I'm talking about buying dresses and stuff - not shoes (They pose a problem).
I'm a Scot - but have lived in SoCal for over 50 years. Must admit that things have changed over the years (I saw a blatant transvestite shop in Dunedin - at the southern end of New Zealand). but I'm sure that buying clothes can still be a problem. Buying nice things over the Internet solves many difficulties - but I don't know? A large part of the buying is the red face and shame? (It is - if you're a male sub!)
Anyhoo? My experiences have been strictly in SoCal - though I once bought a pretty (used) dress via the Internet from Montreal. Apart from going daft and buying a pair of high heels one time (I covered that in a previous) post I basically relied on my wife. (Don't get me wrong - she never did approve, but it DID give her easy presents to buy - and once you have been married as long as we have? This can be a major bonus!)
But I stray. What I want to get across to young cross dressers is that buying clothes can be surprisingly easy. I'm not going to pretend that I'm an experienced hand at this - far from it. But a few years before I started taking the meds that eliminated my sex drive, I tried to buy my wife a nice, sexy, pair of slippers. As I live in a small town, there aren't too many stores - but there was one, down a side street. It was a middle age lady who ran the place and we chatted a while.
I left, but began to feel that she would be 'sympathetic'? Underwent the tortures of the damned - but finally plucked up my courage, went back to the shop and blurted out my guilty secret! She was wonderful! Turned out that even though our town is VERY small, she had another male customer, just like me.
I bought a few things from her - but there was a problem. She basically catered to the wies of Marines (they have a major camp close by) but the women were usually much younger - and the styles were not really to my taste. An interesting point? Her daughter managed a Lane Bryant store (Larger women) not too far away, but her daughter LOVED transvestites! Didn't quibble over price and usually spent a lot. Were absolutely NO trouble. The only thing? I didn't really like the stuff they sold there.
But next thing? The lady in the original store told me one day that she knew a saleslady in Draper and Damon's - a much larger store that sold to more matronly women. The saleslady there, would LOVE to take on a transvestite - though she suggested that I shop early on Sunday mornings. I was delighted, the stuff there was much more to my taste, Phoned the lady there and made sure she'd expect me. She was also wonderful. As a matter of fact, I had the distinct impression that she felt that more men would like nice in women's clothes.
She was fantastic! If she felt that a skirt wasn't suitable in style or coloring she'd say so. I once tried to buy a pretty sweater - but she felt that the manufacturer tended to make his sizes smaller. Matter of factly, she suggested that I go into a dressing cubicle and try it on for size! I damn near fainted with fright, but did it. She was right - it WAS too small.
What I'm trying to get to is this - many of the sales women in dress stores are well aware that some men love to dress up - and they are perfectly willing to sell them what is wanted - after all, most of them work on a commission - and? I think that many of them sympathise with us poor buggers - and don't mind helping at all!
Pluck up your courage you sissies out there!
Hi Bea a very interesting account of buying clothes and wish I had encountered some of the women you had the good fortune to met on your expedition. That was a big risk to take in a small town. I had a similar experience buying a girdle- my hot button- when I was younger I too live in a small town (in Ireland) and it was a nerve wrecking experience which took me years to get over.The woman who served me was a little older than me about 30 but was soon joined by two others at that point it was too late to back out so just kept going saying it was for an elderly aunt but I could tell they were not having any of it and without a shadow of doubt they knew it was for me and could barely contain their smirks, I couldn't wait to get out, thought I would have a heart attack, Even now passing the store gives me the shivers but have made several purchases in charity shops since including bridal gowns and cocktail dresses and have visited CD shops to buy shoes and other items of clothing and must say the staff were great. I think you have to be very lucky to get a sympathic sales lady and perhaps the older the woman the better chance you have. Maybe women in SoCla are more liberal and tolerant than other places. It's one thing being humiliated about being a sissy in a fantasy quite another in real life.
ReplyDeleteGreat blog/topics and your contributors have very insightful responses.
best regards
Carrie.
One of my favorite places to shop in Los Angeles is the Goodwill stores. They have designer dresses in larger sizes at ridiculously low prices. And they don't even begin to care who buys them.
ReplyDelete