Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 25 of 41

Thread: why do you wear what you wear?

  1. #1
    GG, SO to Pamela7
    Join Date
    Feb 2015
    Location
    SW England (not quite Wales but close)
    Posts
    60

    why do you wear what you wear?

    Hi again, more questions. I am having to turn my dressmaking talents to making clothes for Pamela, as her frame is definitely not the same shape as ladies' clothes. (Think bodybuilder with a little bit of spare round the middle!)

    This has launched me into the mysterious world of larger ladies fashion - I'm small and slim myself - and I am trying to get to grips with some fundamentals of clothing design. The big question, and one that guides the whole shape and feel of the clothes that I am making is, what makes you choose the clothes that you do? Is it the look, the feel, or something else?

    Thanks x

  2. #2
    Platinum Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Location
    A bit south of the 49th!
    Posts
    23,676
    Tough question. I would say the look and fit. I suspect each person has a mental image of how they'd like to look. In my minds eye, I'd see a tallish, lightly tanned, blonde, which I am, ( a tad slimmer) wearing clothes that complement my height and coloring, accentuating my legs and helping define my waist. That being said, the style can very with the situation.
    Remember always that you not only have the right to be an individual, you have an obligation to be one.

    Eleanor Roosevelt

  3. #3
    Gold Member NicoleScott's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    Mississippi
    Posts
    5,000
    A crossdresser's dream come true -a supportive wife with dressmaking skills.
    To answer the question, everything I do is about the look, but I like the associated feels, sounds, and scents.

  4. #4
    Aspiring Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2012
    Posts
    876
    The feel of fabric and how a skirt swirls around shaved legs is a biggie for me. Separate tops and skirts are easier to acquire for an average male body like mine. I prefer loose medium length skirts and somewhat sporty tops, reflecting an outdoors preference.

    Pamela is one lucky gal to have you.

    Ineke

  5. #5
    Senior Member Gretchen_To_Be's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2012
    Location
    Wisconsin
    Posts
    1,846
    Hi Welshgirl. I'm a muscular guy also. I find that wrap dresses are very flattering and the material is forgiving. I use a corset to reduce my waist and they look halfway decent. Most skirts and dresses are knee length or just above.

    The look I am going for is sort of the sexy side of office professional, not streetwalker.

    Good luck!

    Shibumi

  6. #6
    Aspiring Member
    Join Date
    Nov 2014
    Posts
    954
    Some cocktail of both, that's my best guess.

    Looks wise I prefer full / A-line / ball gown silhouettes as they give if not enhance the hourglass look and wider hips. Also, as I am small and slim I make use of short skirts to make myself look taller (and expose the tops of my stockings, among other things.)

    Feel wise internally I go for anything with a lining due to the silky smooth feeling they give off. Externally, satin and tulle in particular feel great to the touch, in addition to being so pretty. Sadly lace is mostly aesthetic.

    If I may say so, an evening gown swishing against stockinged legs is a sight and feeling to behold.

  7. #7
    AKA Lexi sometimes_miss's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2008
    Location
    The state of flux, U.S.A.
    Posts
    7,213
    I wear things that would fit the person I feel that I am. In a way, I'm brain damaged. Something in the back of my mind will always feel like an adolescent girl. I've never been able to escape that. So, I wear stuff the style of which you'd find being worn by girls in their early to mid teens. Why? Because it makes congruent what I think, with what I see and feel. Another way to put it would be to say it helps make me feel comfortable in my own skin.
    Some causes of crossdressing you've probably never even considered: My TG biography at:http://www.crossdressers.com/forums/...=1#post1490560
    There's an addendum at post # 82 on that thread, too. It's about a ten minute read.
    Why don't we understand our desire to dress, behave and feel like a girl? Because from childhood, boys are told that the worst possible thing we can be, is a sissy. This feeling is so ingrained into our psyche, that we will suppress any thoughts that connect us to being or wanting to be feminine, even to the point of creating separate personalities to assign those female feelings into.

  8. #8
    Little Mrs. Snarky! Nadine Spirit's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2013
    Location
    California
    Posts
    1,400
    I try and choose clothes that flatter me. I try and use the clothes to help me achieve the look I am wanting. For example, a seemingly small thing like the placement of a seem in a dress can make all of the difference in how it falls on a body. The right seems can help give the illusion of hips or they can make an already straight hipped body look even less curvy.

  9. #9
    Member
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Posts
    343
    My wife makes and alters clothes for me all the time. She knows what materials and styles I like. I'm 5'11" and weigh 170lbs. Empire waist dresses work well to hide my tummy bump (minor beer gut) and full or a-line skirts with a tighter top give me an hourglass figure. So for me it's both style and fabric that matter.

  10. #10
    Platinum Member Beverley Sims's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2011
    Location
    Lowestoft UK. Beverley was here.
    Posts
    30,955
    I choose clothes for the look and because I like what I wear.
    Work on your elegance,
    and beauty will follow.

  11. #11
    Female Illusionist! docrobbysherry's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Orange County, Calif.
    Posts
    24,843
    What Nicole said. Plus, I like to look: hot, sexy, or at least attractive.

    Pretty much in THAT order----
    U can't keep doing the same things over and over and expect to enjoy life to the max. When u try new things, even if they r out of your comfort zone, u may experience new excitement and growth that u never expected.

    Challenge yourself and pursue your passions! When your life clock runs out, you'll have few or NO REGRETS!

  12. #12
    Isn't Life Grand? AllieSF's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    San Francisco Area
    Posts
    11,686
    I think that one needs a desired style that hopefully works well for them and their body shape. For me it is the look of the final product. Does it hang well, fit close enough to my body to give the appearance of a female figure, and is it complimentary to me? I am still experimenting with styles and looks after 8 years of dressing completely and going out into the real world. It is all trial and error. I think that you are a perfect guide for your SO and can help influence what works best for her. That is invaluable advice, especially in the fit and final look areas. We all have our favorite styles and others yet to be discovered. So, what may be liked by one may not work for another. Good luck.

  13. #13
    Exploring NEPA now Cheryl T's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Location
    Northeast Pa near NJ and NY
    Posts
    10,444
    For me it's everything. The style, the fit, the color, the fabric all have an impact on my purchases. I buy what I like to wear, what looks flattering on my body and what makes me feel good, be it a tight pair of jeans or a knee length skirt.
    There isn't one thing that makes a choice for me, it's the sum of the parts.
    I don't wear women's clothes, I wear MY clothes !

  14. #14
    Senior Member Nikkilovesdresses's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2014
    Location
    The lingerie dept.
    Posts
    1,848
    It's looks, feel...and fantasy. Isn't it the same for a woman? Doesn't a woman choose at least some clothes hoping that by wearing them she'll look slightly more like some media image she aspires to?

    Our problem is that many of us are starting with the added disadvantage of wide shoulders and a waist the same size as our hips!

    Top of my wish list, and I haven't had any luck finding it online even in normal female sizes, is a bias-cut black trouser suit with bell bottom pants and a tailored jacket with exaggerated lapels which buttons very low at the waist, so it will hang open at the chest. I want it to look expensive, so it has to be maybe a very light linen/wool blend (banned in 2 OT books of the Bible, as it's a mix of animal and vegetable- don't ask me why that matters) and a charcoal silk lining. If linen/wool won't hold a hard crease then I'll have to rethink.

    I also want a black fedora, wide brimmed, with a charcoal band, and black strappy low heels.

    Easy, right??

    Er, no. Since I know it's going to be expensive to go to a tailor, I haven't taken it any further- I don't have that much money right now, plus I believe I'm going to lose more weight so it's definitely premature.

    And you thought Pamela was fussy...

    Happy 10th post by the way! Now our world is your lobster
    Last edited by Nikkilovesdresses; 02-12-2015 at 03:51 PM.
    I used to have a short attention spa

  15. #15
    Member
    Join Date
    May 2009
    Location
    South Carolina
    Posts
    385
    You are a dream come true for your SO! I love it all, the feel, the scent of perfume, the look, high heels!
    Love, Sabrina

  16. #16
    Banned Read only
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
    Location
    Florida
    Posts
    187
    Obviously the feel However, since for me its leotards.....Big surprise! When I was a kid and would dress in my mom's leotards it was the feel of it but also feeling closer to her, and also wanting to look like the women on TV. Today, it is also to look like the women on an exercise video, but also my workouts are my girly time.

  17. #17
    Gone to live my life
    Join Date
    Aug 2013
    Posts
    6,552
    Hi there,

    I tend to wear clothes that allow me to blend what I have to approximate a female shape and form. Not being a tall or big guy, I am still quite muscular in the upper body. Given that I can fit most women's fashions (size 6-8 depending on the fit) but I can never go sleeveless because it will be too noticeable. I don't using padding or breast forms but I do have enough junk in the trunk to pull off a reasonable behind and my muscle definition will allow me to fit a 36A push-up with a reasonable cleavage for a narrow hipped small chested gal. As stated I choose clothes to blend so I stick to a lot of jeans, tops with dresses used only for specific functions (dinner, parties). Typically, I look at what women my age are wearing on a daily basis and design my personal style around that.

    Hugs

    Isha

  18. #18
    Full Geek Status Adriana Moretti's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2013
    Location
    NY & CT
    Posts
    2,533
    Good question....like most girls I like the feeling of certain materials ( that plays into the cd thing pretty hard) but I do not always have to be wearing those types of materials when I dress. Sometimes leather pants, or a pvc skirt is just not the right thing to wear in public.....which brings me to the other factor...comfort....i would MUCH rather be comfortable, and practical while out in public, so i may not particularly be fond of the material itself, it is serving it's purpose, and as stated earlier FIT is everything too.

  19. #19
    Martini Girl Katey888's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2013
    Location
    Old Hampshire, UK
    Posts
    5,271
    Hi Welshgirl... (by-the-by, Welsh female names are some of the cutest and prettiest I've come across - Arianwen is my fave so far... I'm on a crusade to get you to adopt something more harmonic than your current username - but I digress... )

    One of my favourite observations about what we wear as well as how we present is that our behaviours are rooted in motivation. It's why I keep coming back to the awfully perplexing 'why' question, but I think it's relevant - because each of us has subtly (sometimes radically) different motivations for doing this, that leads to different interpretations of presentation and what is right for each of us. I think you will see clusters of similar behaviour and clothing choice, and also some radically different individuals who all fall under this pastel, fringed parasol of CDing...

    I'm waffling a bit because I'm still learning a lot about myself and my own needs and motivations here... A year ago, I could have been typified as: 1980s glam on a twenty something look... but I've moved on a bit from there (thank goodness!), and moved through smart office to summer casual, leggings and tops (that has the remains of nightmares for me...) and always something elegant and glam. I rarely dress to blend, as that tends to be the province of girls that go out more in the vanilla world. I did it a bit for my first outing, but dressing at home should be anything but mundane (sorry Isha... ) and actually you can go out glam, but you have to have the right venue... So you're getting that this is mainly about look for me... and it is very much about 'femulation' (for want of a better word).

    I like to think of that as emulating that feminine something that we so admire, desire and - to some extent - crave to experience... It may not seem it at first, but it is a lot about adoration of women... don't ask me how in our misfiring minds we think doing this is achieving that, other than imitation being the sincerest form of flattery. We can pull off a bit of a 'look', that is actually much better in our minds eye than reality, but it's because we love the look and women so much...

    I'm going to plagiarise a bit here as well from my friend Isabella who summed it up like this (and I paraphrase a bit): "When, as a man, can you ever look fabulous...?" And that has rung a big old bell for me... as ONLY women's fashions really allow one to be ab-fab...

    So yes it's look: styles that de-emphasise the masculine inverted vee shape and emphasise our better individual features are better... This was a big question really, and can go deeper but I think I had better stop now... I hear a cabernet crying to me from an open bottle in my kitchen... I will drink and think some more...

    Katey x
    "Put some lipstick on - Perfume your neck and slip your high heels on
    Rinse and curl your hair - Loosen your hips, and get a dress to wear"
    Stefani Germanotta

  20. #20
    Gold Member Read only Rachael Leigh's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2013
    Location
    Dallas Ft Worth metro
    Posts
    5,589
    For me it has to look right for sure that's why I try on before I buy, almost always in drab too.
    Style is important and then how does it feel on.

  21. #21
    Aspiring Member phylis anne's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2014
    Location
    wenatchee washington area
    Posts
    561
    Well as a newbie still peeking out of the closet I tend to dress blended unisex style as I get more comfortable and come to the realization no one is watching anyway unless you really call attention to yourself then I will get a little more girly I tend to prefer pants so as I get more comfy will switch from ladies jeans to dressy slacks
    hugs phylis

  22. #22
    New Member
    Join Date
    Feb 2015
    Posts
    2
    For me, it's firstly the feel of silky pantyhose, ever since I was a teenager I have loved slipping my feet and legs into them. After that initial great feeling, I concentrate on wearing what I can that will accentuate my legs. I'm lucky to have small feet (women's size 9), and I'm 5'10" and I have nice legs, so it's usually high heeled pumps, the pantyhose, and either a skirt or jacket which only comes down to my upper thighs. I personally love how I can make my legs look, and the looks I've gotten from men when I've ventured out confirm that they like the look, too!

  23. #23
    Senior Member Angela Marie's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2015
    Posts
    1,297
    I have always loved tights. I started by wearing my moms tights years ago. Now they are an integral part of my ensemble. I love the way my legs look in the. I Work out daily so I have well toned legs and I have a petite frame (5 ft 7 140). One of my favorite outfits is my nice short, tight red sweater with a pair of blac tights and heels

  24. #24
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Apr 2011
    Location
    Australia
    Posts
    1,336
    It is a toughie.

    Mostly look, sometimes feel, increasingly functionality.

    E.g. I like the LOOK of denim jeans and skirts but I hate the FEEL of denim. Just not my thing. I have a couple of nice flowy knee to calf length skirts in light cotton and I really like the LOOK and the FEEL but they frankly are just not that functional unless I'm doing the "going out looking pretty" thing. Then I have a couple of pairs of 3/4 length pants in cotton drill and denim that I'm not fussed on the look or feel of them but they are really very functional for going to the beach / park with the kids etc.
    Occasionally the whole three happily coincide. I have a really nice silk short sleeve shirt that looks great, feels great and is really functional. Needless to say it gets worn a LOT

  25. #25
    Banned Read only
    Join Date
    Mar 2014
    Posts
    449
    I'm in great shape from cycling, x-country skiing and speed skating, With a full enough skirt I really do not need shapewear or foundation garments. But the feel of a really taut body shaper, elastic panties or waist cincher...it all feels so "non-male" that it's part of every ensemble. It gets me aroused and that is part of Ophelia.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  


Check out these other hot web properties:
Catholic Personals | Jewish Personals | Millionaire Personals | Unsigned Artists | Crossdressing Relationship
BBW Personals | Latino Personals | Black Personals | Crossdresser Chat | Crossdressing QA
Biker Personals | CD Relationship | Crossdressing Dating | FTM Relationship | Dating | TG Relationship


The crossdressing community is one that needs to stick together and continue to be there for each other for whatever one needs.
We are always trying to improve the forum to better serve the crossdresser in all of us.

Browse Crossdressers By State