How important are clothes to your alleviation of dysphoria

[stephaniec]

Just wondering if clothes are as important for the alleviation of your dysphoria or could you remove your dysphoria with just the mental and physical changes of HRT. I love wearing dresses and the physical changes allow me to do that  a lot easier in public, but the HRT by itself is healing me to the point of wanting to live so badly where before HRT it was the daily thought of the most painless method. personally , I don't feel I can be totally me  with out the clothes, just curious if you feel clothes are as important as HRT. ( Disclaimer: in no way is this question intended to harm or cause conflict. it's just for information purpose and if the question is some how misinterpreted I'm truly sorry ).

[Jaime R D]

Not a lot really. I still wear jeans and tshirts most of the time. Dresses tend to make me more anxious and uncomfortable.

[Ms Grace]

A lot. Doesn't have to be dresses or skirts (although I do love to wear them) - now that I've worked out I can pass in pants and shorts too I often wear them more than I do dresses. Being able to wear jeans and a tee and pass as a woman was my holy grail the first time I tried to transition. My inability to get the look to work for me back then (usually resulted in misgendering so I was clearly doing something wrong) was part of the reason I crashed and burned.

[Miss_Bungle1991]

Not a lot really. I still wear jeans and t-shirts most of the time.

So do I. I'm not into all of that dressy, girly crap.

[aylaliara]

HRT is kind of the tool for patience for me. I'm not full time despite being 14 months in, so I'm happy to just wear whatever I like (which is usually androgynous). If I get misgendered when I'm clearly too nervous to be trying then that actually makes me smile. It's weird, really. I like a lot of blazers and jeans and distressed looks, which is hard to pass with, but at the same time I have some days where nothing but wearing shorts/dresses privately at home can brighten my day.

[liz]

It was at first, I needed to wear more feminine clothes to feel better with myself. No dresses cause they were looking odd on me at start.
Now that I can pass even naked (except for not having GRS yet), it doest not matter anymore. I'm more the type to wear a tanktop and jeans.

Everything that could make me look more like a woman was the welcome before. Now if I wear a man t-shirt (still use my old ones when going to sweat like hell), peoples tell me "ooh, you stole your boyfriend t-shirt?" so I care less about clothes I wear, I just try to be comfortable and like myself in the mirror.

I had to wear dresses in the last two months and I now look sexy in it (well that is what I've been told), but I still won't wear one on a casual day it's not my style.

Short answer :
It was damn important at start, it's not anymore.

[LordKAT]

I'm not sure. My first time in women's shoes, I was in my mid 20's. I definitely hated female clothes, but it wasn't like I ever owned much of them.

[stephaniec]

I  went to Target   and bought  the dress I got on in my avatar. you can only see the top though. I'm definitely mentally happier in proper clothes

[KatrinaLynne]

Clothing definitely helps. Outer not as much as under. I absolutely can not go without a camisole for some reason. But when I am wearing a skirt or dress its a total different feeling than with pants or shorts. Might be different if or when I go full time.

[Wild Flower]

Not at all... hair is most important me besides the physical form.

I have short for job purposes but i try to keep it stylish.

[AnonyMs]

Clothing doesn't do much for me, but I think not wearing female clothing is beginning to cause me stress. I suspect its the constant hiding that's doing it. I do like shopping for womens clothing a whole lot more than I ever did for mens though.

[Annabelle]

Hmm not really important. I'm quite content with a hoodie or sports jacket and tracksuit pants or just sportswear in general. Even if it isn't those I tend to like wearing skinny leg jeans and female flannel shirts. For shoes though I generally wear Vans or Converses and sometimes Macbeths

[Natalie]

None. I wear what I like and never liked male clothes so there is no problem there. Men sort of disgust me.

[Nicolette]

Men sort of disgust me.

Tolerance works both ways, does it not?

Pre-HRT, clothes were very important. Post-transition, the importance is very little, indeed.

[Natalie]

Tolerance works both ways, does it not?

Pre-HRT, clothes were very important. Post-transition, the importance is very little, indeed.

I never claimed I couldn't tolerate them. They still disgust me.

[Alexis2107]

I never claimed I couldn't tolerate them. They still disgust me.

Clothes are important to me for now at least.  As far as men, though, I like certain styles (just not on me of course lol)... and my boyfriend wears the style I like and I wear the style he likes when in girl mode.. which is the leggings, skirt, long sweater jacket, shirt under, boots with heels, usually...... although, skirt not required all the time, just when want to feel extra girly at the moment. 

Men gross? no way!!

[Jenelle]

They are very important to me but not the most important part, that would be my hair. I just wish it would hurry and grow

[Alexis2107]

They are very important to me but not the most important part, that would be my hair. I just wish it would hurry and grow

Hair is a pain in the butt... I want to get a wig but eh... not really want to shell out that much cash for one, could if I really got down and need to have it.  I just style it short feminine like... with that, clothes, and make up, it's easy to pass for me.  There are actually some women who are cute with short hair, I could easily get by with it, but I want a different style that requires much longer.  I can probably have it next summer.

[Jenna Marie]

Wearing women's clothes mattered a LOT to me back when that was all I had; once I started HRT, the more I looked like a woman while naked the less I cared about the clothes. Now, at 5 years in, I can even wear men's clothes without any qualms; it took a while to get to that point, but so long as I see a woman in men's clothes in the mirror these days, it doesn't bother me.

[stephaniec]

Wearing women's clothes mattered a LOT to me back when that was all I had; once I started HRT, the more I looked like a woman while naked the less I cared about the clothes. Now, at 5 years in, I can even wear men's clothes without any qualms; it took a while to get to that point, but so long as I see a woman in men's clothes in the mirror these days, it doesn't bother me.

That's   how I feel