So, I've begun my transition... I want to start appearing female to people, or at least more androgynous. I've got feminine clothing, but because my hair is short (3cm at longest point), and I'm not exactly on HRT (and probably won't be for a long while), I instantly come off as a male. I've been working on my voice quite a lot, and I reckon I could verbally pass as a 'lower pitch female', but again, due to the lack of hair length, and my still male-frame, I'll just be seen as a 'guy in girls clothes', which is incredibly sad. Seeming as growing long hair naturally may never be an option, and I don't really have the money to invest in a proper wig, what can I do? . Unsurprisingly, I don't want to wear a wig for the rest of my life, or at all if I can avoid it, and I would fuckin' kill to have even shoulder length hair, or a hair type that doesn't turn into a bloody soft, micro afro :/ Hair is everything. I can get by not talking much, and I can cover my body with loose clothing to not show my male-ness, but hair is just one thing you cannot hide. (well, you can, but for argument's sake...). Now, if you don't mind... It's 4:30am, I must sleep for a bit XD. Bb, I'll respond when I can P.S: There's a lot of shit on my mind right now... But I have no idea how to express them. I think in a few days, I might just make another vent thread, cuz I do have a lot of thoughts about starting HRT, but a lot of concerns too, along with countless other thoughts and ideas. I say a few days, as I don't want to come off as a burden, making like 239402 threads.
As in curly hair? You could always straighten your hair. My hair use to be very curly back in early high school, and that's what I did. When I would try to grow it out, it was just poofy and I despised it more than anything. But luckily, as I got older, it straightened itself out a lot. Just try growing it out long, and see how it looks and if you don't like it, then try straightening it like I said before. Good luck!
My hair used to poof out more when I grew it long when I was in high school. I had been cutting it short a few years before I came out (about 3 years ago) but when I did come out and started growing my hair back out it came out still curly but not as poofy. It may have been the hormones but I don't think they change hair too much in that way? Straighteners can do wonders too. You could go to a salon and ask for products that may help tame or control it. They have all kinds of stuff for hair
It's high maintenance but chemical straighteners work. The more you process your hair the more you need to do to protect it. The best way to appear female while sporting short hair is to make your face look more feminine and or buy some boobs. You can get breast forms and pocket bras on Amazon, or try one of the million stuffing ideas like balloons filled with silica gel (plant section, home depot). Feminizing your face can be as simple as mascara and as complicated as laser hair removal. Start with the eyes because a little eye makeup reads as feminine as long as you shave your face. Foundation is tricky, you may want to go to mac and have them match your skin tone. The right glasses can help balance out or downplay a masculine nose or brow. On the far end, you don't need a psych letter to zap your face with a laser. A beard or 5 o'clock shaddow is one of the first things that tells people what gender a someone is. Around here you can get 3-6 treatments for $200-$400 on Groupon and I'm told the spas always have specials like $1000 for 10 sessions. And because of how hrt will effect facial hair growth cycle, some people think doing it pre-hrt is more effective.
For hair you could aim for something like Emma Watson had, when she had short hair first. Makeup: Eyeliner and contouring can make you very feminine. For clothing maybe do a little workout for your booty and then skinny jeans. Also: DO NOT underestimate shoes or other accessoires, especially in female company. It's one of the first things they look at. Some longish earrings and shoes with heels scream: "I'm a girl and I'm a hot one!"
Get your hair cut in a short but feminine way. Look at female celebrities with short curly hair. And get some hair accessories like barettes and headbands. Or try growing it out and see how it looks. Like others have said, you can always straighten it. Plus there are products you can use to tame frizzy hair.
I actually wear a wig most of the time. It does wonders to make me look more feminine. I'd say wig > makeup for looking female. You can find some decent wigs on amazon for not that much.
I cold definitely straighten it, but my hair is pretty fine, so I'd have to be ultra careful. Not to mention, I actually need hair of moderate length in the first place to actually straigthen it xD. Well, from what I've read and heard, hormones can affect hair, so it might've had an impact. A salon probably couldn't do much, my hair is like infinitely too short right now haha. Extensions? Would they even work on 3cm hair Chemical straighteners? Never heard of that o.o That's the thing, I can make my face look pretty feminine with makeup (eyeliner, mascara, etc), but the main areas where I'm lacking is hair and cleavage. Honestly, I have absolutely no idea how to style my hair, other than my generic mini afro. I could try straightening it, but I don't think that'd work very well. As for facial hair, I've been blessed with very very light hair growth, and I have to shave only like once every 2 weeks. Oh jesus, just had a look how much breast forms are... That's crazy expensive :c I love the pixie look, but my hair isn't even long enough for that! XD. I know, I need to be really patient and wait for it to grow out (which will take a hell of a while). Not to mention, my hair length does actually have a limit of around 10cm. That's the longest it got when I was a kid, and it's never reached that again :/ You're right though, accessories are really important. I'm gonna go get my ears re-pierced soon so I can start wearing earrings. I used to wear studs all the time when I was younger, but removed for some reason. Hmm, if I'm smart about this, I might be able to pull it off, one day. Good examples, thanks! How do you find it? I would get really frustrated, anxious and paranoid if I wear a wig in public, just in case it falls off, looks too synthetic (unless I fork out for realhair wigs), or just doesn't compliment my 'style'... Thank you everyone for your responses! (*hug*)
for your first breastforms I recommend foam ones. I got a pair of deluxe sleep & travel ones from "the breastform store" for about $45. never sleep with silicone forms, only try to sleep with foam ones designed to be worn in bed. They shipped in a plain box, so even living with family or room mates, they wouldn't know unless you told them.
forgot to add, figure out your bra size before getting forms, measure around your chest about an inch and a half to 2 inches below the nipple. If the number is even add 4, if the number is odd add 5. You need the band size for both the bra and the forms. The forms are sized according to what cup size they give with each bra size. I wear a size 7, which is 42B 40C. As far as hair goes... I'm still trying to tame mine, even though it is long. I used to get poofy hair but I let it grow out and brushed it back every day and eventually I could also put it in a ponytail.