Legging it Out

As I mentioned a couple days ago here in Cyrsti's Condo, today is the day I am scheduled to go back for another mammogram.

Of course now, I have to figure out what to wear. The weather is fairly decent for January in Southwestern, Ohio. The sun is out and the temperature is supposed to climb into the 40's (F). As I see it, I am working with two choices, jeans and/or leggings with boots. Or, I could go for walking comfort and wear my tennis shoes with jeans.

As far as a top goes, I try to go with a loose fitting sweater for ease of removal when I get there. If you are not familiar, you need to strip to your waist for the actual mammogram.

While I am on the subject of leggings though, I decided to pass along a link to another fashion site I follow by Ginger Burr. Her featured topic today centered around leggings and how to wear them effectively.
Here is a small example of what you will see and the link is here.

Nurturing Beauty Style Secrets Blog

5 Steps to Creating a Great Outfit with Leggings

JANUARY 18, 2018

Leggings and tunics are still popular. Women of all ages are wearing them

 and as a result I am regularly asked about how to wear them. The questions include:

• what’s appropriate
• how to layer tops and not look messy
• how to find tops that feel beautifull

Personally, I find leggings to be a great part of my wardrobe. I love the feel of them

 on my legs and how they flatter my legs. But I struggle to find tops/sweaters to wear 

with leggings. 

Of course "The Total Image Consultant" blog offers so much more.

You may want to check it out for ideas on your transgender fashion woes.

Or winning the fashion battle in a cis gender world!

Comentators

Recently I mentioned the difficulty you all are having getting comments into Cyrsti's Condo.  I twerked (er) tweaked several things. Well, at least one seemed to be working because I was flattered when I received this comment from Ginger Burr:

"Thanks so much, Cyrsti, for this wonderful message (and for enjoying my blog posts!). You hit the nail on the head. You are so right about having to "jump" age brackets. It makes the process more challenging for those who are in their 40's when they fully embrace their feminine selves (I hear this from my trans clients all the time, but they are also so thankful to be expressing themselves authentically that the experience is wonderful even with the jump). The world is changing for the better (I have seen such forward movement over the past 30 years) and I hope the 20 something generation will read your comments and take the plunge with no looking back! Thank you for sharing your wealth of knowledge and thoughtfulness.""

Thanks to you Ginger! Years ago, someone I admired very deeply tried to tell me simply putting on a dress and heels made me a princess - not a woman-and I was clueless. (She was right.) It's the reason I always try to be in tune with the multi layered worlds "generic" woman grew up and live in day to day.

If you missed the post, briefly, we discussed three subjects from Ginger which deeply spoke to all transgender women. Here is a link again to her site .

Good Questions

One of the few Image/Beauty sites I subscribe to is Ginger Burr's Total Image Consultants.  I have always enjoyed her site because it speaks to me in so many ways.

Example? How about these:

1. What would you say to your 20 year old self?
2. The key's to feeling "Authentically Beautiful"
3. And- Who taught you how to dress?

Of course Ginger Burr most likely will never know how close this information comes to the hearts of me and transgender women and cross dressers everywhere. Even, maybe more so than the average "generic woman." Here is why.

Number one.-I would say to me to "get it over with" jump off the gender cliff and transition. Build my life and never look back. 

Number two is HUGE if any of us are going to obtain the most "passing privilege" we can find. After all, we have to work so much harder to earn our place in the feminine world. Primarily by looking like we aren't trying. I have always said in my case, when my hair grew long enough I could shed my wigs, my authenticity went up too.

Number three ties in nicely with two. Our problem is WE taught ourselves how to dress. We didn't have the benefit of having a gaggle of girlfriends to talk clothes with or a Mom to critique us. Plus, in many cases, we have to "jump" age brackets. Meaning, not dressing like a teen girl when we are in our 40's or not blending into society by wearing 4" heels to shop in the produce section at my supermarket. Finally, years ago, the problem I had with women in my life was they wanted to "create me in their image." Sure I made mistakes but finally ended up with my own personal style.

Ginger Burr's site is but one of many many places available on line now where we can all go for ideas on working with our best features. Most certainly trans women and cross dressers occupy a unique spot between the binary genders. You know though, if we pay attention and don't get discouraged, the "hot" seat becomes much "cooler."

The High Maintenance Gender

The deeper my transition goes and the more experience I gain navigating the world as a transgender woman, a quote a woman told me years ago rings true: "We (women) are the high maintenance gender".

How true.  Every once in a while I  flashback to my cross dressing "princess" days. My wife told me "Guess what Princess, being a woman is so much more than heels, hose and a pretty dress." How much more? This question popped up in my email box this morning which pretty much said it all. . It read: " Cyrsti, What Do You Wear When No One Else Sees You?"

Hmmmn, when I tree falls alone in the woods and no one is there, does it still make a noise?

Actually, the question came from Ginger Burr and The Total Image Consultant site I subscribe to and did take the maintenance question to a different level, read on:

"If you're someone who works out of your home, or a busy mom whose days are filled with errands and car pools, finding your personal style and a wardrobe that makes your heart sing is just as important as for those in "corporate life." It really doesn't take any more time to dress in something you love that looks great on you than it does to throw on yoga pants and a t-shirt."

Really? I am pretty sure quite a few of the females I saw today and everyday missed the idea totally. On the other hand I understand the concept and always have worked on refining my inner style.

Certainly being a woman is high maintenance and many females miss the mark. Being a transgender woman often is higher maintenance and when we miss the mark, the world knows and there could be hell to pay.

By the way, I don't think the person who didn't see me cared what I was wearing when they didn't hear the tree in the woods!