Did it start with shoes for anyone else?

[julieanneharton]

Following Sometimes Steffi's advice from the intro. forum:

I've had a shoe fetish for as long as I can remember. In my early teens, this progressed to trying on women's shoes (mostly the mothers of my friends, as mine didn't go for heels). This persisted for a few years, until none of them fit any longer. It turned into a desire to have girl friends dress in heels, and for several years buying them for them (once, I remember, being very put out when a shop assistant insisted that they looked too small for me, as I'd told her several times that they were for my gf).

About 11 years ago, I realised I still wanted to wear them myself again, and started buying pairs online. It took several attempts to get a decent fit, and of course I started off way too high. Initially, it was for the thrill, but quickly, it turned into a challenge to learn to walk properly in them. It wasn't long before just putting a pair on made me feel infinitely more relaxed, and I'd start wearing them about the house for day to day chores, and when working from home without a second thought. With high-heeled sandals came the need for polish, and very quickly the need for skirts rather than trousers to wear them with.

Within three years or so of starting to wear heels, I was getting dressed up just to feel relaxed, with no thought to sexual thrills. And, a bit further along, that's where I am today - I paint my nails (toes red, fingers usually only clear matte in public), shave my legs, wear heels, skirts and leggings behind closed doors at every opportunity (I always travel with a few pairs of shoes, skirts, panties and stockings). I've started thinking about dresses, but no real desire to attempt makeup or wigs yet, or to try to pass. I think if I did, I would look rather like Eddie Izzard (i.e. not that convincing); in my more courageous moments I expect that one day I will dress more or less regularly at least up to the waist and fingers, with a style that sort of works, but I'll be very obviously a man, though I'd walk with a woman's gait and be as careful with my nails as they are.

Internally, the more I've dressed, the less masculine I've felt; taking online tests and assessments these days I score anywhere from Androgynous to M2F in-transition, but never more M than F. This is much more gender fluid than I used to expect to feel (for some years, I thought I would just be a man in a dress- now, I think I'm more likely to be "me in a a dress and heels" for values of "me" well toward the middle-right of the M2F spectrum).

Anyway, that's a lot of background for a simple question. Did anyone else start with shoes, or anything else in particular, or was it always simply "I want to dress like a woman"?

Julie Anne

[Eve_cd]

Me too. High heeled boots in particular, then on to hosiery, then gradually down the rabbit hole. In my personal utopia, I would most likely have an entire closet just for shoes. Oddly enough, I only have two fully functional pairs of male shoes. (I keep the most recently junked sneakers for grubby tasks)

[Micki_Finn]

Nope. Love shoes but that’s not where I started. And btw, PLEASE don’t put any stock in “online tests”. Those are, as they say, for entertainment purposes only.

[Stephanie47]

It was something else. Specifically it was full slips. My mother use to hang the laundry to dry in the long hallway which lead to the bedrooms in our apartment. The way she hung the clothesline meant one had to go under the line twice. There was another drying rack suspended from a rack over the bathtub. I loved the feel of nylon. It was a fabric like I never felt before and nothing like any of the boy clothes I wore. At first I would just fondle it. After awhile I would take a slip down and wear it in the bathroom. I have accumulated over 400 full slips in various styles, colors, lengths and lace patterns. I rarely see slips for sale in my local Goodwill stores, and, any pretty vintage slips in larger sizes command outrageous prices on ebay and other on-line sale/auction sites.

[JenniferMBlack]

It did not start with the shoes. Sadly i have had large feet for what seems like forever. I did try to put on some heels a few times early on but always found them to be too small. Shoes were the last piece of the puzzle for me.

[docrobbysherry]

I'm a fetish dresser. But, shoes weren't my first love when I began dressing!

However, they r certainly part of it now!

[rockerreds]

Yes, I bought a pair of mules at Madewell, which started the whole ball rolling, a dress from Madewell pushed me into serious trans territory.

[Vickie_CDTV]

Heels and then hose were my initial interests. I was fascinated with high heels. I think a fair number of crossdressers felt the same when they were young. fascination with heels is pretty common across generations (not sure if that is true for the under 30 dressers though.)

[Paulie Birmingham]

Nope. Panties for me

[Diane Smith]

I was obsessed with heels from a very early age, but didn't have access to any I could wear. I am an only child, and my mother had amazingly small feet, so even by the time I was 5 or so, her few pairs of heels were already too small to fit me. So although I would have liked to start with shoes, I shifted my attention to stockings, girdles, and jewelry for a few years until I could finally buy my own heels that fit starting around age 12. By that time, I had my ears pierced and routinely wore nail polish, lipstick and pantyhose (but rarely outer clothes - same problems with accessibility and fit).

- Diane

[Jessifox85]

It was never about shoes for me, it was always dresses at a younger age. As I got older I enjoyed hosery, but now alot of things that never attracted me to dressing are becoming my more favorite things. Hair for one. When I was younger I had great long hair, now I'm balding. So I like the way the hair feels on my shoulders. But shoes were never a concern scince I never go out, but I did get a pair of pumps the other week, my first pair of female shoes, a two inch heel, (already being over 6ft tall I I didint need much heel. I'm still learning how to operate them seeing how they didint come with an instruction manual. But it is exhilarating to hear that 'click' on the floor and my calves perk up when I walk. I'll definitely be buying another pair of shoes soon.

[~Joanne~]

Mine started with pantyhose, then came shaving and polish, then came heels....then....well, you know the rest lol

[Pixie_94]

In my case they were actually the last thing I bought related to any of this. They didn't last long either.

[LovelyLeesa]

My first thing was pantyhose. Still is. I love wearing them and I love seeing women wear them... Especially with a nice set of heels. Sadly my wife rarely wears pantyhose.... Or high heels. She owns only low heels and flats. She has bigger feet and having lost some weight I can wear one pair of her shoes that are now too big for her. I would love to have a nice pair of heels to wear with my other women's clothing but hard to find in my size and I don't want to buy online and find out they don't fit. Same with finding a wig to cover my short hair and make me more confident wearing my undergarments and dresses out on my night time walks. I've waited this long I'll eventually acquire some I hope.

[Elizabeth G]

I didn't start with shoes but when my crossdressing urges, which have come and gone over the years (back for good now I believe) came raging back some years ago shows were my first purchases. I now have over two dozen pair, way more than the number of men's shoes I own.

[Kelli_cd]

My start was nylon - panties first, then slips.
Now, I under dress every day.

[BTWimRobin]

It started with trying on mom's stockings. The rest as they say is history.

[Alice Torn]

Nylons was it for me. But heels too. I actually considered cutting the uppers off of cowboy boots to make them into high heel shoes! I have huge feet! Later, found Snaz75.com which has size 16 lady size shoes.

[NancySue]

In my youth, our next door neighbor sisters and I often played together, which included ?dress up?, which held little interest...until they dared me to wear nylon stockings. They were my first. I can still remember the pleasure they gave me. High heels followed. I could walk very well in heels. I?ve progressed and now dress completely but heels and hose remain my #1?s. I, often underdress in all forms of lingerie...panties daily.

[Cheryl T]

No, for me it was lingerie.
However, I do have a particular love of shoes as my wife would atest.

[CayleeMarie]

It wasn't shoes for me either... since I have cross country skis for feet, shoes are the last thing I obtained to complete the wardrobe. My hook was lingerie.

[AmyVanessa]

With me it was lingerie, particularly bras.
Then shoes.

[Dani0948]

When I was about 9 or 10, I frequently played with my two younger sisters. Our next door neighbor gave us some of her old high heeled shoes for dressup. The shoes were a little big for my sisters, but fit me perfectly. I recall playing dressup quite frequently until I outgrew the shoes

[Karmen]

For me started with pantyhose and shoes at the same time. Luckily when I started to try on women's clothes, I had about the same feet size as my mom, so I was able to wear my mom's old high heel sandals she didn't wear any more and were stashed away in a storage room. When my feet got bigger, I bought my first pair of heels and hide them in my room.

[Gaz]

Started with undies for me as well, but remember trying on some of my mum's shoes. I absolutely love the way a woman's leg looks in a pair of heels, but wasn't until I was gone and living on my own that I thought "hmm, maybe I should try a pair myself." Being in my 20s I ordered a ridiculous pair of thigh high (fake) leather boots with 5" heels that I could barely squeeze into (couldn't zip them up all the way) and almost broke my ankle in the first time I tried walking in them. Returned the next day.

Since then, have accumulated a ton of ill-fitting heels that I never wear. Out of my collection, I have about 5 pairs that actually fit me, and I can walk in with some comfort. The older I've gotten the more I've gone away from "stripper heels" and stilettos preferring things that are more chunky and sensible. (The joys of getting older!)