Before you put anything on what was your thought about the idea?

[angpai30]

When I first started dressing at age 5 my initial thought was "I have no friends and it seems that the girls are more prone to have friends; mostly girls. Why not try to dress and be like them and I will have more friends than I could handle?" Which is funny because I kept my crossdressing a secret; as well as I could anyways. My initial thought now is not to dress to be a girl, but to express myself and to relieve stress because it feels good to put on a dress when I come home, look in the mirror and see beauty instead of the every day norm... So what were you thinking when you first started and how has it progressed over the years?

Hannah~~

[mklinden2010]

That's all.

Just the thought, "I think I would like to..."

Life is for living, live.

[melissacd]

I have always gravitated towards things that are considered feminine so for me it was about self expression. It was not necessarily a way to gain more friendships. I did though envy what outwardly appeared as more intimate types of friendships than males typically have. They seemed to be able to bond and share in a way that I could only hope for. Now that I am a near full time cross dresser I have found that I have a level of expression that I love and friendships that are closer to what I wished for when I was younger.

[Barbara918]

At age 8 or so, all I knew was -- there were 3 others in my family (mom, dad, brother) & 2 of them had habits I didnt like.

[PretzelGirl]

In the beginning, I was more thinking about what it would feel like. That kind of thinking still exists when I try something new, but in general it now is more about relaxation.

[StaceyJane]

When I first tried on my mom's clothes I was about 12 years old. I did it because I wanted to be a girl. Today I'm wearing my own female clothes but I'm still doing because I want to be a girl.

[JiveTurkeyOnRye]

My best friend when I was a little kid was a girl, and I remember always seeing her wear tights and skirts and wanting to wear them too and not really understanding why I couldn't just because I was a boy.

[Charis]

Aside from occasionally "slipping up" and wearing siblings/girlfriends clothes while they were not there, I never really wore womens clothes when I was younger, it was always more of a fantasy.

That said, I know that I've mentioned over the years to people, that I thought guys clothes were really boring, and lamented the fact that women got to wear much better clothes.

[Karren H]

"That feels nice". Obviously I didn't put a lot of thought into it..... So call me a simpleton!! Lol

[Jill]

Since I had had fun when I wore one of my sisters old, tattered, ugly dresses on a dare I decided that it would be fun to put on one of the pretty dresses that my sisters wear to church. I remember thinking that I wanted to try on something prettier.

[Lorileah]

I don't think I thought. I just liked the way it looked.

[tommi]

loving the feeling of moms nylons
the old loggs that came in the plastic egg shell

[sherryleigh]

I started trying on panties and hose at age 12, it felt so good and comfortable. When I discovered bras, skirts, dresses and make-up there has been no stopping me.

[Charleen]

For the first 8 years of my life 90% of my friends were girls. My Mom worked nights in a dress shop so I spent alot of time with her as my Father got home late from his day job. My mom was always dressed nice for work and I remember watching get ready. Between my Mom and growing up around girls in frilly things (the 50's after all) I knew I wasn't a boy and didn't want to be a boy and didn't feel like a boy when my Dad tried to do "guy" things with me. I didn't care about sports or anything else manly except cars.
I played dress up with the girls when I was at their house and their Mom's didn;t say a thing and surprisingly my Mom didn't get upset when she heard.
What was I thinking? When I first tried my Mom's heels at the age of 3 was that I'm a girl and should be dressed like one!

[TxKimberly]

I also started at around 5. I was told since as far back as I can recall that I was supposed to be born a girl. The Dr's had told my mother that I was girl, everyone accepted that, and then I blew them all outta the water by being born a boy (well, sort of . . . )
In my fathers home (where I was living at that age) the girls were treated reasonably well, and the boys were treated like dirt.
Ultimately, I just had to know what I would have looked like, what I would have felt like, had I actually been born female.

[Rebecca Jayne]

It looks pretty
Feels soft
Tried it
Liked it

And the rest is history.

[tinalynn]

I don't really remember anything about why I started, just that I always thought that my mom's and sister's dresses were pretty and I liked the way they felt and looked on me. I've always been a little jealous of girls because of what they get to wear... It's like an old snapshot you see in a picture album that brings back a few memories - not too much detail, but warm and fuzzy nonetheless.

[angpai30]

Thank you all for your replies; it kinda makes me feel like I put a lot more into the thinking bit of it than I should have at a very young age. Maybe I am a little too analytical.

Hannah~~

[dogadeniz]

Mine started with puberty as I remember. My face looked like a teen girl even without any makeup. Bones were not fully developed at that age so my body was also very very similar to a girl.

I thought I really need to get dressed and watch myself on the mirror. While watching, it was making me really excited. )kinky)

[Starling]

I didn't think. I was inescapably drawn. It felt good and natural. It still feels better every time. I can breathe.

Lallie

[Teri Jean]

I liked the feel and the look of the dress and the bras and now I'm transgender and living it everyday. It doesn't go away but it does get better.

Teri

[Jennifer Silverstone]

I started dressing as soon as I was old enough to put clothes on unassissted. Definately pre school. I don't recall thinking about it before I started, I just did it and it felt perfectly natural (bra, pants full slip and tights, at age four!). On a semi regular basis too, whenever the opportunity arose. I have long believed in rreincarnation, and although I have no specific memories of a past life, I believe I was a woman before, and my dressing arose out of subconcious memories of everyday routines like getting dressed in female attire. I have always been drawn to more everyday female clothes rather than the glam stuff (though I like that side too), and I believe this is a holdover from my previous existence. I just want to be an ordinary woman... again!

[CamilleLeon]

I'd wanted to long before I ever actually tried it. I'd always seen TV shows and movies in which male characters disguised themselves as women and for some reason that connected with me and I wanted to dress like a woman too...the first time I did it tho my mom's clothes didnt fit me well...but I thought they felt nice!

[tuck n9ne]

i dunno what i thought i was just drawn to it when i was younger

[Toni_Lynn]

Oh a psychologist would love me for what I'm about to say. My thoughts when I first started dressing, when I first put on a pair of panties, when I first put on a bra that was my size and fit me -- as I was at age 13 -- was that I, too, wanted to be special like the girls I went to school with and like my sister.

I saw all these ads on TV or in magazines like Seventeen about how great it was to be a girl, about what a special time it was being a teenage girl, etc etc -- and contrasted them with -- gee Johnny a nifty new pocket knife! ads in Boys Life. Well, you get the picture.

I guess I figured that if I dressed like a girl, I could feel that specialness, too. I could feel how good it was to be a girl. And you know what -- I did

It makes me cry when I think about it, and the way I was abused for just wanting feel special and good about myself.

Huggles

Toni-Lynn