This section is dedicated to the selection and aquisition of womens’ clothing for males, as well as tips on dressing.

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The first thing to remember is that there is no wrong way to crossdress! If it feels good, do it

BASIC SIZING

Let’s start with the basics. Women’s sizes and men’s sizes are measured on different scales, which can make finding correctly fitting clothing difficult to say the least.

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Women’s clothing comes in various different sizing styles. For example, Juniors sizes fit slim and sexy. They usually fit men well, as they are not shaped for large hips or breasts. However, they are also not cut to accomodate large shoulders or overall large dimensions. Misses sizes are made to fit breasts, butts, and hips. They aren’t often as sexy as Juniors, but they are ideal for men who don’t have a particularly slim build (including if you have wide shoulders or muscles!). Womens sizes are useful if you are going for an older (or business) look or have some extra padding.

JUNIORS

Juniors sizes run 0,1,3,5,7,9, etc. All odd numbers except 0, so if you see an even size you’re probably not in Juniors. You’ve got to be VERY small and VERY slim to fit in a size 0 or 1 . . . I don’t think I know any men that can pull that off.

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At 5’8″, 135 lbs, I’m a size 5 or 7. (5 when most of my weight is muscle, 7 when I’m not keeping in shape as well) All women’s clothing is somewhat hit or miss for sizing though, I have been known to squeeze into a 3 from time to time. Average guys will fit into a 9 or 11, but it might be tight in the shoulders and thighs. Any larger than that, and your body shape is probably too far from Juniors to work well. Stretch also makes a huge difference in juniors clothing. In items labeled small, medium, or large, I almost always go with a small even though this would generally equate to a size 0-3 . . . that’s because juniors clothes without an exact size are usually VERY stretchy. And it helps that I like to wear my clothing a bit tight

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Anyway, for most men if you’re buying Juniors pick a size larger than you would expect. If you know a girl of your build and know what size she wears, or if you look at a piece of clothing and think it looks about right, grab the next larger size. Trust me. Most guys will need the extra room to fit their shoulders in. Also, if you have breast forms you will most definitely need more room than you would expect if you are shopping without them in. Remember, juniors clothing is not cut for massive breasts in spite of some of our fantasies! This does not apply to Misses and Womens clothing.

MISSES

Misses sizes are even sizes and will fit anyone larger than slim to average build. Ok, for crossdressers, this means anyone who is not particularly slim. While they have a stereotype of being for older women, there are actually a lot of cute Misses clothes out there. The size range is the same for Misses and Juniors, so if you are a 9/11 Juniors, look for a size 10 Misses.

WOMENS

Womens sizes are even sizes that pick up where Misses leave off. They are sort of the equivalent to an L or XL in Mens. I don’t have much experience with larger sizes, but hopefully you can get a good idea from the descriptions of the other sizes to make a start.

SHOES / SOCKS / PANTYHOSE

Shoes, socks, and pantyhose . . . my favorite forms of women’s clothing These items are not nearly as difficult as general clothing to pick out. Shoe sizes go by a simple rule: for the best fit, add one size to your men’s size. If you wear a 9 men’s, you need a 10 women’s. If you have slender feet, you might get away with the same size in mens and womens. If you have wide feet, you will likely need to go up two sizes. Of course, that may make it difficult to find the shoes you want, but I’ll cover that later. Socks and pantyhose are wonderfully simple. Sock sizes are based on your (women’s) shoe size, just like men’s socks are. And pantyhose have a nice little chart on the back telling you what size to pick for a certain height and weight. Pantyhose sizes vary by brand, but here’s an example that you can apply to most brands to get an idea:

Pantyhose Size Chart

BRAS AND PANTIES

Bras and panties can be a challenge, but don’t worry we’ll get through it! In fact, the most difficult area of selecting bras and panties are the styles (which I cover in the style glossary below!) not the sizes. Panties are sized just like your basic clothing, no big deal here. They’re also not hard to eyeball, and if you get a size a little too small it’ll probably work fine. If you find panties sized as small, medium, and large . . . take a look at a size larger than you would buy in men’s. A good working range would same as your men’s size (if you’re on the small end) up to a size and a half larger (if you’re on the large end).

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Ah, the ever mysterious bra . . . one of the easiest yet most often mis-sized articles of women’s clothing. Start by measuring your chest just below the pectoral muscle (the one that your nipples are in the middle of). For most men this measurement should be taken not far below the nipple. This number (in inches) is your bra size. Round off the decimal, you won’t find a bra in partial sizes because most are adjustable. And if you have an odd number, add one inch (most bras only come in even numbered band sizes, and the number represents the largest size the band will fit). As for cup size, almost every guy is a AA or maybe an A naturally. If you have a lot of tissue around your nipples (aka man-boobs, but I hate to use that term) you might be a B. That’s it. If you have implants or breast forms, your cup size should be included in the model number (or your doctor should have told you in the case of implants!) If not, measure around your chest around the fullest part of your breast or breast form (without squishing it at all). Subtract the first (below the pec) measurement from this second number, and follow the chart below:

• 1-inch difference A Cup
• 2-inch difference B Cup
• 3-inch difference C Cup
• 4-inch difference D Cup
• 5-inch difference DD Cup (sometimes called E)
• 6-inch difference DDD Cup (sometimes called F)
• 7-inch difference DDDD Cup (can be same as F, or same as FF)
• 8-inch difference FF Cup
• 9-inch difference G Cup
• 10-inch difference H Cup
• 11-inch difference I Cup
• 12-inch difference J Cup

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European band sizes are a little different, check out this chart:

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The other tricky part about picking out a bra is finding one that suits your breasts. Generally crossdressers will want to find something that covers as much of their (fake) breasts as possible. I’ve found 2 bras that do a decent job, and would love to hear of others. The first is sold by Silkies.com which is a mail-order pantyhose company. They carry a thin and versatile (and cheap!) full coverage bra in several colors that does a great job of holding everything in place. Downside is you have to order pantyhose from them to get it . . also, I still have to wear a high-cut shirt with this bra, and the straps are fairly wide and obvious. The Playtex 18-hour bra is also pretty amazing (you can get this one anywhere, from Walmart to department stores, to Amazon.com, etc). It’s super full-coverage and very thick, which means it’s unbeatable for holding your breasts in place. The only problem is that it looks like a maternity bra (ie not sexy), only seems to come in white, and is very noticable if your clothing doesn’t cover it. C’est la vie. There are some crossdressing sites like GlamourBoutique.com that sell lace breastform bras that are full coverage but sexy, though I’ve never tried these out.

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And speaking of breasts . . . since most men don’t have any natural ones, but almost all of us wish we had some, breastforms are a wonderful invention. Ok, so they were actually invented for women who have had a masectomy (removal of the breast due to cancer), but don’t worry, you’re not stealing breastforms from desperate cancer patients – if anything, you are helping drive down the price by comoditizing the industry. Anyway, picking a breastform isn’t easy, especially considering that they are still quite expensive, but there’s no great mystery to it.

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First, breatforms come in a variety of shapes. Round and oval shapes are generally good for filling in a bra (ie making existing breasts look larger), or simulating very small breasts (AA or A cup). They make a decent B cup, but at this size you might want to consider a new shape. Triangular forms give the breast a bit more of a natural shape, which starts to become important with B cups and above – breasts of this size can’t completely resist the effects of gravity (assuming they’re not made of silicone), and the triangular form mimics the effect of the breast tissue on the surrounding skin.

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If looking natural is your top goal, or you want breasts larger than a B cup, I would definitely suggest you look at asymmetrical or tear-drop shaped forms. Similar to the triangular forms, a tear-drop form fills in more of the surrounding tissue, particularly under the arms. Most females have a lot more breast tissue in these “non-beast” areas than anyone realizes! One word of caution with these forms is that the less round the breast, the more careful you have to be in selecting a bra that appropriately covers the form.

Round	Triangular	Teardrop	Asymmetrical

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Breastform sizes are a bit odd. They are numbered by increasing “size”, however, the effect of a given numerical size will vary based on your naturaly chest dimensions, your body shape, and the shape of the breastform. The table below gives a general guideline to convert breastform size into cup size based on your chest measurement, but be aware that I have seen charts +/- a full cup size from this one (ie a 32″ chest with a #6 form could be a C cup or a DD cup). My advice? Buy a form that you think is about what you want, attach it, measure yourself, and then go buy a bra.

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For the record, average breast size is B cup. If you wear forms larger than this, you will attract attention to yourself. Sometimes that’s a good thing, sometimes it’s not.

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One last item on breastforms . . . attachment. A decent bra and a tight shirt that covers you up well will work fine, but you may want some adhesive just in case. Make sure you pick an adhesive that is compatible with the form! There’s nothing worse than dissolving a brand new set of breasts : ( Frankly I find adhesives to be a pain in the butt because they also have to be removed and cleaned up, they don’t feel great when you take them off, etc. And if you plan on wearing a shirt that shows cleavage or otherwise does not hold your forms to your chest, I want to know how you created a realistic transition between the form and your skin – I have still not figured out how to do that!