Hello there,
Today I wanted to talk one of the most common questions I get asked when talking to other Crossdressers and Transgirls online: How do I do my shopping? Strangely enough I feel like it's a skill like makeup, that takes a little bit of research, and a little bit of trial and error. I'd like to think I've picked up some tricks that make shopping for women's clothes as a guy a little bit easier. I should also mention that I like to shop on a budget. I feel that since I wear women's clothes pretty infrequently it's not worth spending huge amounts of money on them, especially because I don't exactly have plenty of disposable income. Before we get started however I should mention you really need to figure out your accurate clothing size before you start shopping, this will help make sure you buy clothes that will actually fit and that you won't have to annoyingly return. It makes shopping for yourself a lot easier, and will help you streamline the process!
Online Shopping
Online retailers are an excellent option for Trans Women and Crossdressers as they avoid any potentially awkward interactions by shopping in person. Furthermore the increased selection and good prices make it extremely easy to expand your wardrobe on a budget. Now your first instinct might be to shop for clothes at one of those flashy Crossdresser specific stores online, but those products are extremely overpriced and much cheaper alternatives can be found elsewhere. While there's certainly a plethora of sites out there, you just can't go wrong with Amazon. Amazon just has everything you could possibly need Wigs, Makeup, Clothes, breastforms, you name it, its probably on there.
If you're like me you're a frugal shopper so I wanted to share my process for finding the cheapest price (non-scam) items as possible on Amazon. So when you sort a page by Price: Low to High, you'll get a bunch of items priced extremely cheaply anywhere from a cent to a dollar, but with these items, you'll pay a fortune on shipping and aren't actually the cheapest items. Using the following steps you should be able to find the actual best priced items on amazon:
1. Search your item
2. Check the box on the left side of the screen that says free shipping by Amazon/ Amazon Prime (This will both get rid of products with ridiculous shipping fees, and now show only products by non-scammer companies)
3. Sort by Price: Low to High, on the top right side of the screen
4. Next Filter by your Size on the left hand side of the screen (This is important! Some of the products shown may not have your size available, and because there are so many products available on Amazon there are too many to show you at once unless you filter by size)
5. Finally filter by the Maximum price you want to pay on the left hand side of the screen (similar to why it was important to filter by size it is also very important to filter by price, because there are so many items to show you amazon may omit some lower priced items in favor of higher ones, unless you filter them out)
6. Happy hunting! Further filtering might help you find exactly what you're looking for, but if you just like to browse and see what's cheap and available there will be hundreds of reasonably priced items now at your fingertips!
So that's how I do most of my shopping on Amazon, just filtering by price and see what's cheap and available. Unless there's a specific item I want to buy, I try to make sure I buy things as cheaply as possible. Another online store I recommend shopping on is
Shein. Their prices are usually very good and their variety of clothing is massive. Items tend to sell out pretty quick however so if you find something you really like don't wait more than a few months to buy it. Another website I like (that I'm sure you're all aware of) is Ebay. Ebay is a great option for more niche items that other stores might not have (like wedding or prom dresses). Additionally buying things used sometimes helps you save a few bucks. It can sometimes just be harder to gauge the clothing size of the item being sold, depending on how descriptive the seller is.
In Store
If you're looking for advice about how to shop in store en femme, you'll have to look elsewhere. I have yet to shop in girl mode in a store, and I'd imagine it won't be happening anytime soon. Personally I think shopping for women's clothes in guy mode can be awkward enough, I don't want to slap also being dressed in public on top of it. Inevitably when you shop as a guy you'll get some strange looks here and there, I like to shop as though I'm shopping for a girlfriend, that way if anyone asks I have a quick answer I can give them. However if I can use the excuse that I'm shopping for my girlfriend in guy mode, there would be no doubt who I'd be shopping for if I was fully dressed. Maybe one day I'll buck up the courage to do it, but for now it's just not on my schedule.
Understandably buying women's clothes in stores may be a little bit awkward, but it only has to be as uncomfortable as you want to make it. I know when I first started shopping in stores in guy mode, I would hide the girls clothes underneath everything else I was buying in my basket so no one would see. Now I don't really care that much, I'll put a hot pink bra on top of everything else in my basket, it's still a little awkward but whatever. All it takes is a little bit of confidence! None of the people that might see you buying the clothes are ever going to see you again, so what does it matter what their opinion is. Now if you're confident enough to try on women's clothes in store you're a bad ass, even I'm not that confident most of the time lol.
If you're like me and aren't quite brave enough for trying women's clothes on in a fitting room, I'd make sure you know your size before you go out. That way you can be in and out once you find your size. Additionally shopping in stores that have self checkout scanners are a great way to make a quick, interaction free exit. Of course if you're looking to avoid human interaction, there's other great tips like shopping late at night or far from where you live. If you also want to minimize your time in stores, you can also use store's websites to check if certain items you are looking for are in stock. This way you don't have to waste time looking for products that may not even be in stock.
One last thing I wanted to touch on was which stores I personally enjoy shopping in for girls clothes. Walmart and Target are both great options because they have self checkouts, and because they offer a little bit of everything. Both stores offer underwear for fairly cheap so if you are a panty fan I highly recommend. I'm also a fan of second hand stores like Goodwill, they're a great option at finding clothes for super cheap. Not only are the products super cheap they're also a great opportunity to find shoes in large sizes and niche items like prom dresses and sometimes wedding dresses. Although being honest most of the times I've received some judgment for shopping in the women's section has been at Goodwills, so shop at your own peril! How could I wrap up talking about in store shopping without talking about Victoria's Secret? In every experience I've had shopping there the employees have been incredibly kind and helpful. It's a safe space and I recommend shopping there if you can afford it. I've even seen some people go so far as to get a bra fitting at VS! Like I said it's a safe non-judgmental space, so if you're brave enough go for it! Getting a bra fitting at VS is actually on my bucket list, hopefully someday I can make it happen!
So that's a quick overview of my experience shopping for women's clothing. I hope it was in some way helpful. Maybe I'll have to chronicle some in store shopping trips as blog posts, that might be fun. Until then happy shopping everyone!
-Carly
