedia with all different topics arranged alphabetically. As I was looking through it, I came across transvestite and realized that was what I liked to do. Unfortunately the final paragraph in this article stated something like this disease needed psychiatric help. I didn't think I needed help like that but it definitely reinforced my belief that I needed to keep my mouth shut and be very very careful about buying anything.

Edit: I just found a wikipedia entry about the book I mentioned above. I think if you read this article you'll realize that for a young crossdresser, this isn't the way you want to discover that there are others who also want to wear women's clothing.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everything_You_Always_Wanted_to_Know_About_Sex_(Bu t_Were_Afraid_to_Ask)

[WendyCD]

I was online back in the compuserve days (1990,?) - they had a special interest group for the like-minded. It opened up a universe! What I gained there was an appreciation for the fact that, while we all have in common a special, important and deeply meaningful feminine self identity, we are all still very much individuals. In other, important ways, we may, indeed, have little in common. Gaining this wisdom has been at times painful, but has provided me with an enormously important insight about myself, and about others. I treasure that wisdom, in fact, it still needs to grow as I still have very little, actually.

When World Wide Web hit - OMG!!! What I liked most was JCPenny online - I could order anything I could afford. First year or two, they labeled the contents. Thankfully they stopped that. Got my first pair of pumps, and lots of other nice stuff :happy: So I guess I felt like the world became one big shopping mall!!

However, I think I can actually find myself feeling MORE isolated with the internet. Sometimes I spend too much time lurking, sometimes posting, shopping (Ebay, wow, how many size 14 dresses can you look at in an afternoon???), and lose contact with people I share my life with, like my wife and kids.

The only other contrary thing I'll say - is that the increased awareness of CD'ing, presumably facilitated by the internet, makes shopping in person more difficult as it, at least for me, make the "plausable deniability" less credible that these jeans or this skirt is really for my wife...but then, I do seem to care less what other people think, as long as I'm thoughful and polite.

[RobynP]

I remember spending a LOT of my time in college searching through various libraries and bookstores for ANYTHING having to do with crossdressing. I felt very alone but I knew from what I read that there were others out there like me. I should have spent that time studying instead as I flunked out of two colleges in six years...

Before the Internet there was Compuserve and AOL and both had dedicated sections for crossdressers. Before those were BBSs or bulliten-board systems. Someone somewhere would hook their computer to a modem and a phone line and accept incoming calls. The BBS ran software to upload and download files, maintain message threads, and maybe have a chat function if multiple phone lines were connected. I remember running up some fairly big phone bills dialing these computers long distance.

My local shopping was augmented with catalogue shopping. Since there was no online ordering available, everything was ordered by filling out the order form and sending it in the mail.

One downside of the Internet is that just because somebody publishes something on the Internet, that does not necessarily make it a fact. I am finding that many people cannot tell the difference between fact and opinion especially when opinion is presented as fact.

Robyn P.

[JamieDP]

After the couple of times being caught as a young'n and all the scolding about how different, odd and ashamed I should be. The internet was the first place i ever found out that I was not alone. I was fortunate enough to have the internet introduced to me at about age 20..right during the college years and during the start of the information and internet age...so I have been able learn much more at a younger age. I only wish I had known more younger and had some more information.

[Lilith Moon]

I shall always regret the missed opportunities due to isolation/shame/guilt when I was younger. I now realize that I could have looked drop dead gorgeous in my teen years. I look quite girly in photographs from that era, even in drab and I did dress in front of the mirror but was very much closeted. I was terrified of anyone finding out about my "illness". Buying clothes from the high street was utterly terrifying before the arrival of online ordering. Then there were the regular purges and resolutions to give up this madness forever..which never lasted more that a few months. If only I had contact with other girls then...

Now I'm in my 60's and I have worked through many of the emotional problems caused by social perceptions of crossdressing, thanks to places like this on the internet. I now have the cash and the confidence to buy what clothes I want from any shop and to wear them whenever I want, subject to some boundaries.

But I still regret those "wasted years" that were lost forever....the fun I could have had...sigh.

[Helen MC]

Well for a start it has taken away all the pain and worries about buying female clothing at a shop and possibly being seen by a neighbour , co-worker, fellow pupil etc, or being interrogated and embarrassed by a bullying Shop Assistant who disapproves of TVs. Prior to that there were only Mail Order catalogues and some in those days required that you ran an agency with a minimum number of customers, not easy for a single lad in his late teens who wanted to wear female clothes.

In my teens, the late 1960s to early 1970s I only had articles in the "Problems Pages" of my mum's magazines to go by. One was from a woman in her 50s who had caught her teenage son wearing a pair of his big sister's navy blue cotton knickers instead of his own Y-Fronts (as I did this it could almost have been written about me although I am glad to say I was not caught out at home). The reply was actually very enlightened for that time, no condemnation nor describing being a TV as an "illness" but basically suggesting that mother speak to her son one to one and buy him some girls' knickers of his own if he wanted. I found out more about being a Transvestite, Knicker Fetishism etc when I discovered Forum Magazine in 1971 when I was 18 and I learned a lot from that.

Yes the WWW has made life so much easier for TVs.

[kristinacd55]

CDing was in the closet big time for me b4 the internet. It was like the dark ages before then, but now it's a whole new world has opened for all of us! It's like rubbing 2 sticks together to make fire!

[franvonceder]

It was like the dark ages looking back. My life would have taken a completely course. Married and still in the closet I think these days I would have been a full time transvestite and not a family man.

This may seem strange but I am glad that I was completely in the dark about transvestism when I was young. Dressing up in women's clothes. especially bras and panties was something I did without any outside knowledge. I thought I was odd but it was a compulsive thing to do. Later reading about men stealing women's underwear that I thought I might not be along. My first steps in public, in the dark, was something I did without knowing anyone else was doing the same.

So I know what I am because of how I was born and my experiences in very early life.
Since discovering this Internet and particularly this site my CDing has moved on but I still am not going out fully dressed.

Love Fran

[pntyhslvr2]

I've been cding for 40 years and allways thought there was somthing wrong with me. I finnally got friends and this website to tell me there is nothing wrong with me. I am just a unique person who likes to dress in womens clothes and that as long as I'm not hurting myself or anybody else its OK and that I have alot of support now and have way more confidence to do what I want. I've told some friends about it and some just say its up to me what I do and if I want to do that its fine with them. I also have a few gg's that are curious and wanted to see and help. If not for places like this to go to where would we be? This website is great and I am greatful for haveing the opportunity to be here!

[MistyCD]

It was hard, but a few books from the college bookstore and a few articles here and there in playboy, plus the sears and jc pennys catalogs helped. Finding and reading some Cosmo and other womens mags also helped

also there seemed to be more choices for shoes back in the early to late 1980's (at least in NJ) there was Shoetown, like todays Payless but with better quality shoes. Fayva Shoes.

hugs misty

[TSchapes]

I shall always regret the missed opportunities due to isolation/shame/guilt when I was younger. I now realize that I could have looked drop dead gorgeous in my teen years. I look quite girly in photographs from that era, even in drab and I did dress in front of the mirror but was very much closeted. I was terrified of anyone finding out about my "illness". Buying clothes from the high street was utterly terrifying before the arrival of online ordering. Then there were the regular purges and resolutions to give up this madness forever..which never lasted more that a few months. If only I had contact with other girls then...

Lilith, that's what happened to me, over a year ago I was having a mid-life crisis. I thought, time is my enemy. So I lost over 60 lbs, and set femme goals for myself. Like you I regret all the lost opportunities. When I was a young hippie with long hair, I was constantly being mistaken for a girl! But the pressures were too strong to conform and finding like minded individuals like you and the others here on the Internet today is just wonderful.

Thanks for sharing this,

Tracy

[Vickifur]

And hard to learn. The few magazines in adult bookstores were not much help. I somehow figured out how to shop, what to buy, sizes, etc. Would have been much easier and cheaper if the 'net had been around.

On the other hand, though it is comforting to know that there are so many of us, I feel so alone because I cannot be a part of a group. I know there are some in the region, but travel, lying to spouse, etc. I really think I'll go to my grave with this secret. Oh well, things can always be worse, this sounds more maudlin than I mean it.

[Melora]

THE INTERNET IS AWSOME!
I probably would be a very boring and an unenlightened person without the INTERNET! And Yes.. It is Evil as well as Fun.. :devil: Like a Gun, You just know how to use it the safe way..
The internet let me OPEN UP! I have also seen some things that NO ONE should ever see.. Soo Good and Evil.. And what ever you choose.

[Lacelover]

I wondered how long it was going to be before I was struck by lightning and ended up going straight to he"". It was difficult at best to try and understand these feelings.

Rah Rah Rah !!!!!! Internet.

Lacelover

[Sarah Doepner]

Oh my gawd! I was fearful that all the stories I heard were true. I was sick, the only acceptable option for wearing women's clothes was theatrical and then only for comedy. There was no middle ground, if you wore a dress you were eventually going to be homosexual and then get a sex change like Christine Jorgensen. I had very little access to any accurate information and was sure I was alone in the universe.
When I finally went on-line, it was like a bomb went off and all the walls were blown away. I had struggled for 35 years with the concept and after that it only took another 5-6 years before I accepted myself, met others via the web and got proficent enough to dress fully. A couple of years later I was out in public. The internet saved my from going off the deep end.
The negative side is all a matter of personal opinion, I'm afraid. There are those who will take advantage of someone reaching out for support. The good here has outweighed the bad so far. And yes, shopping for some things has become much easier, as has the opportunity to get advise and direction. Let's keep the net open!

[TxKimberly]

One word, and I see many others have said it too: Lonely

[Girdlewoman]

She was so wonderful to me. I did all the pacing and sitting in my car watching who was going in or out so I could go in alone. I remember she kept the door locked and one had to knock. To me that took even more courage that being able to just walk in. Later, I would call ahead and have to say I was a friend of "Eve Brown," whoever she was, so Rose would expect me. Then poof, she was gone. I often wondered what happened to her. To those in the Chicago area I would also go to the corset shops on Devon Ave. Places like Spentners and La Belle, and Cover Girl. This was all in the early 70's. I, obviously, from my name, can tell what I was and am into. I do dress completely and go out etc. But Rose, in a big way, didn't so much open the door but certainly helped me walk through it. I first heard of her and her shop from an article in the "Reader." Peace

[Cheryl Ann]

Girls my age had to go out and kill a Saber Tooth Tiger to make a dress. "Clubbing" had a whole different meaning. Most jewelry was made out of rocks and bones. Everybody went braless. And the lingerie was real itchy.

LOL!