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Your dressing sense goes a long way towards people creating a certain image of you. It sounds clichéd but it’s true. Saying that you are essentially the clothes you wear would be probably going too far! But still, the clothes you choose to wear define your personality. As a FTM transgender guy, you can use your fashion sense to your advantage. The way you dress is very important for projecting a strong male image.

You are out there in the open now, eagerly waiting for the world to embrace your beautiful manhood. And that world, in evaluating your charisma as a man, is going to constantly check out what you are wearing.

However, the whole experience of buying men’s clothes can be intimidating for a FTM transgender guy. It’s a whole new experience for you. If you have a small body or big hips for instance, then you would think finding the right male clothes that would fit you well is even bigger a challenge.

But with a few tips and tricks, you will be ready to embrace your masculine self! And not just get by but perhaps come out with flying colours!

Buy Clothes that Fit You Well

This is the most basic and common-sensical tip for anyone. But still, people fail to follow this simple adage.

Many FTM transgender guys commit the cardinal sin of buying baggy, oversized clothing. They have the perception that bigger and looser clothes would somehow make them look bulkier and more manly. Nothing can be farther from the truth. Clothes that literally hang on your body just make you look boring and old.

So, it is important to buy clothes that fit you well. Not too tight but not overtly loose and baggy either. It has to complement your body.

This becomes even more important while you are shopping for jeans or trousers. Jeans too tight on the waist would look awkward and would also make you immensely uncomfortable while you are sitting down or simply moving around. Jeans too loose would also be totally unflattering to your body.

Well fitted clothes give the impression of a confident personality. As a FTM transgender guy, it is super important to appear confident and articulate. On the contrary, ill-fitting, baggy clothes give the impression of someone who doesn’t take care of themselves.

Remember that as a FTM transgender guy, perception goes a long way towards people accepting you in your manly image. And well-fitted clothes help create that perception.

Do not be Conscious about Your Size

Do not stress over your body supposedly not fitting a generic male body parameter. Rather, dress according to your body type and you are bound to look good.

If you have a somewhat smaller body, do not get conscious of it. Just look for clothes in the boy’s section. Well-fitted clothes give the impression of a fit, toned body, irrespective of one’s body size. So, if you are very small size, do not get obsessed with getting bigger. Just find the right clothes that complement your body type.

If a FTM transgender guy has bigger hips that can also become a cause of concern while shopping for male apparel. Men’s trousers usually don’t have room for big hips. But it’s not impossible to find one that would sit well on your hips. So, no matter what, do not get conscious about your size. Always buy clothes that fit you well, even if that involves putting in a bit of extra hard work!

Just remember that if you buy trousers with the right cut, you can minimize the appearance of a heavy waist. Taper cut pants are also a suitable option for a FTM transgender guy with larger thighs.

Yet another trick is to move a size or two up with the waist but opt for a trend like skinny fit. This would make the trousers sit beautifully on your legs while hiding your waist.

So, whether you are a small guy or unusually big by general standards, do not get nervous and do not lose confidence. There are all sorts of sizes available these days. As long as you don’t get obsessed with the idea of forcefully trying to change your size or body type, you will be fine.

Your Clothes Should be Your Personal Statement

Now, everyone is unique. And that is precisely why no two people look the same, even if they have put on similar-looking clothes! As a FTM transgender guy, do not feel compelled to copy the fashion choices of cis guys or anyone else, for that matter. Create your own fashion statement.

Have fun with what you wear. If you like colours bring on the blues, reds, pinks, whatever! If you are enamoured by anime, video games, let your t-shirts showcase that side of yours. You don’t have to resign yourself to wearing boring whites and greys just because you want to project a certain male image.

As a FTM transgender guy, you are certainly projecting a male image. But one that’s uniquely you. And the man who is not afraid of being himself takes up his sexiness quotient by a few notches!

So just remember that your sartorial choices should be an extension of your personality.

Use Clothes with Patterns to Your Advantage

Now, this is a practical necessity.  As a FTM transgender guy, it is important to hide or camouflage any bumps on your chest. So, you have to super careful while wearing t-shirts with patterns or stripes.

A golden rule to follow in this case is: the more random or asymmetrical the pattern is, the better it is. A random or asymmetrical pattern with help you camouflage the bumps in your chest area better. When the pattern is not symmetrical, the human eye gets somewhat confused. Such a pattern would then not draw overt, exclusive attention to your chest area.

So, buying clothes with patterns is great. But you have to be careful as to what kind of patterns are these and if you can use the design to camouflage any bulge on your chest.

Check Out What FTM Trans Icons are Wearing

Now, this is an exercise that can be both fun and inspiring! You can check out the profiles of FTM trans icons on social media sites like Instagram and check out what they wear, how they carry themselves.

As a FTM transgender guy, following a celebrity who has probably had the same share of struggles as you can be a major confidence booster. There are times when we need role models to fall back on not because we are not sure of ourselves but simply because we perhaps need a new perspective to look at our own self.

A MTF trans woman is a lady who was born with the male biological gender. That is, her body had physical and biological characteristics of a man so she was assigned masculine gender at the time of birth. However, she identifies herself as a female. She had the eerie feeling of being trapped in a male body for a long, a feeling that gave her a lot of anxiety and discomfort. She battled this on a daily basis till she finally decided to come out as a woman. And once she begins to come out as a woman, she might choose to undergo certain medical procedures to develop the outward appearance of the female gender.

Having said that, it is not easy to be a MTF trans woman in this society. Although things are way better than let’s say 20 years ago, they are still far from best. People now perhaps recognize the right of transgender people to live a normal life but accepting them is a different issue altogether. It is still difficult for trans people to find regular jobs. If they are in college or university, completing their education becomes a challenge for them.

A transgender woman goes through a lot of societal challenges once she comes out in the open. But as they say, every cloud has a silver lining. These challenges can definitely get her on the verge of a breakdown. But with her characteristic courage, determination and confidence, she can overcome these challenges.

This article tells you about the main challenges faced by a trans woman and how to overcome these.

Struggle with Identity

A trans woman goes through an acute identity crisis for a long time. For every courageous person who has come out as a transgender lady in the public, there is a rather painful background story. She undergoes the most harrowing of identity crisis while growing up. The society judges her by the identity that is assigned at the time of birth. She has the biological characteristics of a man so she is expected to behave like a boy. She is supposed to adopt the typical mannerisms of a guy and socialize in a male pattern as she grows up. But all this gives her enormous distress. She feels like she is trapped in a wrong body and there is no one she can communicate this with. The parents come from the same society so even they might dismiss what she feels and just ask her to conform.

And that is the worst kind of struggle anyone can face. To have people tell you in your face that what you feel so deeply and truly is abnormal, nothing can be more painful than that. This identity crisis often gives rise to gender dysphoria.

All this can be really traumatizing and scary because if you are an adolescent, you can’t even take steps to undergo medical transitioning because you don’t have the finances plus you can’t take such decisions for yourself. That’s why many transgender people come out in the open later in life.

But you don’t have to let this identity crisis mark your life. If you feel like a woman trapped in a male body, speak to your family about it. They might dismiss you at first but if you persist, they will understand you and help you in your journey. If your family is hostile, confide in a friend whom you think understands you. In the meantime, you could get valuable information from a transgender forum and learn from other trans people's experiences. If it gets worse, you could seek help from any of the organizations working for the rights of transgender people. There are many such organizations active these days. A simple Google search will help you figure out how you can get help from one of these.

Struggle to Find Love

This is the common struggle many transgender women face. Once they come out in the open, the next challenge is to find love. Societal apathy makes it next to impossible for a trans woman to seek a partner the way a cis woman does. She can’t just walk into a party and strike a conversation with a guy she finds interesting. The guy might just turn hostile and even abusive the moment she reveals her identity, for all she knows.

So the best bet for a transgender female looking for love is to join a transgender dating site. These days there are many dating sites specially designed for the transgender community. These sites are relatively safer s compared to conventional dating sites. Also on these sites, the person you are talking to more or less knows that you are a transgender woman. In a conventional dating site, there is always that added risk of someone not knowing your identity even if you’ve categorically stated that you are trans.

A trans dating site also gives you the flexibility of communicating with different kinds of people from across the world. Your choices are not limited. If you were dating someone through family or friends, then you would have a limited pool of people to choose from. So this is an added advantage with online dating. Also, there is no pressure to really meet anyone. That’s the best part. You can go on chatting with different people for a long time till you finally decide to go on a date. And if you still feel uncomfortable about meeting someone, you don’t have to. There is no compulsion.

Finding love as a trans woman is definitely not easy but it’s very much possible. It takes all sorts to make this world. There are many wonderful guys out there. Meeting the right one at the right time is all about destiny.

Struggle with Work and Education

Most transgender people undergo some kind of struggle with work and education. This struggle is more acute in countries where the laws are mostly directed against transgender people. But even in countries where the law recognizes their rights, trans people face this problem.

For a trans woman, completing her education or keeping a job is a major challenge. That is why many transgender women keep on delaying medical procedures because they are scared of losing on education or work. There are many transgender women who are forced to lead double lives. They have to hide their identity at the workplace. They are forced to live out their real identity only in private or with close friends. That’s why it’s no surprise that many trans women just quit their jobs.

For a MTF transgender woman with no savings or little financial means, this can be a source of acute distress. Everyone has the right to earn their livelihood. But in case of trans people, even if the company doesn’t directly discriminate against them, there is so much apathy and transphobia at the workplace that they end up quitting anyway.

For a MTF trans woman trying to live a normal life post-medical treatment, all this can be very complicated. Even if she legally gets assigned the female gender after the gender reassignment surgery, she still faces problems.

The only way to address this is by creating more and more awareness around issues faced by the transgender community. Many people don’t even know what is exactly meant by the term trans. They probably confuse trans people with gays and lesbians. So firstly, a massive social movement is needed to educated people about the meaning and implications of the term transgender. Laws alone cannot bring changes. It’ only when cis people in schools, colleges and workplaces will become champions of transgender rights that things will begin to change for good.

Struggle with Conventional Notions of Femininity

This is a typical struggle that a trans woman undergoes. She has the pressure to conform to the conventional standards of femininity. Just feeling like a woman isn’t enough. She has to make sure that her dress, appearance, behaviour simulate that of a cis woman. She attends grooming classes, learns the art of applying makeup, and takes voice lessons to make her voice sound more feminine.

Somewhere, a trans woman has to find her own ground. She has to create her own distinct style and aura. Even all cis women are not the same. Some cis women are ultra-feminine whereas others are more tomboyish and carefree. So there is no sure shot manual to being a woman really. A transgender woman should feel free to embrace femininity in her own unique style. She should not get bogged down by the whole conventional baggage of femininity. Her essence is that of a beautiful woman. And her outward being should reflect that in its distinctive aura.