so I might need a formal outfit soon...

[Guest Waffle Cat]

I'm not yet sure if it's for real, but it will come up eventually. I might have to wear a formal outfit for an important presentation, and I don't want to wear a dress. I pass only half of the time, mostly to strangers, and my real name is very very feminine.

Everyone I know is used to seeing me wearing pants of course, but would it be strange if I suddenly showed up wearing a dress shirt and a tie (especially the tie) even though I'm obviously biologically female?

ps: the women's section of the department store also sells stuff that looks like men's dress shirts, but i'm picky. they don't have a solid black shirt and that's the only thing i wear.

pps: what's the difference between a female blouse/shirt, and a men's dress shirt, anyway?

[Guest Jo-88]

the difference would be the cut, the womans dress shirt would be tapered at the bottom and have room up top for breasts, the collar also might be more rounded. But I think you could pull off a standard womans pants suit but add a male flare to it such as a neck tie... that way if your not ready to really out yourself no one would give two thoughts about it but at the same time it would more or less look like a mans suit. Or you could go all the way and buy a mans suit...

[Guest aleon515]

The buttons are on the opposite side. I now hate women's shirts as they make the chest stick out more. OTOH, I have really worked to find men's clothes that fit. BTW, if you are smaller, I've found boy's (in the upper ranges 16-20, which I think are "young man's sizes"-- though male clothing does not go in so much for the cutsie size labels) has a neater fit.

It wasn't formal but I got away very nicely with a man's sweater, button-down men's shirt, and black jeans to something that was "dress up". (I was dressed almost identically to the other older guy that was there. ) Maybe a really dressy shirt (men's or women's tailored), perhaps with cuffs, and simple plain color tie and black pants.

moderntailor.com does really nice shirts where you give them your measurements and they make it to fit you. There a search so you can get what you want. I don't think the $20 deal is for something dress up though.

--Jay

[Guest AlyTheGreatAngel]

OH I KNOW. Im a fashion design major :3. Okay so I so I had to make a femal blouse for one of my finals and the difference is a lot of things; the cut because for females its cut more curved and so it creates an hourglass shape. That wouldnt be good if you're not looking to have that shape :3.

[Guest Clair Dufour]

Its hard to know what you could wear for a formal function in the Philippines without outing yourself. Women there seem to really dress up for such things. Spanish style gowns and such! Again, you need to make contacts in the community and find people who know what can be done there without causing a stir. Also, it depends if you are in Manila or other large metro or a place that's more rural. A barong would be cool if you can get away with it? Im sure you know that custom made clothes are cheap there. What is neat about that is that you can get them custom fitted to make you look more like the gender look you want.