Beginning again ... plus a question

[Guest shawnmichelle]

Hello all,

Like many, my crossdressing has come and gone over the years. Within the past six months, the need to escape into Shawn Michelle has grown, so I've decided to I want to see how far my dressing can go.

My story is like many others - started dressing in mom's clothes because they felt nice, dressed off and on in high school and college using 'borrowed' items, got married, wife 'accepted' my other half, dressing waned with work/kids/responsibilities, now back to the desire-to-dress-again stage of my life.

Rarely did I have anything that was my own (wife's bra, towels for breasts, wife's panties, ect.), but that's not the case this time. I just got some new breast forms delivered and today ordered a bra. I'm still searching for a wig. My question is regarding body shapers/corsets.

My regular, everyday measurements are:

Hips - 38"

Waist - 35" (I wear a size 33 in jeans)

Stomach - Measuring around my belly button, I can pull my stomach in to 36" (If I push in I can get to 35"). Relaxed, the same measurement is 41"

Bra - 42C

I'm having a hard time deciphering sizes for body shapers/corsets. Most say to subtract 2-4" from your waist size. Which waist size do I use? If I go with a 32-34, I'm trying to push a lot of mid-section into a tiny space. If I go a couple of inches higher and use Shawn Michelle's waist, I'm looking at a 36-38.

Obviously, I'd like to be as slim as possible without rearranging my organs. Any advice is greatly appreciated. I'll probably have more questions as this new journey moves forward. Thanks,

Shawn Michelle

[Charlize]

Welcome to Laura's Shawn Michael. You'll find your not alone. Many stop dressing only to start again.

You might want to post in the introduction forum as well as here in cross dressers.

I might warn you to be careful with corsets. They sometimes get extreme and can really cause harm. It is best if you plan to go that route to go to a good store that has knowledge of the use and can make recommendations. It is worth looking for.

Glad you've joined us here.

Hugs,

Charlize

[Guest Destiny Lynn]

Welcome Shawn Michelle.

Destiny Lynn

[Guest shawnmichelle]

Thank you both for the welcome. As for finding a store, there aren't any nearby that I've seen, and the nearest decent-sized city is 2 1/2 hours away. I'm looking more at the body shapers than corsets, though I've seen some corsets that look like they would work. Charlize, I know what you've mean by extreme. I remember reading or watching a story about some GGs who wore corsets so tight, their insides actually moved (I remember the x-ray they took - I'm not a doctor but nothing looked like it was in the right place). I've got some working out to do before thinking about an hourglass figure. Right now I'm looking for flat. I can get my mid-section down to 35" with a good body shaper and I would be comfortable. I can see this is going to be an interesting journey. Thanks for the input and help.

Shawn Michelle

[gennee]

Welcome Shawnmichelle. No matter much we suppress the urge, it always comes roaring back.

[tracy_j]

Hi Shawn Michelle

What I've done with clothing (including support although I have not gone as far as a corset) is to determine my sizes as you have done then convert to female sizes. In my case it relates to 14 for dresses (anything from the shoulder) and 12 for waist - skirts (although I have to go to 14 for jeans as 12 is too tight for my calves) - all thes UK sizes. As such the support / firming underwear I am trying do fit reasonably well and are not extreme.

This takes time so as Charlize said - it may be useful to get professional advice as it will be quicker and likely cheaper in the long run!

Tracy

[Guest Kati]

Shawn Michelle,

Welcome! In my experience, corsets are very tricky. In theory they should do exactly as intended, but in practice they don't work very well. Perhaps if I had someone to actually do the tightening the corset might perform more closely to what I anticipated. However, that isn't an option for me. Secondly, I don't think all corsets are created equal. To purchase a high quality corset requires more money than I care to spend on an experiment. There are other forms of shapeware, while not as dramatic, do assist in giving one a better shape. Sorry, this isn't a particularly helpful post, but it is well-intended.