Act Your Age

One of the most common pieces of advice I've heard given to people relatively new to the trans community - those who are first starting out - is that you should "Dress your age". This is very similar to the phrase "Act your age" that is often used by parents to scold misbehaving children. Not that they're in any way related, it just that's what it reminds me of. Getting back on topic, dressing your age is actually very good advice, which is why we hear it tossed around so much. I know I heard my fair share of it when I first started building a wardrobe. But what do you do when you're not really sure what your perceived age is?

You'd think it would be as simple as checking your driver's license to see how old you are, and then dress accordingly. And for most people, it is indeed that simple. But that hasn't been my experience. Pre-transition, I was used to most people assuming I was younger then I actually was - especially if I decided to remove annoying facial hair completely. Being small didn't hurt either. It was something I kinda just took for granted. Occasionally I would get student discounts when I had already graduated from college - that was pretty cool. Then I started going out as a female instead of a male. I went from looking like a late teens/early twenties guy to a late 30's early 40's woman. Sure I got ma'amed - which was nice, but I definitely looked older then my (at the time) 26. So I dressed accordingly. Or at least I tried. I was learning, and was by no means perfect. I was probably a little all over the spectrum, but my wardrobe started to drift toward that of a more mature woman.

But after hormones, and a fair amount of FFS, and electrolysis, it appears I've started to drift back over into the younger side again, which is just plain awesome, and something I really wasn't expecting to happen. Just last week I had two people assume I was 21. One was a friend I've known for a few months, and he couldn't believe it when I told him how old I was. The other was a perfect stranger I struck up a conversation with, during the course of which he asked, "you're what? 21?". No. I'm 27. Then again this week, one of the guys installing our new network at work commented that I was really young to be in charge. He thought I was 18! I've also started to get 'miss' a lot more now as well when I'm out and about running errands. Again - totally awesome! I don't really see it myself, but it's cool if others do.

And that's the problem - I don't see it. Not just me - I'm a horrible judge of people's age in general. I can tell a lot about someone's personality type right away, but not their age. It's just not something that ever really mattered to me, so I don't know what to look for. So if I don't know what age I look like, how the heck am I supposed to dress and act my age? I guess at some point it really doesn't matter so long as you're comfortable in whatever you wear (and you're not offending anyone else ^_^). Having at least a scintilla of fashion sense would prolly help too. But it's really frustrating when you go out shopping, and you wonder whether or not something would be seen as age appropriate on you, and you just don't know.

Still - it's nice to be thought of as younger again. I've learned to never take youth for granted.