Trans females: Wearing your old clothes as your new gender? Yes or no?

[Charlie Nicki]

Has anyone been able to pull this off and still look feminine? My closet is 95% male clothes at this point and I'm gonna go shopping for more female items but it's hard to start from scratch! I really want to make some of my old clothes work for a female outfit, pairing some male items with new female ones might be a way. Also tailor some of them for a more feminine shape. Has anyone done this successfully?

[sweetjohnnylat]

I've brought some old band tee shirts back in the rotation. However they've been girlied up by cutting the sleeves and necklines to appear more feminine.. Some button down short sleeves I have were pretty metro so sometimes I wear one with a tank top underneath.. I guess try what you have and if you're not feeling it let it go? Trial and error I guess.


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[SammyHatesGreenEggs]

While you probably could do that, as in female fashion it seems there's much more room for male style clothing than the other way around, for me it reminds me too much of my male self and is very dysphoric.

Admittedly, my own style right now is somewhat masculine, but at least it's women's clothing.  For example, at work I wear women's straight leg dress pants and a woman's button up blouse.


I've found looking up outfits on google images and Pinterest to be helpful, so maybe you could find ideas for the style you're looking for that way?

[sarah1972]

I have one formal and one regular outfit tucked away for the hopefully never occurring event I have to present male. I also have a few old items I keep for yard work or car repairs. No need to ruin all my cute new clothes for that. I guess once I have the first set of girl clothes worn down, I will kick out the male "dirty" clothes. In the above cases I don't care about looking female but I also know I could still be made as female.

[davina61]

The work uniform is the same (apart from the chest area!!!!) so apart from the old work clothes kept to work on my motors and the hot rod/VW T shirts all the male gear has gone.

[Doreen]

Had a house fire that effectively purged all my former life out from under me.  From there it was easy to simply purchase items that were correct. Worked for me.

[Amaki]

I mean are the old clothes really masculine, I know I still have a while but I hope my clothes look good on my feminine form because some of my favorite hot topic style shirts are in there lol 

[V M]

I kept a few things, mostly blue jeans, button down shirts, flannels and polo tops but because I've developed a rather feminine body shape I look like a tomboyish girl 

People seem to always be checkin' each other out comin' and goin' and most people's attention seems to be drawn to the chest area until you turn around anyway regardless of what your wearing 

[Rachel]

When I needed a bunch of new cloths I shopped at thrift stores. I shop at places like JC Penny and buy off or at the end of a season and get discounts. I shop NY and Company and buy the sales. When I went full time I went full time. However, I still have some old male cloths for dirty work around the house.

In the dead of winter, only in the house, I pulled out a super warm male insulated flannel shirt my first winter. I now have warm woman's winter cloths. Oh, I have several sets of heat tights and tops. They make a huge difference under cloths in the winter.  That and I wear insulated hoodies in the house.

[CarlyMcx]

I have done this.  As a trial attorney I need an extensive business wardrobe.  I exhausted the possibilities for women's blazers pretty quickly.  Most are too short for me; I am a bit long in the torso for a girl my size.

I went back to my closet and grabbed a couple of my men's blazers and sport coats, threw them on over a mini skirt and I loved the look.  And men's sport coats feature a much wider variety of patterned fabrics than women's blazers do.

One problem was, after two years on hormones, I was swimming in my old sport coats.  So I found an alterations tailor and went to work.  I had to have them taken in at the shoulders and waist, have the sleeves reduced in diameter, and have the bottoms hemmed up about two inches.  I also jazzed up a couple of them by swapping out the buttons for new ones made of mother of pearl or of acrylic in bright colors.  After all the mods, they look cute and feminine but serious and business like.  And interestingly, the male cuts and fabrics seem to heighten my femininity.

So my old sport coats and some suit coats are repurposed as boyfriend jackets.

One word of advice:  Dont waste your money altering cheap clothing.  You will just give yourself and your tailor a headache.  Doing this is not cheap; I spend anywhere from $60 to $160 per jacket, but on a jacket that retailed for $600 new, believe me it's worth it.  I started out with blazers and jackets from Brooks Brothers from my own admittedly extensive male wardrobe.  Then I grabbed whatever else I could find at a deep enough discount to justify the tailoring costs.  If you don't have quality menswear to work with, get some either from a place like Nordstrom Rack or Saks Off Fifth, or hit the thrift stores or evilBay.  The good news is, when you have this much work done, you don't have to start with your exact size.  I've found I can go an inch or two over and it won't matter because of all the tailoring I'm having done anyway.

Here's a link that I found when I was researching repurposing my old stuff: 
https://verilymag.com/2014/12/how-to-thrift-an-oversized-coat-winter-trends-2014
Hugs, Carly

[KathyLauren]

Aside from a few grubbies that I kept for messy jobs, I have a couple of somewhat flashy vests that I wore for performing music.  I had kind of a sentimental attachment to them and kept them when I purged my male clothes.  But the more I think about it, the less I think I'll ever wear them again.

That leaves my Air Force mess kit.  It is kind of a tuxedo, but with a unique cut that makes it the wrong thing to wear anywhere that penguin suits are worn.  I wore it for my wedding (23 years after I got out of the Air Force, and I only had to have it let out a little bit!) and for a dress-up gala a couple of years ago.  I will never wear it again, and no one else will want it.  I can't even give it to a currently-serving member, because the style has changed.  So I guess I'll salvage the pilot's wings and then garbage it.

[TonyaW]

Kept a few t shirts, thermals, and a couple of jackets. I'll start wearing the t shirts again if ever get enough boobage that I don't look like a guy in them

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[Charlie Nicki]

I kept a few things, mostly blue jeans, button down shirts, flannels and polo tops but because I've developed a rather feminine body shape I look like a tomboyish girl 

People seem to always be checkin' each other out comin' and goin' and most people's attention seems to be drawn to the chest area until you turn around anyway regardless of what your wearing 

I agree! This is what I was hoping to hear. Yesterday I went out in full girl mode except I was wearing some old jeans and an old cardigan with a new cute top I bought and let me tell you I was pleasantly surprised by the result. I looked like the girl next door, just laid back and care free. I really liked it. It made me realize I don't need to throw everything away.

[Charlie Nicki]

I have done this.  As a trial attorney I need an extensive business wardrobe.  I exhausted the possibilities for women's blazers pretty quickly.  Most are too short for me; I am a bit long in the torso for a girl my size.

I went back to my closet and grabbed a couple of my men's blazers and sport coats, threw them on over a mini skirt and I loved the look.  And men's sport coats feature a much wider variety of patterned fabrics than women's blazers do.

One problem was, after two years on hormones, I was swimming in my old sport coats.  So I found an alterations tailor and went to work.  I had to have them taken in at the shoulders and waist, have the sleeves reduced in diameter, and have the bottoms hemmed up about two inches.  I also jazzed up a couple of them by swapping out the buttons for new ones made of mother of pearl or of acrylic in bright colors.  After all the mods, they look cute and feminine but serious and business like.  And interestingly, the male cuts and fabrics seem to heighten my femininity.

So my old sport coats and some suit coats are repurposed as boyfriend jackets.

One word of advice:  Dont waste your money altering cheap clothing.  You will just give yourself and your tailor a headache.  Doing this is not cheap; I spend anywhere from $60 to $160 per jacket, but on a jacket that retailed for $600 new, believe me it's worth it.  I started out with blazers and jackets from Brooks Brothers from my own admittedly extensive male wardrobe.  Then I grabbed whatever else I could find at a deep enough discount to justify the tailoring costs.  If you don't have quality menswear to work with, get some either from a place like Nordstrom Rack or Saks Off Fifth, or hit the thrift stores or evilBay.  The good news is, when you have this much work done, you don't have to start with your exact size.  I've found I can go an inch or two over and it won't matter because of all the tailoring I'm having done anyway.

Here's a link that I found when I was researching repurposing my old stuff: 
https://verilymag.com/2014/12/how-to-thrift-an-oversized-coat-winter-trends-2014
Hugs, Carly

Hi Carly, great advice. Thank you! Just like you said I sometimes think the male clothes enhance my femininity somehow.

[KarynMcD]

Since I still go back and forth too often, having clothes that can go both ways is essential for me.
I tend to get male tops that are a bit large to hide the girls, with the benefit being that they look great with leggings or a skirt when the girls aren't being hidden.

My wives were/are always stealing my male clothes. Why can't I just do the same?

[annaleaver]

I replaced all my old clothes as part of the transition except a Happy Hippie T-Shirt (for obvious reasons) and a jumper which I have a lot of memories with/in, I wear both occasionally but prefer skirts and dresses

[IamJoannaAndJohn]

i used to do this but eventually stopped when i decided it's just not for me anymore and i wasn't comfy with it.

i work 5 days and for 4 days i'll be as girly as i can and giving one day to be my 'old' self and it only lasted 3 weeks before  it got really uncomfortable.

i'll suggest to just sticking with clothes you're actually comfortable wearing.

[Charlie Nicki]

i used to do this but eventually stopped when i decided it's just not for me anymore and i wasn't comfy with it.

i work 5 days and for 4 days i'll be as girly as i can and giving one day to be my 'old' self and it only lasted 3 weeks before  it got really uncomfortable.

i'll suggest to just sticking with clothes you're actually comfortable wearing.

Yes that's my plan. I will probably give away many button down shirts and most of my male shoes (will  keep the gym shoes for example) but there are many items that I think are so cute! And could be pulled off by either gender if matched correctly... That I don't want to get rid of them.

[IamJoannaAndJohn]

Yes that's my plan. I will probably give away many button down shirts and most of my male shoes (will  keep the gym shoes for example) but there are many items that I think are so cute! And could be pulled off by either gender if matched correctly... That I don't want to get rid of them.

oh yes, cute ones = perma stay @_@

gl with your wardrobe overhaul

[Charlie Nicki]

oh yes, cute ones = perma stay @_@

gl with your wardrobe overhaul

Thank you! *Big hug*