Help me pass more?

[AndrewLC]

I know, you probably all hate these threads with a passion, but please, do you have any tips to help me pass?

[Yochanan]

The first thing everyone told me was "Don't smile!" So that might be a place to start. (I thought it was rather depressive advice, but I just switched to smiling on the inside rather than the outside.)

[AndrewLC]

I want to pass, but I'm a pretty darn happy person.

I was talking more in terms of, y'know, haircut advice?  Or something.

[Dennis]

I would say one thing - don't tilt your head in pictures. Look straight on. Smiling's ok (see? I'm smiling in my avatar), but tilting your head will cue viewers to female.

The rest looks fine. Haircut, shirt, the rest of it.

Dennis

[icontact]

Don't slouch. Standing up straight will make your shoulders look wider, which is the only giveaway that I see in that picture. Good posture is good for you anyways.

[Andrew]

Whoah, whoah. I know both of the other people in the picture. Weird. I'll PM you.

[Red_Rachel]

I think letting your hair go a little longer on a top and having some slightly bigger glasses would help. Oh, and like someone else said, keep your head straight. But I think you do very well!

[Hazard "AJ"]

I have my hair shaved. But even when i had long hair with it up i would pass and that was on the street the one thing that i didnt pass with in pics were my bressed as there not that small. I rearly smile in pics the best tip for pics i can give u is pose more like a man would. Also have a manley faceul fictuer like grit ur teeth why? Cuz it shows ur jar bone more. Make ur face more harder try not to make it so soft.
Post Merge: January 18, 2009, 10:50:44 AM

[Mr. Fox]

I'm going to go against the grain here and say don't worry about manly posing.  Why?  Because in real life, you're not going to holding your neck rigid and gritting your teeth all day.  It is good that you gave a picture where you weren't at your manliest, so we won't just go "Oh, gee, what a man."  The advice given is useful if you're getting your picture taken for the yearbook or something.

[Nero]

I'm certainly no expert on this but I would say it's probably something about the glasses and the haircut could change. I'd actually say let your hair grow a bit. With it flat and away from your face like that, it looks more girly. The glasses, I don't know. Maybe it's more the hair than the glasses.

Take with bushel of salt as I certainly don't pass but this is what stands out to me.

[AndrewLC]

All this advice is so depressing!  Don't smile, grit your teeth, etc.

But thanks for the advice about growing out my hair and such.

As for pictures... heck, I was happy to be with my buddies at new years!  I think it would look rather silly if I'd been gritting my teeth while my friends were grinning next to me    Yearbook isn't a problem - I'm in college and we do have a "magazine" that we put out at the end of the year, but it's not hardbound or anything like that, and we pick whatever picture we want in it, so I can just take picture after picture until I have one I like.

But yeah, I'm thinking about new glasses. 

[Mister]

and you need either a binder or a better binder. 

[AndrewLC]

I have DDs.  I think I'm binding pretty effectively, considering the circumstances.

[Mister]

I used to have them as well and if you were to see pre-surgery photos of me, you wouldn't see evidence of breasts.  Check out T Kingdom's binders with the adjustable velcro.  They do wonders.

[Nero]

I have DDs.  I think I'm binding pretty effectively, considering the circumstances.

me too. i feel ya. mine won't 'push down' either. so no pushing them downward. that's what makes mine show. too round to push.

[JonasCarminis]

andrew, the first pic, its the head tilt and smile.  second pic is betterm but your legs are too close together.  also try baggier jeans.  they help hide your thighs.  girls have naturally bigger thighs.  third pic, looks like youre wearing a bra.  make sure all those are in check and that would help a lot.

[Jay]

Tilting the head is a bad no no. Also smiling too.. Unless you have been on T
a while.

Second pic like Josh said get some baggier jeans, hide hips etc. And also keep
your hands to your side.

The third pic isn't that bad!

[AndrewLC]

I used to have them as well and if you were to see pre-surgery photos of me, you wouldn't see evidence of breasts.  Check out T Kingdom's binders with the adjustable velcro.  They do wonders.

I'm *wearing* a t-kingdom binder with adjustable velcro.

I'm glad your breasts were magically made of that kind of tissue that just disappears when you look at it crosseyed, but mine aren't.

Thanks everyone else for their advice.

eta:
I guess I'm a little miffed.  A couple of you have been nice, but most of you are acting like those catty people in middle school who didn't actually want to help you out, only wanted to make themselves feel better by making everyone else feel bad.  I wasn't asking for advice on how to pass in pictures (head tilt, smile, etc) - I don't walk around with my head tilting to the side and grinning like a maniac.  I wasn't looking for everyone to say "You look fantastic!" but I'm just a little confused as to why everyone was *so* catty about it.  I dunno - struck me as strange on a site where people are supposed to offer support.

I also find it strange that you are so caught up on binding - Of the female-bodied people in my family, I have the smallest breasts with 32DD - I don't care what you say, you're lying if you say you can hide them entirely and still a) breathe and b) not wear clothes 42 sizes too large. 

[Mister]

They weren't.  they were fibrous as hell, but passing was important so i strapped them down.

[AndrewLC]

Passing is important to me, too and like I said, I use the binder you suggest (obviously not because you suggested it - I've had it for awhile now) but it's the way in which you presented yourself that I have a problem with.

You're making it sound like I don't really want to pass or like I'm somehow lesser than you because I can't get my breasts totally flat.  But using basic laws of physics, I can't make them totally flat.  I can wear baggy clothes, which I'm assuming is what you did whether or not you'll admit it, but I don't *have* many baggy clothes. 

Essentially, you are being rude and I'd like you to stop.