This is my first summer as a semi-closet CD with small but real boobs. I have been struggling with what to wear, as unlike in winter, nipples, bras, suspender belts, black tights & heeled boots can't simply be hidden under thick clothes and long trousers.

My problem is that I would like to cross-dress fully, but I am afraid of the local reaction and I don't have the time for the full nails, lips, leg shaving routines etc.

My solution, in the hot weather has been to go into "gender neutral plus discreet bra" mode.

I wear strappy low heel sandals with low-impact pale pink toenail polish. Women can see it even if guys don't.  And that's the intention: I am a guy at first glance, but with subtle bits of femininity if you look hard, which ladies do and respond to sympathetically.

I wear no polish on my fingernails, and no lip gloss or eye makeup. I wear shorts plus loose tops and shirts, which are generally quite plain (no lace, low backs etc.)

I match the colour of my bra to my top. This is my most feminine bit. I do need to wear a bra to contain my nipples and to provide some support. If somebody says that you can go braless at 40A cup, think again!

The colour matching is quite difficult and requires flesh coloured & pretty pastel shaded bras. As much as I love to wear a black bra, it's a complete no-no. A white bra under a white tee shirt is also very visible. A pink bra under a red top works, as does a pale blue brassiere under a dark top.

I find that if I deliberately reach forward, my straps & buckles can be seen, and if I stick my chest out, my bust is visible. Otherwise I can go round the supermarket "in neutral" as it were
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If the aisle is full of women with obvious sagging breasts and no men are present, I "expose myself" by reaching or posturing, and I always get sympathetic smiles!

The point is that I can't really be accused of anything nasty as I am loosely within the bounds of male dressing. I am sure the checkout girls know, and that they chat about my bra colours in the rest room. They regular girls have certainly got quite chatty & giggly with me.

I have turned shopping into a sexual flirtation!

valerie anne, you are fast learning about what it is like to live as a woman.  What you wear get much more complex especially in the summer when you are wearing lighter top that show what type/color bra you are wearing shows.  You are correct in realizing that a white top show your bra completely, also nipples can show easily when you have a unlined bra on.  If you are a 40A, I expect you are having a problem finding bras in very many colors, most women are a larger cup size when they need a 40 band size.  Women do chat all the time in restroom and spend extra time in there just to chat too.  Good luck bra shopping.

Kudos to you Valeria Anne!

I find that allowing these little tidbits of who I am to peek through in such ways to be most fun.  I work in an office that at one time was all women except for me.  They all dressed very nice and professionally and after many years, they were comfortable with me completely and didn't worry so much about letting their bras be seen through their blouses or panties or pantyhose being left in the one employee bathroom we had.  They even talked about their times of the month, sex or lack there-of and other feminine intimate details with and around me.  I had become one of the gals.

It was during that time that I really began to work on being more myself and started coming out to friends and family.  And I started wearing more and more fem clothing under my male clothing.  I would wear thin, light colored slacks that showed clearly, the lines of my French/hi-cut panties.  Like you mentioned above, Valerie Anne, the shirts I wore were apt to show the bra and/or camisole straps that was wearing if I didn't move just right.

One day, I had been called upon to change a light above a coworker's desk.  I was standing on the chair looking up when she asked, "What color?"  I looked down and said "What color is what?"  She replied, "Your underwear." as she looked at what was obviously a panty line.  I think I said something like "Oh you caught me.  They're pink."  And laughed as I climbed down off the chair.

It was some months later when she and I were out having drinks after work when I revealed my shaved arms and she said, "Oh wow, you really are a cross dresser."  We remain good friends to this day.