Another wonderful outing en femme

Hello all,

I've been away from dressing for a while. The last time I went out dressed was for the gender bender party and that was in November. A lot of significant life experiences lately has taken the majority of my attention while dressing had been put on the back burner. Because of this, I've been going to a therapist to help me better accept myself (coming to the realization that I didn't accept myself much before) and she's been helping much. Earlier this week, my fiancé surprised me with a trip to SLC and a hotel room so that I could attend a Tri Ess meeting. While I was still pretty quiet during the meeting, I think I've realized that I want to do my part to normalize crossdressing. What I mean by that is that I want to do it more often and interact out in public to not only help me get more comfortable but maybe to help others realize that they don't have to hide. Maybe this could help someone who is struggling with acceptance, like I was years ago.

Anyway, my outing was great! I was a little nervous while getting ready because after I had packed all of my stuff to get ready with, I had forgotten the pallets of eyeshadow I was planning to use. At that point I had a moment where I didn't even want to leave. I thought my night was ruined but luckily, my fiancé gave me some advice on a dramatic eyeliner look that I now love! Without her, I don't know if I would have wanted to go. After I was about finished getting ready, my fiancé left to go to the mall as she was going to do some shopping while I was at my meeting so I was in the room by myself attempting to gather up the courage to go. Waiting up to the last minute, I took a deep breath and walked out the door and to the elevator. No one was immediately out in the hallway so I waited for the elevator. I heard the door chime and took another deep breath to look in to see if anyone was in there. It was empty. Thank goodness. As I rode to the lobby, I had only one stop. It was a group of 2 little girls, their mother and their grandmother. The little girls immediately looked at me and froze. Feeling awkward, I gestured for them to get on. The mother, not having looked up yet, ask her why she stopped and she looked up and said "Oh." Haha. Awkward. The grandmother was really nice though and tried to make pleasant conversation. After reaching the lobby, we had to take another elevator to the parking garage. This ride went much better. My trip to the meeting was uneventful. SLC is under a lot of construction so navigating can be frustrating but I made it there alright. After the meeting, we were going to meet up at the Dressbarn but I had to go to pick up my fiancé so she could help me pick out outfits. Apparently, the high school kids in the area were having their prom which made for a ton of traffic causing me to be late. It was a little nerve-wracking thinking that someone might see me for who I was but it was dark and the fear was all in my head. Once I made it to the store it was a blast. The store closed to the public and let the Tri Ess members shop and have fun trying on clothes. It was awesome! I had never shopped at Dressbarn but it had a nice selection of clothing. I managed to minimize the damage in how much I spent and had an uneven trip back to the hotel. What a wonderful experience!

The moral of the story... if you fear going out dressed up but have a desire to do it, the fear you feel about going out dressed is likely worse than what you will actually experience. It was truly a wonderful experience and anyone who is thinking about going out should definitely do it. Just be careful and find safer places to go as it still can be dangerous.

A wonderful story and you look good in blue! Like most of us who venture out, you found the worst part to be right before you open the door to leave.

Glad to hear you enjoyed it. I'm hoping I can get the courage to go out one day. I am surprised that the family in the elevator clocked you. Sure the little girl wasn't just shy of people in general?

By the way, your fiancé sounds awesome :)

Ryce, great story and "you go girl"! You look great.

You did it, did it well, and survived to go out again. Well done. You look cute, so I agree that the girls were probably more shy than aware of your other self.

By the way, gotta ask, who's the third eye in the first pic?

Also, you can't brag about a new eye technique, then hide it with glasses. Please post another pic so we can see what the excitement is about.

Best,
Rhonda

Love, Love, Love the look. The make-up and hair are spot on and the glasses are so cute.

Ryce congratulations that's a lovely story with such a nice conclusion ,I love your dress and you look just fine ,enjoy .Katie x.

You look so cute! I'm glad you had a good time.

That sounds like you had a really positive experience. Thanks for sharing!

Great story, great pics! ;)

First hand account, she looked wonderful! The blue did look wonderful on her and I loved her overall look.

I am glad you had a great time Ryce. The outings do get easier, although it may not seem it will. What helped me with other people was relaxing the best I can and smiling. Interacting always seemed better. A few of us went to IHOP later. On the way out, the other two stopped to say something to each other and I was looking at a teen girl and two boys looking our way and talking. I just walked up, touched my finger to my lips, and went "Shhhh, don't tell anyone". Once outside, I saw they were still looking, so I gave them a smile and a wave. If you have fun it helps your state of mind and sometimes relaxes other people.

Oh, and I wasn't able to limit my damage. :straightface:

Allaryce,

Sound advice and you seem to be getting good guidance.

Enjoy what you have.

That first time out of the hotel room for me was SO unnerving! I have never been to a TRI-ESS meeting. I hope it was great! I envy your relationship with your SO.

Sounds like a great time and yes that first time is scary, but even after that it at least for me can be a little scary. I dont go out a lot but each time I enjoy it more.
Love that blue dress really suits you.

Sound's like you had a great time, good for you! You look absolutely adorable in that dress!

Hi Ryce, I'm so glad that you had a great time, I love that pretty blue dress,:daydreaming:

Thank you all for those kind words. That outfit while a little more eye catching than most would be comfortable with, made me so happy and brought me a lot of joy.

Unfortunately, none of the pictures I took really show off the dramatic wing that I did with the eyeliner. I can't express how good it felt to dress and go out. I really had forgotten that and now that's all I can think about. Maybe someday we can all dress they way we want to without fear. <3

Well done, Ryce! The blue dress looks great on you and your makeup looks good, too (I think I can see a bit of what you did with the eyeliner). It can be very nerve-wracking going out at first, but it can and usually does get easier and better.

Very nice pics Ryce! The whole night sounded like a blast.
Its amazing at all the little makeup tricks out there.
:)

And I was there for the meeting and Dressbarn too, and you looked great and seemed to be very comfortable. I've found that it's easy to freeze at the door, but once you've opened it up and stepped out it just gets better and better. I wish I'd said hi to your fiance because the kind of support she is offering to you is incredible! I guess I was just in a shopping frenzy and lost most of my good manners!

Thanks for sharing your experience and insights. As you learned for yourself, we have nothing (or little anyway) to fear, but fear itself. Those unexpected encounters get easier with practice...eye contact and a genuine smile usually does the trick.