Sometime in the next few months, I am going to fully transition socially by which I mean always present male, change my name and introduce myself as male to whoever I meet. This will mean going for job interviews as myself. There is no way I can keep up the pretense any longer. I have been experimenting with menswear for a while now although I have yet to present fully male, even to myself. I have been holding back because I have had such negative reactions from my family, even just from presenting more 'masculine', and then for some reason I always end up wanting to self harm and feel suicidal. I have worked out that plain button down shirts work best for me for the top half and after trying a few coats and jackets I have a kind of puffer jacket which I felt most comfortable with. I have to have tight cuffs on a coat or jacket because the sleeve length is always just slightly too long. (I am aiming to lose some weight off of my bum and thighs before I start spending out on trousers.) However, my mum has recently said 'What are you actually going to wear when you start going for job interviews? When are you going to get a smart coat?' Now I feel uncomfortable about the way I want to dress. I'm very small, only 5 ft 3, and although I would never admit this to my family, I am a little insecure about my height. I choose men's clothing based on how they look on me. When they drown me or in my opinion, make me look more like a woman than a man, I feel like a joke. This is why I avoid certain men's clothes like these... There is nothing wrong with these for a guy but when I try such clothes on, I don't see me looking back at me in the mirror. I see a woman. My mum is always trying to push me to wear clothes that have this effect. I try to explain that I don't feel comfortable in them but she just argues with me and says 'Don't be ridiculous! Men wear all this kind of stuff.' The point is, I'm not a man (biologically) and I don't feel comfortable in clothes that make me look more female than male. Basically, I just want to hear opinions on whether you think I'm over reacting here and also, some advice on what kind of jackets/coats I can wear for an interview that look smart and that I'd feel comfortable in as most smart coats make me look more on the feminine side. Thanks
I don't think you're over reacting. Every body is different so you have to take that into consideration more than trends, especially for feeling comfortable. With regards to jackets, because of your height I wouldn't get something long because it'll probably make you look shorter. Some general rules for clothes: dark colours make things look smaller, light/bright colours make things look bigger horizontal lines draw the eye across, verticle lines draw the eye up&down (these also applies to things like belts and ties) thick fabrics (like wool) often disguise curves Hope that helps
