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Achieving a Feminine Body Shape


Sally Stone

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When I began presenting a woman one of the the things I wanted emulate was a feminine body shape.  Unfortunately, I was, and still am, built like a shapeless board.  Consequently, women's fashions just didn't look as good on me as I wanted them to.  Of course, I solved the chest issue with breast forms and the midriff issue with a waist cincher but solving the hips and butt issues alluded me for years.  I tried padded panties but still couldn't achieve the hourglass figure I was looking for.  Finally, out of frustration, I decided to make my own padding.  I bought some dense upholstery foam rubber, carved it with an electric knife (a major hack when cutting foam rubber) to make hip and butt pads that I could insert into a girdle.  I started with forms that I thought were going to be oversized but my plan was trim them little by little, to proper shape.  When I put the foam pads inside a firm support girdle, what I thought was oversize turned out to be nearly perfect.  All of a sudden my hip and butt measurements matched my bust and I had a very nice hourglass shape.  

 

I have been wearing homemade padding ever since.  I firmly believe the feminine shape they provide adds significantly to feeling feminine.  Obviously, there are certain fashions where this kind of padding won't work, specifically a bathing suit or tight fitting leggings but since I rarely have a desire to wear those things, it isn't a problem for me.  I always keep two different sets of hip pads.  One is for skirts and looser fitting dresses and a smaller, more contoured set is for jeans and tight fitting dresses.  I'm just wondering if having an hourglass figure is as important to others as it is to me and if so, what is your solution?

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I'm well aware I will never have an hourglass figure but that's ok. I used to dress with forms in hiding for the longest time but now that I'm out of hiding and on HRT I am seeing some changes and I'll make do with what I get even at 68. I don't want to hide anymore but I also have never been mistaken for the gender I wish to become. I wear conservative lady pants and blouses and don't wear any men clothes but sadly I'm still misgendered. But I have hope and if not gendered right - so be it. It's not what they think, it's what I think and I feel more ladylike every day.

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Are you on hormone therapy? When I started that and grew some breasts, the shirts really fit a lot nicer. Otherwise you have a couple of options. You can gain weight as fat and/or gain weight as muscle. The fat is really a gamble, you just gain it and hope it goes where you want. With the muscle, if you really work your butt and hips with weight training you can get some size there. It has to be solid weight training though, bodyweight exercises alone won't do it. 

Personally, this is one area where I lucked out, I have a 34 inch bust, 31 inch waist, and something like 36 inch hips. I still don't have the figure of some women. Notice I say some women - not a lot of cis women I know or have seen even have an hourglass figure. I even knew a cis woman that had stick legs, no butt, no hips, and a large belly. Many cis women are apple or pear shaped. Again, I caution us trans women into falling into this trap of what makes the ideal woman, as we often hold ourselves to standards that a lot of cis women can't even meet. I don't think I would go thru the trouble of padding or anything in my areas. I have tiny boobs and I'm happy with them, for example. You do what you think you need to do, but at the end of the day it won't make a lick of difference if your wear padding on your thighs or not.

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Even before I began my journey, I was always fascinated by hourglass figure. I was, of course, making up some silly reasons why I would need a waist-trainer ("it helps with weight loss") or corset. With the beginning of transition, it only made sense and became just a natural hope to achieve it. Currently, I can get a fairly good resemblance with steel-boned corset laced up all the way. And I absolutely love the feeling. One additional benefit, it helps with the posture so it is another reason to use it at least around house if you spend plenty of time sitting.

 

Cannot comment much on the padding, as I was starting with very non-masculine figure waist-down, and new fat redistribution only enhanced those areas to a point where shaping clothes are new reality in my future ?

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13 hours ago, AwesomeClaire said:

Notice I say some women - not a lot of cis women I know or have seen even have an hourglass figure. I even knew a cis woman that had stick legs, no butt, no hips, and a large belly. Many cis women are apple or pear shaped. Again, I caution us trans women into falling into this trap of what makes the ideal woman, as we often hold ourselves to standards that a lot of cis women can't even meet.

I'll never have that hourglass figure.  But it doesn't really seem to be a big issue for women in my (older) age range.  Perhaps age has its perks after all.

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Claire, I'm not doing HRT, so I don't get those benefits.  As for an hourglass figure, it's just what appeals to me and it keeps my overall shape from looking typically male.  I think you are probably right that wearing padding won't make a lick of difference to anyone else, but at the end of the day, I wear padding on my hips because it makes me happy.

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1 hour ago, Sally Stone said:

I wear padding on my hips because it makes me happy.

One of those funny things…

When I was young and trying to be a guy, I thought my butt & hips were too big.   Now I think they're too small.  Perhaps that's dysmorphic, but I'm a mess anyway.

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      I think it comes down to what makes you comfortable and happy.  Its important to remember that all people including women come in many shapes and sizes and not get to caught up in the perfect shape because there isn't one. For me I just do the best with what I have a dress to my shape while still wearing what I want.  The most important thing to me is being who I am and not hiding.

     HRT helped me greatly. Even though it did very little for me hips. I went from 150 pounds to 175 lbs. I was very fortunate with breast development and overall body fat distribution with exception of belly fat.  I personally feel most insecure about my body when I go out for a run mainly because it very hard to hide anything.  I have found with time, that the more I go out for a run the easier it is and I just don't worry about much anymore after all most people are so caught up in what they are doing that they very seldom actually pay any attention to anyone else.  Ultimately I think you should do what makes you happy and the most comfortable.

 

Jamie

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I am fortunate because my wider-than-normal hips and narrow shoulders that caused me great dysphoria for many years trying to conform to my AMAB gender-role now have become a source of contentment when I can wear form fitting dresses, etc.  My only issue is I am short wasted - I'm basically all legs. So, I need some type of waist-cincher to try to create that hourglass figure. 
Not on HRT yet, but I long for the day to find out what it might do to complete my figure as I have always envisioned myself since childhood.
Great topic @Sally Stone❣️

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I'm lucky to have a muscular butt, but I have no hips and a muscular thick waist. I've said for a long time that I'm built like a wrestler. I'm also lazy and nervous about wardrobe malfunction, so padding and cinching are out. My solution has been live with it, and mom jeans. But atm I'm doing strength training trying to balance top and bottom with a little more bulk on bottom.

 

I've found that moving your apparent waist up balances top and bottom a bit. So, high-waisted jeans with shirt tucked in, or a fitted top that is over the jeans but tight on the lower belly, and fitted at the waist. It may not be a woman's favorite place to be fat, but I'm blessed with lower belly fat. It's feminine enough.

 

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12 hours ago, anyanka said:

I'm lucky to have a muscular butt, but I have no hips and a muscular thick waist. I've said for a long time that I'm built like a wrestler. I'm also lazy and nervous about wardrobe malfunction, so padding and cinching are out. My solution has been live with it, and mom jeans. But atm I'm doing strength training trying to balance top and bottom with a little more bulk on bottom.

 

I've found that moving your apparent waist up balances top and bottom a bit. So, high-waisted jeans with shirt tucked in, or a fitted top that is over the jeans but tight on the lower belly, and fitted at the waist. It may not be a woman's favorite place to be fat, but I'm blessed with lower belly fat. It's feminine enough.

 

I'm doing the same thing with strength training, just trying to balance out my whole body with some extra in the butt area. I've gotten stronger and my arms look great, the bottom half will take some time but is already pretty decent.

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    • Sally Stone
      Post 7 “The Pittsburgh Years” When I retired from the Army, we moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania because I had been hired by US Airways to work in their flight training department.  The transition to civilian life was a bit of an adjustment, but I never really looked back.  At the same time, I was excited at the prospect of having more Sally time. But with work and two teenage boys in the house, getting to be Sally was a challenge.    The biggest issue in this regard were my sons, as they didn’t know about my feminine side.  My wife and I discussed, in great detail, whether or not to tell them.  If they had known about Sally, it would have been much easier to actually be Sally when I wanted to.  But I still didn’t know exactly where my transgender journey was going to take me, and this uncertainty was the primary reason my wife and I decided it wasn’t the right time to tell them about Sally.  Except for the convenience it would afford me, we didn’t think it was fair to burdened them with such a sensitive family secret if it wasn’t absolutely necessary.  If at some point things changed and it looked like I might be heading towards transition, my wife and I agreed we would revisit our decision.   Despite having to tiptoe around the boys I was able, with my wife often running interference for me, to significantly increase my girl time.  The nature of my variable work schedule meant that often days off occurred during the week when the boys were in school, and on those days, I took full advantage of the time.  Additionally, I had discovered a new trans friend through a local support group, and my wife, ever and always accommodating, ensured I had time for outings with my new friend.    Willa, my new friend, quickly became my best friend, and after only a short time, she and my wife became quite close as well.  With Willa’s help, I would soon discover that Pittsburgh was a very trans friendly city.  Together, she and I made the town our own.  We attended the theater, the symphony, we went out to dinner regularly, and I think we visited every museum in the city.  With Willa’s support and friendship, I was actually becoming quite the girl about town.    Willa and I had a lot in common.  We loved to shop, we had similar feminine styles, and we had similar views and feelings about being trans.  In fact, our frequent and deep discussions about transgender issues helped me begin to understand my transgender nature.  Having Willa as a springboard for all topics transgender, was probably as effective as regularly visiting a therapist.  I would never discount anyone’s desire to seek professional help, but having an unbiased confidant, can also be an effective method for self-discovery.    Exploring the city as Sally and spending time with Willa was instrumental in helping me understand my transgender nature, and would begin shaping my transgender objective.  My feelings about the kind of girl I was and where I wanted to go began to solidify.  Being out and socializing as Sally in a big city like Pittsburgh, taught me I could express my femininity without issue.  I honestly felt confident I could live my life as a woman; however, remaining completely objective, I just couldn’t see giving up the life I’d built as a man.   At that time, I was being heavily influenced by the concept of the gender binary, which had me thinking I had to choose between being a man or being a woman.  It was Willa who reminded me there were no rules requiring gender identity to be binary.  During one of our deep discussions, she posited the idea of enjoying both genders, something she was doing, and a concept that made a lot of sense to me.  I was already living the life of a part-time woman, so I simply started paying more attention to how that was making me feel.    One characteristic that was dominating my feminine self-expression (and it continues to this day) was that when I was Sally, I was “all in.”  When I became Sally, it was such a complete transformation that I truly felt like a woman.  The feeling was powerful, and if I had to describe it another way, I’d say it was akin to an actor, so into the part, they actually become the character they are portraying.  That was me, and I discovered that this level of depth was extremely fulfilling, and that feeling tended to last long after transitioning back to my male persona.  Part-time womanhood it seemed, was actually working for me.    Eventually, a job change forced me to move away from Pittsburgh, but the enlightenment I experienced while living there has shaped the nature of my bi-gender personality to this day.  Even after leaving, Willa and I remained the best of friends.  We had many more adventures, some of which I will detail in later posts.  Sadly, Willa passed away two-years ago after contracting a prolonged illness.  Her loss was hard to take and I miss her dearly.  However, I have so many fond memories of our times together, and because her support helped shape me, she lives on in my heart.   Hugs,   Sally
    • missyjo
      thank you dear. I'm constantly working at adjusting n writing off other people's judgment or input.   thank you n good luck
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    • Abigail Genevieve
      Can you dress androgynously? 
    • Ashley0616
    • Abigail Genevieve
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      Yes, my brother was born lactating due to absorbing hormones from my mum.    Of course she isn't a nurse, she is a CNA. She should however still have general medical knowledge.
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    • RaineOnYourParade
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