Quote from: kathy b on January 12, 2013, 05:04:38 PM
My original idea
1. A partly opened white blouse with a loose, short, and narrow dark tie
2. Dark pleated straight leg jeans
3. A simple half buttoned vest
4. Black, low heal oxford style leather sneakers
5. A small brim gray fedora to hide my receding hair (don't worry, I'll get some work done to the hair)
6. A long, belted tweed coat for winter.
Anyway, give me suggestions. Everything will help.
Love Kathy
Keep in mind these are strictly my opinions, and may not work for you, depending, especially, on what your daily schedule is like and where you work.
I would avoid ties and vests. These work great for FTMs wanting to go androgynous or even male. With MTFs they are just likely to reinforce a guy look. I'd try scarves, starting with neutral ones if you're worried. Scarves can be your friends. Also, you might want to consider one instead of the fedora, as a way of concealing hair or lack thereof.
If you wear most women's tops without a bra and breastforms, you'll still be read as male, but it will send androgynous vibes. Start with things that have subtle femme details and gradually find your own comfort zone. (It will probably be easy to find... whatever you're willing to wear on the street marks your current comfort zone). Also, jeans and other pants from the women's section, you are likely to discover, can be comfortable, and ambiguous (especially if they contain any lycra or spandex in the material). They may draw attention, but mostly from anyone who already knows what you're going for.
For at least the last 20 years (mid 30s onward, now 53) I have rarely worn anything that didn't come from the women's departments. Only when I added dangly earrings and very obvious shades of nail polish (and much less unisex in color and cut tops and bottoms) did people start asking about my gender identity, and some of those people just didn't remember, for instance, that I'd been wearing post earrings (in pierced ears, on both sides, in matching pairs) almost constantly over the past 10 years.
It is utterly amazing what people will do to not see what they don't expect. OTOH, some of my friends had also probably known for years, and were relieved that the wait was finally over.
There are all kinds of white blouses. To comment I'd probably want to see a picture of what you're thinking of. I can think of
some blouses that might make those other items possibly seem more androgynous. Same with the jeans. Something that hugs the calves is going to be a lot more androgynous than something that doesn't and from "skinny jeans" I take it you do mean something that's likely to reveal the shape of your legs. Whether that works for you or not probably depends a lot on the shape of your legs.
Find a store like Kohl's that will have no problem with you carrying items from the women's department across the floor to a men's changing room. Talk to sales clerks... shopping volume is low this time of year. Between that and the barely recovering economy, they are likely to be more than eager to accommodate you as long as you're respectful and polite, even in stores like Lane Bryant. Big girl stores and those carrying more of an older clientele may be as bit more friendly (and carry age appropriate stock) in part because they are not flooded with teens and there's less likely to be a misunderstanding that you might be looking to set up hidden cams or something in their dressing rooms, if you're looking more for casual, professional or sportswear stuff that's not associated with any of the more obvious kinks.
