Without revealing the plot, the latest short story I'm dabbling at involves an adult male and female of broadly similar size (height, build etc.), swapping clothes (the exact circumstances and relationship between the two is part of the plot, but irrelevant to my question below) with the intention of being fairly passable (at night!).
Obviously the female will need to bind her chest and the male pad his chest (plus quite possibly wear a waist reduction garment) and "tuck" - but what other measurements might interfere with a straight swap (i.e. significantly larger/smaller on the recipient than the donor), and require additional items of clothing to be purchased?
For a start, I'd imagine that unless the female has fairly large feet or the male fairly small feet, he might need to buy shoes online. But are there any other items of female clothing that almost certainly wouldn't fit the male, or items of male clothing that almost certainly wouldn't fit the female?
(Hey, no-one said I couldn't research by asking the experts...)
Comments
sizes
I believe the "average" guy has wider shoulders so blouses/dresses may not fit properly. The arms will probably be longer also, so sleeves will not fit. The wrists and breadth of the hands will probably also be larger, and heavier. Shoes will probably be a problem, and the length of the torso/waist will probably be off. The neck size should be heavier, and the length of the neck may be off, as well as the adams apple.
Tops and bottoms
Men are usually bigger in their upper torsos than women but usually women's hips and bottoms are larger. So, as Stacy said blouses and even bras are likely to be a tight fit on the male but the male's underwear and slacks would be the same for the female.
This is assuming the two characters are the same weight.
I have no idea if this helps.
Best of luck to you.
with love,
Hope
with love,
HER
Once in a while I bare my soul, more often my soles bear me.
Oh yes and hands
As Stacy also said, men's hands are usually larger so rings are unlikely to fit each other properly. Well, the woman's rings probably won't fit the man at all.
with love,
HER
Once in a while I bare my soul, more often my soles bear me.
yeah, rib cage
depending on the individuals, a man's rib cage is often much bigger than a woman's. and yes, a woman's hip bonea are larger.
on a more subtle level, women have slightly longer torsos as a function of height (you could say their legs were shorter, it would be the same thing) and their elbows bend differently (a function of musculature rather than bone structure).
of course all of this is a gross generalisation, make of it what you can.
not as think as i smart i am
I agree with the shoulders bit
however, there are women bodybuilders these days whose is having the same issue of T-females with having shoulders that are wider than usual so maybe your female character can be a workout fanatic.
My shoulders are proportioned just a smidgen too wide for me, though I have a very femininely proportioned upper body that comfortably takes a 36B though I should be a 34C in reality - another difference in bone structure I guess.
BUT, I can't complain, I am blessed to be considered very delicate by people. I am about 5'8" or so but people say they think of me as being only no more than 5'3" for some reason, especially when I sit down. However, keep in mind there is always an exception to the rule and also that I am a post-op TS on hormones for over 23 years now.
Kim
Sizing
In addition to the above info, I can not wear bangles and often have to use ankle chains as bracelets. Your male character may get by with "slim" fit pants/trousers (i.e. jeans) or should get a padded panty/girdle with hip and rear padding to fill out woman's pants/trousers. As woman often wear man's pant/trousers, this may not be an issue, but remember that a woman's wait is higher than a man's so this could be an issue. In the swimsuit domain, I have to wear long torso suites if they are one piece to fit properly so depending on their height, you'll have to make adjustments. In the shoe department, U.S. sizes are strange. Men sizes are two sizes smaller than women for the same foot length and women feet are narrower. I hope this helps...
Huggles,
Winnie
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/profile.php?id=12...
Huggles,
Winnie
Righteo...
So if my male character is slightly skinnier / shorter than the female (they're fraternal twins - well, identical would be very unusual!), the clothing swap might be more feasible...
--Ben
As the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, then only left-handers are in their right mind!
You're Right !
You're right! You can't have identical twins of the opposite gender because they are split from the same egg and the chromosomes have to be the same.
Not true
While extremely rare, monozygotic (identical) twins of different genders are possible. Generally in these cases the twins start out both male, but through mutation one loses the Y chromosome and develops as female. She would be born with Turner's Syndrome, meaning she has a single X chromosome and would very likely be infertile, but genetically speaking she would be female and the twins would be "identical".
Scott
I cried for her.
I cried for me.
I cried for a world that wouldn’t let her be.
-- from Luna by Julie Anne Peters
http://genomorph.tglibrary.com/
Bree
The difference between fiction and reality? Fiction has to make sense.
-- Tom Clancy
http://genomorph.tglibrary.com/ (Currently broken)
http://bree-ramsey314.livejournal.com/
Twitter: @genomorph
Shoes
Because feet are in different proportions as are hands... so rings, bracelets, watches, and gloves, too.
Size is not important...
...it's what they can do with it!
Angharad
Angharad
This may help
Body proportions are important here is a site that deals with them.
http://robyn.faeriemanor.org/wiki/doku.php/bodyproportions
Love,
Paula
Seek freedom and become captive of your desires. Seek discipline and find your liberty.
The Coda
Chapterhouse: Dune
Paula
Seek freedom and become captive of your desires. Seek discipline and find your liberty.
The Coda
Chapterhouse: Dune
Don't confuse "Averages" with "required"
Remember that all of the things mentioned need to be prefaced with "in general" and "the average" or "the median" when you talk about the human body. Even siblings or a parent and child can be closer in sizes and proportions than the averages will tell you. My son has a waist to hip ratio that's envied by many GGs (30" waist to 39" hips, in case you were wondering :-) ), yet has the broad shoulders appropriate for him. His fingers are less than 1 size difference from his fiance. My sister and I share a similar "barrel" shape to our rib cage, even through I was born male. And it wasn't until I transitioned my footwear that I realized that the proportions of my feet matched a woman's wide, rather than the men's medium I previously wore.
So, it's quite possible for two siblings to be very close in various clothing sizes and nothing be thought amiss.
Janice