Mentionables

Tops are harder than skirts or dresses, for me. Not having hips means I can wear a smaller size skirt (8 or sometimes even 6), and I look for dresses that might disguise my lack of hips (I usually wear a 12 dress).

I do not shave completely. My wife dislikes the fact that I shave at all.

A typical entire discussion follows:
wife: I like hairy guys
me: it doesn't fit my self-image

What she'd really like is for Meg to disappear.

When I'm preparing to go out, I shave my arms to about cap sleeve length, my upper chest, and
the back of my neck. I may trim my armpit hair, but I don't shave there. That means shoulders, back, and tummy are all VERY un-feminine. Basically, when I am not Meg, I am a gorilla.

So tank tops are out. Cap sleeves are mostly out, because movement can kill the illusion. Low backs are out. Low fronts are coverable with a camisole. See-through is out.

Lots of nice tops either have no sleeves, cap sleeves, or see-through sleeves. [LOTS of blouses have see-through sleeves. At some point I will go that extra inch and shave my arms completely. Then I will bust the budget buying clothes that are suddenly no longer forbidden. I've been down this road before.]

For now, they remain behind for some other lucky woman.

Often I'll find a nice top with sleeves and put my hand behind the sleeve ~ see-through. Or it has a keyhole front, or too-low back. Or it's just plain ugly, or it looks too much like a man's shirt. I want different!

That's another problem: I wear women's shirts as a man, but the ones I find are often close, but not close enough. They have darts for your bust, or the colour is just wrong, or the sleeves are 3/4 or just a bit short, or the cuffs are funky, or the collar ends in a deep cut with no buttons near the top....

If I were to count up my men's shirts and compare that to just the different sleeve types on my women's shirts, the women's would way outnumber the men's. That's part of the joy of women's tops. The rest of the joy is the colours and patterns and cut and feel.

So I have a few tops that I like and can wear out without a jacket. But I'm always searching. On the other hand, maybe I should stop before my closet explodes.

When I did my inventory for the clothing swap, I had roughly 50 tops. And (say it with me) not a thing to wear!