When I get dressed as Mario, my decisions are extremely simple. I choose a short or long sleeved shirt from my closet, and a dark pair of trousers. Weather conditions rarely matter, but I will add a sweater in a solid dark color when it is cold outside. Rarely do I need to wear a suit, but when I do, it's always a classic dark blue or grey suit, a white or blue shirt, and a tie around my neck. Simple as pie! But when I get dressed as Marian, things are very different.
Getting dressed as Marian requires me to make many more decisions. For example, my choice of bottoms (trousers or skirt like garment) is dependent on the weather outside If the weather is warm or hot, I'll always be wearing a nice top with a skirt, or a nice dress. If the weather is cool, I might wear the dress with a pair of tights. But if the weather is cold, I'll wear a tunic like dress with a pair of warm leggings. Before I put anything on, I must choose my intimates. I need to make sure that the bra I'll wear won't be exposed by the top I'll be wearing. Once everything is on, I finally choose my shoes (or boots). Again, the weather can be a factor in this choice. And finally, I choose my jewelry. What kind of necklace will I wear? So many decisions to make. (And I haven't even talked about makeup!) No wonder why so many women complain of having a full closet, but nothing to wear.
Now, I hate wearing trouser like garments as they force me to be extra careful when tucking. I like having as flat a front as possible, so that my legacy genitalia do not create a visible bulge. Dresses and skirts give me much more room for error. But most cisgender women tend to wear trouser like garments such as jeans these days. So I've had to treat some dresses as tunic tops (for coverage) and wear leggings (with compression undergarments which give me a flat front) to look more like a cisgender female.
When I went to Hawaii this December, I wore dresses every day. It felt nice to have a breeze on my legs while on vacation. The one time I went into the hot tub, I wore a swim dress with pockets for my prosthetic breasts. I've never been happy when wearing that swimsuit, as the skirt always floats up with the jets from the hot tub. I wish I had real breasts to fill out the swimsuit cups. Like many women, I am not happy with how I look in a swimsuit. But I know that it's because it's a form fitting garment which tends to show off what I haven't got.
On the whole, I know that being transgender means that I have to accept the imperfections in my female appearance. And I know that getting dressed will always be a pain, as I will always need to adjust my wardrobe to fit a body for which women's clothing isn't designed.
