How to Crossdress

Co-authored by wikiHow Staff

Crossdressing is the act of blurring the aesthetic gender lines by wearing clothing traditionally worn by the opposite sex. Men can dress to look like women, while women can dress like men. This may be done by people who enjoy cross-dressing periodically as well as those who choose to adopt an identity as the other gender. It can also be handy for people such as actors who may be called upon to play another gender in a role. While there is no right or wrong way to crossdress, this article can be used as a guide through the complicated process of switching your gender through the garments you chose to wear.

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Male to Female

 

 

Pick a role model. Successfully pulling off a male-to-female gender transformation will depend on picking a feminine body type to emulate. Women all have feminine curves, but differ in how it is presented. A petite gymnast will be different than a voluptuous vamp, which will also be completely different than a sweet little old lady.

When picking a role model to emulate, it is easier to pick a feminine figure who has the same general body type as you.

• Marilyn Monroe, for example, is a good example of a woman with an hourglass figure, not particularly thin, and medium height.
• Portraying Brienne of Tarth on Game of Thrones can use a more muscular build.
• Of course, accuracy may not be the point. If dressing for comedic effect, feel free to go for the exact opposite. An example would be putting a large muscular man in a fairy costume.

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Alter your shape. Our first impression of somebody's gender is based largely on their shape, to the point where it's almost instinctive. Guys generally have smaller hips and butts than women. Not only that, there's not much going on up front, either. So the first thing to do is fix those bits.

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Say hello to the girls. Nothing says "female" more than having lady lumps. Entire industries, from garments to cosmetic surgery to publishing empires, have been built on the foundation of our fascination for breasts. For convincing cross dressing, this will help bring you where you want to be, both physically and emotionally.
• One way to do this is to purchase a bra and stuff it with either tissue paper or socks. If you're not interested in showing cleavage, this will work well. If you want cleavage as well as natural-looking bounce, weight, feel, and movement, you can purchase a breast form, which is a prosthesis you wear inside the bra or attached to your body.
• If you're going for a natural look, avoid exaggerating the size of your breasts—make them proportional to your body size, or even a little smaller. Too much bust actually detracts from a natural appearance.

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  Draw in the waist. The contrast between the waistline and hips promotes a feminine look. While some styles downplay this look (such as flapper dresses) drawing attention to a smaller waistline helps the overall effect.
• Waist-cinching undergarments or corsets can help to achieve a more hourglass figure. You can also add padded panties, or silicone butt pads to bump the badonkadonk.
• Tuck and tape the boys. While there is expensive underwear that can disappear your package faster than a fly-by-night delivery service, you an also do this easily and cheaply with a pair of panty hose and some tape (medical tape, not duct tape—please, for your own sake!) Visit this wikiHow article on How to Tuck and Tape for more information.


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Contour your face. Your facial features say a lot about your gender, and there are measurable physical differences between the two. You will want to imply higher cheekbones and a smaller chin, and of course, you will want to shave very closely.
• As women throughout the ages have discovered, the right kind of contouring makeup can create an entirely different facial look. You can create illusions that make features looks smaller or more pronounced and you can even draw focus to certain feminine or masculine traits.
• Feminine face: To get those higher cheekbones, larger eyes, smaller noses, and bigger lips that are strong gender cues, use contouring powder and highlighter.
• Add makeup to mask or modify your features to appear more feminine. Apply false lashes, mascara, blush, eyeshadow, eyeliner and lipstick to create the ultimate feminine look
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 Do your hair up. While you can grow out your hair to naturally get the look of the opposite sex, you can also take advantage of wigs to create that look temporarily, and try out different looks and colors to find one that suits you. Look online at celebrities to find the right hairdo for your new features.
 Dress the part. Get the right fit by trying on your clothes that match your figure. You don't want to buy a dress only to find out it doesn't fit with your new cleavage. Take your measurements to determine your needs:
• Your chest is measured with the tape snug under your arms and above the cups of your bra.
• Measure your bust across the fullest part of your bra cups. Don't pull the tape too tight—you don't want to squish things down unnaturally here.
• Measure your waist at the narrowest part, between the top of the hipbone and the bottom of your rib cage.
• Your hips are measured at the largest part of your butt and hips.
• A rule of thumb when buying a dress is to use the largest of the measurements for your dress size.

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Pay attention to the smaller details. It's more than just how a man dresses or a woman does her make up that makes them identifiable with that gender. There are dozens of little differences, red flags that signal that you are a cross dresser. If you are looking for the obvious cross-dressing look, you can skip past these tips. If you want to look like a woman down to the smallest details, read on!
• Exposed body hair: Men and women expose body hair differently. Waxing, using pantyhose or shaving can turn a man into a more realistic woman. Eyebrows are key as well, and sculpted eyebrows will go a long way towards a convincing look. It will also be one of the more noticeable features when you're not cross-dressed, which might be a concern.
• Nails: This is an obvious, but a sometimes overlooked detail. Give yourself a manicure to achieve the look you want.
• Accessories: Belts, necklaces and earrings aren't unisex. Keep your accessory shopping to the women's departments.
 
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Get the attitude. Being a cross dresser may be all about the aesthetics to you. If so, the following tips may not mean much. But if you want to pull off the entire gender persona, its important to have the right act down.
• Develop the personality. In reality, women have all sorts of behavior patterns--but certain ones are emphasized in females. Women are taught to be less aggressive, for example. They are also allowed to be more emotional than male counterparts.
• For example, a woman would be more likely at a restaurant to say, "I would like a salad, please," instead of "I want the salad."
• Women tend to show more emotion. Men are generally taught to avoid a lot of visible emotion, while a woman tends to be allowed to.
• Alter your voice. For starters, you can bring the pitch of your voice up higher to convey a feminine voice. It's also important to also adopt the vocabulary associated with the fairer sex. Note that speaking in a falsetto voice will not be convincing for long. Learn to speak in a softer, more sing-song way, varying your pitch and volume more than you do when speaking as a man.
• Walk the walk. Men and women often walk differently, and a lot of it is taught by culture. Your movement is ingrained, and you've learned to "walk like a man" since you were a boy. Women have to learn to walk in a feminine way, which emphasizes grace rather than power. As a man, you have to switch gears.
• Practice walking in heels. Nothing looks less feminine than tottering on high heels. Even if you do not go out in public in heels high heels teach balance, smaller stride, walking softly, and a feminine gait. Practice going up and down stairs especially. Being fully proficient with heels means being able to not only walk, but dance in this type of footwear.
• Women often walk faster and use their arms more, so try picking up the pace, and engaging your arms. Arms are soft, not hard and stiff.
• As the song says, "hips don't lie," so sway your hips subtly, but don't do it to the point of exaggeration.
• Be careful to walk with gentleness. Men are allowed to clomp down the hall and pound downstairs in a way that women are not. Women are taught to walk more carefully with a grace. Walk up and down stairs with a skirt, and keep in mind a woman cannot bring her knees up very high.
• As with all things in cross-dressing, over- exaggeration will not make you look more feminine, it will just make you look more like a guy wearing a dress.