trans friendly? really?

[bree_davis01]

ok... honestly been dressing (under cloths whole life) and kinda out n Bout for past 4 years... but anyways, not the topic lol... my question is, for those with some experiences, where can a CD go shopping, that's "trans friendly"?.... I've heard some reports of VS, macys and ulta.. but I'm wanting to build a nice big list to be able to use as reference. I live in columbus ohio and have gone to some places.. I shop online some so don't tell me that lol.. but I'm working on outing myself to a supportive community so all help is appreciated.. ♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡

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[chris.deee]

I've done a lot of shopping while dressed over the years, and have never had any issues either on the store floor or in dressing rooms.

I usually go to Nordstrom, Macy's, White House/Black Market, Loft, or Ann Taylor. I buy my bras at Soma - VS doesn't sell my size. All have been great. 

I've been misgendered a few times by sales people, but it's pretty rare.

I'm lucky that I shop in cities that are generally LGBT friendly, so even if every person on the planet knew I was trans, it wouldn't be a huge deal.

I've only bought women's clothes while in guy mode twice, but I didn't try things on.

[Laura_7]

Well imo it depends on where you shop, and how you behave ... maybe showing its completely normal. And it depends on people there ... some may be more helpful in the same place.

One good source may be second hand stores. Often clothes are not even sorted by gender there.

Another idea might be to have a shopping list ready and look at the paper regularly .
If assistance is offered you might accept or say you will find your way.


hugs

[cheryl reeves]

I do most of my shopping at Wal-Mart. Never had any problems, the second hand stores have hidden treasures if your looking for women's clothes.

[sparrow]

I do 99% of my shopping at thrift stores.  Most clothing stores are curated: a very small number of people are making choices about what clothes go into the store.  If you know what fits your body, you like a store's style, and you really just want be sure that they'll have the thing you like in your size, then fine, go to a retail store.  For all other situations, thrift stores are amazing.

Thrift stores have piles and piles of stuff made for all sorts of body shapes, all sorts of styles, etc.  Where a big department store might have 20 different shirts in various sizes, a big thrift store will have 500 unique shirts.  Where a department store or retail store will have a color palette of 5-10 colors, a thrift store will have all sorts of colors.

It took me a while to figure out how to make thrift shopping work.  I'd grab a few things, furtively take a circuitous route to the change room, spend most of the time in the change room trying not to cry, and eventually settle on buying one or two feminine-looking things that I was able to get my body into.

Today, I do section shopping.  I'll decide that I need more sleeveless tops, for example.  I usually wear a medium or a large.  I'll walk down the entire aisle, examining every small, medium, large, and extra-large.  Every single one.  If I absolutely love something, I'll grab it.  If I'm not sure how something will look, I'll grab it.  I keep going 'til I hit the store limit on the number of things that you can take into the change room, and try 'em on.  My change room experience has changed thanks to HRT -- I'm not sure how this works for crossdressers -- where my criteria used to be "I got it on my body and nothing ripped," I now only keep things that I absolutely love and flatter my body.  I'll repeat that until I've seen every single item in the aisle.  Then, I browse the store to find things that match what I've found -- color, pattern, etc., to make sure that I'll have something to wear with them.  This is a pretty tedious process, so I usually only do one section per shopping trip.

And if you get home and you don't like what you bought... it was only like $5 and it isn't the end of the world.

[RobynD]

Some of the chains i know of: Macy's, target, lane bryant, torrid, famous footwear, DSW, maurices, kohls, H&M, Catherines, Ralph Lauren. There is a lot more.

[bree_davis01]

Some of the chains i know of: Macy's, target, lane bryant, torrid, famous footwear, DSW, maurices, kohls, H&M, Catherines, Ralph Lauren. There is a lot more.

that helps some.. thanks!

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[RobynD]

Adding a few more from personal experience: Dress Barn, Rue 21, TJ Maxx, Ross

[bree_davis01]

I'm hearing that almost all the retail joints are now... I've just been curious because I don't wanna go to a store that's not..

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[chris.deee]

Some of the chains i know of: Macy's, target, lane bryant, torrid, famous footwear, DSW, maurices, kohls, H&M, Catherines, Ralph Lauren. There is a lot more.

Neither Famous footwear nor DSW carry my size (12 woman's), so there's at least one trans person they aren't particularly friendly to. 

Seriously, FF and DSW employees have been friendly enough. The sizes stop at 11 but sadly, I need a store that goes to 12. 

I forgot to call out Nordstrom Rack. Great shoe selection all the way up to 13, plus a wide variety of clothes.  I've bought most of my shoes there and several nice skirts, tops, and suits. And yes, never an issue with shopping while trans. 

[Katiepie]

The places that I have gone that have been friendly and helpful are this list...
Target, Macy's, Nordstroms, Victoria Secret, Uniqlo, Forever 21, and not really a clothing store but DSW has amazing heels, and are helpful!

Kate <3

[VeronicaLynn]

Target has been taking a lot of heat lately for being trans friendly, so I'm doing most of my shopping there. It would be nice if their sales don't see a decline from the boycotters...

[Katiepie]

VeronicaLynn,
From my understanding, is that those who are boycotting Target, are mostly people who do not shop at Target, or those who barely even glance an eye toward them before all this happenstance. Its either that or those who live too far away from Target, so they shop elsewhere, and partly on the consensus in which do not believe we exist.

Kate <3

[VeronicaLynn]

I actually lived in NC for a long time. I can't speak for other places, but Target is quite widespread there and most of the stores were fairly crowded when I lived there...I'd say a good portion of the boycotters were Target shoppers. Whether they go to downmarket Walmart, or somewhere upmarket like Belk or Macy's I don't know, Target generally fits that space in between.

[DawnOday]

I'm hearing that almost all the retail joints are now... I've just been curious because I don't wanna go to a store that's not..

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This is a capitalistic society. If you have enough cash you could  go dressed as Quasimodo and no one would care. Just don't go to the bathroom. Keep an eye out for the fish on the door   

[DawnOday]

Neither Famous footwear nor DSW carry my size (12 woman's), so there's at least one trans person they aren't particularly friendly to. 

Seriously, FF and DSW employees have been friendly enough. The sizes stop at 11 but sadly, I need a store that goes to 12. 

I forgot to call out Nordstrom Rack. Great shoe selection all the way up to 13, plus a wide variety of clothes.  I've bought most of my shoes there and several nice skirts, tops, and suits. And yes, never an issue with shopping while trans.

Hi Cris-deee
Since you shop Nordstroms they sell a brand named Shoes of Prey. They are mail ordered from the internet and custom made. Essentially you create your own shoes in 100's of different designs. They cost like any other shoe at Nordstrom but you do have that solid gold return policy if you don't like them. And they do up to size 15.  I am able to do pretty well with my size 14 male feet.  If you want boots forgetaboutit. I want boots but not 5" heels... By the way I'm back from Denver had a great time.

[Lyric]

If shopping fully "dolled" makes you a bit apprehensive, try shopping with a more androgynous look. Wear women's pants/jeans, a top and shoes that could be either gender (like most women I see in store, BTW). I consider myself basically androgynous and rarely dress too deliberately to look like a specific gender. I have long hair, wear minimal makeup and often am taken as a woman, but I don't make big effort about it.

I've never been hassled about shopping for women's clothing. The above posters are right about the wonderful variety of vintage and thrift stores, but I find the selection of certain types of items in those store poor. For instance, my local Goodwill has tons of women's jeans, but few modern skinny jeans that look any good, so I go to the mall for those. Trust me, though, after the initial odd feeling of shopping for women's things for yourself in public it will be no big deal and you feel comfortable just shopping whenever you want.

[Gendermutt]

The where to go shopping will be highly influenced by how accepting the area is in general. Some stores do try harder than others to accommodate CDers or any other type of person outside the supposed normal. Still though, a macy's or walmart or dress barn  etc etc in areas more accepting will likely be a better experience than areas that are not as generally accepting.

[Kerry30Den]

Great replies so far only thing I can add is to bring a friend if you are apprehensive.  This especially helps while shopping in guy mode (which is all I do).  My wife a my rock and she loves to shop with and for me.  While we are out and about we will look at things and decide if it would look good on me.  We assess price etc and buy accordingly.. same thing we do when shopping for her.  Not sure of sales people/checkers know who the stuff is for and it honestly doesn't matter as once you leave you rarely see those people again.

We shop at Macy's, Fred Meyers, Target, Kohls, Soma, JC Penny, Dress Barn, and many more.. depends where we are at.  If we find something we like we get it.

I will say that I get a lot of stuff on Zulily though... can't beat $20-$30 for name brand tops, dresses, and skirts.