It is totally possible .

At one time I considered dressing could only happen or be possible in leisure time , doing everyday jobs no matter how dirty wouldn't be practical . I found that needing some rethinking now I'm full time , so this last week I've finally got round to replacing some damaged fencing , at the same time building a pergola and extending the paved area . After walking the dog I've slipped on my lady's work trousers and workboots , with an old Tshirt , light makeup and my old wig and just got stuck in . I have to admit I've really enjoyed it , using my power tools and mixing concrete and the rest , I have had some smiles and looks from the roofers retiling the house next door . At one point the husband shouted , " Terri , would you like some spare roof and ridge tiles before they scrap them all " I then got into a three way conversation with one of the tilers asking me where they can leave them .

The lesson I have learned is wear a lightweight , breathable bra and cotton Tshirts , so it doesn't get too sticky when it's hot .

I am sure its very rewarding en femme and also getting some input from others.
A few times recently, while my SO has been out for a few hours, I have managed to underdress in bra and forms and carry out some DIY works in my garage ? shelves and reorganisation. It was interesting and I hope to do more indoor DIY en femme in the next few weeks.
Vikky

I do everything dressed now. yardwork in 80+ degree weather, working on the car, replacing a toilet...

If I am going to be a woman then I am going to have to do these things as a woman.

It's not like my wife gets to change gender before she does any dirty work

When in my Cabinet Shop; I like to wear a long Jean Skirt. Just seems the correct thing to do.
Rader

It is no doubt about it, I have a black skirt that i like to wear doing work around my house and garden, so much more comfortable than jeans especially in hot weather

Surprised it took this long. I already do all my stuff at home typically in a skirt (some jobs require women's jeans like going up on the roof or weeding in areas poison ivy keeps coming back). For stuff like that I typically wear one of my jean skirts I don't mind if it gets scuffed up (one has a bit of paint on it from repainting rooms).

I think we get a little too wrapped up in the old stereotypes that women can't do the things men do and we don't even know that we are thinking that way. I remember a TS I met years ago who had been a carpenter and now claimed she could not hit a nail squarely. Baloney. I know a transwoman who is an amazing cabinet maker and another that can take a military Jeep apart and put it back together with no parts left over. Before she transitioned she was in the Navy and that was her job when she was physically a guy. You don't lose those skills unless you convince yourself that you can't do it.

Great personal discovery Teresa. Congratulations.

Just keep in mind that some female clothing can be dangerous to wear when doing some tasks. When women do these tasks, they normally dress appropriately.

Necklaces and bracelets can be a hazard around power tools and live electrical circuits. Wigs can catch fire from open flames. Loose clothing can get caught in power tools.

I have a detached 2 car garage. I always slip on a bra ladies t and skirt when working in the shop. I tried heeled Sandles but to awkward.

This thread and others like it leave me questioning where crossdressing leaves off and transgender begins. I ask this out of curiosity and the need to understand myself better.

Prior to finding this forum I thought of crossdressing as something part time and separate from my day to day life. Kind of an escape to put it another way.

I have done car maintenance, summer long remodeling projects and pretty much everything imaginable inside the house. Clothing was always jeans or shorts and a pocket t-shirt and the jobs were often things that could potentially run clothes like sealing the asphalt driveway for example.

By my way of reasoning my main goal was getting the work done, keeping my hair and sweat out of my eyes and trying not to ruin my work clothes. Think crawling under a car to replace a starter or tearing off decking on a 95 degree humid day.

Wearing a wig under a vehicle and accidently dragging it through wet oil dry would ruin the wig instantly. In my case in a dadt I don't have a big selection of clothing and have limited storage space. Why would I want to risk ruining the things I have on an oil change.

While I admit to having dysphoria when that can be pretty overwhelming at times it is not so bad that I would ruin good femme clothes. I can understand the desire to get dressed and go out all prettied up but I don't understand working in the grime and grease and ruining good clothes. When I do those things I wear the old drab clothes with the holes and stains. That way if I make them worse I can throw them away. What am I missing here?

My Mum Is nearing age 90. She runs a working ranch wearing skirts similar to what Barbara Stanwyk wore in the oldies Western, The Big Valley. She rides horses and runs machinery. I tried it and found she is onto something. It is breezy and comfortable but it can be warm with a good pair of tights. There are reasons that men in hot, arid lands wear flowing robes that the Bible calls skirts. I found out why by experience on the ranch.

Also on the subject of jewelry and rings. I stopped wearing rings in the 70's on board a Navy ship. When they sounded general quarters and we would run down ladders (steep stairways with chain handrails) and it was a hazard to wear rings. If we skipped on the ladder we could potentially get the ring caught and rip a finger off. There are similar hazards in home shops, loose blouse sleeves wrapped up in saw blades, long wigs or hair on power tools. Don't even let me get started on what a day in the garden does to soft hands and manicured nails. One thing I always try to remember is to wear work gloves to preserve my nails. Another thing, never use a string weed trimmer while wearing shorts. If you accidently brush the rotating trimmer string against a soft, pretty shaved leg it comes out looking like you were attacked by a small clawed animal.

Those are a few more reasons that I like to keep work and play separate.

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If your mum is doing all that st 90 she is a amazing woman regardless of how she dresses. Bless her.

I've considered doing the household maintenance also as I'm practically full time now with all this confinement we've been going through.
My only problem is that I'd have to wear male clothes to do it. I don't have anything that I would want to possibly ruin getting oil, grease and grass stains on for the sake of dressing. All my jeans are nicer and I'd hate to sacrifice a pair. I certainly wouldn't do it in a skirt and all my shorts are too pretty as well.
Maybe I need to go shopping and buy something worthy of dirt ???

Well Star only you can really answer that. But the basic thing is TG's always feel they are a woman on the inside, a CD dresses for lots of other reasons and can usually "turn it off" and go back to their male lives.

Personally I am TG and going full time means I have to do everything dressed. So that means I have to have grubby female clothes too.

If you are just a CD that only dresses for fun or whatever, I can understand why you wouldn't even want to do dirty work dressed.

I think if one has been dressing for a number of years and is also able to dress 24/7 like me it is not such an easy thing to "flip flop" between. the only times I reverted to drab (long ago but not any more) was when I had to visit my Dr but not any more one day I went as Bobbi and never looked back

You aren't missing anything. We are whatever we want to be. I would bet that nearly every single woman in the world today will put on androgynous or male-type clothing to do work in a shop, on a car or in the yard. Jeans and a tee or button down shirt. Anything beyond that would seem ridiculous to them. But we're not them.

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Originally Posted by Star01

This thread and others like it leave me questioning where crossdressing leaves off and transgender begins. I ask this out of curiosity and the need to understand myself better.

Prior to finding this forum I thought of crossdressing as something part time and separate from my day to day life. Kind of an escape to put it another way.

I have done car maintenance, summer long remodeling projects and pretty much everything imaginable inside the house. Clothing was always jeans or shorts and a pocket t-shirt and the jobs were often things that could potentially run clothes like sealing the asphalt driveway for example.

By my way of reasoning my main goal was getting the work done, keeping my hair and sweat out of my eyes and trying not to ruin my work clothes. Think crawling under a car to replace a starter or tearing off decking on a 95 degree humid day.

Wearing a wig under a vehicle and accidently dragging it through wet oil dry would ruin the wig instantly. In my case in a dadt I don't have a big selection of clothing and have limited storage space. Why would I want to risk ruining the things I have on an oil change.

While I admit to having dysphoria when that can be pretty overwhelming at times it is not so bad that I would ruin good femme clothes. I can understand the desire to get dressed and go out all prettied up but I don't understand working in the grime and grease and ruining good clothes. When I do those things I wear the old drab clothes with the holes and stains. That way if I make them worse I can throw them away. What am I missing here?

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Star,
This is very much the point I wanted to make , I now realise being TG means accepting no matter what I need to do it will be as Teresa , there are more work clothes made for women now and as ever and as Krisi points out the need to work safely .

Earlier this year I had a problem with not being able to cut my lawn , it became so long I had the buy a petrol strimmer to give it a first cut , the lady next door caught me and asked how it was going , at that point I was covered from head to toe in grass cuttings , she took one look and burst out laughing , I did see the funny side of it .

Cheryl,
I found Dickies do a range of workwear , I have work trousers and coveralls ( overalls in the UK ) , obvioulsy there is very little differnce between gender in this range of clothing apart from they do come in shorter leg lengths , the zip fly is on the female side and the overalls are trimmed in bright red , my workboots are unisex .

GretchenM,
Your assumption is so right , I felt I was trapping myself and making excuses because I would have to do certain jobs in male mode , it feels great now I've proved myself wrong as I sum up in the title of my thread . I don't know if it's age or my shift in gender but I have lost some confidence in tackling jobs which I wouldn't have thought twice about at one time .

OK I had a funny moment today , I'm re-using some feather edge fencing , the wood is still in good condition but painted in dark Forest Green and my chosen colour is Sage Green . So I had to find a way of removing the old paint , first I tried my belt sander but the abrasive surface soon clogged up with paint , I then wondered if my anglegrinder fitted with a wire cup brush might work , the answer is yes it did work . As I was working through the pile of wood two teenage girls walked by , in the corner of my eye I could see them giggling , well lets face it , it's not everyday you see a blond lady in overalls wielding an angle grinder covered in dust .

I really don?t have any womens wear that I want to risk to really dirty jobs or any that might subject them to undo wear and tear. I will wear a sports bra but that?s about it. Otherwise its my old male clothes for those kinds of jobs.

I guess what confuses me is the posts in the crossdressing section by forum by members who identify as transgender. It can be confusing and sometimes intimidating when we think we're reading a comment from another crossdresser because it sets a higher bar than we might be capable of. I have gone to the transgender and non-binary sections and I don't see crossdresses participating in those posts and, in fact, got scolded one time for being in the wrong place.

I do often question if I am something more than a crossdresser so I have gotten some benefits from some of those comments. I am not scolding anyone, just saying that sometimes I am confused by some of the other participants until they mention they are transgender. I understand that many started out as crossdressers and are comfortable and among friends so no worries but admittedly confusing for us newbees at times.

Terri Iv'e found that when dirty work needs to be done wearing more masc. clothing is appropriate although I do not like the feel anymore. It's just dressing for the occasion. It doesn't mean I need to revert back to a macho jerk and take on that personna. Iv'e gotten used to doing things with breasts but if the task is to sweaty they sadly have got to come off to keep from moving around and being a distraction even under a tighter bra. I'm afraid I'm caught in my own femininity to go back to being "Al" for any length of time. After a lifetime of working with my hands there is still some satisfaction in doing for myself but with a gentler mind set and a more urgent need to go back to being soft in body,clothing and mind, usually a nice casual A-line full skirt dress does the trick.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Star01

I guess what confuses me is the posts in the crossdressing section by forum by members who identify as transgender. It can be confusing and sometimes intimidating when we think we're reading a comment from another crossdresser because it sets a higher bar than we might be capable of.

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Well there is going to be some overlap in the CD section because many TG's, like me started out as CD's. In fact you can go back just a couple years and probably find posts from me stating that I was solidly in the CD camp and had no desire to ever transition...

Turns out I was lying to myself most of all. :doh:

Anyway unless it's a moderator telling you that you are posting in the wrong forum, you haven't done anything wrong.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Star01

...just saying that sometimes I am confused by some of the other participants until they mention they are transgender.

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That is a valid concern, and one that I try to be sensitive to Still, I'm sure that i forgot to qualify my comments as coming from TS POV.
BTW, my profile spells it out. That's something that each of us should take few minutes to do.