RENAISSANCE DANCEWEAR of Fresno, CA
(559)-271-1411

OLD catalog PDF: http://www.renaissancedan[...]log.pdf

....has been around for a while. I believe it has just changed owners. It supplies Ren-Faire, SCA, movie, dance and theater groups including professionals. Ren-Faire and SCA people put a LOT of real world wear on their hose in rural, dusty, hot conditions with moderate to heavy activity, including weapons fighting.

Their products are not cheap, however, they are very sturdy and promise to last longer than many pairs of store tights. They also make custom orders to fit. These are both key factors. You may be lucky, especially at first, to get more than one wear from store hose before it runs.

They can make you a nude body suit or hose in BODY STRETCH, a flesh colored mesh fabric with some 4-way stretch. This is very useful for those who cannot shave when they dress. They can also dye some fabrics to match, so those of you with other than un-tanned, Caucasian "standard" skin colors might be able to get a good match if you can find fabric in your skin tones for them to match when they dye.

Of course, they also have oodles of wonderful colors and patterns in a variety of materials and garments to meet the needs of fetishists, fashionista and to match that article of clothing you love when that color is out of fashion-season. In addition, they can do a custom pattern for things like a Superhero/heroine costume for a party or Halloween...within certain legal restrictions.

I hunt hard for companies like this that custom fit their products. It is possible to get feminine clothing that fits YOU if you search the web. They are out there. They can be expensive, but this is a case where it can save you money long-term. Is there any interest in my doing an article on custom/bespoke clothing/shoe companies?

Most of the "rip off" TG shops are selling products that are available elsewhere for less. They count on fear and isolation. If they go too high they will lose business and go under. However, I do not object to a TG shop charging more than online. They have added costs and provide advice that can be invaluable, as well as a "safe" environment to shop. So far, the shops of this kind that I have been in are staffed by TGs. I did not find their prices unreasonable. Others have different opinions of shops they have dealt with. Truly, shopping in normal stores is much cheaper....but try to find a shop that will personally fit you for breastforms and a bra.

I'm getting a bit frustrated at a new problem with TW Forum posts...not being able to edit the post the next day when you have slept and go back and find errors or phrasing you wish to correct. I meant to say that gg's shops were "cheaper", not "much cheaper" (except in case of shops like Michael Whalen in NYC which seems unreasonably overpriced....yet NYC rent is very high so I reserve judgement, though MW was selling by mail for decades and pirces were pretty steep back then.

Glamour Boutique 3 in Los Angeles was the shop I watched another T girl fitted for forms in. The shop manager was a lovely T Girl who made her customers feel very comfortable and shared a lot of knowledge that was invaluable....does anyone really want to pay for TWO sets of silicon breast forms because they bought the wrong size/style the first time? Some of those can run over $400 a set. Far better to pay 10-20% more in a shop and get it right. I mourn the passing of GB3 from our city. I will miss the opportunity to drop in where there was a collection of jewelry that fit me and where I could learn my shoe sizes, ring sizes, etc. The real benefit, long-term, was being able to walk into a shop this month and go through the women's clothing without even thinking about needing to be self-conscious....I was too busy having fun. But I still woud have gone back to both those TG shops regularly if they had not gone out of business. So many things I need in one place.

TG shops do have a substantial percentage of "trashy" clothing, but most of us ARE heterosexual CDs with a more sexual agenda than others of the TG spectrum. Some shops have both. Lydia's used to have a wide variety of clothing. I got kinky boots, a beautiful gown and clothing from Newport News, a gg clothing catalog. They also would order things online for you, in case you could not get shipments at home. I don't object to my CD sisters having "a good time", I like one myself on occasion I'm glad we all have access to what we need and a shop can survive better with a range of clothing types. Besides, I can get all the gg clothes I need at Target, Kohl's and Walmart. But your point is well taken. There was a time when I was terrified to shop for girl clothes in a shop. One of hte things that Lydia's did for me was to lower the threshold of public shopping for me by providing an accepting environment and my first face to face contact with other T girls.

I'm glad you found the Buying Clothing for T Girls post useful, Kate.