Tried something New

JoAnnDallas · Post by **JoAnnDallas** » Wed Dec 28, 2011 5:54 pm

I have been letting my hair grow out for a while. This past Monday was a holiday and I was able to get dressed as JoAnn. Right before I started to put on my wig, I noticed that my hair was down below the tops of my ears. I have been parting it down the middle for a while too. The more I looked at myself in the mirror, the more I thought why not be bold and go out without the wig. So I did and it made no difference at all. I still got called "Mam". Wife and I still got called, "Ladies". Wife even thought I looked better without the wig than with the wig.
So do any of you go out dressed wearing your natural hair? Do you have it styled in a fem way? Has it made any difference in your presentation?

Anita · Post by **Anita** » Wed Dec 28, 2011 6:56 pm

Hi JoAnn--
I go out with my own hair, and have mixed feelings about it. It does look more natural, but it isn't styled. So it tends toward a hippie-girl anything-goes look. You can see an example of it in the photo gallery, where I'm wearing the red dress.

It is not as long now as it was in that photo, and it tends to look guyish to me, when I hold up a side mirror. I sometimes put a hair clip on one side of it, to set up a definite femme cue.

It's pointed out to me that older women (and I am one) don't tend to wear long hair, whether it's a wig or their own hairdo. I would still like to buy a more realistic wig, one that has gray highlights in it. Otherwise, my wigs are all perfect color, and mostly long. I want to get away from that, so I have tended to go back to my own hair.

Melyssa Anne · Post by **Melyssa Anne** » Wed Dec 28, 2011 10:04 pm

About 2-1/2 years ago my wife suggested that I go to stylist and get a short cut that could be styled for a masculine or feminine look -- so I did--and got lucky with a wonderful stylist. I love going to her enfemme and getting my hair done -- she only knows me as Melyssa--has no idea that I am CD. The whole hair experience is physically more soothing and pleasant (Such a different expereince than getting a guys haircut), plus great conversations about all sorts of interesting topics. She even has started subtely coloring my hair--low lights.

90% of the time when I go out it is in my own hair.

Has simplified a lot of things when traveling etc and is especially wonderful on those hot summer days!

Post by **KimberlyS** » Thu Dec 29, 2011 12:31 am

I am a wig wearer. Just got my hair cut short again last week. I like the ability with a wig to just flop it on, fluff it and go.

Paula G · Post by **Paula G** » Thu Dec 29, 2011 7:13 am

I used to wear my own hair, but have recently (the 18 months) worn a wig more often as my forehead gets higher and the covering thinner. However I still don't feel quite comfortable with a wig and would prefer not to need one I have written a few times about this on my blog, especially here http://paula-paulasplace.blogspot.com/2 ... arent.html and here
http://paula-paulasplace.blogspot.com/2 ... orrow.html

Wendae · Post by **Wendae** » Thu Dec 29, 2011 1:32 pm

Wish I still had hair!

Guess I could comb my eyebrows and ears over the top!

Stephanie H · Post by **Stephanie H** » Thu Dec 29, 2011 1:36 pm

That must be a nice feeling to have....
Stephanie

Leeza · Post by **Leeza** » Thu Dec 29, 2011 2:12 pm

I wear my own hair. I do have some wigs but haven't worn them for a long time as I have too much hair to get it all unto the cap.

I keep thinking I am going to get it cut, but there are some things I want to do while it is long so I keep putting it off.

I realy enjoy putting decorations in my hiar, and when I do they are in for the day. I have a granddaughter and a gg friend who like to put braids in my hair also and that helps.

Leeza

Kimberly Kael · Post by **Kimberly Kael** » Thu Dec 29, 2011 9:53 pm

I wore a wig early on as a means of obscuring my identity but it never felt right to me, in part because I do still have a healthy head of hair and there's no reason not to keep it cut and styled like any other woman. Mind you, I've kept my hair long for the vast majority of my adult life. It's a big part of the reason I was read as female routinely long before I decided to live that role full-time.

When I was still living as a male it took a while to build a report with a stylist who would take my requests for feminine styles seriously. Once I came out to a stylist, though, I suddenly found I had an ally who would happily teach me all the habits I wish I had learned as a young girl. Now I can generally do a credible job of giving my hair some shape and character. The amount of time I spend doing so varies day-by-day with my schedule, but I do enjoy being able to create a look that I'm proud of.

For the past two years I've also been toying with color, playing up the natural contrast in my blond hair for a while before starting to shift more heavily toward a natural palette of reds.

Anthony Simon · Post by **Anthony Simon** » Fri Dec 30, 2011 3:13 pm

Kimberly Kael wrote: I do enjoy being able to create a look that I'm proud of.

For the past two years I've also been toying with color, playing up the natural contrast in my blond hair for a while before starting to shift more heavily toward a natural palette of reds.

And if I was able to create the look you have in your avatar, I'd be proud of it too!

My hair is receding in the front with a bald patch at the back, so no way would I be able to look like a woman without a wig. I do agree with Paula about it feeling a bit odd to wear one (and it gets hot!) but I don't have a choice.

I did have longish hair for much of the time I've been adult, but the conflicted feelings I've had about dressing up (and sheer laziness) meant I never did anything to it to help me create the illusion of femininity. The controlling of that particular genie was always of particular importance to me.

A lot of the thing about wigs is (often) they look like wigs (rather than real hair). But that doesn't have to be. The dental hygenist I go to (a black woman in her thirties) wears a wig. But it took me literally years to work that out - and, when you're having your mouth worked on you're obviously up real close. Part of that is it's a high quality wig; part of that is I wasn't looking - but most of it, I'm convinced, is she knows how to wear it. And I still can't tell it's a wig from a distance (more than a few feet).

SarahMicheline · Post by **SarahMicheline** » Fri Dec 30, 2011 4:08 pm

I love the wig, my hair has to stay short especially with the receding hairline! I am thinking of getting another wig, something a different colour - I love the thought of being able to change as my mood dictates.

April Rose · Post by **April Rose** » Fri Dec 30, 2011 10:44 pm

Ah, yes! Hair. I remember what that was like, and it was wonderful. Im so grateful I have a wig to remind me.

Davita · Post by **Davita** » Sat Dec 31, 2011 10:16 am

I've been holding off on this thread because it was similar to another... ummm my answer will be similar to another....

I don't have enough hair on my head to go without a wig. I'm old enough that I have some grey amongst my five hairs too. Okay, so do I want a wig to reflect my age? Sometimes yes and most times no. Women dye their hair for a reason and this girl doesn't have a problem with that other than for the consequences to the hair and the time expended doing it. For me, I just put on one of my wigs and instantly I can have a different color and hair style.

Okay now the question about short or long. Short adds more years to my age than a beard or grey hair could ever do. In addition, most short hair wigs are far too short if you ask me. They are really cute, but I think you need a cute face to go with the hair -- that ain't this old lady's face. Also, we need to remember that not all face shapes are good for all hair styles and lengths.

Anita · Post by **Anita** » Sat Dec 31, 2011 2:23 pm

Davita wrote:

Okay now the question about short or long. Short adds more years to my age than a beard or grey hair could ever do

It is a tricky question. Short hair works well for me, as a guy. But if I wear too short a wig as a girl, it doesn't work very well at all. Yet the long hair wigs look artificial on me, because my face is...well, kinda weathered-looking, and long. This flawless wig with perfect color looks out-of-place, too.
It's been ten years since I first started going out, and it's hard to know what's still age appropriate, and what's not.

Anthony Simon · Post by **Anthony Simon** » Sat Dec 31, 2011 4:17 pm

Isn't this more a question of finding your "self" as a woman than what specific hair (or wig) to wear? And as GGs age (or other life changes occur) that "self" changes, so it is with CDs. So in my previous incarnations as an attempted woman I had long black hair - and I tried that in this incarnation, but it's a struggle to get the look to cohere. That is to say, the whole package of the clothes, the makeup, the wig etc doesn't gel except rarely. I can sometimes to do it with a longish non-black wig but then I end up looking much younger than I am.

What confuses this is that, a lot of the time, as a man I look about 40, when I'm 58. I actually quite like looking my age for a change - which I do when I dress up, make-up and wear a medium-length wig with a bit of body. But it took me an awful long time to work out - and be happy with - the fact that my natural (as it seems to me) self-image as a woman was of a relatively mature person. I mean all the cues you get from people around you, the media etc tell you that "young is good".

The way I pick wigs (generally ) is go in a store en-drab and just follow my instinct. And the most illogical (one would suppose) things can work - because my logic is using images that quite often a man would use, whereas my instinct seems to know better.