Most of us with older siblings have received castoff or passed-down clothing and it can be the bane of younger siblings. Even though I had new clothing as the youngest child, as my siblings did as well, it seems I always muckled onto an old shirt of my fathers. It was a comfort thing, sort of my security blanket. I suspect hand-me-downs are all the more common amongst transgender people.
Photo Credit: stock photo
Since discovering I am trans I have enjoyed many shopping trips with my sister Mary Anne, only now we could both shop for ourselves from the same departments and the same shops. I have also received many castoffs from her. In addition to this I have friends who pass on things to me. This was brought to mind tonight while I was listening to the WTF1 podcast. This being a slow news week in Formula 1, once they had discussed the news about Toyota joining the Haas F1 team as a way to return to involvement with F1, the dialogue faltered. That is until about the 21:45 mark when the conversation shifted to Lewis Hamilton.
The news is that Lewis Hamilton was just announced as the co-chair for the next Met Gala. This of course lead to a discussion of all things Lewis Hamilton which eventually lead to Lewis's involvement with the fashion industry and the fashions he wears. It appears that one beneficiary of the fashions Lewis receives is his brother Nicolas. This opened the topic of hand-me-downs and got me thinking of my own history with passed-on clothing. While hand-me-downs can be a curse to younger siblings who never get anything new and spend their childhood in clothing picked out for other peoples tastes, it can be a treasure to those of us who appreciate fashion or have our own style.`
My outfit tonight would be a good example, the main pieces are cast-offs. What you can see: My skirt is a red, full A-line, with a self-belt pleat midway down and falls 4' or 10 cm above my ankles. A friend gave it to me probably in the early 90's. It was a gift she wore once but apparently didn't like so she passed it on.
My top is a black sweatshirt fooler with a double neckband to look like you have a white top under it. The top has a half border at the neck of embroidered flowers with sparkly jewels. It came from my sister when she needed to make room in her closet.
What you can't see: Underneath I am wearing boys briefs, no I do not mean menswear, I mean boyswear. I forget why I wanted them but they came in various prints mixed with plains and I wanted some of the prints for some reason, prior to me realizing I was transgendered. Sometimes they make nice stuff for boys so I continue to wear these at times. Think of them as my unique take on Calvin Klein briefs for women. I had planned to donate the plains but I was so surprised by how comfy they were that I kept them all and save them for the odd days when none of my panties seem right for the day. I found them cheap on ebay.
For an undershirt I am wearing the top from a pajama set. I bought it on sale online from Giant Tiger so I probably paid $5.00 or less for the top and capri bottom set. It has a pink neckband that just peaks up to the neck of my sweatshirt adding another layer of interest to my top. This detail is lost in the photo below, just the tip of this peeks through on the far right.
This is not exactly how I would put an outfit together if I was going out or meeting people however it demonstrates the advantages of hand-me-downs and thrift shopping: It is unlikely I would purchase any of these items in a shop and the top and skirt are definitely not my usual style. The beauty of hand-me-downs is that they force us to try new things, new looks and styles which may not be within our comfort zone, they force us to expand our horizons.
If you would like to listen to the podcast yourself, or at least the Lewis Hamilton part, you can find it here: WTF1 Podcast
Today's top.
Photo Credit: Being Jamie Lee
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