DIRTY PANTIES ...and other thrilling tales of my sex ... - Lannie Rose

18 - Dirty Panties ...and other thrilling tales of my sex changebefore. The store was brightly lit, open and spacious, with someintriguing, stylish clothes on display. I thought I would walkthrough and see what I could see, perhaps broadening my fashionpalate a bit.As a cross-dresser, it hadn’t been long since the first time Ishopped in the ladies’ department or used a ladies’ changingroom. Abandoning mail order to start shopping in person for myfeminine wardrobe had taken all the courage I could muster. Inreturn I got quite a few thrills and eventually, some nice clothesthat actually fit. I started at the Ross and Mervyn’s level,progressing after a while to Macy’s and JCPenney. I would skulkshyly, slyly around the racks, circumspectly slipping in and outof the dressing rooms in an effort to attract as little attention aspossible. I had to like an item a lot before I dared brave thecheckout counter. One time at JCPenney I felt I was being particularlyintrepid because the checkout counter was attended by acouple of cute young ladies chattering away like magpies. I wassure they would read me, that is, they would realize I was a crossdressedman. When I got to the counter I had to laugh to myself.They never even glanced at me. Nor did they pause in theirstream of gab, which was entirely in Croatian as far as I couldtell.I was terribly intimidated by Nordstrom and, Lord help me,the little boutiques. In those places, the salespeople were boundand determined to be helpful and I could not easily avoid them.They might even speak languages other than Croatian! As I cameout of the closet more and more, however, I experienced kindnessand acceptance everywhere I went. My self-confidence grew angrew. Before long I was shopping the sale racks at Nordie’s andenjoying the sales associates’ attentions immensely. I found themore classy the place was, the nicer they treated me, which isn’tsurprising, is it? My fashion sense gradually improved thanks tothe helpful saleswomen … while the impact on my credit cardgrew as well.As I gained self-confidence, I learned to love the littleboutiques. Ann Taylor, Wet Seal, J. Crew — they’re delightful! So