Have you ever been recognised when dressed?

[Gina_C]

It is my biggest fear that when out as Gina someone might recognise me as my male self. I often hear comments that "even my mother would not recognise me" but does that really work?

How many of us have walked past a relative or close acquaintance and not been recognised? How did you feel?

Alternatively have you ever been read by someone close to you despite the change of hair colour and style plus full makeup? What did you do?

[DanaR]

Gina, I think that is the same fear most of us have. What I've determined is that my look is so different than my normal guy look, that it should be difficult recognize me. Most people just don't look at people that close.

[Laurelanne]

HI, well ,ive had both experiences in the past and another more recent. A long while ago i was in line in a fast food place and my uncle came in we even made eye contact and he didnt know me, although im pretty sure he was thinking where do i know her from? anyway I was recognized by my Father many years ago as well. Very awkwarrd but not bad repercussions. Now Just last month a neighbor noticed me and said something she even went so far as to be very loud about it. I left in a hurry and have never spoken to her since, She even went as far as to "tell" my wife about it, (She knows) and well Im sure the whole neighborhood will know, BUT im not worried about it because I learned along time ago that I am who I am and thats that...Good luck

[flic]

Funny you should bring that up,,,i've just posted in another thread about this very same thing!! I'd finally got up the courage to go to a pride event in my uni town,,,although some drinks were needed for my nervousness!! Returning from the bar, walked out the door,,,,,and straight into a boy i went to school with. I did say sorry,,,but in fairness i was pretty shocked to see him too seeing as school town was hundreds of miles away! Ah well, he gave me a long lingering look and was on his way. I have to assume he knew it was me though because my partner was with me and went to the same school,,,,so he'd maybe figure it from that. Ah well,,worried me at the time,,,now i just see how strange the situation was and laugh!! ahahahahahahaha,,,ooooh, just like that
flic xxx

[CharlotteW]

Well in male mode I have thinning hair so I cut it all off. Some say I look as 'hard as nails' so all in all, very unfeminine, apart from the eyebrows A number of people have seen me en-femme and been totally stumped, only recognising me after I had spoken to them.
I did have a plan a few weeks ago to attend and event where my mother-in-law (and the rest of my family) would be in attendance just to see if I could walk past her a few times and not be noticed. I had to look after the children instead.

[notquitegirl]

Yes, but as I only dress from the waist down, that's to be expected.

[gender_blender]

All the time, but then again I'm not closeted. Why does it matter?
If you're recoginized, don't get all worked up and upset, just say hi!

[RachelDenise]

I worried about this to the point of not posting an avatar for a couple of years. Since posting, no surprises. But that may only be that nobody who knows me is on this site.

[deja true]

Um... well.. I just came out to my gf a few days ago and in doing so I showed her my makeover pics from an adventure with Gina Ortiz in El Lay the week before. She was pretty amazed that the ratty, skinny ol' dude she knows as her bf was that presentable cougar in the pics. She wouldn't have recognized me, she said.

In coming out to another friend, I showed her the SCC pics. And she had to look at about 20 of 'em before she finally recognized the girl in 'em that I pointed out as me.

In both cases, the comments were complimentary, thank the goddess!

(So even if my pics from here end up somewhere else on the intra-webs, I guess I don't have much to worry about being exposed to those I don't want to know about deja...Whew!)

[Carol A]

One afternoon many a year ago after the wife and her sister had dress me all up we were sitting at the dinning room table having coffee and chatting when a knock at the door came and in walks the neighbor from across the street looking for me as he need to borrow a tool. I just sat there as there was no place to run. And the truth is he never even knew it was me at the table. Closes I have ever come

After he was got we all had a great laugh

[Leanne2]

A while ago I was browsing in a book store located 15 miles from the town I live in. When I decided to leave I started walking toward the exit down the big center aisle. Then I recognized a man walking toward me. I had just visited with him at work a few days earlier. We made eye contact. He didn't recognize me. I quickly turned into a side aisle to avoid a second look. When I left the store my thoughts were," whew. that was close!" Leanne

[Tracii G]

I had a post about this a while back but I ran into my daughter and son-in-law once while enfemme and they didn't recognize me.
I walked right by them several times.I was scared stiff tho'.
If they did know it was me they would have said something by now.

[Franki Kate]

Several years ago I went to a costume party with my wife. She was dressed in a cowgirl outfit and I, I was in a gorgeous dress of lavender cheffon. As it was all neighbors and friends at the gathering, she chose to set to the side and watch folks deal with me. Thoughout the early part of the festivities, no one recognized me at all. One of my best friends stood right beside me and did not know who I was, until I spoke. Most of the men avoided major convesation thoughout the evening, but the women were the most engaging. I even had an eighty year old woman neighbor tell my wife, that if she was 40 years younger she would steal me away from her.

[Carroll]

In a short answer no...but my wife gave me away. She didn't say "Hey, this is my hubby!" What happen is that it was my day off and it was Halloween. I decided to go to the mall where I work. I walking in ahead of my wife and had a few of the guys I work with come up to me asking if I needed any help (these guys are a bunch of womanizing horn-dogs), basically ignoring the few other customers that walked in ahead of me. As soon as Marlene caught up to me, they associated her with me and realized who I was. Talk about awkward! If she is not with me, most people I know don't recognize me.

[Jennifer Marie P.]

The only one that recognized me was my GG friend and that was after I told her but everyone didn't even notice.

[Gizmo, Debbie]

Unfortunatly yes. It used to bother me but now i dont bother.

[TGMarla]

No, but then, I've never run into anyone I know while dressed. But really, I don't look much like my male self when dressed. Maybe it's the hair. It's still a fear I have, though. I don't go out much, and when I do, I don't frequent places near my home where people ordinarily recognize me.

[Sweet Cindy]

Being recognized would involve leaving the house!
Seriously, I think we're all paranoid. People would really have to look hard to recognize our male image, I think. I've heard stories of cd's who've shown pics of themselves dressed to friends and they couldn't guess who it was. So on the street would be nearly impossible (hopefully).

[sandra-leigh]

Getting recognized as my male self happens to me more often than not -- no matter how different I try to make myself look. Nice wigs in a natural but different colour than my own hair... glasses just for being Tess... what-ever I do, someone who has seen me before is likely to recognize me in a few seconds, from 30+ feet away, in low light.... and the usual reaction of these people is to deliberately take time to come over and greet me nicely and tell me how good I look. Which is nice in one way, that so many people -like- when I dress, but it's also a nuisance... I'm clearly not being thought of as a woman by anyone who has met me before. Open question about what those who have not met me before think.

[linnea]

I have had a few close calls (or so I thought), but as it turns out, the people whom I thought might recognize me, not only didn't recognize me but also didn't really notice me. Now I don't worry about it so much though it is still a bit of a concern to me.
I don't go out in the area where I live; that helps but it is not fool-proof since obviously other people travel too--lol.

[cindym5_04]

It is my biggest fear that when out as Gina someone might recognise me as my male self. I often hear comments that "even my mother would not recognise me" but does that really work?

How many of us have walked past a relative or close acquaintance and not been recognised? How did you feel?

Alternatively have you ever been read by someone close to you despite the change of hair colour and style plus full makeup? What did you do?

I haven't been noticed as such when I've been out. I have, however, been recognized (only because of something in the background) on Hotornot.com by a friend of my best friend... when they were looking at the site AT WORK!!

[Carly D.]

If I'm wearing shades I doubt that anyone would think I look like my male self.. but when I am only wearing my wig it has to be down, the bangs part, otherwise I look just as my male self with a wig askew as it were..

[Niya W]

It is my biggest fear that when out as Gina someone might recognise me as my male self. I often hear comments that "even my mother would not recognise me" but does that really work?

How many of us have walked past a relative or close acquaintance and not been recognised? How did you feel?

Alternatively have you ever been read by someone close to you despite the change of hair colour and style plus full makeup? What did you do?

I got caught by some I had not seen in ten years. He was a bar tender in a gay bar .

[julie w]

Yes years ago in a passed career I was in a mall enfemme and I passed a former employee who was looking at me I didnt
know if he recognized me or not but after that I would get comments
from my co workers . Its my biggest fear now when going out ,If I
was retired I wouldnt care

[SweetCaroline]

I'm actually surprised I haven't yet, since I use my real hair and always wear my glasses, I don't look too differently in male mode than I do en femme.

I'm probably in a minority, but I'd actually RATHER be recognized if someone I knew, say from work or such, saw me out en femme. I don't think any of them would be surprised, and I'm pretty much on the verge of being fully out. I personally don't see the harm in it.