Welcome to Crossdresser Heaven, a safe and welcoming place for everyone in the crossdresser community.
Join Crossdresser Heaven today to participate in the forums.
Apart from our general size and shape, there are more subtle things that make men look like men.
I have been trying to feminise my facial features so that, at least at a great distance, I have a chance at passing. In general, from a distance one of the first thing that people are going to see is your physical size; if you are six feet tall and built like a 'whatever the big guys in American football are called', you are not going to completely look like a woman, ever, and you'll have to deal with that. However, assuming you are not that big (I mostly am) then there are other factors that you can influence to make yourself appear more feminine. Shape is one of those things; breast forms and, IMHO, hip pads, make a huge difference between you appearing to be a 'man in a dress' and 'a man in a dress who's made the effort'. The bigger the differential between your waist and your bust and hips, the more feminine you might appear. Another thing is feminizing your face and you can do this by increasing the contrast between your general facial skin and your eyes and lips, especially your eyes; this is why eye-shadow works so well. Note how much is does to change a woman's appearance; it can do the same for you. Watch how you walk too.
All the above I gleaned by trawling through the internet and none of it is rocket science and probably generally known to most of us here, however, there is one thing that crops up here and there over and over again and that is that women smile more and it's true, they do, and this one thing can make you look so different and requires so little effort.
Therefore, again IMHO, if you do nothing else to change your appearance when wearing feminine clothing, then at least smile a lot. It brightens your face, makes you more approachable and makes you less threatening, regardless of your physical size.
Just a few thoughts.
Cheers
Becca
Couldn't agree more 🙂 Fiona's smile makes her whole face light up and look so different from my drab self. It only works properly in combination with the wig and makeup though.
Without smiling I still kind of look like drab me in makeup, although because of the makeup, the eyebrows are different in shape and a lot more visible. They're the other difference I'd note, because they are a lot more expressive on Fiona.
I've yet to try eyeshadow, having hooded eyes I was wondering whether it would make much difference, but that might be the next thing I investigate.
Becca -
Thank you for that perspective. I have a goatee and unless the circus is in town (if there any anymore) I'd never pass. I do, however, wear make up at times. I use eye shadow and mascara as well as rouge and foundation. If I'm wearing a mask it looks pretty good. My make up skills need work and if I did it more often would probably get better at it. Unfortunately the opportunities are limited.
XOXO
Suzanne
True, but some.of is just look ridiculous smiling much. I just dom't have a big smile. If I try to.smile too much and show teeth it just looks wrong. I do have a bit of a smirk smile that works for me, but that is about as far as I can go.
I was at a ferry port last year and there were a group of security guards chatting in the distance and it was some way off, they were all dressed in black trousers and yellow high-vis jackets and I could tell from that distance that one of them was a woman. She was as tall as some of the men, she just had the a body shape, stance, etc of a woman.
Generally I think it is about proportions, and not just hips to shoulders, most cis-womens features and extremities are relatively smaller. Smaller heads, hands, feet, noses, ears, etc. There is not a lot that can be done about hands but I think bigger hair can make the face look relatively smaller.
There is a huge variety of facial shapes among men and women; all I do is try to soften or break up the distinctive male features of my face.
I keep my eyebrows trimmed down and to mask the contours of my face around the eye area I wear my distance driving glasses. I also think that the right hair style helps too.
I'm a large person 6ft plus and a tad wide. There are quite a lot of taller women nowadays, so I don't feel that out of place.
As to passing; simple I assume I don't. My aim is to look like a some-what 'mannish woman' out for a walk; even out shopping nobody seems to mind me either.
Sometimes I think we try too hard to look femme. If we just accept that we have what we have and project a femme persona, we will actually appear more femme. I figure that even though I still have some male features, I am still better looking then a very large percentage of cis-women my age. That does not say that much for my looks, but the abysmal looks of far tooany American women. I try and stay fit and healthy, but way too many American women let themselves go to s#&t...IMHO.