difference

[Guest jtgasv]

so, question regarding clothing, shirts, pants, etc. i realize some of my current clothes including clothes i have to wear to work, are starting to degrade a bit and need to be replaced. and that i have no -colder weather- clothing and was wondering what differences there were between male-female clothing? with my current financial plans involving trying to start hormones by around the beginning of next summer... or sooner if possible? i dont want to go buy more clothes that i wont end up wearing in another year or 2. if i started buying female shirts and pants to wear, how noticeable would it be? also, i love pea-coats. i wish i still had my navy one but it got destroyed a few years ago. was looking at getting a new one once i can afford it. if i was to get a female pea-coat but in a relatively gender neutral color. is it noticeable that id be wearing female clothes and likely to cause weird looks from coworkers? etc?

and random other questions... that existed in my head when i started writing this that realized i was going to write them down and decided to make a run for it and avoid capture in words.

[Guest ashleynikole]

I'm not sure about a pea-coat (I'd seriously have to look that up) but I know that I came out last August and started changing my wardrobe which included winter clothes. I found that women's jeans aren't that noticeable if you don't get the ones with frilly embellishes and jewels on the butt. Simple women's boot cut jeans will do wonders for your psyche. Then I chose sweaters and sweatshirts that were androgynous at best and form-fitting and cut at worst. I tried to stick to bright solid colors (cuz that's what I like) and I didn't go for anything frilly. I still have most of these clothes in my closet but I'll be trying to get some whole new outfits for this fall/winter.

God bless

Ashley

[tracy_j]

With buttoned shirts:

I have recently bought a couple of womens shirts. I think the main differences to watch are the style of collar (mine have Peter Pan collars so definite female) and that, compared with men's, the waists are pinched in - more like a mens tailored shirt so maybe not too much of an issue.

That said I have seen some which would not look out of place on a man although don't forget the buttons are on the other side. With some styles this is not obvious as the cental pattern of cloth sometimes hides this.

With T Shirts / sweatshirts:

I generally buy figure hugging styles without logos so tend to be feminine, but it is possible to get baggier ones which should be far less obvious.

Coats are similar in that buttons tend to be on the opposite side. Zip up ones are less of an issue as they can be bought with a central zip so less obvious. Another thing to watch is the flare of the coat over the hips. I bought one for winter recently that accentuates that feature to give me the appearance of bigger hips but there are many which don't.

Tracy

[VickySGV]

As Tracy said, the collars on tops will be the major clue as to their gender specificity. It will be 8 to ten months after starting HRT that you reach "male fail" and even then women do wear male clothing, especially of the heavy winter coat variety.

[Guest JaneShannon]

This question hugely depends on the dress environment or dress code of your work place. Is it business causual? Your build is important too. The pea coat might be tough as they are double breasted, and will clearly show it is buttoned from the wrong side. Pants should be pretty easy to get away with if they have front closures.

I can completely understand your frustration. So close yet so far. And men's clothes are so painful boring to shop for.