Different priorities

I wonder if others feel the same way as this.
As a woman, I am incredibly fussy about my appearance. From underwear to shoes to accessories to makeup, I take ages to choose exactly what to wear.
As a man, I just wear any old thing - jeans, t shirts, trainers etc.
As a woman, my underwear has to be perfectly matched and new, tights must be unblemished, shoes shiny and polished, skirt short enough but under no circumstances must panties be seen, top must show my arms and be perfectly ironed, makeup takes ages and has to be flawless, hair just right too.
I suppose this shows the two sides of my personality - male: sloppy and undisciplined, female: precise and demanding.
Do you recognise this in yourself?

yes, I am much the same or at least I used to be. Not that I dress much these days

Lucy,
I admit I don't care at all now about male clothes but being the perfect woman isn't always a practical proposition . Women don't live on pedestals , the problem is many CDers have that notion of a woman's world being perfect . How many women do you know that fit the perfect image ? I don't know of many .

I guess for us getting it right has a certain significance. The more time you spend dressed and certainly the more time you spend out and about probably reduces the need for perfection.

With things like makeup it's ability to transform our facial features and hence our "blendability" will always be of importance. Being immaculately dressed less so.

That said, after a while it becomes more instinctive as to what goes with what even if casual dressing.

I feel that when I get a chance to dress and go out. It helps my confidence when I can look my best.

I just enjoy being sloppy as a guy but its so much fun trying to look as pretty as we can as a girl! Probably because we don't have to get up and live it eveyday!

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Originally Posted by Teresa

Lucy,
I admit I don't care at all now about male clothes but being the perfect woman isn't always a practical proposition . Women don't live on pedestals , the problem is many CDers have that notion of a woman's world being perfect . How many women do you know that fit the perfect image ? I don't know of many .

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You're right Teresa, but I'm not a woman so I want to "live on a pedestal" when I can!

My overall style is hybrid/androgynous/unisex but I tend to dress for the occasion.

When going out in male mode, I tend to dress in a manner that my wife likes and compliments, so I take a little time to get things in order. That tends to be a button up shirt with jeans, slacks or shorts, depending on the weather and venue.

At home, in male mode, t-shirts are fine, but, unless I'm expecting company or working in the front of my house, the t-shirt is likely to be a woman's t with short shorts or leggings.

My hybrid/feminine style, worn almost exclusively at home, I tend to go for comfort in something that feels indulgent and maybe a little bit sexy. Now that I'm retired, I spend most of my time in mostly feminine clothes.

I don't think that it's two personalities for me but rather one personality adjusting to the situation at hand.

Absolutely and I love it. Many times, before bed, I begin thinking about what tomorrow?s choices will be, starting with panties, bra, hose, etc. Sometimes, during the day, I?ll change...from slacks to a skirt, shoes, whatever.

Is it two sides of your personality, or is it that you don’t have particular interest in your male presentation because it’s not your preferred expression?

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Originally Posted by Lucy Long Legs

............. I suppose this shows the two sides of my personality - male: sloppy and undisciplined, female: precise and demanding.

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I don't think it shows two sides of your personality, it just shows that you pay more attention to your appearance when dressing as a woman. Probably because it's something new and special to you.

Actual women aren't precise and demanding unless it's a special occasion. As a male, you would probably do the same for a special occasion.

I have to agree with Krisi. When I was still working (retired now) I always wore a dress shirt, tie and had shined shoes. I always shaved in the morning. Weekends? Relaxed and unshaven. If there was a social event that required "dressing up" it was the same and going to work. People in my area are a little more relaxed than I would normally expect. Go to a wedding or funeral I'm the one you can count on to be attired in shirt and tie, etc.

When I'm en femme my goal is to emulate a woman, the woman I would want to be. To me, that's means a dress, hosiery and heels. I've been chided sometimes on this site for the June Cleaver, "Leave It to Beaver" look, but that's me. My "look" or presentation was/have been heavily influenced by my childhood of the 1950's and 1960's when all the women around me wore dresses. None wore pants. And, pants on women in church was a social no-no. Girls had to wear dresses to school in any age group.

Love that 50s-60s look, don't listen to the haters.

Well,I used to be a male 'slob' until about 20 years ago; normal off work attire was jeans, maybe a t shirt, baseball type caps, and windbreakers with team names on them, and an old ratty pair of sneakers. At that point, I decided that maybe the reason I wasn't doing too well with the ladies, was my presentation. I tossed most of my lousy clothes, and replaced everything with better quality and better appearing clothes, blazers instead of windbreakers, dress shoes, as well as a nicer car. The effect was definitely noticeable, judging from how people responded to me after that. So I just kept it up.
My female clothing is never seen by anyone, but when I dress fem, I have a particular outfit in mind, and don't change my mind about what I want to wear, and I usually stay dressed in that outfit all day.

In the UK women and men seem to me to share the same priorities when it it comes to how they dress, especially in a non formal setting. The emphasis in the UK at the moment is very much on leisure wear, from my amateur fashionista observations. This has become even more apparent under lockdown, and people not attending places where certain standards were expected, because of covid restrictions. We are becoming a nation of slobs, and before long the term crossdressing will become redundant as everyone will be wearing the exact same Gray leisure wear, only cut to a slightly different bias. A dystopian post pandemic normal will be something to behold. Stay well.

It's not so much different priorities as it is I never really liked the way I looked as a guy, so I really didn't try.

I have my daily make-up down to 30 minutes and I am basically wearing the female version of a jeans and a t-shirt right now. A mid-length denim a-line skirt, leggings, and a green cold shoulder tunic top. :heehee:

Whichever way you see me I will be dressed nicely. I have a fair number of GG friends and they lament seeing cargo shorts and similar detritus of the fashion world on men. It does not take a lot more effort to look your best.

I try to be color coordinated and look nice in guy mode, too. Unless i am doing dirty work. I at one time threw on any shirt with any pants, and looked like a clown, some said, like Red Skelton's Clem Keddidlehopper! You have to be old like me, to remember that. When in Alice mode, i do strive to look, very gorgeous, yet modest.

I find I'm more attuned to my appearance than in male mode.
I do spend more time deciding what to wear whereas in male mode it's grab a t-shirt and jeans and off I go.
I'm not a matchy-matchy type. My lingerie doesn't have to be a set all the time. I just like to make sure they aren't odd like a pink bra and orange panties. I keep them complimentary.

Lucy, I would love to see a pic of you dressed. I noticed that you had never post a pic just a lot talking but no pics at all...I would love to see that perfection to mention....flawless?

For me, when I was strict male mode, I had 3 pairs of cargo shorts and 3 pairs of jeans and bunch of t-shirts and some hoodies. My look was very bland. I wasn't a slob, but I also didn't really care what I was wearing because it was all the same besides what the t-shirt said (and half the year it was hiding behind a hoodie so even then it didn't matter).

Now as non-binary, I have way more clothes, a lot more styles, colors and just in general variety. With more choice comes more options to pick from, takes a little longer to ensemble an outfit whereas before everything matched for the most part. I take more care of my clothes (wearing an apron doing dishes, though I wear that now even when wearing male clothes because why not, and hang drying maybe a third of my clothes to help them last longer and avoid static cling in skirts and dresses). But I also find as time goes on, some of the fanciness is wearing off and becoming more mundane and every day oriented.

I grew out my hair, and since I typically wash it every other day I try to line up washing hair days with days I see other people so my hair looks the best.

I did buy a kilt and part of the reason I don't like it is because it takes a lot of work to keep nice pleats and doesn't seem worth it compared to just wearing a simple skirt.

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Originally Posted by Teresa

Lucy,
I admit I don't care at all now about male clothes but being the perfect woman isn't always a practical proposition . Women don't live on pedestals , the problem is many CDers have that notion of a woman's world being perfect . How many women do you know that fit the perfect image ? I don't know of many .

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The only women I know that portray the perfect image are high maintenance women that have to wear the most expensive clothing, Mac, Clinique makeup, expensive perfume. Go to have their nails done weekly and hair done as well. Most of them don?t have the money to do it on their own though. Their husbands or boyfriends usually foot the bill as they do appreciate the look they maintain.

As for me in girl mode I?m similar and have good taste but just not to an extreme nature. Good expensive makeup does wear better and apply to give a better look. I just have to sort of blend the two together. Keeping it cheap and looking good. As for my male side I?m in between since I always underdress so I make a blend of both. Sometimes I can pull off a nice dress long sleeve short mixed with a pair of leggings with hose under and white sneakers.

I use to be that way. But not so much any more. It dosent work out so well when you wear girl clothes 24/7. And really not at all when you have to leave the house at six am. Still picky about the outfit looking good. But that is something I think most girls do.

Well Devi, there were some nice pictures of me on the Gallery page but they seem to be unviewable now. I don't know why. My makeup is done by a professional so it does look pretty good

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Originally Posted by Micki_Finn

Is it two sides of your personality, or is it that you don’t have particular interest in your male presentation because it’s not your preferred expression?

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micki cuts right to the quick, LOL. But I think she's right. Effort might point to a larger truth. I try to look nice either way I present and in fact, being fussy about my female appearance taught me a lot about being fussy about my male one. Nothing wrong with a man who likes to dress well. ZZTop anyone?

Can't say I give my underwear much thought as long as it's clean. it's mainly just functional. My over all appearance though really matters in girl mode and perhaps a little less in DRAB. That said I like to look good for my wife, possibly more than myself, when we are out together, me always DRAB.