Age-appropriate dressing

[Aunt Kelly]

Dressing age appropriate is total bullshit...

So... not being an exhibitionist, who is trying to deliberately attract attention is "total bullshit"?

Right. Got it. Thanks for the tip.

[Hell on Heels]

Hell-o Kaley,
Dressing according to a given situation may be a better way to put it, rather than referring to it as dressing age appropriate. Yeah sure, if it’s an at home thing, anything goes. But if you’re planning on heading out? Some thought should be put into the outfit you plan on wearing to wherever you may be going. I’ve kinda refrained from posting here because this all seems a bit obvious, but then we all make mistakes. Hopefully we become aware of those errors, and learn something from them.
As far as dissing Majella over her BS comment? I think her take on this was not intended to question anyone’s opinion, but more likely in regard to the whole concept of “appropriate”. Simply put...what’s good for one is not good for all.
Dressing to be “seen” at a club? That seems perfectly normal to me. Club wear pushing a shopping cart??? Could someone please point me in the direction of this store?
Much Love,
Kristyn

[JaytoJillian]

When it comes to selecting clothing, I never think about how old it makes me feel I only consider how good it makes me feel.

[Majella St Gerard]

Krisi, Did you stop reading after the bullshit line? I didn't call your opinion bullshit I called the concept of age appropriate dressing Bullshit. Try reading and comprehending the whole post before you rag on someone. Have a nice day.

[Sherrii]

Clint Eastwood said in the Playboy Interview he did many years ago "Some people are old before their time because they think old." If you are "thinking young" and enjoy it well wear what you want. If going out in public maybe you want to blend in a little though. So maybe tone it down if you are going out, but at home dress how you like. Sherrii

[Shayna]

I don't know about age appropriate, but as I've gotten older I've become more comfortable with simple looks - Oversized sweater with leggings and a boot with a chunky heel, or a simple floral print dress. I'll never pass, so it's not about trying yo be age appropriate. I just feel more comfortable not being as sexual in my choices as I was when I was younger.

[Beverley Sims]

Likewise I dress smartly and in clothing that represents me at least ten years younger.

I look dowdy in a longer dress with sleeves.

Mostly something that is reasonably fitting and smart.

Skater skirts are for around home but just above the knee suits me.

In the winter Jeans or other such trousers and knee hi boots with a heel.

Spikes are needed for icy sidewalks tho'.

It was unfortunate that most could not read the complete post and take it in, I am referring to the one by Magella.

Back to the subject and let's not squabble. :-)

[docrobbysherry]

Maybe when I stop being interested in sex I'll stop trying to look sexy?

But, at 75 I'm just not old enuff for that yet!

[penny lace]

I dress way to young but that is because I am allowing the inner me to display and inside I'm still 20!

[Bobbi46]

Sorry folks I've just picked up on this thread so "age appropriate dressing" definately! for example if you are say 60 yrs old dressing up like a 20 something ready for a night out clubbing but instead going to the local shops dressed like that is not on, one would stick out like a boil on the end of ones nose, so yes I think age appropriate dressing is very relavent just as is dressing for a particular situation is relavent as well, mind the deviding line can be very narrow at times.
Near me is a married woman maybe about 55 ish in age and she insists in wearing bottom hugging mini skirts, does she look right? no is she dressing for her age most certainly not. I never fail to see umpteen woman dressed in things they think they look good in but in all matter of fact they do not. I believe in dressing to look right and blending in as best as is possible

[Krisi]

Yes, a woman who tries to dress younger than she really is will be noticed and ridiculed. When I was working we had a contractor's representative who was like that. Probably fifty years old but dressed as if she was twenty. Everybody laughed at her behind her back.

[Sherrii]

Penny lace, you are "thinking young". See my post no. 80. Sherrii

[phili]

I've always been very sympathetic to older women who dress 'too young'- because it is obvious they do it for the same reasons I do- to project youthful, active, and sexually inviting in a modest way, and the corollary- specifically not settled, blending, too old for the game, etc.

I was only sorry when they employed bad makeup to simulate the youthful look, rather than to let their real faces show the beauty of their soul and let the clothes reflect the role they want to play in life. I can't think of a reason why an 'old' or wrinkled face should be used as a reason to exclude someone from the life they wish to lead. Of course, I make the same argument for a specifically male face.

Gender messaging is a two part event, though, and if we have a hostile or critical audience for our presentation, it is no fun. I understand that everyone is trained to judge each other by pop culture norms, but it just keeps artificial barriers up against those who can't compete on those terms.

[Stacy Darling]

I was hit with "his new shorts are what a young girl would wear" in counselling this week.

I'm thin athletic? my fn male shorts are shorter than my femme, and my tops are quite thin.

Being judged on age appropriate dressing should really be a thing of the past, as this will come back to bite!
"Is it the parent telling the child how to dress, or the child telling the parent"

How short are my shorts?
Comfortably short!
Stacy!

[Jean 103]

Really I just turned 63 what should I wear?

I can remember when I was I high school they threw out the dress code.

I live in the real world. I get feedback from my friends GGs.

I wear tight fitting clothes because I am thin and it works for my body. Something that looks good on me may not on like my best friend, her style doesn’t’ work for me, the same goes for my roommate and others.

Some don’t like anything I wear, while others get turned on by it. The two extremes, most are somewhere in the middle, they like ME. It is not just the clothes, but who you are.

For those who agree with this nonsense I have a question. “Why do you want to put people in a box?”

I think it is funny that the people you would think should be more tolerant of others are like the most judgmental.

[Alice B]

I am 76 and what I wear is only my decision based upon how it makes me feel. What someone else decides to wear is their decision and I keep my opinions to myself.

[Maid_Marion]

A baby T looks like a great way for an exhibitionist to show off their flat belly. It is a short, form fitting T shirt that exposes the midriff!

[Rachelakld]

I was at the garden centre with wife 2 days ago.
Wife spotted a woman appearing to be late 60's and commented she's wearing my dress.
Okay she did have tights on underneath, but probably better legs than mine anyway.

IMG_20180224_063739.jpg

My 16 daughter says about my more "age appropriate" wig - if your imitating a female, why not imitate a young one.

[Brandi Christine]

I agree with Kristyn "Dressing according to a given situation may be a better way to put it" The pictures I tend to put up are fantasy pictures I take at home, and unless I were going to a CD themed club (That's my fantasy but not very likely to happen at this time) I would not dress like that in public, but if that is what floats your boat more power to you... I've been in situations where there is a GG who might be fifty but dresses as if she were thirty, and she gets noticed... Isn't that what she wants? I also had a job in a retirement home, there is a woman there in her eighties, and she has long beautiful blonde hair, I told her she looks fabulous and that was the truth... One of my goals it to go out in daylight this year for the first time, I will be dressed cute but not overly sexy, but definitely not dowdy...

[AllieSF]

I am a firm believer in live and let live, which includes dress as you want and I will dress how I want. I have seen cis and trans people dress terribly, and that is OK with me. Sometimes out of place styles catch on and keep our fashion styles forever changing, including our own wardrobes. If you've got it, flaunt it. If you don't have it, fake it!!

[Jaymees22]

What do I know I'm a senior who shops in the juniors dept..
It all depends if I'm trying to blend in out in public or staying at home and dressing for my own amusement.
Sometimes I dress a little over the top going to a support group meeting.
I think it should be up to the individual what they wear and feel comfortable in. We are not the fashion police...

[Maid_Marion]

None of us are getting any younger. Now may be the best time to get in shape to wear not so conservative summer apparel while you can still look good.

[Sometimes Steffi]

Rather than dressing appropriate to my age, I can believe that my age is appropriate for how I dress.

[ToniG]

Age-appropriate & Venue-appropriate have advantages. Called Ma-am on Sat--first one of 2019. Had Senior GG coming at me on the sidewalk, so stepped aside into a driveway. She blurbed "Wont Run You Over, Ma-am" as she went by. Guess I was "passable" enough! Gray maxidress, Blk Sweater, Gray short-hair Wig ( looked like the cart-lady s hair). Passed-by several folks at the bank==no one seemed to pay any attn. My "senior-style" worked again. Can Guarantee that IF I was Out for 2 hrs in a miniskirt & pantyhose ( Not worn by GGs here) -- that my 'results" would be different!!! Dress As You Like---but be reminded that the "where & when" factors can determine whether you get the "clock & mock" or not. Toni G..

[sometimes_miss]

I'd be lying if I said that I don't cringe a little when I see a middle-aged CD in public dressed like a teenage girl.

Why? How does it affect your life? She's just being who she is.

But like I said, dress how you like. But don't be shocked when people point and mock.

and

I'd rather not be the focus of ridicule in that way.

If you think by dressing age appropriate, no one is going to ridicule a crossdresser for dressing up as a female, you're sadly mistaken. They might not hoot and hollar, point and stare, but the ridicule is going on behind your back. We're still not accepted as anything normal by the vast majority of the population.

Does this phenomenon of Pink Fog really exist,never seen it mentioned anywhere but on the pages of CD.com

Where else would it be discussed? It's specific to us. And, it's just a kind term that we use here. The rest of the world just refers to us as being delusional. And THAT term is discussed in plenty of other places. As in, 'He thinks nobody notices he's dressed in his wife's outfit? Is he delusional?' The general population does not use the nice, kind term 'pink fog'. In fact, they almost always use the bad one; that we're crazy.

Lexi, There's flaws in your thinking IMHO. Wear a clown suit in a busy street and 90% will notice you. Dress like the rest and there's no reason for folks to look your way. Yes some will see and read you. Most won't have a reason to look so don't.

It doesn't take much, and people notice things in their peripheral vision far more than you'd think; that's all it takes for them to take a second, more critical gaze, and BAM! You're clocked. Look at all those people that claim to have spotted something 'out of the corner of their eye' even though there's nothing there. Unless you have every mannerism perfect, if you're not passable, people will notice. They may not say anything, but they will notice. The best most of us can hope for, is that they won't be bothered enough to say or do anything.

Dress like a 17 year old while in your sixties, and with the figure of a sixty year old, isn't going to win you any admirers. To the contrary.

We're (old crossdressers) not going to win admirers no matter what we wear. I don't think I've ever heard, or anyone else has ever heard, 'Wow, what a great looking old crossdresser! Good thing she's dressed age appropriate or she'd look ridiculous'.

And yes I feel good when I look in the mirror and take that out on the road.

And so do the people who you might think are dressed age inappropriately, so why do you get to be right, and them wrong?

Although from this thread it looks as though the number of stay at home crossdressers is smaller than I thought!

A sample size of 100 on a crossdressing forum, is hardly enough to define how the majority of crossdressers behave. It never ceases to amaze me, at how many people think that the ideas expressed on this forum accurately describe that of the general population. We're a group of people with at LEAST one aberrant personality trait.

A comment in another thread made me think about this. Look at how your SO dresses and dress similarly.

That would never have worked. Sadly, my ex wife dressed like most guys do. Loose fitting t shirts and asexual style pants oh, 99% of the time. She wasn't exactly a girly girl, and didn't want one for a husband, either, apparently.

When it comes to selecting clothing, I never think about how old it makes me feel I only consider how good it makes me feel.

^Right on!

I dress way to young but that is because I am allowing the inner me to display and inside I'm still 20!

Same here. When I consider how I sometimes feel like I'm supposed to be a girl, I feel, well, sort of 'suspended in time' as that person I was as an adolescent, forever waiting to become that 14 year old girl that I had really believed I would become. Just because I now know it was impossible all along, doesn't stop the feeling from being there, ever present to some degree. Although there's always at least some tiny amount of psychological discomfort from it, at least it's not the crippling GID that a lot of TG folks have to deal with. Don't get me wrong, I've had plenty of very bad, intense GID days in the past. But they're few and far between these days, as I understand why it's happening to me.

I never fail to see umpteen woman dressed in things they think they look good in but in all matter of fact they do not.

They dress that way for the same reason we wear girl clothes. Because it feels good.

I believe in dressing to look right and blending in as best as is possible

Based upon your own idea of what 'looks right'. We each get to decide what that is. For me, it's a plain white button down top and a plaid skirt. with quite long, straight, 'schoolgirl hair'. I didn't get to choose feeling like this. If I could get rid of it, I would. But in the meantime, I'll dress as that 14 year old girl that the protons, neutrons and perhaps bouncing electrons in my head are telling me that I am.

Yes, a woman who tries to dress younger than she really is will be noticed and ridiculed. When I was working we had a contractor's representative who was like that. Probably fifty years old but dressed as if she was twenty. Everybody laughed at her behind her back.

If you actually think that no one's laughing at us behind our backs just because we're wearing 'age appropriate' women's clothing, well, have I got news for you!

Being judged on age appropriate dressing should really be a thing of the past, as this will come back to bite!

Absolutely, Stacy Darling!

For those who agree with this nonsense I have a question. “Why do
you want to put people in a box?”
<snip>
I think it is funny that the people you would think should be more tolerant of others are like the most judgmental.

Well said. I don't get it, either.

Maybe the best one:

My 16 daughter says about my more "age appropriate" wig - if your imitating a female, why not imitate a young one.

What a great sentiment! I think I can speak for a lot of us wacky folks when I write, tell her thank you from all of us 'age inappropriate' crossdressers. The older I get, the more that the fewer times I get to feel young and really happy, are when I get to dress like the pretty girl I always wanted to be. It just feels so good.

I think it should be up to the individual what they wear and feel comfortable in. We are not the fashion police...

Unfortunately, plenty of people think that they are, and it's kind of sad that so many of them are right here, criticizing those of us for not dressing how they think we should. We used to call them busybodies. I don't know what the politically correct term is for them, nowadays.