Crossdressing as a fashion

[Cait]

Hi, I assume this subject has been done over and over, but...oh well. I was just wondering whether you girls think that guys wearing 'womens' clothing in public will ever just be accepted in the mainstream of society as merely a fashion. How inconcievable a notion is this? If it were to be accepted as just a fashion how do you think this would impact upon your own crossdressing?

[Billijo49504]

I wear girls jeans and shorts all the time. Some of my t shirts are from LB or Ave. I do this in guy mode....BJ

[ColleenW]

I seriously doubt crossdressing will ever go 'main stream' but if it does or doesn't it wouldn't I don't think it would make any difference to my crossdressing.

[Stephanie Anne]

So long as we have wonderful gender norm pigeonholes to keep us tied up in snips and snails and puppy dog tails, you can forget it.

That and the religious fanatics that give Christians a bad name keep harping that we are child molesters kind of puts a cramp on things.

[Kickin' Crosser]

So long as we have wonderful gender norm pigeonholes to keep us tied up in snips and snails and puppy dog tails, you can forget it.

.

Yeah, because apathy fights apathy so well.

[Freddy12]

I think that guys wearing women's clothes will never be completely accepted. While I wish that were not the case, I think it will be.

Would it affect my dressing if there was ful acceptance? I'd dress all the time!

[goofus]

So long as we have wonderful gender norm pigeonholes to keep us tied up in snips and snails and puppy dog tails, you can forget it.

I tend to agree

It's not as far-fetched as it may seem...100 years ago if you'd told someone that one day women would wear pants most of the time they wouldn't have believed you. My own prediction is that men won't dress up in girly dresses in the future, but rather that both sexes will merge towards an androgynous look, body hair will be a thing of the past and men and women will dress more or less the same, like in capris, sandals or maybe even skorts?

No please, not skorts!!!

[ellenwannabe]

I sure wish it would happen but I'm sure it won't be in my lifetime - and no it would not change the fact that I dress in womens clothing every day but it would certainly give me a more varied choice of styles and colors and fabric - Ellen

[Rachel Morley]

I was just wondering whether you girls think that guys wearing 'womens' clothing in public will ever just be accepted in the mainstream of society as merely a fashion.

Oooh ... now that's a question! Merely as a fashion? Well, my personal opinion is that dressing for fashion (total clothing rights etc) is way, way different than dressing for TG or CD reasons. In other words, IMHO CDers will never fully support feminine fashion for men (or maybe only the one's still in the closet) perhaps guys that enjoy being different or somewhat girly, yes, maybe, .... but to answer your specific question: "will guys wearing women's clothing (not girly versions made for guys) be accepted in the mainstream of society as merely a fashion?" .... I highly doubt it. Why? ... because regular guys (and others) still have issues with the idea that dressing feminine is somehow connected to sexual orientation and folks, ... there's still a lot of homophobia out there! The other thing of course is the social pressure among men to not "go down the scale" and so for a man to openly wear clothes that are made for women, is IMHO seen as being feminine, and being a feminine male amongst a lot of regular guys, is seen as being weak. Regular guys don't like being seen as weak. I know that's a long (boring?) answer .... but the short one is .. "sadly no!"

[Nicole Brown]

I suspect that someday, sometime in the future, this may become common practice. But I believe there will always be differences nonetheless.

When a woman dresses in men's clothing, which is considered a fashion statement, she is simply wearing the outer clothing that a man would wear and not the under clothing. She will also continue to wear her usual lingerie, shoes and makeup that she would normally wear. If it were acceptable for a man to wear woman's clothing, I assume that he would simply follow suit and wear the outer clothing of a woman along with his boxers, undershirts, sox and flat heeled shoes.

We as crossdressers, and beyond, take this to an entirely different level. We not only wear the outer garments that a woman would wear, but also the lingerie, heels, makeup and hair styles that woman wear. We use breast forms and padding to try to achieve a feminine appearance which most men who just wanted to make a fashion statement wouldn't do.

So, even thought it may someday become acceptable for men to wear skirts, blouses and dresses, I do not believe they will ever take it to the level that we do. And just look at all of the fun they will be loosing out on...

[JiveTurkeyOnRye]

I suspect that someday, sometime in the future, this may become common practice. But I believe there will always be differences nonetheless.

I'm all for differences, I just think differences should be more of an individual thing that one develops in their own style as opposed to a blanket rule. Plenty of "menswear" lines exist for women where men's clothing styles have been tailored to fit the female body better, I'd be all for "womenswear" lines designed to fit the male body. Skirts fit me very well, but most women's tops don't. I like the styles and looks of many women's tops but I'd like to have the same tops without the need for breasts to fill them out, and larger dimensions on the sleeves which often are too small for my arms.

When a woman dresses in men's clothing, which is considered a fashion statement, she is simply wearing the outer clothing that a man would wear and not the under clothing. She will also continue to wear her usual lingerie, shoes and makeup that she would normally wear. If it were acceptable for a man to wear woman's clothing, I assume that he would simply follow suit and wear the outer clothing of a woman along with his boxers, undershirts, sox and flat heeled shoes.

On the other hand, I know plenty of women who wear boxers, or basic cotton undies, and unisex shoes such as Chuck Taylors or similar styles. I also know many girls who wear little to no makeup. My point here is that there's room for exploration for a guy wearing "women's clothing" for a man to be able to play with types of shoes and a bit of makeup.

We as crossdressers, and beyond, take this to an entirely different level. We not only wear the outer garments that a woman would wear, but also the lingerie, heels, makeup and hair styles that woman wear. We use breast forms and padding to try to achieve a feminine appearance which most men who just wanted to make a fashion statement wouldn't do.

:

I have a sometimes unpopular on this board theory about this though that most who are "just" crossdressers only do this stuff because it has been so beaten into us our whole lives that we have to dress as women and present as women to appear in feminine style clothing. I truly believe that if in the next generation, men wearing things like skirts and dresses and such became commonly accepted by society, the newer generations of crossdressers would be less likely to wear forms and such, saving that stuff for those who are truly transsexual. The reason I feel this way is because that's how women seem to have gone. There are plenty of very butch women who dress "like" men on a daily basis without dressing "as" men. Typically only FtM TS actually take steps to present as male.

[Lorileah]

Once upon a time in a land far away, there was just such a scenario. It was a time when people were discovering themselves and making a statement about how they didn't need to look like everyone else. Men wore colors and ruffles on their shirts, their pants were tight and colorful, they grew their hair long and wore jewelry. Their shoes had 2" heels and even after that they had platforms. There was a time when androgynous was in style. Some men wore loose fitting sheath type outfits that were patterned with ethnic colors and prints. Under these clothes they wore nylon underwear without "flys". It was a time of peace, love, tolerance and hope. Then something happened and guys decided that sloppy was in and easier.

The only thing that never really caught on was skirts

[telawilson]

I don't think it will ever gain mainstream acceptance, but I think it will be more tolerated, like long hair on men. That said, the concerts I go to usually feature at least one guy wearing a long, paisley skirt.