Help Buying Clothes

[Alex37]

This weekend I'm going shopping for shorts, pants, and sunglasses, and I'm getting a hair cut.  I know there's probably a thread for this somewhere, but I'm lazy.    What style of shorts or pants would help me get read as male the most often? (and don't say baggy cargo shorts because I'm not wearing them)  I know I either need to hide my hair line, but that's all I can think of to tell the stylist.  I think I remember hearing that aviators were a good choice for sunglasses, but any other suggestions/ comments?  Any advice would be greatly appreciated.  If it helps, I'm 5ft2, about 105lbs.  Fortunately, I don't have huge hips, but I do still have them.  Thanks!

[Robert Scott]

I think it's a matter of trial and error.   I know that my son wears guys painter paints and they seem to hide his hips well -- he is a small guy too and has the physical shape of a guy - he's 5'8 & 135lbs

Try on a variety of things and see what looks good on you and what you think hides your hips well.

As for a hair cut.  I go to a barber and ask for a traditional cut -- there is no way my body can be read as anything as a female -- and they cut my hair like a typical guy.

[EliNewGuy]

I would stay away from baggy cargo pants actually, because the extra bulk on the sides from the pockets could accentuate hips.  I'd go for a very streamlined short.  The plaid ones are in right now, as are pinstripes.  Oh wait, I'm thinking gay fashion.  If you're straight, maybe disregard the pinstripes, but straight guys are wearing plaid all over the place. 

Aviators can accentuate the fact that your face is too small for your shades if you don't get just the right fit.  You might want to steer clear.  I've always wanted them but they make me look ridiculous. 

Hope this helps!

[Squirrel698]

I agree that Barber Shops delivers the best haircuts.  Not only that, it's a great experience all around. 

Plaid shorts might be okay but stay away from plaid shirts if you want to pass as male.  ... For most people plaid screams lesbian.

I'm tall which helps quite a bit but for me baggy cargo shorts work great for passing.  And they are comfortable as all heck ...  Besides that bootleg jeans and khakis also do good with larger than average hips.

Another thing to remember is to never ever tuck your shirt in until your hips are male hips.  A good trick is to find a short sleeve button up shirt that falls about just above the crotch area or a little lower.  It's easily layered with a tee shirt to help hide things and it really gives a nice streamline to the lower body.       

[RyGuy]

http://www.zappos.com/volcom-frickin-plaid-chino-short-ebony-heather

if you're really definitely opposed to cargo shorts, these are actually cool right now...

but seriously when i think man in the summer i think cargo shorts. so much so that my family actually has a game we play whenever we go out called "cargo shorts" and you win by finding and pointing out a higher number of men and boys in cargo shorts than anyone else on the trip....

i don't know about where you live but it's actually almost unheard of here to ever see a man not wearing tan cargo shorts in the summer. they'll change it up with the occasional swim trunks or basketball shorts but seriously it's almost like the young mens summer uniform.

[ilovetodrinktea]

Being poor, I think I've got a cheap but genuine response to this; Go to a salvation army/less expensive than goodwill hand-me-down store, stock up on appealing clothes that are just slightly bigger than your build (depending on your shape/preference, of course), and if it's summer, cut off the pant legs to the size you want (measuring tape, as i've recently learned, really helps), as well as the shirt sleeves. Being pre-op top, I wear thin, regular (often dark-colored) T-shirt under a thin (usually plaid) button-up. I pass everywhere but the last time I picked up the phone (which was months ago). Then it's all about just feeling fine and confident.

This works effectively for me, because dressing in raggy/nomadic threads diverts the common eye from your body shape (and is more likely to leave folks to wonder where and how you live). I think it also makes you look more approachable and down-to-earth, as well as easy-going (but that does depend literally on how you look at the world). I know clothing-appearance is important to some, but I really don't think it matters, and the simpler the better.

I hope that helps someone.

[Darrin Scott]

I'd also like to point out that you don't need a tape measurer. You can take an existing pair of shorts of desired length and cut the new ones to size that way. That's how I do it. Seems to work.

[RyGuy]

true that. plus, buying at goodwill for literally 1/10 the price of first-hand clothing stores gives you a lot of room to find out what compliments your body type and what you can and can't wear when it comes to body passing.

[anibioman]

if you wont wear baggy cargo shorts will you wear slim cargo shorts? because H&M sells slim cargo shorts. but what you should wear really depends on your body type. i swear by H&M and urban outfitters, i wear slim cut jeans because everything else looks huge on me cause my legs are really skinny. if you lower your pants to the top of your butt or mid butt helps hide your hips a lot.

[Jigsaw]

I have seen a few threads that say stay away from the plaid shirt, but I have to disagree with this on the fact that it depends on just what type of shirt, etc. you are buying.  If it's flannel.... yeah, stay away from that 100%.   On the other hand, I wear plaid shirts and pass with no problem.  The shirts I wear come from REI (outdoor outfitter) and I wear them with pants and shoes that are made for folks who are active on trails and outdoors.  They are light and very comfy.  In fact if you walk into REI's men section right now almost half the shirts there are plaid!

So my 2 cents worth is if you like the shirt and it works for you....get it.  If it fits your look, surroundings, etc.... nobody will label you unless they have another reason to. 

[Alex37]

Thanks for all the replies!  I just got my hair cut.  It's not as awesome as my last one, but it was about a third of the price, so meh.

Actually, I am gay, so the gay suggestions are fine.   On campus baggy cargo pants are the norm, but I try to dress a bit more stylishly than the average guy, and my artist friends would laugh their a**es off if they saw me in baggy cargo pants (not that I'd care, but I do want to look stylish.)  I have noticed that a lot of gay guys are wearing more streamlined cargo pants and pinstripe shorts, so I'll keep that in mind.   

And I'm all for shopping at thrift stores, and cutting off the legs of pants.  That's actually what I'm wearing right now, and it's what lots of my friends do- they just buy girls pants at thrift stores and they've got $2 skinny jeans.  I just cut off my old girls jeans, and now I've got skinny shorts.  I suck at shopping though, despite wanting to look stylish.  So, whether I shop at Value Village vs H&M depends on whether my fashionable friend is going to be able to go shopping with me tomorrow. 

Jigsaw:  I'm glad to hear that you pass in flannel shirts because that seems to be what my guy friends are mostly wearing right now. 

Squirrel698:  Thanks for the tip about layering a button up over a t-shirt.  It's way too hot in Atlanta right now to wear layers, but when it gets cooler out that's a great idea.  And if the shirt goes past my crotch it will hide what isn't there. 

EliNewGuy:  Thanks for the tip about the aviators.  I guess I'll just try on a bunch of glasses and see which pair makes me look the most manly. 

[insideontheoutside]

I'm always on a constant hunt for good clothes and a quest to be fashionable in them

I am NOT one of those baggy cargo short guys either. For one, when you're already short, things that are baggy tend to make you look short and wide and/or fat. I'm not one of the traditional haircut guys either. And yes - they were originally for work type or outdoor type activities ... don't know how they got so popular either.

Hair is a whole other topic really lol.

I do own a flannel shirt. Flannel shirts are not bad. They're basically just plaid shirts with different material. And plenty of hipsters and more fashionable men wear them.

I've found that most guys button down shirts are either a solid color, plaid or stripped. There is the occasional pattern but it's hard to find something that's not like some old man tommy bahama shirt or similar. Actually I'd love to know where Clinton Kelly (What Not To Wear) gets his pattern shirts because they're always ace!

Layering is certainly something I've found that works if done properly. I've been trying to pay attention a lot to other guys I know of that dress in a way that I'd be interested in as well as looking at a lot of sites on the web.

Generally, I think if you want to be "stylish" like I think you want to be you want to stay away from the baggy/oversize clothes, printing-disaster (those types of shirts where print is all over them), sports attire and those types of things. Sure those are all men's clothes and they work for a large portion of guys out there who don't much care about clothes but being "put together" takes a little more effort imo

Here's some other options I'm finding work once I get around putting outfits together:

1) Nice jackets
2) Blazers (not the normal type but more that fitted, European type)
3) ties, hats, belts, scarves, and other accessories
4) more fitted pants
5) dark wash jeans (or dark/black skinny jeans if you can get away with it)
6) hipster t-shirts (think threadless.com, etc.)
7) button down shirts, sweaters, cardigans, fitted hoodies, etc.
8 ) pinstripes (pants, the more fitted shorts, etc.)

I've totally come up on some awesome stuff at thrift stores too. I found a black leather jacket (nice style that actually buttons as opposed to zips) the other day for under $20 that's pretty hip. I also scored a v-neck sweater. I've also found some cool barely worn black short boots not too long ago.

I should add to this some of the places I look to for inspiration are Details magazine and urban outfitters