Having seen Davina's recent post about men's clothing I thought that I'd give my own ramblings.

We're all aware of the saying 'clothes make the man' and I think that it really signifies the importance of clothes in our society. As we are only to aware clothes can be used to signify gender but they also have cultural, religious and class significance. They can show authority - stick on a high viz jacket and you suddenly acquire power you did not know you had!

We wear clothes to belong. It is a uniform we wear to fit in with societies expectations. For most men it's pretty easy - we have a work out fit and a leisure outfit - typically jeans and a t shirt. Our choice of clothes shows we belong to a certain group. There may also be practical reasons - you don't run up to a building site in a suit - clothes must be functional and offer protection.

Women also have these confines. They have work wear and leisure wear just a greater choice which sometimes makes it harder. Some women show a great interest in fashion and others just want to be comfy. My wife wishes her choices were a lot simpler at times and working from home it is - jeans and a t shirt.

I don't think that our desire to crossdress is anything to do with lack of clothing choice. We crossdress because we want to belong to another group. We want to feel feminine, we want to part of the opposite gender, even if it is for a limited time. We want what we think are the best bits of being a woman. Quite often our choice of clothes is not practical - most women wouldn't want to wear high heels and skirts all day given the choice but in our minds eye that signifies femininity. My wife doesn't understand why, given the choice, I want to wear those clothes. To her life is easier just wearing jeans a t shirt without worrying what to wear.

Our decision to wear women clothes runs deep than just lack of choice. As we discussed before we dress in a way that we find sexy, attractive and feminine. I think that, given the confines of our bodies, we go to the extreme end to try and hide our masculinity. A walk around TESCO will show that there is not a lot of difference on how men ad women dress - jeans and t shirts.

My male side is thankful I don't have to worry about how I look as long as I fit within certain boundaries and abide by the rules. I think women are judged far more by society about how they look than men, I guess that's patriarchy in action. It's funny how when you watch sci-fi (thinking star trek here unless it's the Captain Kirk version where women were still sexualised) men and women all seem to wear the same clothes - a practical one piece. The colour signifies the job and insignia the rank. That would defiantly equal up the floor space needed at the department store 😂

I'll add more later.

Katie x