Any of you older girls remember the Catalog days!

[nicole01r]

I just finished ordering a new dress online. When I started ordering online I would fill out the orders and then go through a routine of trying to hit the order button or just delete it until I finally just ordered it. Now just order without any hesitation. Then I started thinking of when I first started experimenting and would love when my mom would bring home all the catalogs from all thee department stores . My brothers would go straight to the toys but I would go straight to the girls clothes. I would tear out the order blanks and fill them out and a lot of the times they would have the entire outfit dress, shoes, jewelry and all on the same page so I would pretend to order everything the model had on.
Then when I finally had my own checking account and a safe address to mail to it all started! I would fill out the order,enclose a check and then go through the same thing of going by the post office and maybe mail it or not until I did it! Now the wait and guessing game. It would take 3 weeks to month sometimes to get my stuff! Checking the mail every day with great anticipation until finally it came. Rush home to try everything on. Success!!
Now you can get anything the next day and you can track I your package almost by the hour! I have been brave and bought 1 dress, a bra and about 5 pairs of shoes in stores a few times but do almost everything online!

[kimdl93]

Oh god, yes. It was something I waited anxiously for each season. I'm not at all nostalgic about the styles of the 50s and 6s, nor some of the torture devices that passed for women's undergarments in the day, but the women's wear section was fascinating nonetheless. Literally the stuff my dreams were made of!

[Sarah Beth]

I could wait for the new Sears and JC Penney catalogs to come out. I would put a finger in the toy section of those big catalogs and then turn to the women's wear section and just enjoy looking at all the dresses and skirts and yes the lingerie, and back then I was much more fascinated by the lingerie than the rest. Then I remember when they went to having separate catalogs for different things and you could go into the store and pick up the catalogs whichever ones you wanted. I would go in and get those special ones at sear and put the tool catalog on top and walk out of the store with them, the same a Penny's but no tool catalog so the men's wear one on top of the others.

After I was marred we would get a lot of catalogs in the mail in various places and some of the women's wear one's came in my name and at first I was embarrassed about that but now I get a woman within catalog that comes in my name and one from blair too.

[Meghan4now]

It's much better now. In the old days, the only thing I knew about forms, etc. Was from the back pages of penthouse. They had ads from Michael Salem. It always seemed a bit cheesy, expensive and just a little creepy to me then. Now you can get better quality stuff at cheaper prices from classier places.

[Christie ann]

I do remember the well worn girls clothes and girls toys section of the Sears catalog. I so wanted a doll house. That wasn't going to happen in the 1960's.

[Stephanie47]

Heck, yes I do. I loved getting catalogues from JC Penny, Sears, et al. The best was the Victoria Secret catalogues that came to our mailbox because my daughter used my credit card there. Alas, the internet is really better.

This morning I got an email from Macy's and went to their offering of six panties for $28. I was looking through the reviews for Vanity Fair panties of the style I wear. I buy two different full coverage briefs. I read on each at least 8+ reviews by buyers who identified themselves as men. It was at least 10% of the total reviews on each. And, buy clicking on the male reviewers "handle" I could follow the link to reviews they posted for bra and dresses, although those reviews did not identify as male. That is something that we did not get from mail catalogues.

[Jaylyn]

I can definitely relate to this thread. I would get all the old ones out of the trash can and carry them to my secret stash out in the old barn and hide them in the wall of the hay loft. I loved Sears, Montgomery Ward, and Penny's. I spent many hours just sitting and looking thru them usually in the hosiery, girdles and bra sections. I fantasized many times about them. I would pull moms old hose, ( usually with runners) her old undergarments that she discarded out of the trash and kept them in the same place. Her slips and hose I would put on and sit looking at the catalogues. There's a good feeling when you move and the silky slip just brushing across those hose.
I ordered my heels and my forms over the net and felt some of the same anticipations mentioned here waiting for them to arrive. I did ask though since we are a rural route if they would put them in a plain warraped box. This small town and knowing the workers and delivery guys one still has to be carefull.

[Linda E. Woodworth]

Yes, I too remember the days of looking through the JC Penny's or Sears catalogs staring enviously at all the feminine finery and wishing I could wear it. I never did get up the nerve to order anything, even when I was out of college and on my own.

Like many of us, I've gotten over much of my phobia's and now just go into the store or on line and buy it.

[Veronica27]

I am Canadian, and up here we used to have the Eaton's and Simpson's catalogues. Both have been defunct now, as well as their stores, for a long time. I still have the final Eaton's catalogue ever published in 1976, and it is quite fascinating to see the fashions. My mother usually had the Eaton's one, which I can remember from about the mid 40's on. I was only interested in the toys back then, but it became my primary source of information about female clothing in my young teen years in the early 1950's. Simpsons catalogue operation merged with Sears at some point, and eventually the whole company became Sears. Eaton's was bought out by the Bay. The Sears catalogue still operates in Canada, but I do most of my searching now on their website. In my teen years, I can remember spending many pleasant hours deciding how I would build a wardrobe, if I had enough money, adding up the cost of the desired items to try to come within my imagined
budgetary "means".

Veronica

[carhill2mn]

My family got the Spiegel and Montgomery Ward catalogs. I would look at the pretty party dresses and shoes for girls and wish that I could have them.

[michellecd9999]

I am in my late 50's so yes, I remember the catalogs. This got me thinking... I think looking through these were a big influence and spark that started my crossdressing. I remember long before I dressed, looking through the catalogs (JCP, Sears, Wards) and admiring the dresses, shoes, etc, my favorite was the lingerie, hosiery and nightgowns. I started dreaming what it was like to look like the models in these catalogs and eventually I put on one of my mom's nightgowns and the feeling was ecstatic! From there I tried hose/pantyhose, slips, bras, then dresses and shoes. I used to fantasize about having to go through a catalog and pick out shoes, dress, lingerie, etc, which my mom (or another female) would purchase and then bring it to me and I HAD to model it for them and try and look as much like the model in the catalog. It is easier to order today online and remain anonymous, but I also buy things in stores (usually in male mode).

[Cheryl T]

I loved the catalogs (and still get some) and spent hours examining the looks.
I also loved having the catalog and being able to order and have it sent to the store to pick up. Some still have that now, but most of it home delivery.

I also loved Playboy magazine. While my friends drooled all over the models and lingerie I did too...but mostly the lingerie

[Amy Lynn3]

Girls, all of you bring back many memories of getting those catalogs. I know I looked the ink off many pages in the ladies sections. A thought ran through my mind, as I read this thread. I wonder if the major department stores would be in the financial trouble they are in, if they still produced the large catalogs ?

[Ashley Lyn]

I fully relate.. Spent many hours going thru those thick catalogs admiring the models, but mostly the clothes..
.. bras and panties were my favorite.. stockings too..

[Lea]

I would always look forward to receiving the catalogs.

I would spend hours looking at the clothing. Sometimes I would figure out everything I would need to live full time as a girl. Then I would go to sleep hoping to wake up as a girl. Never worked but I kept wishing.

[Heidi Stevens]

Who said they went away?! My wife still gets catalogs from Chicos, J. Jill, Talbots, Soft Surroundings, Soma, Pendleton .... well you get the idea. She's on line too, but just can't ditch the hard copies. That's fine, I get to browse too!

[Samantha2015]

Some of the first girl stuff I ordered was from the Fredericks of Hollywood catalog.
I don't remember how got the catalog in first place to order from though.
That was in the early 90's and the strange thing is prices for high heel pumps
are about the same today, some even cheaper.

[Cara Lacey]

Ahh, the Sears catalog.
Bras, girdles, and corsets.
I'm getting a little frisky just remembering it.

[nicole01r]

Ah, I almost forgot about trying to purchase my first wig. There was an add in some magazine so I cut out the order form picked the style and color made out my check and rushed to the post office to mail it. I waited desperately for it to come but it never arrived. I checked my acct for the canceled check but it too also never posted to my checking acct. It took About 15 years and the Internet to finally get one. Now I have 3!

[Ally 2112]

My mom always got the Sears catalog for years and of course my favorite was the womens section

[Robin414]

OMG yes! My favorite was the Sears Christmas Wish Book, I'd spend hours reading it as a little kid! I'd switch between the girls section and the toy section while watching TV 😀

[Jilmac]

I did plenty of catalog shopping back in the day. I would write my order, purchase a money order for payment, and have the order shipped to a post office box. Generally. my items would be an exact fit, but sometimes it would be hit or miss. When I ascended from the closet to the outside world, my shopping habits changed. I no longer use catalogs due to obsolecense, but I don't do much on line shopping either. Now I do all my shopping in stores where I can try on my favorites. I walk out with my purchases in hand, no more order forms, no more post office box, and no more waiting.

[Robin777]

Loved the catalogs! I always went straight to the women's section and looked at the lingerie and the clothes.I Always hid the browsing from everyone else. I would have the toy section bookmarked so I could flip to it if someone came into the room. If you were like me you hated going to the boys clothing section when it came time to buy new clothes for school. My mother always told me to pick out something for school. I liked looking at the girls clothes better. To this day I hate buying male clothing. I have more fun at the store going through the racks of ladies clothes with my wife. I miss the Sears and JC Pennys catalogs.

[AmyVanessa]

I remember perusing through the JCP catalog as a kid. Especially the bras, all the pages of them, deciding which were my faves.
I sooo wanted to wear them

[MissTee]

Oh yes! Sears, JC Penney, and Montgomery Ward catalogs were anxiously awaited in my youth. The Sears Christmas catalog was coveted by young and old alike. As young boys we pretended to not notice the women's section in those catalogs, but in private it was a different story.