Clothes and Oh how I love to shop for them. To me shopping for guy clothes is a total bore and I actually hate shopping for them at all. Guys pretty much gets a choice of the color of Dockers and pleated or no pleats. Ladies clothes on the other hand are so much fun to shop for and I don't care if the clothes are for me or the Love of my Life. How do I get most of my clothes? Well for me there are three methods. Shop in a store, on-line, or by catalog. Each has problems and the biggest is will it fit and look good on me. Well if you are lucky enough to have a T-friendly store that you can trust the problem of fitting will be pretty much solved as long as you are brave enough to go to that store.
Sizing
So what size do I wear? Well a general rule of thumb is subtracting 20 from your suit size. So if you wear a size 38 suit in men's then the lady size will be 18. Now even better is in the catalogs they have a size chart. For me in a dress I wear an 18 but cause I am built very much like a guy if I am just looking at skirts I am a 10.
Sizing Page This is page that will help you to measure what size you are.
Size charts are available at most online places to shop and catalogs. Newport News website is great for showing you how to measure. Fredericks of Hollywood has a Unisex chart, which proves that lots of T-girls shop there, and they want our business. Below is a sample of a chart off of a web site. To get to Fredericks or Newport News go to my links page
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On-Line Shopping.
For me the first dress I bought was on-line and of course a store where the clothes were meant for T-girls. The site is TV Paradise and is now gone, however the same clothes are now at this site Suddenly Femme and if you know how you measure up they will send you perfect fitting clothes. To me there are two problems with this site the first is cost in that I think they are kind of pricey for the quality and the second is like all on-line you don't know how it will look. I did get a skirt that I didn't like how it looked on me. Still this is a great place to go for a first time buyer. What if you are not out to your Significant Other (SO) and want things shipped. Well first of all telling her is to me high on the list but if your reasons are no to that then get a PO box (if you want tips on telling your SO visit Talia's site). I did get a PO box and actually still have one to this date. You can setup an established credit card to be billed to the PO and after a time add your femme name to the card. Paige does have her own credit card, scary huh? The interesting thing is after she ordered some items it is cool to see other catalogs come in her name. There are lots of on line stores that cater to the T-girls, so search out Yahoo if you have a place you can ship and bill to comfortably. Please remember if you don't have a credit card many places will take a money order, which is a way to help hide your real identity. Once again you will need a place to ship it all to and if you want try having it placed at a main drop off. A post office or FedEx will allow for you to pick it up at their many locations. You will need to prove who you are however.
Don't forget www.ebay.com as many of the sellers will take a money order if you do not have a credit card. You will of course still need to have a place for shipping.
How do you figure out bust size? Well many sites will cover this and they all say the same thing. Measure your chest right under your pectoral muscle (you know a guy's boob muscle). Then if the measurement is even add 4"; if the measurement is odd add 5" so if you measure around your chest and the tape measure reads 35" you will be a 40. If the tape measure reads 38 you will be a 42. If you want a bra that fits firmly up against you with no forms or padding then forget the additional inches and buy what the measurement is below the pectoral muscle. Now cup size is what you are comfortable with and try to stay proportionate.
Pants are a beautiful thing in that waist and inseam remains the same. Remember however that lady hips are ever so much more full than ours and many of us need to pad our hips to look better. Where to get a good fitting pad that looks good? Well Fredericks sells one but this will only work on a loose fitting dress. If the dress or skirt is snug then the pad looks terrible!
Hosiery will all be sold with size charts but one again for many of us our legs are not in the same proportion as a lady. For me even though I am 6' 180 I take a medium size in hosiery. This is something that you will find out with trial and error but the good news is if they don't fit the cost is low and if you are starting out you can use the old hose to make some breast forms.
Catalogs
Okay catalog shopping is very close to on-line in that you need a credit card and a safe place to ship. I have some great places to shop once again on my links page. The thing to remember is every place I have shopped and placed an order on the phone they have never ever given me any type of problem. I use a guys voice and a femme name too. The stores love to sell to us and chances are a good part of the business they do is to T-girls. The place I bought my forms from was more than helpful and discrete.
Okay still have questions on clothes? Well then send me an e-mail and I will try to help you out. I answer my e-mails pretty much first thing in the morning during the work week.
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