I don't do that anymore!

[Judy-Somthing]

Do you tell people "I don't do that anymore!" that knew you dressed back in the day.

I started dressing somewhere between 5 and 8 years old in in my teens I introduced my friends to the fun of Cross-Dressing.
Once in a while a bunch of the neighborhood kids would get together dress up and trade clothes.

Some didn't dress, thought it was crazy. Sometimes the neighborhood girls would do our makeup.

As we got older everyone started going their own way with their lives.

Now when I see old friends and we talk about the good old days and Cross-Dressing comes up I say "I don't do that anymore!"
I'm afraid what they'll think.

[Aunty_Hazel]

I say the same
...and up to a fortnight ago, it was the truth.

[Teresa]

Judy,
The shame is through various reasons it's not the answer you truthfully give !

Sorry you can't be honest with family and friends . My circle is wider than I thought and getting bigger ! No it doesn't bother me anymore .

[Sometimes Steffi]

I'm jealous. Such an outstanding time as a kid. I wish I could have done that.

Maybe some of your friends still crossdress some of the time, or at least they wish the did or could.

I guess the other answer is I'm Peter Pan; I never did grow up.

I don't wanna grow up, I'm a Toys R Us kid.

No, I don't, but I would love to be able to do it again.

[Jodie_Lynn]

No I don't tell them that. First, it would be an untruth. Second, they'd be able to tell from my girl jeans, top and earrings that I do.

[Taylor186]

I crossdressed for a work colleague's Halloween party in the mid 80s and that haunted me for the next twenty years of my working career. It would come up at the craziest and most unexpected times. I generally just laughed and said something like, "it was an amazing costume" or "it was obviously a memorable costume." But, while still working and wanting promotions, you can be sure I didn't admit to being a crossdresser. I was in the closet then, and still am for the most part.

Last year some alum (I'm retired now) got together for dinner and amazingly the topic came up again (over 30 years later!) The person who brought it up to me didn't really ask a question (phishing?) so I just smiled and didn't provide an answer and the conversation moved on.

[kimdl93]

Honestly, I live with the fear that my cross dressing will come up in family circles and among old friends. So much so that I go out of my way to avoid such situations.

[Leelou]

Wow, Judy, what a great childhood experience. I'm totally jealous, I would have loved that!

While I understand your fear now of what they might think if you were honest about still crossdressing, I think you have a great opportunity to come out to them someday. If the topic still comes up, you will probably have another chance if you want. They accepted that part of you then, my strong hunch is that they would be completely cool with it. Just food for thought.

[nvlady]

Taylor, a good answer would be "I looked pretty good didn't I? Thirty years later I sure wouldn't look as good now as I did then>"

[Sara Jessica]

Between an inability to discuss this rationally with people who already "know" and your marriage situation, I fear you will never know peace with this part of your life.

[Sarah Doepner]

The only people who knew I dressed when I was young have all passed away. So for me, it's all new people from this date forward. Being retired and partially out, mostly to close family, I see no reason to deny it any longer because honesty is serving me much better these days. This doesn't mean I'm constantly going out of my way but I'm done with the denial part of this life. It's becoming more stressful than being open about it.

Like Mark Twain wrote, "If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything."

[jennifer0918]

Wow intresting, ok I suspect that maybe 2 relatives may know about me CDing they caught me wearing womans shoes when I was,I guess 8 or 9 years old. Ones reaction was to ask me "what we're you planning on doing?going out dancing? "The other person called me a homosexual and said I was gay. These 2 relatives were and are older then me back then.
I think I would probably answer the same way " I don't do that anymore "
Or maybe have tease them and say yeah I dress all the time,want to take me out ?

[GretchenM]

Wow, what a childhood. My mother caught me early on and that led to me becoming an "I don't do that anymore" person for a long time - like 60 years. Girls did your makeup? Wow.

Did you ever wonder how many of those old friends that played this "game" also are in the classification of the "Don't do that anymore" people? You might be surprised. Perhaps you might get a good chuckle out of imagining who does and who doesn't. But you will likely never know the truth. People are that way. Perhaps they shouldn't be, but they are.

As for your not admitting openly that you still do engage in that, it might not be the most honest thing to do and may perpetuate feelings of guilt and shame, but we each have our priorities based on our circumstances and if that is your situation then I see nothing wrong with it. Some people don't need to know. Although nobody but my mother (and probably my father through my mother) knew back then, but if I had the history you had then I suspect I would do the same thing that you do. Sometimes the consequences of a reveal are more serious than the consequences of not revealing and being found out. All depends on your situation.

[Rayleen]

It happened to me a long time ago, I was dressed for fun, and the picture was in my parents album,
and my cousin came to me saying you dress as a women ? My answer was yes, then what !
He never said any thing else and it was the only time.
Sometimes I suspect the my daughter knows, but we are dadt between us.