When did it start?

[KellyJameson]

I never had an attraction to the undergarments and the clothing for me was incidental to painting my nails, wearing my hair long, having my ears pierced
and the absence of body hair and later experimenting with cosmetics which was about using the face as a canvas to paint on for dramatic effect ,but mainly for my own enjoyment

My senses dictated what I was attracted to, not a conscious desire to look like a girl, which happened as a result of assembling all the little pieces and parts of what I was attracted to.

All very gradual starting around five with the interest in clothing paralleling my interest in theater toward the end of high school and all throughout college.

I do not create a mood by crossdressing but respond to one that already is there, so it is not about movement from one place to another but the expression of the place I already am in.

[sometimes_miss]

Odd things happened when I was a kid. Mom dressed me in girl clothes as a toddler; stopped when dad noticed. Once in school, I was abused by someone who told me I was really supposed to be a girl, and he dressed me up whenever we were together, often every day for weeks at a time, so I believed it, and eventually it became the norm for me, as I expected god to fix me and make me a girl. By the time high school rolled around, I was dressing up as a girl on my own regularly, with no sexual feelings connected to the female attire. Does that help explain anything?

[Marleena]

I remember crying in Kindergarden because I felt like I didn't fit in. At age 8 I tried on my older sister's party dress, panties, girdle and nylons. She caught me and scared the crap out of me by trying to lock me out of the house like that. I hid it after that.

[Scottstunt]

Around 8 is when i really was getting into wearing satin panties and pantyhose from my mom and sister. All through middle school aand high school, i was into bras, panties, socks and other items from girls i had dated. Now that im married i get full access to my wifes things..... Though she has no idea.

[Diane Smith]

My mom occasionally put nail polish and/or lipstick on me starting at age three or so, but it's not entirely clear to me whether that was mostly her idea, or mine. Certainly I did enjoy it, though. At five, I was a confirmed fan of high heels and would try to sneak into a pair whenever I had a chance. I'd say that's when it really began for me because it wasn't something that was initiated or encouraged by anyone else. It just grew from that point on.

- Diane

[heatherdress]

My wonderful wife, prompted me to buy a pair of high heels - one day, while shopping, I was offering to buy her a pair of high heels she had tried on - she then started a conversation asking me if I enjoyed buying her shoes - she then suggested that I buy my very own pair of high heels

[Tomara]

I was six years old when I tried on one of my older sisters bras for the first time , and that was .......... 50 years ago !!!!
Wow where has all that time gone ?

[Janelle_C]

I was around eight or nine I remember going in my moms room and trying on her bras. I remember thinking I wish I had breast too.

[~Joanne~]

It was around the age of 10. I remember my science teacher always wore pantyhose and open toed shoes. She had beautiful legs and feet in hose. I often wondered how could this material be so thin to see all the details of her legs and feet but change the color of her legs at the same time? Then came the "I wonder what they feel like?"

Fast forward a few days/weeks/?? and I remember finding a brand new, still in the package, pair in my mom's drawer. First reaction was "my mom wears these?" because I hardly ever saw her wearing them. A few minutes later, I was wearing them and loving every minute of it. Then it moved to shoes I often wonder if My mom ever missed that pair of pantyhose....

[Josie]

When I was around 6 yrs old I would put on my sister's sweater, my mother would tell me to take it off. I think that I must have learned then to hide my desires.

[tonidouglas]

I was about 6 or 7 I use to try on moms hose and body brifers and I too would wish I had breast to fill them out. Back then i didnt know what it was called but I would tuck and pretend I had a vagaina too.

[krissy]

I was 8 i dressed in my sisters outfit in a movie house i stayed dressed the whole day our mom used to leave us there all day party dress white socks pink panties black shoes it was so great

[drushin703]

I was bitten by the bug when I was around 13 years old. My mothers girdle drawer had become my weakness and everytime I walked past it, it had to be opened.
The seasoned smell of rubber, the texture and even the triangular shaped patters on the satin panels was pure pleasure exhausted, it wasn't long before I had one
on over my hips...Wow!

[Amy R Lynn]

I think I was about 8. We had some family over and I had to sleep in the (finished) attic. While I was up there getting ready for bed I found one of my Mom's silk nighties. I slipped it on and loved it. I can remember another time when I was younger trying on a pair of hose, but I'm not sure how old I was. I can remember when I was younger wishing that they made dresses for boys. I'm quite certain that if I had a sister I would have been raiding her clothes. As it was though... I have a brother. Love him to pieces. We are like best riends, but no dresses or girly clothes for me to wear. So... I really didn't open up and seriously start dressing until about six months ago. I started and haven't looked back. I love every second of it!

[psion128]

I think it started when I was after 10 years old. I can't remember off the top of my head. I just always remembered looking at the ads in the news paper of the female models. It would be the swim wear or the intimates sections. The rest is history.

[elizabethamy]

Clip and save this thread to show anyone who tells you "it's all in your head and you can just will it away." That for almost everyone it started before puberty is powerful evidence that CD/TG is hard-wired within us.

[cdterri]

I was 4-5, found a bag of little girl clothes in an unused closet, fell in love with a blue cotton dress, full skirt and puffed sleeves. Have been wearing dresses and skirts ever since. Over 60 years.

[sandcastle]

what age were you when you began crossdressing? it seem that the average age is around between 7 to 12 years. i remember i was around 6 to 8 years old when i started wearing my mums knickers straight out of the laundry basket, an i dont even know to this day what tempted me at such a tender age but i do remember the thrill an then after revolt of what id done, so can you remember what age you were an what motivated you to try on your mums..sisters underwear.

Yes, I remember starting with the laundry basket thing too.

Sandra

[Annaliese2010]

Probably 12 or so but episodic at low frequency & mainly for the thrill or adrenaline 'rush'. Growing up...I was hypersexual I guess (like who isn't though eh). Now...IDK, it's a take it or leave it, waxing/waning kinda thing. Not the center of focus, not important all that much.

I guess being productive & doing well, working smart (not 'hard') is all I really care about at the moment. That, and meeting interesting new friends now & then are my principal interests. I swear...lately I have no interest in sex. It's overrated.

Lah-de-dah...

Attachment 184601

[NathalieX66]

Me, it started with the day that I realized that male clothing and presentation was different than female clothing and presentation. I don't have an exact date, but I picked a side, that's all I know.

[DebbieL]

One of my earliest happy memories was about 2 years old. I made a dress out of a dry cleaning bag. Mom tied something around my waist and told me how pretty I looked. I wore it the rest of the day. When dad came home, he freaked out, not because I was wearing a dress, but because he was afraid I'd suffocate in the plastic.

By the time I was 3, I mostly played with girls, and we even put on a circus. I got dressed up in tights and a leotard and jumped off the roof of the garage onto a mattress. I was scared but one of the older girls helped me get the courage to jump. We also colored and played girl games. I didn't like playing with boys.

I remember in first grade, about 5, one of the girls was wearing a pair of black shiny tights. They looked soooo pretty. I touched her gently and she smiled, and I asked her if they felt as nice wearing them as they felt to touch them. She smiled and said yes. The teacher told me I had to stop talking and get back to reading. Everything was fine and I usually played with the girls more than the boys through most of first grade.

Then we moved to a new house, and I had to go to a new school. At first, all the girls liked playing with me, kissing me, and eventually just let me be "one of the girls". I'd usually go to the other girls' houses and play, and we'd switch clothes, usually they wanted to try on my shirts and I'd try on theirs. One day, we traded clothes and the girls decided to let me put on the panties, slip, dress, tights, and shoes. If I'd had longer hair, I'd have been a pretty girl. We all giggled, then we started coloring and playing. When her mom came home and saw me in the dress, she freaked out big time. She told me to get out of the dress, put on my boy clothes, and go home and never come back. The next day, the teacher told me I had to play with the boys, and told the girls they couldn't play with me. The boys threw rocks at me and called me a "Sissy". The teacher tried to explain to the class that a "Sissy" was a nickname, like "Buddy" which was short for brother. Sissy was the nickname for Sister. I smiled big and said, yes, that's what I am! But it didn't stop them from throwing rocks at me.

My mom didn't dress up much, but on Sunday she would dress up extra pretty for church. When we got home from church, she would take everything off and put it in the dirty clothes hamper in the bathroom. Shortly after the incident above, I was missing the chance to trade clothes with my friends. I couldn't sleep and I went to the bathroom to make sure that the monster in the bathroom was only clothes. I turned on the light, started to put the clothes into the hamper, and saw mom's pretty clothes. She wore stockings, girdle, bra, and panties, a slip, and a washable dress. I tried it on, and loved all the different sensations. The stockings felt like I was being caressed. The girdle felt like a hug. The bra just made me feel "Pretty". I loved putting on the slip because it made my whole body feel slippery. Then I'd put on the dress, which was way too big, but I would belt it with a scarf or something. I did this many times during the summer while I locked myself in the bathroom. Mom didn't notice until one day she had to go so bad she couldn't wait for me to get changed back into my boy clothes and she used a hanger to unlock the bathroom door. She saw me dressed up, still wearing her slip, girdle, and stockings.

She tried to be understanding, and offered to get me some tights like the girls wore. I remember telling her how much I wanted to be a girl, and how much I hated being a boy. Back in 1960, there was no public information on transsexuals. My father explained that he had taken a test that showed that he was 75% female based on his preferences. He didn't want me brutalized as a sissy, so he tried to discourage my dressing, or at least re-frame it by giving me a cape so I could be a super-hero, like superman. That lasted about 2 weeks, but I kept the tights much longer, until they were literally shredded all over my legs, under my jeans. I asked for another pair, but dad refused. Mom told me that if she knotted a pair of stockings or pantyhose, that meant she was throwing them away. If I wanted to do the laundry, and fold the clothes, I could keep the ones that had knots in them. There were many times when the run was only in the toe, or there wasn't a run at all, but I knew I could keep them. I'd hide my "stash" between the mattress and bedsprings of my bed.

I wanted to get caught, so they could do something to make me a girl. I even got dressed up in pantyhose and teddy or slip and fell asleep, pushing the covers off so that dad would have to tuck me in. Yet every time, he would just ignore it. Both of my parents knew I was trapped, they knew I wanted to be a girl, but back in those days, there was nothing they could do. Eventually, my stash got so big I hid it in the bottom of my closet, but mom decided to clean my closet and found it. She asked my why I took her teddy. I told her that I wanted to be a girl, and the teddy made me feel like one. She told me that I could keep the teddy, that she hated it anyway, but I had to stop stealing her clothes.

By the time I was 11, I was almost the same height as my mom, and had a nice slim figure. I often stayed home sick, taking longer to heal than normal, and dressing up completely, including hose, high heeled boots, short skirt, blouse, and mom had even gotten a wig. I could even go outside if I wanted and no one would know. I'd watch Honey West, and wished I could be in that beautiful shiny dress she wore. When it was over, I had to change back, and make sure that any clothes I took from her drawer were back in her drawer.

I think mom liked having a "daughter" too. I liked teaching me how to crochet, knit, sew, cook, and do laundry. In the summer, my brother and sister would go down the block to play with friends, and I'd get all dressed up, do the laundry, wash the dishes, vacuum the floors, and even do the cooking. Often, I would find myself being rewarded by knotted stockings and perfectly clean panties that had been thrown in the trash. Mom couldn't bring herself to take me shopping for girl clothes, but she did ask if I wanted to go shopping with her and help her pick out clothes. I loved to go shopping with her, and I would pick out things I would want to wear, that the other girls were wearing, and she would end up getting them, which my dad, and the people at church, really loved. Mom realized that I really understood fashion, and kept taking my advice. She knew I was wearing the clothes I picked out, but she never said a word. I don't know whether she didn't want to encourage me, didn't want me to get my hopes up, or didn't like it and wanted to pretend it wasn't happening.

[Joanne Curl]

It was 9 or 10 for me. I started by raiding the clothes hamper in the bathroom of my mom's bra's and girdles, loved the girdles. Then I found her makeup that she didn't wear very often. Whenever I was home alone I'd try on her dresses and a couple of wigs she had, put on her makeup and wonder why I was so attracted to it. It always ended in mastrabation and then guilt and a promise to myself that I wouldn't do it again (which lasted until the next time I was home alone). When I was 12 or 13 and the style was for boys to have long hair, I bought some setting solution and bobby pins, put the solution on my longish hair and pinned my straight, thick blond hair into pin curls. I'd lay awake all night for my hair to dry and then take out the pins and have a head full of pretty blond curls. I loved it and have great memories of it. I'd tease my hair into the best tall boufont (sp) hairstyles and spray it with tons of hairspray. I'd dress in clothes I had stashed and get so sexually stimulated and wish I could go out and let everyone see the girl that was inside of me. Then I'd shower and wash out my pretty hairstyle and remove all traces of my makeup in the morning before anyone could see me. I sure wish I had that beautiful full head of hair today. I don't know how many times I purged all my girl stuff, just to start all over again, always thinking I could stop cross dressing. Now I know I am and always will be a cross dresser and Joanne is and always will be part of who I am.

[Suramya2010]

It was around 7-10y when I started.. but I loved more general clothing girls/women wear rather than undergarments, lingerie or any fancy stuff. Just loved the feeling and their look.
Thereafter it just evolves with many other aspects, like thinking being a real girl.

[MelanieB]

Clip and save this thread to show anyone who tells you "it's all in your head and you can just will it away." That for almost everyone it started before puberty is powerful evidence that CD/TG is hard-wired within us.

This is the most accurate statement I think I've seen on these forums. The puberty/sex side of things often manages to mask the fact that many of us got involved in this, long before we had any knowledge of sexual identity or gender.

For me my first memories are from the age of 5 or 6....but this could be out...maybe 4 or so, it doesn't really matter.

Frankly I think it all started when I was an egg.....think someone painted a ladies face onto my shell....

[Sarah27]

From my earliest memories back to 3 or 4, maybe earlier, I knew I was a girl, I was dressing as soon as I could find the nerve to, never stopped, at many points I thought it was normal. I was devastated when I found out that I was not normal.