Shopping

[Alice L.]

I am finding the more I shop in the women's department, the more comfortable I have been becoming. At first, it's a little difficult, but the more I shop, the more I realize nobody else really cares what I'm shopping for or why I'm shopping for it. Has anyone else felt a little out of sorts their first few times shopping in the women's department?

[Martina Hall]

All of us have some degree of paranoia at first. You have got over it, way to go Alice!

[Eileen (SO)]

A long time ago, when I saw men in the women's section, I just assumed they were shopping for a wife or girlfriend. Now I know differently and do not care a bit. Welcome to our world!

Eileen

[Requal Jo]

Yes when I first commenced dressing I felt uncomfortable in the women's clothing section. Now there is no problem. If I get caught out by someone I know then I say I am buying for my wife. I do all my shopping in drab.

[DonnaT]

At first, and when shopping with my wife, she'd make me go pay for it. Thus, if anyone was paying attention, I figured they would wonder why I was doing the paying, while my wife walked off.

No worries now, however.

[Ralitsa]

It does get much easier, and more fun with practice
And then when you find a shop that is helpful and encouraging, you will blow your whole paycheck and fill up your car with "great deals"!!

[Robyn]

Shopping in the woman's department in male or female mode can be a lot of fun. For me, I get a kick out of making it fun for the sales associates and even bring up the fact that the clothing is for me although I may be dressed as a man at the time. It's all about personal interaction. Go out and have fun!

[Shayla]

There's nothing like the rush of looking at the lovely dresses for yourself. Thats one thing I never get nervous about even when sales associates offer to help. Because I'm so used to shopping for my SO anyway. More personal items like makeup and nails I purchase through self checkout at cvs.

[Kelly]

Out of sorts, she asks. YOU BET. I'd bet at the store just as it opened. Dashed when another customer showed up. It was nerve wracking.

Then one day I was in Dress Barn Women. The helpful SA came over and ask if I knew that the store was for plus sizes. I blurted out "yes, but I think those are the only sizes that will fit me." She blushed, rushed off, and I continued to browse.

Ever since I have been more comfortable. But even then I have only taken (and it has been a while) anything into the dressing room to try on during slow traffic times

Kelly.

[Sarah Beth]

These days my comfort level really depends on where I am when I'm doing the shopping. The town I live in doesn't have any clothing stores in fact not much for stores at all here so when we need something its a drive of a little over 50 miles. The selection there in my sizes or my wife's for that matter are not that great so we really don't do a lot of shopping there.

We spend some time in Colorado in the summers and I have been known to wander about the mall Penny's and Sears and once in awhile Dillard's although I can't really afford them but then I'm usually just more or less window shopping anyway. This whole thing has gotten me to thinking, the bulk of my wardrobe used to be from ebay purchases but now I have as much there from Dress Barn as from ebay. One of them we weren't even shopping for me but my wife needed a dress for a wedding and we were in dress barn digging through the sale racks and she shows me this dress and I said to here that I didn't think it was her style and she said for you not for me. So being with her makes it more comfortable for me than being alone still.

I am always a bit nervous at first, I don' go out dressed so I'm always shopping as a man, but then usually after a few minutes I get into the looking and it doesn't bother me. I am sure I have blushed more than once when an SA has come up and asked me if I needed help. Last summer in fact I really enjoyed being by myself and I went to all he stores and looked. I went into Dress Barn in Pueblo and was looking and an SA came over and asked if I was in the right place, and I said well the sign said Dress Barn so I came in and smiled and said I meant are these the right sizes. Now that was embarrassing. We got me to the sales rack but I didn't find anything and I'm still not sure if she though I was there for me or my wife.

The things is up until a couple of years ago I was always a nervous wreck doing that. Then I joined this forum and another one and realized that there were so many others who were nervous about it and so many who gotten over that so I started pushing myself to go more and do more. So while I can't say my heart doesn't race a bit at times I just go on and get into it.