• HAIRCUT

For haircuts … word to the wise: be realistic. Keep in mind what looks great on Brad Pitt might not work with your face and/or isn’t possible with your type of hair. I went the celebrity haircut route and browsed pictures online, but eventually gave up on trying to model myself like someone else. I went to a Beverly Hills stylist for my first male haircut because I wanted the first cut to be the best or I’d be hair traumatized, heh. Your local supercuts or barber shop is fine as well.

Bye bye bangs.

I got rid of my bangs since they’re known to be feminizing, but I made them short enough so that they’d come forward. Also remember that sideburns can give away your gender, females tend to have the ends of the sideburns fade downwards. Guys tend to have the ends of their sideburns shaved straight across.

Hello world.

I told the haircut man that I was in a major theater production that required me to play the role of a male, therefore, I needed a very convincing haircut. He bought the explanation without question and gave me a cool haircut. Don’t be embarrassed to tell the man or woman how you want your haircut, if you let them take over and mangle your hair, you’ll regret not saying anything and be bitter as hell. Furthermore, if you’re slightly embarrassed, just remember that there are millions of other places to get haircuts and that you don’t ever need to see this person again if you don’t want to.

Browse male haircuts here: Male Hairstyles.

• PACKING

Packing is stuffing one’s pants to create the appearance of a penis. I packed from time to time, but I found it tedious to have an extra accessory in my pants. The one packer I recommend that is cheap and realistic is the Mr. Packy from Early 2 Bed:

Mr. Packy from Early 2 Bed

• BINDING

Binding is compressing one’s chest to reduce the appearance of breasts. I had a fairly flat chest to begin with, but I wore the Double Front Compression Shirt (Style 997) in white from Underworks.com. They are knowledgeable of trans-issues and even have a specific page catered to FTMs provided below. Google “underworks.com coupons” for coupon codes.

Underworks