Hello There:
So when choosing a dress style there is certainly no shortage of options, but I wanted to highlight one of my favorites: vintage styled dresses, 1950s, rockabilly, retro, whatever you want to call them, they're wonderful! While vintage dresses aren't necessarily the sexiest dress a women can own, I believe they might just be one of the most fun! What I and many others enjoy most about crossdressing is the euphoria of feeling feminine, we're forced to live the majority of our lives presenting as masculine, so in those brief moments when we get to enjoy the more feminine things in life we should make the most of it. I'd more so describe vintage dresses as girly rather than sexy, but while presenting as a man you can be sexy, you can not however typically be girly (shout out to all the androgynous folks out there who find a way), this makes vintage dresses a great outlet for those wanting to feel like a girl. In my opinion vintage dresses embody much of what make femininity so wonderful, pretty colors and patterns, dresses cut in a way that accentuate feminine features like breasts and hips, and the ability to accessorize with fun women's garments like petticoats and slips.
Let's start with colors and patterns. Vintage dresses usually feature a bold color or pattern: pinks, reds, blues, purples, and yellows are all colors easily found in vintage dresses, as well as fun patterns like flowers, plaids, polka dots and so many more! All of which are such a massively steep departure from men's clothing which usually features drab colors like black or grey. Not only do the colors accentuate how feminine these dresses are, the cuts of the dresses very effectively show off feminine features. Vintage dresses typically show off breasts very well, either through exposed cleavage or a tight top designed to show off the curvature created by breasts. Additionally vintage dresses are typically designed to show off a narrow waist either via the cut of the dress, or extra features like a belt or bow. Finally vintage dresses highlight hips and butts really well, typically achieved through a wide bottom portion of the dress (thanks either to a petticoat or the cut of the dress).
While there's certainly a lot to love about the dresses themselves, the final thing I wanted to discuss in terms of how well vintage dresses embody the joys of femininity, is how easy it is to accessorize when wearing a vintage dress. Vintage dresses present so many options as to what articles of clothing can be worn beneath and with them. First of all, they're one of the only styles of dress where it is completely acceptable to wear a petticoat. Petticoats are such an incredibly fun and girly garment, finding an acceptable excuse to wear one without it being a fashion faux pas is often tricky. That is unless you're wearing it under a vintage dress, where not only is it acceptable to wear one, it's expected! Vintage dresses open the door for wearing more than just petticoats however, based on their length and how they're cut they provide a great opportunity to wear things like full slips (blog post on slips coming soon!), garter belts and stockings, pantyhose and tights, vintage lingerie like girdles and longline bras, gloves, and pearls. So not only are vintage dresses themselves inherently very feminine, they provide a plethora of opportunity to experience a wide variety of other women's wear.
Vintage dresses create so many opportunities for the wearer to feel girly and feminine, they've become a staple item in my wardrobe and I highly encourage you to give them a try as well! For those of you wondering where to get vintage dresses for yourself, I highly recommend amazon. By simply searching for "vintage dress" you'll be provided with hundreds of different styles, colors and patterns, all for around $20-$40 which is considerably cheaper than getting a vintage dress through a designer's website. So what are you waiting for, go out and get one for yourself today!
-Carly
