hi hello and welcome to my post of tips for transmascs looking to pass as a dude. click that "keep reading" button if you're interested :)
first of all- has anybody told you today that you're handsome? because if not, i am here to tell you that you are!! you look very swag my friend. now, on to those tips i was talking about.
if you wear deodorant, buy men's deodorant. it's in like every store ever, no one bats an eye if you buy it even in a crowded CVS. try old spice, but the more mild scents. for the love of god do not buy axe anything. if you want to smell like an old man, then go for it. but some stuff from axe is really strong and just- i wouldn’t even recommend it if you were cis.
are you a glasses wearer? i am! what helped me pass immensely was a) not wearing my glasses and getting contacts (or just go blind! /hj it's not fun, but i did it and passed. it's also why i got new glasses so i could ACTUALLY SEE. 4/10 would not recommend.) or b) getting new glasses. round/circular glasses will bring out the roundness of your face, so steer clear of those. get boxy, square ones.
swimming? buy a rash guard. a swim shirt. whatever you call it, it'll help you bind and swim. if you're binding and swimming BE CAREFUL! swim in binders that are approved to go in the water (gc2b binders, some sports bras, the like). wear swim trunks with bikini bottoms underneath for comfort reasons if you want. would highly recommend this. also WASH YOUR BINDER.
avoid skinny jeans like the PLAGUE if you can. as much as i used to like them, they only emphasized my thighs and waist and all that mess. try for "slim fit" jeans if you don't want the, as i heard someone call it, "saggy ass" look.
your socks and shoes do not matter for the most part. dress shoes tip: LOAFERS. ALWAYS loafers. anyway, if you have tiny feet like me and want to make them look larger, vans do a good job of making my feet look wider and longer. my mother says they make me look like i have boats on my feet, but other than that, i have had no complaints.
go through the men's sections of target and walmart. cheap stuff that usually fits. don't be afraid to go into the youth or kids sections if you're small like me, there's usually a bunch of cool superhero shirts there.
usually i tell people to avoid makeup, but if you want to use it to add volume (is that the right word? idk) to your eyebrows, go nuts i guess. also- hollow out where your eye sockets meet your nose, hollow out the cheekbones and the jawline. get the sides of your nose too if you want.
long hair? not a prob! tie it up and flip it up so the ends of your hair flop over your forehead. now plop a hat on over it and it looks like bangs.
manspread. do not do the damb splits, that ain't it. i mean TAKE UP SPACE. avoid crossing your legs, except at the ankle. fold your arms up higher on your chest. men take up so much space when they do ANYTHING, so try to emulate that. also put your ankle on your knee, make a box with your legs if you get me.
want a deeper voice? sing. even if you're garbage at it. i sang so much over the quarantine that my vocal range got both higher and lower, and now i'm able to talk lower and sing lower. i'm also able to sing higher and more in my chest voice! so sing, baby. singggg.
if you're feeling dysphoric, my best tip is to listen to country songs about typically masculine things. it makes me feel like part of the dudes, maybe it'll work for you, too.
a rather bitter pill to swallow: men, especially younger men/boys, have no fashion sense. this means DARK COLORS, those weird long basketball shorts that you see at dick's sporting goods, and t-shirts with strange athletic logos on them. yes they are ugly! however they really do help you pass seeing as cis boys = not often fashionable. you will fit in with the guys and tbh sometimes that's the best feeling. (however: what you’re comfortable wearing or doing is the most important part. i for one am completely fine wearing ugly guys clothes. if you’re not, no worries! you don’t have to do this to pass.)
not a tip for passing or anything but DO NOT PUT YOUR BINDER IN THE DRYER. whoever told you to do that is WRONG. let it air dry, it'll last longer and feel tighter when you put it on if it's gotten looser over time.
if you're showering and dysphoric about it, look straight ahead or at the ceiling instead of down at yourself. or turn the lights off, but make sure not to slip and conk your head on something in the dark!!
SIT UP STRAIGHT YOU NERD. SIT UP. PULL THOSE SHOULDERS UP. SQUARE EM. not only will you look taller (because you ARE taller stop SLOUCHING) but squaring your shoulders makes them look wider. also makes you look more confident.
LAST POINT: the trans experience is more than deep voices, beards, and manspreading. if you enjoy being and looking and feeling feminine, go for it! you are no less transmasc because you enjoy those things. i think you rock. be you pal :)
thanks for reading! i'll update this every so often when i think of new things :) - luke
like to charge, reblog to cast <3
Spiderman noir coming into 2018 and finding out there are still nazis
This Bitch: *smug face*
Everyone: OOOH HE HIT THE STINE GOOD!!! BE OUR LEADER
Bitch: ur whimpering sucks
Chamberlain:
Wonderful. Absolutely magnificent
LOOK WHAT CAME YALL
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
personal collection of tiny guys
“here’s my series of books written in sparkly gel pen. i call it…glitterature”
This weekend I was told a story which, although I’m kind of ashamed to admit it, because holy shit is it ever obvious, is kind of blowing my mind.
A friend of a friend won a free consultation with Clinton Kelly of What Not To Wear, and she was very excited, because she has a plus-size body, and wanted some tips on how to make the most of her wardrobe in a fashion culture which deliberately puts her body at a disadvantage.
Her first question for him was this: how do celebrities make a plain white t-shirt and a pair of weekend jeans look chic? She always assumed it was because so many celebrities have, by nature or by design, very slender frames, and because they can afford very expensive clothing. But when she watched What Not To Wear, she noticed that women of all sizes ended up in cute clothes that really fit their bodies and looked great. She had tried to apply some guidelines from the show into her own wardrobe, but with only mixed success. So - what gives?
His answer was that everything you will ever see on a celebrity’s body, including their outfits when they’re out and about and they just get caught by a paparazzo, has been tailored, and the same goes for everything on What Not To Wear. Jeans, blazers, dresses - everything right down to plain t-shirts and camisoles. He pointed out that historically, up until the last few generations, the vast majority of people either made their own clothing or had their clothing made by tailors and seamstresses. You had your clothing made to accommodate the measurements of your individual body, and then you moved the fuck on. Nothing on the show or in People magazine is off the rack and unaltered. He said that what they do is ignore the actual size numbers on the tags, find something that fits an individual’s widest place, and then have it completely altered to fit. That’s how celebrities have jeans that magically fit them all over, and the rest of us chumps can’t ever find a pair that doesn’t gape here or ride up or slouch down or have about four yards of extra fabric here and there.
I knew that having dresses and blazers altered was probably something they were doing, but to me, having alterations done generally means having my jeans hemmed and then simply living with the fact that I will always be adjusting my clothing while I’m wearing it because I have curves from here to ya-ya, some things don’t fit right, and the world is just unfair that way. I didn’t think that having everything tailored was something that people did.
It’s so obvious, I can’t believe I didn’t know this. But no one ever told me. I was told about bikini season and dieting and targeting your “problem areas” and avoiding horizontal stripes. No one told me that Jennifer Aniston is out there wearing a bigger size of Ralph Lauren t-shirt and having it altered to fit her.
I sat there after I was told this story, and I really thought about how hard I have worked not to care about the number or the letter on the tag of my clothes, how hard I have tried to just love my body the way it is, and where I’ve succeeded and failed. I thought about all the times I’ve stood in a fitting room and stared up at the lights and bit my lip so hard it bled, just to keep myself from crying about how nothing fits the way it’s supposed to. No one told me that it wasn’t supposed to. I guess I just didn’t know. I was too busy thinking that I was the one that didn’t fit.
I thought about that, and about all the other girls and women out there whose proportions are “wrong,” who can’t find a good pair of work trousers, who can’t fill a sweater, who feel excluded and freakish and sad and frustrated because they have to go up a size, when really the size doesn’t mean anything and it never, ever did, and this is just another bullshit thing thrown in your path to make you feel shitty about yourself.
I thought about all of that, and then I thought that in elementary school, there should be a class for girls where they sit you down and tell you this stuff before you waste years of your life feeling like someone put you together wrong.
So, I have to take that and sit with it for a while. But in the meantime, I thought perhaps I should post this, because maybe my friend, her friend, and I are the only clueless people who did not realise this, but maybe we’re not. Maybe some of you have tried to embrace the arbitrary size you are, but still couldn’t find a cute pair of jeans, and didn’t know why.
DO YOU KNOW WHAT I JUST REALIZED
YOU KNOW THE HAIKU BOT???
OFC YOU DO
YOU KNOW THAT MESSAGE HE PUTS AT THE END OF EVERY POST????
"Beep boop! I look for accidental haiku posts. Sometimes I mess up."
YEAH???????
WELL THATS A HAIKU TOO
Beep boop! I look for
accidental haiku posts.
Sometimes I mess up.
NOW YOU LOOK ME IN THE EYE AND TELL ME THATS NOT THE CUTEST THNIG YOUVE EVER HEARD
If your life is horrible and you need a new source of meaning and direction.... Do NOT find religion. Learn to identify plants.