Right off the bat, I know your first instinct is to wear something loose. Something baggy. Something that will hide your curves for sure. And while, technically, yes, it will hide your curves, you’ll also end up looking like this.
And that not exactly the goal.
Now I’m gonna say this as a disclaimer, you can dress however you want, yada yada yada, your clothes don’t define you, blah blah blah, but look, this is a guide to passing. This is a guide to look male and to look masculine. If you plan on dressing feminine and expressing yourself in a feminine way, by all means, do it, but I won’t really focus on that. You might be able to take some of these tips and apply them in feminine clothing situations, but as I said, this is more centered around a masculine presentation. If you do not want to pass as a regular guy, regardless of if it looks good or not, then this is not the guide for you.
Now that that’s out of the way, let’s go from top to bottom.
Hats and beanies are really dependent on the person and can work for some, while for others it won’t. Personally, I’ve never been able to pull them off but I’ve seen some guys look pretty solid in them, so I would try any sort of head accessory before completely ruling it out. Especially if headwear is common in your city.
My best advice is to look at what other men around you wear. I say this for it will be your best solution to blend in. Add your own twist, look at what works with you, but that is what will make you blend in, which is the best if you are going stealth.
Remember our friends from earlier?
Yeah we want to avoid those looks. On the left is the first result when you look up “lesbian in flannel,” and on the right, is a guy wearing stuff that guys don’t usually wear, maybe an 8 to 12 year old on a cold day, but not your average teenage or adult guy.
By all means, avoid only wearing a T-shirt. T-shirts are too minimal and do not add or take away anything from your structure which leaves you with no coverage from your unfortunately curved body. Don’t throw out all your T-shirts, but do not wear them plainly or by themselves. Additionally, avoid polyester T-shirts. These shirts tend to be too thin and cling to the body for dear life, revealing your binder or whatever chest you might have if you bind with kt tapes. They shrink your shoulders and I’m telling you, it just ain’t a good time (also not great for the environment!). Try to wear 100% cotton shirts, because while they do shrink some, they overall keep their box shape. These shirts tend to run on the rougher/heavier side but the advantage to that is that it won’t cling to your body, and if you have a darker color, it will completely destroy the binder line.
This is something that again, you will have to test out on your own, but tuck in your shirt. Some people can pull off wearing just a tucked shirt, some can’t. It comes down to you and your body as well as the shirt in question. Also, because sleeves are usually on the longer side for us, roll them up to a regular size. This typically rounds out the shoulders while making them look a little broader. Combining these two things may allow for you to wear a T-shirt alone, but if it doesn’t, don’t stress it! I still have a solution for you.
Button downs or jackets. It comes down to the weather in your area lmao.
What these babies do is buff up your shoulders and straighten out hips. You have to wear then right though. Too loose of a shirt and you’ll look like a noodle of a preteen. Too tight and you’ve defeated the purpose. Your best bet is a shirt that slightly hugs your hips when closed, and does not critically squeeze your arms. The straightness of the shirt/jacket will give you a box figure, and as an added bonus, girls don’t wear this. Maybe a lesbian here and there, but not enough to stereotype. Again, just avoid a flannel or plaid pattern and you’ll be fine.
First image demonstrates the straight lines that the button down provides. The second image shows how this guy’s figure is more exposed, but the button down hides his natural curves (yes, cis men still have a natural hip curve a lot of the time, just not nearly as pronounced as the opposite sex). The final image is showing how the same effects can also be achieved with a regular sweater. My advice for sweaters is to roll up the sleeves. By rolling up the sleeves, you add bulk to the shoulder’s while simultaneously thickening the forearm. Building on that, roll up the short sleeve button down at least once as demonstrated in the middle image. By rolling up the sleeve once, you round out the shoulders giving the appearance of larger, less scrawny shoulders. Even if you’re on the thicker side, your shoulders can still look scrawny, trust me.
On a general note, it is best to wear darker colors if you wish to hide a binder. Darker colors eliminate shadows that brighter colors bring attention too.
And as you should know by now, when all else fails, just grab a hoodie and go.
As we move lower, we enter our next section, bottoms.
Handbook for the Self Made 