Hmmm....I have been having some gender expression issues lately. It really annoys me that my little sister finds long hair a sign of feminine beauty. I have long hair because I haven't gotten it cut in months, but it's mostly from a lack of caring, not because I want to be beautiful. Anyway, recently people have been mentioning how pretty my long hair looks, and EVERY TIME I just want to cut it all off, like a buzz cut or something. But I feel like that is a bit extreme. Maybe I should just cut it to shoulder length (like I usually do), and see if it still bothers me? I kinda want to cut it like a boy's hair cut, but I don't know if it would look good with my face. :icon_sad: Also I want to buy some male and gender neutral clothes to add variety to my wardrobe. That way I can wear clothes that fit me. But I don't know much about male fashion. I mostly just wear stuff that looks like it goes together, but I don't know if there are some special rules for male clothes? I just want casual clothes, but I don't want to buy stuff that won't go together and then feel dumb about it later.
As for your hair, if there is one thing I've learned in the past 2 years it is NEVER let anyone else tell you that you should keep your hair one way because they think it looks better. If you want to cut it, cut that shit off! Anyway boys clothes. Unless you really follow fashion, the rules for 'what to wear' go something like this: Something on top + something on bottom + shoes = outfit. I've yet to meet a guy who, when decided what casual clothes to wear, put more thought into their outfit than 'this was at the top of the drawer'. Until 3 months ago I was living as a guy, and not once did anyone ever comment on the fact that clothes didn't match or that it didn't suit me. Unless you're going for a specific style, men's clothes are about as mix-and-match as you can get.
Ellia is right. One of the things I've learned in my transition is that guys don't put a lot of thought into what they're wearing unless they're looking to be seen. Basically, every day as a guy is a jeans-and-tee day. It doesn't reach any kind of difficulty until you start getting into things like bright colors, particularly colored jeans, which overshirt goes with which t-shirt, or if you're really looking to impress, which tie goes with which shirt goes with which belt/shoes goes with which pants and whether or not you want to add a sweater to said ensemble, or maybe a jacket. Also, if you're biologically female like me, finding men's clothing that fits is very challenging at first, but eventually, you'll find something. It takes a bit of patience and seemingly endless trial and error unless you're extremely lucky, but it's worth it, I think. As for your hair, if you want to buzz your hair, go for it. It'll grow back. But if that makes you nervous, cut your hair kind of short, and if you still think it's too long, have it cut shorter until you hit the sweet spot. I buzzed my hair, and it actually brought out my feminine facial features, so I had to let it grow out.
Thank you for answering! I like your hair idea justjade. I've decided I'll cut it a little shorter than shoulder length and then cut more if I need to. As for boys clothes, what you both said about casual wear sounds easy! I usually just match colors for my feminine clothes, so I guess that should work for boys clothes too. And it's nice to know I have some leeway since apparently casual boy's fashion isn't picky. What justjade talked about with the more complicated clothes is the stuff I don't know about. I just wasn't sure if some of those fancy clothes rules applied to the casual clothes to a smaller degree. Because if they did, I would be a little lost! Anyways, thanks again for replying!
The one useful thing I learned living as a guy is that everything goes with everything without question. Pulling off an outfit is more about stubbornly insisting that either it works fine or that it doesn't matter 'cause you like it than whether anything matches or is even appropriate
