When dressing is not enough...

[kimdl93]

...I enjoy being a guy too, but feel without my feminine side I'm nothing. I do feel it extends beyond the look & the clothing for me, but I try to keep it under control.
This is what can be so confusing to me, because I do enjoy both the feminine & masculine sides. Sometimes I think it would be easier to be 'normal' but despite the ups & downs it's kinda fun being a little different.

Your comment here is a great way to emphasize that there is more than a simple dichotomy of CDrs and TS. There's a whole spectrum of possible combinations and frankly, I think most of us will move to different points along that spectrum over time. It is fun being different and you don't have to life your life to anyone elses expectations.

[Jaymees22]

Hi Nichola, I've been dressing for 6 months now. I have gone out to a few parks and walked around. I also went grocery shopping in a different town and to a drugstore I don't usually go to. It just seemed to be something I had to try, but now that I have done it I feel content to stay at home. I remember my mother always felt trapped at home because she had MS and it was difficult for her to get out. So when I started dressing I felt trapped in the house too. Now I realize I'm not really trapped I can just change into my male clothes and go out. I get frantic if I don't dress for a week or two, how did you handle 6 months? Hugs Jaymee

[UNDERDRESSER]

I've been fetish dressing for a long while, but these days, don't feel that much from it. Have been dressing pretty much full time in panties for a couple of years now, because I appreciate the comfort, and i think mens underwear looks dreadful generally. Since getting together with my fully accepting and supportive GF this year, when I stay at her place, I change into a skirt and thigh highs, the yoga pants she gave me, or just the other day, I just stayed in the womens tech outdoor pants I recently bought. Since I came out to my GF, I've gone for a walk with her late at night in skirt and thigh highs, and another on my own. I am developing a desire to be able to wear a skirt in public, ( or a kilt type garment, don't see much difference ) I am trying to come up with a "look" that will work blending male/female clothing. I want to dress in a way that displays my sexuality in an acceptable way, I am male, and straight, but I wish to express a softness and sexiness that men aren't usually expected to have.

[krissy_toronto]

When Dressing is not enough? Damn I think that everytime I get all dressed and just enjoy myself indoors. I really so badly want to venture into the real world. My wife is encouraging of this but I'm scared to death. If other gals in my city were game, I'd be out in a heartbeat but alone? The few little trips out I have done I was shaking the whole time and don't even get me started about going out in broad daylight. LOL

[reb.femme]

Hi Helen,

I recently had a break from dressing, brought about by medication, but am now mentally back to where I was. Prior to this event, I had starting getting out en femme when away with work. In my hotel room, I felt like a caged animal and I just had to get out. One biting of the bullet later, out I went. However, I seem to have regressed to the closet of late due to a lack of hotel stays.

I know I will never be happy with just dressing at home, so I’m looking to meet like-minded souls locally and have contacted the Beaumont Society. Just waiting for Helen (London rep) to get back from holiday to progress this avenue. I will post up about what happens from there.

Like that very alluring avatar by the way.

Rebecca

[Diversity]

Hi Nichola,
I must admit that I am having the same feelings as Heatherdress, Kendra_Gurl, and others as you have also described in your thread. I'm with you on this. I am getting to the point that I want to try to go out sometime. I only have dressed at home and the urge to explore the next step is becoming stronger. I am going to let life take it's course and just relax and enjoy the path I am on in this journey through life.
I must say that Leslie Langford's post is really encouraging, as well!
Di

[ClosetED]

Dressing in private give you the acceptance of just one, and that is active acceptance. Wanting to go out, you hope to be accepted as a feminine person by others. It does not imply you want to be a woman or want to be sexually treated as a woman. Passive acceptance that you appear to be a woman ( visually passing) may be all that you desire. Interacting more closely with people may be the next step and may be active acceptance. If going out is too scary, then gaining acceptance thru this site may be enough. Each person is different.

[minalost]

I've been on this cusp for a long time now. The thing holding me back is my wife's instistance that I not go out in public dressed as a woman. It's actually getting to the point that I actually feel less frustration just NOT dressing up. I also feel the urge to "blend" my gender more and more when out in drab: fem jeans, mascara, lip gloss, painted nails, jewalry, more and more "underdressing..." It feels like something is going to give fairly soon, but I really don't want to risk my marriage over this. Sigh, the trials of a married crossdresser!

[TGMarla]

I'm not yet sure what's going to happen in my near future, but for the most part, I've been quite happy and content dressing at home, and venturing out every once in a while. It's fun, it's exhilarating, but ultimately, it's not something I find altogether necessary for myself on any kind of a regular basis. I'm happy simply being at home most of the time.

[AmyGaleRT]

I didn't think I'd want to go outside either. But not long after I came out to my fiancee, there was one evening I was all dressed up, it was pretty late at night, and I saw a bag full of trash all closed up and ready to take out to the dumpster. So...I did! It was a real thrill, feeling the cool breeze through my tights, hearing the "click-click-click" of my boots on the asphalt, seeing a brilliant full moon overhead. I walked out there, deposited the bag, and walked back, unhurried and unconcerned. No one was out there at that time of night, and the stars did not tremble in their courses.

I've done that a few times now, once even encountering one of the neighbors as I walked out the door. He stepped to one side and let me pass by carrying my big bag, not saying a word. I'll never know what he was thinking, but perhaps he was just showing some courtesy to a lady...or clearing the way for a person with a heavy load.

I've gotten to the point where I've driven the car a couple of times, accompanied by my fiancee. I've even driven straight through downtown on Friday night, past the bars, and no one there noticed anything special about the lady behind the wheel. (Of course, some of them probably just barely noticed there was a car there! )

Now I am able to actually conceive of doing things as Amy I'd never thought possible. I want to go shopping with my fiancee, even if it's only to Walmart. I want to walk into an Ulta and feel like I belong there, instead of feeling uneasy like I did taking my fiancee there in guy mode. I want to get my hair trimmed as Amy, so it'll look more natural en femme. And I wouldn't have thought I'd ever do any of that, before now. It's a combination of my fiancee's acceptance and the example set by the ladies here that's inspiring me.

- Amy

[Sonya]

I enjoy being a guy too, but feel without my feminine side I'm nothing. I do feel it extends beyond the look & the clothing for me, but I try to keep it under control.
This is what can be so confusing to me, because I do enjoy both the feminine & masculine sides. Sometimes I think it would be easier to be 'normal' but despite the ups & downs it's kinda fun being a little different.[/QUOTE]

This is what i also have problem with myself, i really do enjoy being a guy as well and doing socially accepted man activities. At the same time i love dressing up and looking feminine. I really do not mind my hairy legs, arms and chest in guy mode but i can not stand them in girl mode. I would love to also go out dressed regularly but that means i have to be clean shaven and hairless to look good.