Passing Tips

When people are transitioning from one gender to another, sometimes they know ahead of time that they are trans and begin to dress and behave in their preferred gender before they even seek referral to a GIC. Or, some people will begin to dress and behave in their preferred gender while waiting for their first appointment, or after their first appointment to help with gender dysphoria, or because they now feel free to do so. Whatever the reasons, they are perfectly fine. This page will help those who may be wanting to dress more like they're preferred gender to try and alleviate gender dysphoria, or because they want to explore their gender expression. Cis men and women have different body language which communicates to those around them what gender roles they conform to. The good things about todays society is that you don't have to conform strictly to gender roles. However, when transitioning, it can be important to the individual to alter their appearance, speech patterns and bodylanguage so as to be accepted as their preferred gender to those around them.

Body language

Men and women behave differently, and it can make a subtle but huge change to the way a trans women is perceived when she is walking. Watching cis people walk, watching the way cis people move around and taking note of how they carry themselves or how they sit, watching the way they interact with their friends or with strangers around them can really help trans people learn new body language and help them to feel more natural in their preferred gender role.

Hair and makeup

There is no right or wrong way to look. It is the choice of the individual on how they wish to wear their hair and whether or not they wish to wear makeup but it can help some people to feel better in their preferred gender role to alter their hair style and wear makeup to alter their appearance and make themselves look more masculine or feminine. Trans men may wish to cut their hair shorter into mens styles and trans women may want to grow their hair out or wear wigs. Both trans men and women may want to wear makeup to help change the subtlties of their face shapes and emphasize or demphasize certain characteristsics or areas of their faces. All of these techniques are fine. There are many sources online, on youtube as well as on blogs of trans people, where people have posted tutorials on how to use hair and makeup to alter your gender appearance.

Body hair

Again, this is totally personal preference, but some trans people may want to make small changes that can make a big impact to the way they feel. Some trans women may want to shave or wax away body hair that can give them a more masculine appearance, and some trans men may want to let their body hair grow, on their legs and under-arms for example, which can make them appear more masculine.

Body shaping

Cis men and women have differently shaped bodies. Sometimes the differences can be obvious and sometimes not so much, it depends on the person, but it can massively help a trans person to feel more naural if they alter their body shape. There are many different ways to do this, and nowadays there are accessories and garments made especially with trans people in mind.

For trans men, they may want to flatten their chests to hide the fact they have breasts. Depending on the mans breast size, all that may be needed is a compression sports bra to flatten the chest, for those with larger breasts, it may be necessary to purchase a binder. A binder is a crop top like garment made to be worn under clothing in place of a bra. It has a compression layer in the front which flattens the chest. While the effect is usually amazing, there are safety risks when binding. They must not be worn for longer than 8 hours a day, they are not to be worn during exercise or strenuous activity, they are not to be slept in under any circumstances. Binders can permanantly alter the shape of the rib cage causing long term ill effects. Should a trans man want to have surgery later down the line, binders can cause lasting damage that prevents trans men from being able to get that surgery.

Trans women, however, may want to make it look like they have breasts. There are several ways in which a trans woman may do this. They can buy bras and stuff them with items such a socks, water balloons, seeds in bags or breast enlarging silicone pads. There are bras made especially for trans women to wear to give off the impression of breasts. There are also silicone forms, these are silicone vests in flesh tones to help blend into the skin with false breasts seamlessly built into them.

Another way in which trans men may want to alter their body shape is to wear something in their underwear called a packer. This is a prosthetic penis, worn to create the bulge in the genital area. This can help with gender dysphoria. For trans women, special undergarments can be worn to 'tuck' the penis away to create a flat, smooth appearance. Another way for trans women to create a more feminine body shape is to wear waist cinchers and hip pads. Waist cinchers are short corsets worn under the bust to cinch in the waist and give the impression of a more hourglass figure. Hip pads are made of foam or silicone worn on the hips and thighs to create a more feminine silhouette under clothing.

Clothing

While clothing choices are entirely up to the individual and what they are comfortable with wearing, there are certain clothing choices that can make a trans person feel and look more like their preferred gender. Trans women may want to wear more feminine colours and clothing, and trans men may want to wear more masculine styled clothing. Certain items of clothing can help disguise certain characteristics that could otherwise make trans people feel self-concious. There are no rules to this, sometimes just wearing clothes that make the individual feel good are enough. The best thing to do is try on clothing you like and see what flatters, feels and looks good.

Attitude and Confidence

The most important thing that can help trans people 'pass' in their preferred gender is their attitude and their self-confidence. By watching the way cis people act and interact with others, trans people can pick up a lot of mannerisms and speech patterns that make it easier for them to transition socially. By hanging out with friends or family who identify as your preferred gender you can pick up and learn how to assume the posture, behaviour and body language of your preferred gender role.