Hello everyone.

So I have been thinking about ways to improve your "fem ratio" and the fact that shoulder/hips in actually one of the most telling things of someone is male- or female from a distance.

I'm MtF in my late 20's so not dressing like a teenager but not like an old lady either. Dresses is not my thing... yet! 

Fashion isn't my area of expertise so some advice wanted. I'm thinking:

- UPPER BODY: Long / "big" hair to create the illusion of a smaller chest combined with light colored fabrics, possibly with texture to draw further attention away from your actual body shape. This girls wears a shirt with vertical buttoning which, especially if the buttons go all the way down to the pants, would further reduce the width of your upper body. Example:



LOWER BODY: Jeans with small pockets on butt and horizontal lines to make your lower body appear wider. Possibly very tight jeans (stretch material) but this could also look weird if not having a female-looking legs & butt in general. Or?



Other advice & inspiration? Thanks.

You've given a lot of thought to this; your sense of style certainly gives you an edge-for those of us who prefer tailored clothing...well, I won't start!  The big hair is a large piece of it.  You'll also want to think really carefully about the necklines.  I've found that anything which draws the eyes down (i.e. a v-neck, or closer crew neck) is a good idea, while scoops, cowls, and horizontal stripes must be avoided at all cost.  Buttons are a good thing, but most fitted shirts like the one above begin to cause trouble once we arrive at the (absent) hips; they make the hips look smaller.

Something that trans girls have going for them (or us) are long legs; I'm not sure how you're built, but you really want to play up your hight.  Really skinny legs will make your ass look flat, and draw more attention to your shoulders.  I'm not sure how you feel about flares, but if you're tall, and fairly thin, pants or jeans with that boot-cut flare can do wonders.  If you ever wear a dress, the same applies: Flare is a good thing, it can give you that extra volume at the hips.  Hope this helps...

Padded hips. That is the answer.  I have purchased dozens of different hip types the last two decades and have finally settled on.....making my own. The best way is to make them with foam stock you can buy on eBay. There are a number of utube videos on how to do it.  Experimentation is the key.  Also use an electric knife to carve and then a heat iron to fine tune the surface smooth.

Full skirts or A lines work well too!

Without HRT, I also have smaller hips and flat chest. My method is just decreasing waist size as much as possible by running. Currently my girth size is 27 inch while hip size is just 36 inch, barely an hourglass shape. For chest, I just wear 34A bra. My wife scorns my scant hips, but nobody think my body shape is manly. Actually, most of women envy my shape. Even professional female models study my body shape.







barbie~~

Quote from: VickyMI on March 26, 2014, 05:13:34 AM
Padded hips. That is the answer.  I have purchased dozens of different hip types the last two decades and have finally settled on.....making my own. The best way is to make them with foam stock you can buy on eBay. There are a number of utube videos on how to do it.  Experimentation is the key.  Also use an electric knife to carve and then a heat iron to fine tune the surface smooth.

That's a great idea. And a heck lot safer than implants... 

This is a good idea for a thread. I'm sure many folks will benefit from it. Actually, fashion experts and stylists have been tackling this problem forever when dressing models for magazine shoots or dressing celebrities for TV and such. While I've read books on effective dressing techniques, I find I learn the most from simply observing frequently photographed celebrities, who pay these people lots of money to dress them to correct all their body flaws. A good shortcut is to look around for a celeb with a body type similar to yours and then take dressing cues from them. For instance, I found that TV talk host Kelly Ripa has a body silhouette almost identical to mine, though smaller in scale. We are both long waisted, thus we have to avoid long tunic tops and low-waisted jeans, for instance. Anyway, I watch her on TV every day and I can basically look good in any fashion style that looks good on her.

I'm sure there are are wide shouldered, narrow hipped celebs who deal with that issue, too. There are some general things, though. Buy jackets with shoulders a bit on the narrow side, though not enough to look odd. Darker colored tops on lighter lower clothing helps. Avoid bulky, flowing tops over close-fitting things like turtlenecks and such. As for the hip area, you want to buy pants and skirts cut with waist that tends to taper in some and spread a bit in the hip area. And, of course, surface design can help. Avoid wide necklines or horizontal lines near the shoulders, but in the hip area, it's fine. Conversely, vertical lines near the shoulders will give the illusion of being narrower there.

~ Lyric ~

+1 to padded hips! If I can't get the visual proportions right with clothing alone (flares and such) it is sometimes nice to supplement with a lil extra hip! Same thing as a padded bra just for a different area

Someday a number of years from now, I might consider a fat transfer to the hips... I've been close to doing it before, but I decided I wanna give HRT + SRS to do all that they can first... And I've barely any fat to move around anyway. Many people say after SRS you get more in the hip department. I'm not holding my breath, but I'm not in a rush there either. The padded hip method works great and is totally safe

I feel like I owe the OP the courtesy to say that if not done impeccably, hip pads can, and will look incredibly fake.  I've seen it everywhere-other T girls, drag queens, crossdressers, pretty much anywhere-the issue with hip pads is they don't have the proper proportions, so the shape you're creating looks just fine from the front, but as soon as you turn even slightly it becomes painfully obvious.  I personally really dislike them.  If they make you feel better, that's one thing, but dressing for your body shape can be far more effective. 

Quote from: androgynouspainter26 on March 27, 2014, 04:51:21 PM
I feel like I owe the OP the courtesy to say that if not done impeccably, hip pads can, and will look incredibly fake.  I've seen it everywhere-other T girls, drag queens, crossdressers, pretty much anywhere-the issue with hip pads is they don't have the proper proportions, so the shape you're creating looks just fine from the front, but as soon as you turn even slightly it becomes painfully obvious.  I personally really dislike them.  If they make you feel better, that's one thing, but dressing for your body shape can be far more effective.

You are absolutely right. And moderation is key!

Half an inch of pad will go a long way.

I have some from lovemybubbles and they are subtle and look good in most scenarios. They also add a little bit to the butt (it's kind of a hip/butt combo thing). I think that is important as well if you want to go with pads... that they blend from side to back.

I've been messing around with hip pads since I was 13, I've tried literally everything under the sun

A light/bright coloured scarf or belt can really give the illusion of wider hips, and ofc the opposite is true for dark colours reducing your shoulders. Like so.

Jenny,

Do you perhaps remember the name of this specific item?  I'm actually in the market for something (though like I said before, I do have pesky standards for realism).  You DO seem to know what you're doing.  Thirteen is an impressive pedigree; even I am beaten there.  Though I was learning drag makeup from the pros a year later...

Sure thing, it is called the "Hipee"

I don't recommend the regular silicone pads (I just saw they have a lightweight version though), they are heavy and start to curl making them useless after a short time. The regular fabric covered foam ones are doing great, though. And they don't slide around at all.

Also, if you want to try them out, order up at least 2 sizes bigger. These things run SUPER SMALL. The large fits me perfectly and I have a 27" waist and 36" hip measurement. Normally I am size small on just about everything.

I also tried the bombshell (ordered it a size smaller) and I'm using the smaller size pads from that because they fit the L size hipee a lot better. The ones it came with didn't really fit

Well there you have it! Hope it helps

Also the 3D printer I ordered should be arriving in the next couple of weeks, so I might start making custom hip pads. A lot of the ones out there are of the "one size fits all" approach which doesn't work well for me with a small frame.

The 3D printer itself won't print the silicone, but it will easily be able to make custom molds to set silicone pieces tailored to a specific body type.

It's something I've been wanting to do for a while, you could say...

13

Quote from: Danniella on March 28, 2014, 05:20:33 PM
A light/bright coloured scarf or belt can really give the illusion of wider hips, and ofc the opposite is true for dark colours reducing your shoulders. Like so.

Yes. Here is the same tactic.



barbie~~