Hello There,
Well friends today was the big day, it finally happened, I WENT OUT IN PUBLIC FULLY DRESSED AS A WOMAN!!! WOOOO!!!!! This has been months in the planning and years coming now. Strap in everyone and enjoy my story!
But first, how did I get here to this moment? Well I had two things to decide, where to go and what to wear. Starting with where to go, this was no easy choice. Go somewhere exciting, where I can engage in some feminine fun? Go somewhere lowkey where I can fly under the radar and have no one around to notice me? Well the point of going out in public is to be around other people right? So I wanted to choose someplace where other people would be present. But where to go, a store, a park, a mall? What I ended up deciding on is a gas station. I know it sounds lame but hear me out!
I've talked at length about what a massive influence the now defunct Lisagirl.net is on me. Lisa had some great advice (as always) about how to choose a location to go out in public to. While it's certainly true that women do things like go clothing and shoe shopping. They also do simple things like mail a letter or get some gas. Women running errands happen more frequently than them going shopping. Lisa first gained her confidence of presenting as a woman in public by running simple errands. It just so happened that I needed to fill my car up with gas! So I both had an errand I needed to run and needed an opportunity to dress in public. So many people when they dress in public for the first time either choose somewhere in the middle of nowhere or choose somewhere packed like going to a club or bar. Lisa's advice was spot on, somewhere like a post office or gas station is a great opportunity to dress around people but not have anyone get too close to you. Lisa was no stranger to getting gas while dressed, and I'd like to thank her for the inspiration!
Now for what to wear, I've been trying to plan an outfit for months now. Although I'd love to wear one of my favorite vintage dresses they would probably stand out a little too much for what I had planned. So I needed something a little more casual, something you'd see the average girl my age wearing. Jeans and a T-shirt, plain and simple. I've already chronicled my journey to find the perfect pair of jeans. With my new Levi's in hand I was ready to take a step out my door. I paired my new jeans with one of my favorite wide-banded V-neck T-shirts, in a striking blue color. I thought I was looking great, so I couldn't help but take some selfies.
But I ran into a problem, I had put so much focus on finding the perfect pair of jeans, I didn't remember to get a pair of women's shoes! Whoops! Well that meant if I was going out today I need to wear a pair of my guy shoes. I opted for a pair of black sneakers since some women's sneakers are plain black as well. But this created a problem, black sneakers didn't exactly match my current outfit! After spiraling for a few minutes I found a solution. Change my shirt, duh! So I swapped out my blue shirt and white cami for a black shirt and pink cami. This also gave me an opportunity to add a pink belt as well since it would match my camisole. After putting my outfit together I was ready to go. My makeup came out pretty well and I had my new wig on so I was feeling confident. After some hesitant circling I finally packed my purse and headed out the door!
I didn't run into anyone while walking down the stairs of my apartment building, but I still breathed a sigh of relief when I got in my car. From there I gleefully drove to my destination! I made sure to look at every person passing bye as I drove to see if anyone was looking at me, catching a glimpse of me behind the wheel. When I finally arrived at a Wawa gas station I parked at the far corner pump, and with full confidence stepped out of my car. Like any other woman passing through I pumped my gas, and didn't stand out too much. However to commemorate the moment I did take some pics of me pumping gas.
With a tank full of gas, I got back in my car and headed home. When I returned to my apartment I let out a breath of relieve and satisfaction, "I did it". I went out in public as a woman. It has been years coming but I finally did it. Now that I've ripped the Band-Aid off I'm excited to go out and try it again! So stay tuned everyone, hopefully more of Carly outdoors coming soon!
-Carly
