Susan's Place Transgender Resources

Too much and... not enough. LOL!

I too am casting off male clothes. Practically because as part of my transition I've lost a LOT of weight so they wouldn't fit anymore anyway.  Adding insult to injury to my checkbook,  a year ago I spent $1500 on a pair of new suits... :'(  I'm trying to sell them for a fraction of that...  :-\ :'(

So that adds another dimension to the wardrobe issue, one that cis women can easily identify with. As you transition, and even seasonal weight fluctuations, will change what fits (in addition to the frantic turn over in woman's fashion!).

So my strategy is to suffer along with my baggy man clothes until I get down to my ideal weight/bodyshape before even starting to go shopping (although I do web-shop) for any outright female clothes. That's the plan anyway...

Quote from: JamesG on March 13, 2014, 10:12:24 AM
Too much and... not enough. LOL!

THIS explains it perfectly LMAO.

In the last 3 months alone i've spent a good 2k on clothes :P I'm trying to sell my male clothes so i can get more money LOL but my male clothes were never "amazing" due to my lack of interest.

It really all depends on how you feel about clothes. For me, wearing male clothes was a huge trigger and simply putting on my clothes in the morning to get ready for work would cause me to be depressed and break down halfway through the day, i just couldn't do it, so I started buying female clothes so I could begin dressing full time, and I started dressing full time about a 2 months before starting hormones even. So it doesn't really matter how early you are in your transiton, if you feel like the clothes you wear are important to you, then so be it :)

Even though I have enough clothes to wear a new outfit every day for maybe 2 months, i still want to buy more :P I'm willing to spend pretty much anything on new clothes lol. In fact, most of the time I have to stop myself from buying everything.

I went and bought clothes in a size smaller than I should to make up for the weight loss and muscle mass reduction. Most of my clothes is casual stuff so its not that big a deal, its the dresses that I worry about, but seeing as the changes are still going to take around a year (if i estimate the longest time for any changes to fully develop) I'm not gonna wait a year to start presenting as myself, especially if not doing so leads me to depression dysphoria and suicidal thoughts.

I agree with the 'Too much'! Most of my male clothes I donate to charity and will continue to do so during transition, except for underwear which I just trash!

I made a deal with myself, and it seems to have worked out pretty well:

Until I go full time, I am only allowed to buy one new thing a month, and not in the month that I noticed it. Otherwise it is all hunting for stuff at the goodwill outlet store or the like. Turns out if you see something, but have to actually wait until next month to buy it, you find you don't want it nearly as much as you did when you first saw it.

In effect this means, I rarely buy new clothes, since I included shoes in the deal with myself. Secondhand shoes are exceedingly rare, so if I buy something new I buy shoes more than likely.

If I didn't set rules like this for myself I would never, ever be able to save money.

How much I'd be willing to spend and how much I can realistically afford to spend are two completely different questions. I find myself using the "but it's cute' justification way more than when I dressed as a male.

When I made the decision to live full time I boxed my male clothing up and put it in my storage unit. For my own well being I had to get them out of the house, but I wasn't completely certain that I wouldn't have to detransition at some point so I put them out of sight, but accessible. Since then I have begun HRT and legally changed my name and gender. There is no turning back now. One of these days I need to pull my male clothes out of storage and donate them to charity.

Well I started buying bottoms in high school or college, so by the time senior year of college came around, I didn't have any guy pants left, except for my 1 suit pants. I think I gave them away. Tops... I sometimes still wear the guy tops (sweaters and the smaller guy tees, mostly) but I've recently found out that I'm missing a big amount of those. No idea where they went, they just disappeared. Now I'm stuck with 2 guy tees, maybe 3? guy sweaters, and the rest is women's tops (though not very girly), and all girl bottoms.

I may have spent about $8-900 on that wardrobe change over the course of 3-4 years. I still see stuff I want everyday, but then I remember. The fitment on models/mannequins are so very different than on real people. Damn. ..And then I end up not buying. (Not saying models aren't real people, but they tend to be skinnier than the average person on the street).

Hi y'all

I've tried to find a middle path so that I don't waste too much cash.  I'd truly love to ditch the suits, but they still get the occasional obligatory outing (aaargh!).  What works for me, since I'm a petite European size 36, is to buy cute androgynous stuff that works either way, and hopefully I'll not need to get rid of too much as I advance.  I'm already doing that for shoes and shirts, and at some point that will extend to jeans and the rest.  One of the advantages is that work colleagues gradually experience my evolution, so by the time my big news arrives, they should only be surprised by how long it took. 

Not sure whether this would work for everyone...

Hugs
Julia

Very little. I gradually swapped out male clothes for female clothes over a period of two years. I had the luxury of a seamless transition.

Quote from: Nicolette on March 17, 2014, 08:53:12 AM
Very little. I gradually swapped out male clothes for female clothes over a period of two years. I had the luxury of a seamless transition.

Seamless? Then how did you hold your clothes together? I mean, I have tried just gluing pieces of fabric together, and it never seems to work :P

Almost all of my clothes come from charity shops.  I can get a skirt and top for about £6 to £8.  I did treat myself to a session with the Personal Shopper at a big store and bought three dresses and a pair of shoes for parties and formal dinners.  That's most of my expenditure on clothes so far!

I got most of my jewelry from the charity shops too, but now I'm starting to move up market.  That could be very expensive.

Quote from: Hikari on March 17, 2014, 08:55:08 AM
Seamless? Then how did you hold your clothes together? I mean, I have tried just gluing pieces of fabric together, and it never seems to work :P

Girl, get up with the current trends! I wear 3D printed clothes which, seemingly, require no seams. [note: to be posted in 5 years time]  8)

I have slowly been buying clothes over the years, refining my style, figuring out what works for me and what doesn't. I always look for sales and I am always on the lookout for clothing because you never know when or where you'll stumble across something nice. I get my clothes from a variety of places; some of them come from the big retailers like walmart & kohls, and some come from the thrift store. Just yesterday I picked up a very nice dark gray skirt in great condition for $3.50 at goodwill, and recently I found a denim skirt on the clearance rack at walmart for $3.00. Most of my shoes come from cheap places like payless or walmart but I have a few nice pairs from kohls too.

I am still in the building up phase and I plan to come out soon so I'm spending a lot more than usual on clothes; my normal clothes budget is about $50-$75 a month.

As little as possible. In my town, we have both Goodwill and an America's Thrift Store (BEST. PLACE. EVER.) I'm very slowly replacing my not overly feminine to begin with work clothes with actual men's clothing (and socks!).  Last weekend, I got a pair of jeans and a Henley short sleeved shirt at Goodwill for $6 and change.  Then I drove up the street to Walmart and got men's sneakers, 2 pair of slacks, another Henley shirt, a 3 pack of socks, and a double sided belt for about $65. The Henley's and sneakers are not for work, but I also need weekend clothes. Next month, I'll hit up America's Thrift Store and see what kind of deals I can find there - they organize things by size, whereas Goodwill just throws all pants on a rack and calls it good. Those jeans were the ONLY 30x32 pants I found in a half hour of looking.

Hi y'all...!!

After going nuts for the past few weeks due to the absence of more female clothing, I went out with a girlfriend yesterday and shopped the whole day.  Luckily here in Spain we have Zara and a few other brands from the Inditex group, and they are soooo nicely priced, especially since I'm buying "transition" clothes rather than the kind of clothes that I would keep for several years.  And I was really lucky - found some nice cute stuff that make a clear girl-in-progress statement! 

I think I heard my credit card sigh on one occasion, but it never screamed with indignation :-)

It's so nice to finally have some "proper" female clothing.  My look has always been andro, but mostly bought on the men's side of the house.  Yesterday I made the really important psyschological breakthrough of going into women's stores and not being scared of telling the assistants what I was REALLY looking for.   A real liberation. 

How have the rest of you felt doing this?

Hugs
J

Maybe $150 so far?
Then again, my wardrobe is puny, and most of it is leftover T shirts that work well enough.

My main fix comes from roaming the thrift/charity shops. Often I'll find something I like... a lot... and a price I love. Usually several somethings. Afterall, If you are already getting in/out of your clothes there isn't much more of an effort to "just try ____ on to see how it looks on you". The Puppy Dog sale works really good on me.

Ocassionally while roaming the racks in a department or dress store I'll find find something I really really really love enough to justify my budget.

Overall, in the past 5 years I've probably spent 2-3 times as much on my wardrobe than during the last 30 or so years buying male clothes. BTW - a lot of my male stuff is almost that old  :o  I just hate guy clothes shopping. Being forced to look in a mirror at myself in guy stuff totally sucks to start with, without adding the insult of having to PAY for that experience

I shop at vintage shops so everything is like 5 to 15 bucks on clothes but the most in one day was like 300 I spend more on getting my hair keratine straightened and extensions though, like 650 all together lol

The answer to building an initial wardrobe is thrift shops. Many items there will simply be unattractive or they won't have your size. But take your time and you will find gems that fit you, your sense of style, and allow you to do this very cheaply. The bulk of my wardrobe is from thrift shops. Heck, the BFF who introduced me to thrift shops has shopped all her life that way. She rarely buys new. And we work out very well together. She's a 10 tall and I am a 12 tall so if something is too big for her, she shows it to me and vice-versa. I love shopping with her! :) Too bad it only happens a few times per year, since she lives several states away.

I've dropped a couple hundred... Mostly on shoes lol. Granted, they're all black shoes, and they're all different types (one of each in heels, work shoes, flats, and boots).
I also picked up a swimsuit, a ton of sheers for work because they let me wear a skirt when it's hot out, and a bunch of skirts at a place in Boston called the clothes outlet, where everything's pretty cheap.

Bras and shoes have by far been the most expensive investment...

For me, I'm broke 99.9% of the time, I DO in face give my clothes away and if you guys are in the NJ area, I'll give you some when I find them in my room. ^_=;
There's a store in my town that I can buy 5 shirts for under 8 bucks. So I do most of my shopping there. They're not like American Eagle, but they damn sure look like something!~ ;)

Most of my clothes shopping is in charity shops.  My largest one time spends were the equivalent of USD 530 on two bras and a pair of inserts and about USD 335 on three dresses and a pair of shoes.

I go full time at work in two weeks.  I'm a technical person who is close to the top of the technical ladder.  I need to look "professional".  Good stuff on sale is running close to $200/outfit.  I need a minimum of 5.  I got a good start on everyday stuff for $400 or so.  I figure 2K should get me going well.

Hugs,

Jen

 

I have a lot of clothes. I also have quite a few cis friends (and my mom) who have given me all their clothes they no longer fit or do not want, or in my moms case, bought me a bunch.  Don't be shy to ask! Girls love to offload clothes that they don't wear anymore. I'm guilty of it too, and have given quite a few to some of my girl friends.

As I currently live with my parents, I'm saving up.  About two thirds goes towards another account leaving the rest to sort out snack money, a bit of weekly cash towards my parents, gym membership, phone bill and some additional spending money.  That goes towards lady stuff and the occasional canvas painting.  I spend quite a lot on makeup.  Bras and shoes are costly but I don't need many and boy shorts are reasonably cheap.

Hey!  What's wrong with charity shops?  That's where most of my wardrobe comes from and women compliment me on my style.

I have wasted so much money, on clothes ill never wear. (Because I though it would be good)

I at first wasted money because my throw it out I'm supposed to be a man attitude caused a lot of stuff I liked to go to waste.

But since coming out less as been wasted. I still buy things I think Il need but guess what, just when I think I have enough,
(The seasons change)

So summer clothes I have enough of, but once autume comes around I'll need more practical footwear, and coat.
Then probably again for winter, can re use autum for spring. ish.

But yes too much on nice things, not enough on practical things.

Too much not enough
Work is an issued uniform and all I supply are pants or jeans pending on the location
Day to day one place pays me cash not into the account so every time I earn $1k from that place,  (about every three weeks) I buy few more things.

Mostly Target for clothes - cheapish but stylish enough to get compliments from other women who are stylish. I've spent a few hundred, maybe a grand, over the last few months (including accessories and underwear) but I'm mostly done for now, I have enough clothes for most situations. Not that I can't do with more! Most of my $$$ has gone into shoes and boots.

Quote from: Ms Grace on June 07, 2014, 07:44:17 PM
Mostly Target for clothes - cheapish but stylish enough to get compliments from other women who are stylish. I've spent a few hundred, maybe a grand, over the last few months (including accessories and underwear) but I'm mostly done for now, I have enough clothes for most situations. Not that I can't do with more! Most of my $$$ has gone into shoes and boots.

Target has surprisingly stylish clothes, I remember working at target when the First Lady of the United States came in and bought some clothes from a certain target on my side of the Potomac. I mean if it is good enough for Michelle Obama then it is more than good enough for me.

I am always looking for clothes, because you never know when you might find some nice piece. I try to pick up a couple of pieces of clothing each month, and I budget no more than $100 a month. It just takes time to build a wardrobe.

I pick up a lot of nice clothes at target and surprisingly Walmart. Shoes usually come from Payless when they have sales.

If I've struck out everywhere else I will shop at kohls.

The thrift stores around me are constantly picked over and I've about given up on finding anything I'd like there.

Being ftm, it was easy for me to transition to guy clothes a long time ago. However, I've lost a lot of weight in the past year (size 46 waist to size 36 waist) and have had to buy a lot of clothes. I shop mainly at thrift shops , especially because I'm still losing weight and don't want to make big investments.
I did buy two binders at $37 each and will likely buy more. Plus I buy only new underwear.

And I will likely have to buy a suit :( for a funeral. Unless I can rent.

Quote from: paula lesley on June 07, 2014, 07:13:15 PM
MaryXYX, you look lovely. It's me that needs help  ;D

Thank you Paula.  I bought lots of clothes from the charity shops, then I spent time finding out which items felt right.  Then I started getting compliments.  It's worth asking other women if they think something is your style and colour.  The real friends will give you honest opinions and that can help to get it right.

When I decided to dress as a male full time, I went out and bought exactly enough clothing to last for two weeks.  At some point I will probably have to add more variety to my very small wardrobe, but I'm happy with it.  Never liked shopping so its easy for me to avoid.

New dresses, etc..... are great. New shoes are a must....However my local goodwill/thrift stores are packed with very nice clothes. And they are never crowded so I shop there a lot. The clerks are always so nice & it's no hassle on trying on any item of clothing to make sure of a perfect fit. No big deal unlike major department stores. So I just never keep count of $ for such a necessity????   

I may go against the grain here, but my suggestion is buy as little as you need at first, and set a real budget (you will have other bills to worry about in transition), though that depends on what you need for work etc. You body will be changing, and also how you express yourself stylistically will as well. IDK if you have sense of what works for you or not yet, from knowing your body type and what works for it, to knowing how colour works for you.  I had a decent notion of all that as an artist, but I spent a ton on things that I later looked at and asked, what was I THINKING? Also, my body changed enough that what I bought earlier I had to give away -- I lost a lot of bulk and a shoe size.  I gave all my old clothes to charities, or threw them out.

I'd buy a few classic, dependable basics at first, wardrobe staples (think LBD, black skirt, black pants, jeans, a few versatile tops, etc)  mixed with things you use to experiment with style and daily causal. Build from that as you figure it out.  Don't buy a lot of jeans and shoes -- it's tempting but your bod changes and you begin to know what works in shoes and what doesn't Don't be afraid to borrow to test something, or to buy and return. Believe me, it's expected.


I also suggest that you don't buy a lot, but buy quality once you know what you want. It doesn't mean spending a lot, it just means know what the material is and how it's sewn.  There are good LBDs and bad LBDs. 

One useful book I saw was "Color Me Confident" which is a sort of makeover book that picks up from the 1970s "Color Me Beautiful."  It helps you figure out some what you really want and need, and it has some tips about how to deal with one body shape or another.  It also deals with face shape and hair style etc. It's meant to help women express who they are and figure out what's you. I am old enough to remember the earlier book (and gatherings of women I knew who passed it around and scrutinized each other by it), which was pretty basic. This is a nice start for any age and any background. I don't think the makeup section was that helpful, but there are lots of other sources out there for that.

I've spent maybe 20, 25 euro so far?  I just went to the local thrift store and bought what fit.  Although half of what I already had was androgenous.  Honestly the only part of my wardrobe that I want to get rid of is the women's jeans, as they accentuate my curves and aren't even pretty like my lacy blouses to make up for it.