I' too, am a very nervous shopper. I'm not so worried about the SAs as much as the other customers, which I haven't seen mentioned in this thread. When I do work up the nerve to shop (always in guy mode, usually with the help of some Ativan), I avoid any area in the store where anyone else is, which sometimes has me circling a location until the other person moves on, or leaving the aisle I'm in as soon as someone else approaches. For budgetary reasons (and because I'm even more intimidated by a real clothing store), I stick to thrift stores (Savers!) for clothes. Even though I don't have a problem taking a bunch of women's clothes into the dressing room, I always feel rushed to buy the first thing that kind of fits, often ending up with garments that don't really fit once I get them home, or have stains, tears, etc. (And I'll be damned if I can figure out the mystery that is women's clothing sizes.) Cosmetics are a similar story; I'm way too self-conscious to spend the kind of time in the aisle I really need to in order to figure out WTH is going on and get what I actually want. I've given up on shopping for lingerie in stores; that's all through Amazon (which has a generous return policy with free returns if you are a Prime member).
I'm not really sure what to do. I know it doesn't ultimately matter what a stranger thinks of me (as long as they keep it to themselves), but I am an incredibly shy person to begin with, so I'm overly sensitive to any perceived rejection. I can't afford to just buy everything online - even if I could, I'd still prefer to see the thing IRL before I bought it. I'd love to shop in an actual women's clothing store or department store, but that seems waaaay overwhelming. I don't have any GG friends who could be shopping buddies (that would help a lot I think). I wonder if it might be easier to shop en femme, but I don't think I am passable enough yet. I am hoping this gets easier over time (so far it hasn't). I'm open to any suggestions!
Cheers,
~ Summer
