I Feel Slightly Uncomfortable Buying Men's Clothes...

[Guest Tim's Emma]

The first time my boyfriend went into the mens he was nervous, but i was just making it fun and pulling down clothes going 'do you like this' and giving him them to try. At first he used to take the mensware into the womens department, until one of the women told him he was in the wrong changing rooms, since then hes been going into the mens which is a great confidence boost for him, although I now have to sit outside and he takes FOREVER lol, he'd worse then me!! But he had to do it gradually and push himself a little bit more each time. I think its a case of only doing what you feel comfortable with until you're ready. I hope this is as much as a confidence boost for you as it was for my boyfriend, but i honestly i think off you're picture you'd have no trouble walking round the mens department

[Guest Wendae]

I never thought about the problem of buying men's clothes for a woman. Guess I'm just used to seeing them in there buying underwear and outerwear. The assumption is that it is for a male family member of friend. I guess figuring out the sizes is as difficult for you as it is for us when buying womens clothing. Using the dressing room is a big hurdle I've yet to overcome in a department store. Have been able to do it at a Goodwill however. That's an easy one. But it took a long time to get my nerve up to try it. Good luck!

[Guest Steph70]

This may seem one sided, but I would think it's easier to be a female buying male clothes than for a male to buy female clothes. I may be wrong. Hence the one sided thing( I only have my experience to draw on..).

I buy most of my female clothes from local stores. And I am at this point not passable at all, I seem to have a forever 5 o'clock shadow. I am freaked out from the moment I leave my house(yes, from the moment I leave my house..I know what I'm going to do!) until the moment I walk out the stores door. I guess after you're outside, it's already done. (I guess i should mention I'm dressed male while buying woman's clothing). I remember for a long time I would go to a store and actually buy tampons with whatever clothing or undergarments for a 'cover story'. "Yep, girlfriend sent me out for stuff.." FYI, I haven't bought any tampons lately...but that freaked out stress feeling is still there.

Recently, I went to a local store with a gift card to get some hiking boots(winter's coming..have to work outside). Whenever I am in this store, I slowly and randomly(or 'accidentally'?) walk through the woman's shoe section. There was a pair of purple high heels that I just HAD to have. I went home with my hikers, resisting the urge. I thought about them alllllll day. I finally gave in and went back to the store. Now, most shoes I've bought I've just done the 'this should be the size that would fit' and beelined it to the checkout(I've noticed that woman's shoes don't seem to have a real consistant size..I have several diff sizes that fit me perfectly), but these I really really liked. So how to try them on? BTW..by now my head is swimming and I'm probably all red and drawing more attention to myself than if I was just comfortable. I can't walk into the store with only hosiery on, and it would take too long to take off the shoe and sock to try this shoe on. What to do what to do? I really want these shoes and I want them to fit.(Oh, and they were in the clearance section so I wouldn't be able to take them back. I finally got up the nerve, stood up and looked around, and took my shoe off, grabbed a size 10 and they fit. I then grabbed a size 9 and went to the checkout(my logic was socks are thicker than stockings). When I finally got to the checkout, the cashier was a cute 20 something. Oh God I picked the wrong line! Anyways...we do the whole transaction, and as she is bagging my shoes, she looked at me and said "Are these for you?" Uhh..umm..(heart stops)..oh..."No, for my girlfriend". As I left the store, my first thought was "Why didn't I just say yes? What would she do? NOT let me buy them? Judge me?". Obviously I think I said the right thing, but I just started thinking about how it would have felt to just say yes, yes they are for me.

I guess what I'm trying to say in my long winded way is, you are not alone. It is an uncomfortable feeling to go buy opposite gender clothes. Is there a shop that caters to transgenders in your area? I've heard there is one near me, but haven't had the courage to even find out where it actually is here. Or is there a guy friend that you could take with you? For now, I do the 'cover story', and have played every possible conversation(except for the above mentioned one!) back in my head and think I have answers for all. I now know that isn't true, but I tell myself that when i go shopping or I wouldn't get out the door.

Sorry this is so long, and I'm not sure if it will help you, except to let you know you aren't the only one with this struggle. I know it helped me a little to write it down, so thank you Thorndrop!

Stephanie

[Guest Otto]

Most of my clothing is rated : Unisex x)

When i go to shop , i go to men's clothing and i just take what i want, it's not something that annoys me.

I used to look if people looks me strangely, but now i just don't really care about what they think! hell yeah! i'm going to get my clothing, pay it and then say bye bye ! will i ever see them again? i don't know and i don't even care !=]

If you act like me you will feel much more comfy buying clothes