I thought I would share my best pic I have so far of me dressed up, it felt very good to take this picture. I just wanted to use this thread to keep track of my looks when I begin HRT in about 3 months. I will just post the real good ones, I of course have a lot of work to do but I think this is a happy look.



That was taken yesterday in the hotel lobby, I was practicing wearing makeup and sitting properly with a dress on. I have had no hormones yet whatsoever, I will be happy the day I can get them prescribed. So we can count this as the 1st month I have really been going out in public and dressing as femme as possible.

I think i will wait a few months until I start hormones before I post again, then I may be as much as 50 lbs lighter as well in 3 more months.

Well, I am not going to try to bolster you by saying you "pass" but I definitely see some progress. Losing weight will help a lot and if you do any type  of surgery, you will need to lose the weight anyway. Please keep us posted. Also, I would like to know how San Francisco is treating you.

Quote from: UCBerkeleyPostop on August 22, 2012, 11:59:15 PM
Well, I am not going to try to bolster you by saying you "pass" but I definitely see some progress. Losing weight will help a lot and if you do any type  of surgery, you will need to lose the weight anyway. Please keep us posted. Also, I would like to know how San Francisco is treating you.

Well, I don't know...she looks like a lot of women in any small-town USA. Think Bea from "Mayberry RFD" (RIP).

The photo suggests dark circles under your eyes - are these natural or from makeup?

heh yes i must be from mayberry

The dark circles> Yeah I need something to help get rid of that, they are not as bad in person at all, but the camera seems to capture it

san fran has been hard on me so far  but i am trying my best

How's it been hard on you??

well lets see , i got here and southwest airlines lost my luggage, had to wait at airport for 18 hours, then they charged me for being 4-8 lbs overweight each bag, we missed my flight from Dallas to Dan Fran, then when I finally got off the bus to my hotel the driver let me off way to soon, even though Im asked him where to get off, had to lug all my bags 10 blocks, (after the handle broke on one of them) and then its been lately just frustrating , but today I believe (God willing) will be a fresh and new day for me as I am finally getting some headway financially.

But I did have 2 bad encounters already with some women who are disgusted with me for being who I am, as I dressed up in full womens clothes a few times already to go to church and groups. I mean they hasseled me at starbucks coffee and even the hotel where I am at now. Anyways I am hanging in there

Quote from: Shawn Sunshine on August 27, 2012, 12:29:40 PM

But I did have 2 bad encounters already with some women who are disgusted with me for being who I am, as I dressed up in full womens clothes a few times already to go to church and groups. I mean they hasseled me at starbucks coffee and even the hotel where I am at now. Anyways I am hanging in there

They probably have some serious issues of their own if they feel the need to go out of their way to put a complete stranger down.

Quote from: Shawn Sunshine on August 27, 2012, 12:29:40 PM


But I did have 2 bad encounters already with some women who are disgusted with me for being who I am, as I dressed up in full womens clothes a few times already to go to church and groups. I mean they hasseled me at starbucks coffee and even the hotel where I am at now. Anyways I am hanging in there

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A couple things you need to know. We don't ever call it San Fran and we do not drink our coffee at Starbucks! San Franciscans drink our coffee at Peet's!

Quote from: UCBerkeleyPostop on August 27, 2012, 02:12:47 PM
A couple things you need to know. We don't ever call it San Fran and we do not drink our coffee at Starbucks! San Franciscans drink our coffee at Peet's!

You beat me to that correction   also...its not "Cali" never...no way, thats our tourist ID process at work, lol

Shawn, hang in there! most of the locals are quite tollerant and accepting but it is still tourist season in the city and a lot of comments can come from them (middle America etc.)

Good luck...see the wonderful sights and enjoy yourself please keep us posted!

Well maybe they shouldn't have gone to SF if they didn't want to see a transgender person. That's like saying "I'm gonna go to Louisiana but I'm so offended by bugs omg."

I don't know what church Shawn is attending but she will be welcome here:

https://www.glide.org/

Or for a Catholic Mass go here: http://www.mhr.org/

BTW South City as we call it is NOT San Francisco,  it borders Colma where most of the people who "live" there are dead. South City is not that much better. Also it  has a high Latino population many of whom are trans and homophobic. (Not a knock on Latinos, just  a fact.)

Quote from: UCBerkeleyPostop on August 27, 2012, 11:23:28 PM
Also it  has a high Latino population many of whom are trans and homophobic. (Not a knock on Latinos, just  a fact.)

Sadly you are not the first person I've heard this from. And I seem to have gotten the most crap from the latinos I know when I came out.

ahh yes well south san francisco city is where I am at for the moment till I get an apartment in Bernal Heights (something feels right about that area for me) and then I am doing better now that I have a few dollars to spend. I have been going to an open and affirming church called UCC Alameda First Congregational , the pastor there is a Lesbian and she is wonderful and has helped me bunches.

Bernal Heights is my old stomping ground. The Wild Side West and the Stray Bar(quasi-dyke bars)...I must warn you though that some of the dykes are not so accepting of MtFs when first coming out.

Good luck with settling into your new area.
It will be cool to see the progress you make

My daughter has always lived North of California Street (cow hollow, Laural Heights, Pacific Heights) but now she lives in inner Richmond one block north of the 25th street entrance to Golden Gate Park   In a single family house with a garage! No more street parking! Which she is quite excited about

Will keep an eye out for you Shawn as I wander about the city...will make sure to say hello

well I can always use some real friends here in the bay area, I have met a few that I seem to get along with at the city of refuge transgender support group, but starting soon i will be exploring more groups and areas.

I finally got some money so i can do a few things (like a manicure and pedicure for $22, and a haircut and a eyebrow threading for $20) the shops here in south city are far more eager to offer better prices than in the big city.

I am thinking of going more blonde closer to what I see myself internally as, but people keep telling me it won't look good or to go black or brown or some other variation. I really need Lemon Blonde Hair, but having a hard time finding anyone who can do that color.

Oh and yes I went to Peet's Coffee finally! It tastes better than starbucks, too bad they don't have a rewards card there at Peet's

Shawn / Shawna... I would seriously do a temporary color with the lemon blonde yellow before you went with anything semi / demi / fully permanent. Honestly I don't think it would look good on you at all and if you had it on your head, you'd probably agree. Best things with a temporary color is that it washes right out with a shampoo, and you don't need to worry about lifting your haircolor. A permanent yellow on anybody is going to be a tough chore that will probably need a bunch of experimenting with your hair trying to adjust how much intensifier and ... judging by your haircolor... green (to cancel out the red in your hair) to get the bright yellow you want without getting an orange tint to it.

However if you are dead set on the yellow (which I feel like you are), DO NOT skimp on money by going to somebody cheap. Pay somebody at a high end salon for that, for a number of reasons. 1) They'll probably get it right the first time. 2) They'll be willing to redo it if, in 3 weeks, it turns a slightly different color (which is very likely). 3) They wont fry your hair trying to get it just right.

Also... keep in mind that stylists (especially the high end ones) will be very skeptical about doing that. Not just for the reasons I listed, but because your head is their advertisement. If they think it's gonna look horrible on you, they don't want their name put on it.

I'm really not shooting you down (in fact I'd LOVE to do it to you for practice), I'm just giving you a few perspectives that you may not have thought about.