I see a lot of passing guides around, and theyâre great, but they usually assume you have 100% of your energy to put into passing. For those of us who have like 24 other mental illnesses that make gender dysphoria take the backseat, thatâs not always realistic. So hereâs some shit Iâve noticed can help you pass that doesnât take much effort. Iâm pre-t FTM so most of these tips will mainly be applicable if you are too.Â
Ps, youâre not required to pass in order to be ââvalidââ. Most of us want to and it can be important to stay safe, but remember youâre doing this for you, not the rest of the world.Â
General :
Most pre-t guys will naturally look closest to 12-15 years old if they do pass. I know most of us hate not being treated our age but embracing this will make passing 100x easier. Match your mannerisms to those of teenage boys, and when looking for clothes/hairstyles try to match your perceived age rather than your actual age.Â
Clothing:Â
General rule for all clothes: donât underestimate the kidsâ section, and shop online if you canât find your size. If both of those fail you, you can try to order internationally. Asian men have much smaller frames so clothes from China work great, just be careful not to order from dodgy sites. Tailors are also a good option if you can afford them.Â
Never get your jeans in the womenâs section. Theyâll be cut to accentuate your hips 99% of the time. If you can find menâs or boysâ jeans that fit your hips, straight leg is best. If you canât, donât sweat it you have other options.Â
Sweatpants/joggers are great. Theyâll go past your hips without issue because of the elastic, and if you donât already pass nobody will look at you weird for going into the mens section to buy whatâs widely recognised as very fucking comfortable clothing. Get a pair thatâs looser on top and tighter on the bottom if you can, it keeps you from looking like a total slob. Stick to dark colours as theyâll slim down your hips.Â
For t-shirts, get something slim fit/athletic fit, and get it as close to your size as possible. Aside from your chest, your arms are the most obvious sign youâre not cis on your upper half. Getting shirts with tighter arm holes will give the illusion that youâre muscly, or at least not a total string bean. Once again, stick to dark colours. Large colour differences between your top and bottom half will draw a line across your body, making you look shorter. Graphic tees are a hit or miss. They can help conceal your chest and they fit the teenage boy look, but since theyâre unisex they could end up making you look like a tomboy.Â
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Avoid flannel, itâs associated with butch lesbians and could make people think you are one too.
Hoodies are a lifesaver. Theyâre easy to layer with (especially the zip-up kind) which will help conceal your chest. Rolling up the sleeves to your elbows makes them hug your arms tightly, making them look more muscular. Putting up the hood will make you look masculine, or at least hide feminine features somewhat. If youâre too small for menâs jackets, layering a zip-up hoodie with a (faux) leather jacket will look masculine and mimic the style a lot of menâs jackets have.Â
Binding:Â
First of all, if youâre going to bind, be as safe as possible (thereâs always risks, keep that in mind). 8 hours a day MAXIMUM (and maximum does not mean that thatâs an allowance you need to use up every day), take it off as often as possible, and donât ever sleep or exercise in your binder. Listen to your body, take a break when it hurts. Donât bind with ace bandages or tape, just generally avoid homemade binders. And for the love of god, donât get a cheap amazon/aliexpress/wish/ebay binder. If you bind unsafely, you can break your ribs, permanently deform your rib cage/collarbones, damage your soft tissues (which seriously reduces your chances of getting good top surgery results), permanently reduce your lung capacity, and just generally damage your body so much that you will never be able to bind again. Donât be stupid.Â
Gc2b and underworks are the most popular and safest binder brands. Generally speaking, gc2b is better for smaller chests and underworks is better for larger chests.Â
There are two main styles of binders, tri-top and full tank. Tri-top does everything you need, full tank binders just add more (non-compressive) fabric to the bottom. Tri-top tends to be more comfortable as thereâs no extra fabric to bunch up, but if you want your binder to be subtle if you have to change in front of people/are wearing a tight shirt, getting something that looks like a tank top is your best bet.Â
Gc2b binders are available in a range of colours, while underworks offers black, white and beige binders. I decided to get a binder that matched my skin colour since I could only afford one and I didnât want it to show through any clothing. I HIGHLY regret it. Cis men do not wear skin coloured garments under their shirts. If your collar slips up in the slightest, thereâs an obvious sign that youâre trans. Cis men DO wear undershirts though, so get a binder thatâs the same colour as an undershirt (usually white but black works too).Â
Some trans men use kt tape to bind, and transtape is a product made specifically to improve upon kt tape binding. Mind you, putting tape on your skin is very fucking bad for it and you will likely get blisters, as well as risk losing skin elasticity (something thatâs important to retain if you want top surgery). Only do this as a last resort if youâre in a situation where regular binders are even more unsafe or would out you, such as while traveling. Look up how to apply it properly first and remove it VERY carefully.Â
Hair:
If you want long hair thatâs your choice, and some trans men do pass with long hair. But keep in mind even square-jawed cis men will get misgendered from the back if they have long hair. If youâre not okay with regularly getting sheâd, keep it short until youâre on t for a while.Â
If you have yet to get your hair cut short, a barber may refuse to cut you. Some of them really do only work with men/boys and if you donât pass, youâll be turned away. Just go to a unisex salon, if you donât want to out yourself then find a picture of a woman with a masculine haircut. Show them that, then get them to make it even more masculine (ask for your sideburns or âthe bits on the sideâ squared, it makes a world of difference). Youâll be able to go to a barber for your next haircut after that.Â
Resist the urge to get a buzzcut. Itâs very low maintenance but it makes your face shape extremely apparent, you will look feminine.Â
Get your hair as short as you can stand on the sides and leave some length on top. If you get the sides really short, you should only have to brave your social anxiety every two months orso to get a new cut. Style the top upwards with some product (wax, gel, whatever). Your face will look less round if you do this.Â
To avoid talking to your barber and possibly outing yourself, just find a picture of the haircut you want and show it to them. Iâve found barbers are far less chatty than people at unisex salons so youâll probably be okay just not speaking.Â
Wash your hair as little as possible. Donât let it get greasy, but allow it to build up some texture. Cis menâs hair is a lot rougher and less silky than cis womenâs, so you want to mimic that. Throw your conditioner in the trash.Â
For body hair, leave it alone as much as possible. Donât touch your eyebrows, either. Let them get bushy, donât pluck any stray hairs. You can fill in your eyebrows to make them look thicker but Iâd recommend against using makeup in any form as a trans man, itâs hard to make it look subtle and people will instantly think youâre a woman if they notice youâre wearing it.Â
You can shave your face if you want to, but itâs honestly a waste of time. Your skin will look softer without the peach fuzz, which is the opposite of what you want to achieve. Hair doesnât grow back thicker after you shave it, so donât bother doing it for that reason.
Body composition:
Dysphoria TW for mention of biological sex.Â
A lot of guides make a major point of this. Work out 5 days a week, eat as little as possible, get your body fat percentage down. One of the most popular guides there is for FTMs even suggests you get down below 20% body fat, acknowledging that thatâd be an unacceptable advice for cis women but going on to say itâs okay because we arenât cis women.Â
My advice on this is to do your best to shut THAT advice out. Our bodies are (unfortunately) female, they play by female rules. The notion that we can (and should!) starve and exercise our way into a male body is harmful and wrong. Having a female looking body isnât a personal failure or a sign that youâre not working hard enough, itâs an unavoidable consequence of BEING physically female.Â
Building muscle helps. Lower bodyfat helps. If youâre overweight and can manage to go on a diet, go for it. If you can start working out, go for it! Just donât sweat it if you canât for whatever reason. I promise itâs still possible to pass.Â
Mannerisms
Sit with your legs open. Manspread a little. You want to be sitting in a way that would get old ladies tutting if a lady in a dress did it, but donât go so far that youâre doing the splits.Â
If you want to cross your legs, do it with your ankle on your leg. Crossing your legs too tightly will crush the dick you want people to think you have.Â
Walk with your legs slightly apart, and try not to sway your hips. Visualise having something between your legs that youâre trying not to crush (because cis men do).Â
Put your hands in your pockets as much as possible. Standing with your hands in your pockets basically draws a straight line down your body, minimising the appearance of your hips. It also makes you look like a bored teenager so itâs perfect.Â
Donât smile too much, especially not in pictures. If you do smile, smirk. Try to look cocky.Â
Cis men have stronger brow bones and eyebrows closer to their eyes. You can mimic this by frowning mildly.Â
There are tons of voice training techniques you can look up to get your voice to go deeper, but to be honest itâs a lot of effort. You need to actually put force behind your voice to get it to come from your chest, and god knows Iâm too depressed to do that 90% of the time. Iâm fond of the ânever fucking speak to anyoneâ technique and it works out just fine.Â
Confidence is absolutely the most important part. If youâre showing that youâre sure of yourself and act like you being a man is the most natural, obvious thing ever, people are unlikely to doubt you. If they do doubt you, just laugh it off. Act like the notion of you being anything but male is ridiculous. I donât even do all the things in this guide. Iâm very short with wide hips and a very high pitched voice, but confidence is what consistently gets me to pass. If youâre not confident, fake it till you make it.Â
Feel free to add!