Chanelle’s Tips — Knowing Your Style

Knowing your style can be crucial to making many lifestyle choices. Since the third anniversary of the day I began crossdressing is coming up next week, I decided to point out a few things to consider when you are a beginning crossdresser (or a drag queen) and are in the process of figuring out what is right for you. Before you begin living the t-girl lifestyle, there are a few basic elements, both external and internal, which should be taken into consideration.

Clothes:

Clothing is the first component of any look. Believe it or not, there are clothes that Beyoncé should not be wearing for the reason that they don’t look right on her. In a similar fashion (get the pun?), you should find clothes that are right for you. While your favorite styles — the ones that are candy to your eyes — and the styles that look ‘right’ on you may clash, picking the right style for you is a personal choice of looking great versus feeling great. Unfortunately, some clothes will not let you look great and feel great at the same time. When picking the right clothes, you should consider articles which are age-appropriate, consider areas of physical coverage and openings in fabric, comfort of fabric, design for tight and loose areas, and the weight of the materials your clothes are made of, since this will make a difference between you looking great and feeling great and looking great and feeling a temperature extreme.

Hair:

Some say hair can make a huge difference in the overall look. Hair is not just a separate element of a look, it completes the look. When selecting a hairpiece if you are not using your own naturally-long hair, you should visit wig shops and perhaps do some Photoshopping (that is, if you know how). Picking the right hairpiece for you can be a painstaking, but rewarding process. When shopping for wigs, weaves, or extensions, consider your natural hair color, which hair colors look appropriate on you, which styles look appropriate on you, which styles feel comfortable on you, and very importantly, the intended use, durability, and price of hair pieces you are comparing. Remember, hair is a major make-it-or-break-it element, which is on par with makeup in importance.

Cosmetics:

Makeup is just as important as hair. Getting the right “ingredients” – as I like to call various parts of a cosmetics arsenal, such as blush, mascara, bronzer, concealer, eye shadows, and powder – the right colors and the right amount for your face can make a huge difference in how well you pass as the woman that you want to portray. I would personally recommend you watch many tutorials from various sources on YouTube and Vimeo and get professionals’ DVDs/books on makeup. And if you feel like you have to get some valuable, fun, and hands-on experience, get a professional makeover by a makeup artist. As far as self-teaching is concerned, a great book I would recommend is Making Faces by Kevyn Aucoin. It is absolutely brilliant, easy to read, and is highly regarded among CD/DQ/TV/TS/TG community.

Now let us consider the more important elements, because these big two will define your persona in the short run and in the long run and will define how you approach the physical elements I mentioned earlier:

Define your goals

Just as when starting a business, you would be foolish not to write a dressing plan for yourself. What will you do when you dress? How often will you dress? What do you want to learn? What do you want to accomplish? You should strongly consider having a vision of whom you can become as your alter-ego, or as the new you. Practically, you want to strive to become a Steve Jobs, a visionary, of your own persona and of your own destiny as whom you are portraying.

Define your expectations

Just like when you are starting a business (déjà vu, I know), you have to set some expectations of what you can do and what you can’t. It is also important to check your expectations along the way so that you stay anchored internally. One way to do so is to try on new styles and play with makeup, clothes, and hair. Sometimes you learn by doing and that’s totally normal for anyone. Another way to give yourself a reality check is budgeting – setting aside resources for the hobby. Before going on shopping sprees, budgeting is very important because it helps you check your financial expectations.  Crossdressing and drag are not cheap by any means. While there are much more expensive hobbies, you will be better off and happier, knowing that you did not waste money on something you did not need. Knowing your limits will help you sustain for longer and consequently, will allow you to enjoy this lifestyle. Making planned shopping trips or online orders and keeping a spreadsheet of your expenditures will help you in the long run because the numbers will not lie and will not blow your mind if you don’t procrastinate in updating your data. The last, but not least way to check your expectations is to go out dressed in public. There will be people staring at you in most places you visit, so for safety, make sure you do not go out alone and that you are prepared to face the world – because you will get a reality check of how much you could or could not care about what other people think of you.

Tags: crossdressing, drag, featured, opinion

Category: Style, Transgender How To, Transgender Opinion