Have you ever felt tensed walking into a Lady store?

This is a great topic. It's so fascinating to here everyone's take on shopping.

I've never shopped fully en-femme (wig, makeup etc) but have shopped whilst in partial girl mode and also in full man mode.  To be honest, in man mode I've actually felt more nervous!  Thoughts such as "If anyone notices me will they think I'm buying for my SO or will they see right through me and recognise me for the "tranny" I am?" go through my head. This was particularly the case in my younger years.  Now, not so much.  Maybe it's the general confidence that comes with age or maybe it's being more comfortable with who and what I am?

In girl mode, I have more of a "I don't care what you think" mindset...although, admittedly, I do still aim for the quieter times...and never Mondays.  Roberta, there's a reason why the Boomtown Rats wrote the song!!! 😉

Sometimes I'll try things on, other times I'll take them home to try...so long as I can get a refund for returns.  It really depends on the shop and the comfort vibe I get.  If anyone is snooty, rude or makes me feel uncomfortable, I'll simply take my money elsewhere.  Thankfully, that has hardly ever happened...probably (as several girls have said) because that's just bad business sense.  It may be that the person is generally having a bad day and isn't specifically "picking on me" but, hey, I don't put up with bad service in man mode so I'll be damned if this girl will!!! haha 🙂

Back in the UK I did a lot of buying from charity shops.  They were always really nice as I think they were just happy to be getting money for whatever charity it was.  Also, people who give up their time for free tend to be the nice sort. 🙂  They're great for building your confidence (and for getting bargains).  Someone earlier said about going in with a list.  This is also fantastic advice.  If a shop has a website, I've gone in with the pages from the site on my phone and shown the person what I'm looking for.  It really puts you in control of the situation.

Finally, I think a lot of shop workers are bored out of their mind's most of the day anyway so having an "interesting" customer can certainly make their day less mundane.  If they talk about me once I've left the shop (which I'm sure they do) or tell their friends/family...fine, that's human nature.  They're complete strangers anyway so I don't care 🙂  xxx

Apparna,

I mustered the courage to go to the local Torrid store by me. I walked in shaking like a leaf. I looked around looked at a few dresses. There were a few GGs in the store and a few more coming and going. I would swear they all saw me as a creep. It was so nerve racking. I looked a little more and left. I was thinking I MADE IT PHEW! It was exhilarating. Im going to keep going and one day I'll try on some dresses...maybe... lol.

Angela

Angela l love torrid I buy so many clothes there the sales girls said you should apply for a credit card I did and I got approved hooray the girls all know that I am a cross-dresser named Jasmine they all call me Jasmine and I try on clothes all the time and model for them to get their opinion I was nervous as hell The first time I don't know why I said the clothes are for me they don't care they are so sweet and supportive 💋

Angela l love torrid I buy so many clothes there the sales girls said you should apply for a credit card I did and I got approved hooray the girls all know that I am a cross-dresser named Jasmine they all call me Jasmine and I try on clothes all the time and model for them to get their opinion I was nervous as hell The first time I don't know why I said the clothes are for me they don't care they are so sweet and supportive 💋

Last week I was at a value village (chain store) I was walking around nevous and finally said screw it and walked over to the womens clothes and started looking around, I was looking at a beautiful sweater top and held it up to me and I thought I love this and a woman looked at me and just kept shopping. She watched me and I made a comment there were no really colourful skirts or dresses... she said ya some times ya have to hit it at the right time. I said guys clothes are boring no colour and not fancy...... I said I am going to look for a nice floural dress and skirt she said good choice!! I said thank you and kept shopping. Now I get excited thinking about going shopping for womens clothes in drab...

Always a bit nervous when I go to a store the first time looking to buy feminine items. Mostly I can determine in a short period of time if I'm welcome. If I don't I leave, if they are nice I stay. Once I walked into a woman's resale shop that specialized in clothing for plus size and tall ladies. I must have had a worried look on my face because the first thing she said is "Your secret is safe with me". She later told me a good part of her business was from CD's. I found a beautiful cobalt blue dress in my size. When I walked out of the dressing room and asked what she thought. She said "I would drive all the men crazy. I purchased the dress!

I volunteer in a charity shop and we have two cd customers they always ask my opinion even tho I'm in drab! I think they may have guessed I'm also a cd! They are very confident and I'm going to ask them to join me for coffee and take it from there!wish me luck.❤ charlotte xx

Yes, i feel very nervous shopping in lady stores, in the 70s i worked away regularly,  and would shop in towns where no one knew me, i would look for small stores with one or two assistants,  i had to pluck up courage to walk in but it felt so exciting but also very scary, i remember the first items i bought  50 years ago was a pale blue bra and panties ,i wrote the sizes on a piece of paper and pretended they were a present for my girlfriend

Every time I am about to go out, I get nervous to outright scared. The bolder I got, the more nervous and scared I became. Still, by having intense desire and pushing through the fear, I had so many wonderful and exciting adventures.

Only thing I can say is just do it. If you need to, say your shopping for A SO and that she's about the same size. Another thing I like to do is "window shop" online, find what I like, then go in store and get it (though I only do it with Torrid).

Years ago, the patrons and salespeople would make it very uncomfortable even being in the store without a SO with you. Trying on was not an option. You had to accept the fit of whatever you bought.

I found that now patrons still make it uncomfortable to shop without a SO in the store with you. Who cares what they think. I will probably never see them again and don't value their opinion in any way.

Most of the salespeople are very helpful especially if you tell them you are shopping for yourself. They are friendly and make the shopping experience pleasurable. The younger salespeople are more accepting that you are shopping for yourself. Trying clothes on is an option now. Try to go when the store is not busy. During supper hour or at opening or closing time. Avoid weekends. I tend to shop on Monday or Tuesday on my way home from work.

Yes it is a little different shopping for myself. I have shopped alone for both of my wives and my daughter with no problems. In fact my daughter loves going shopping with me, I always spot things she would like. We haven’t gone shopping together for me yet though. Even bought things at Fredrick’s of Hollywood for the first wife by myself, she had said that she had always wanted a red, lace bra, but her mother had forbidden it. So I tried at several with stores at the mall with no luck and they were the only shop in the mall left and had luck there. But then I had grown up being taken shopping with my mother, my aunt, my grandmother and cousin so very little bothers me. I wonder if that explains something’s about me?? Hehe
Hugs❤️

Leslie

Autumn, I like how you think! I may have to use this one too! 🙂

Birel

Like some others have said, it gets easier the more you do it. I used to be terrified to walk in to the womens section, and suspected everyone was staring at me and silently judging me. Or that the employees were calling the police on the creepy guy in ladies wear. Of course, nothing like that ever really happened to me.

I used to pretend I was shopping for my SO. But, now I just go in and shop for myself, and I don't really care what other shoppers think. My only exception to that rule, is that I'm terrified of running into someone I know, because I'm not "out".

Yesterday, I went in to Torrid to shop their sale for footwear. I talked to a sales assistant a couple of times, and tried on multiple pair of sandals, with my bright pink toenails out for anyone to see. Then I went to another clothing store and twice, carried an armful of womens clothes up and asked if I could try them on. The cashiers in that store didn't say much to me, but showed me to the dressing rooms and checked me out with the items that I talked myself into. I just took the attitude that, if they don't like me buying myself feminine clothing, so what. I care what I think of the outfits, not what they think anyway. The people working in Torrid were really nice, and helpful though, very pleasant shopping experience there.

Birel

A couple of weeks ago I went into the underwear department at M&S to buy some new every day panties and an unpadded bra. Yes I was in male mode but really enjoyed my stroll around. After choosing what I wanted I went to the pay for them, stood in line with the other ladies buying their underwear, called to the till the young girl asked did I find everything I was looking for folded everything nicely for me then handed them to me. Very pleasant experience however every everyone was wearing masks so I couldn’t see it she was smiling or not but she didn’t have a frown on her face either.

Samantha x