mfad•2y ago

Hand-me-downs from the 2010's

Hello there folks. I have a lot of hand-me-downs from my sister, who wore them when she was a teenager circa 2010, with whom I share shoe sizes. Since I began transitioning from female to male I've already either parted with or worn to tear most of the clothes, but shoes, being more unisex and resilient items than fabric, remained here with me.

So today my friend told me "your fit is nice, but your shoes are trolling you", to which I realized "shit, you're right".

Specifically I have:

red plimsolls that give or take look like that, but are Polo (probably mock) instead. Mostly intact but there's a leather strip on the back of one shoe that is worn down.
these coke plimsolls that are beige with this silver glitter-like thing. The coke bottle from the other side of the pair has fallen down and I'd need to probably buy some star strass and use super glue to fix.
these sandals, which are just dirty but otherwise fine, but I don't use them.
these sock shoes. The tip of the sole is detached from the body of the shoe so I'd need to check someone out to fix that.
(sorry for the ass lighting) the black chuck taylor, which was my favourite shoe on the list. Until the bottom sole gave up, so now I'd also need to look for someone to fix them.
these charcoal velcro sandals which are worn out on the tip.
the blue running sneakers that aren't a hand-me-down, I bought them for myself to exercise. They're perfectly fine. I don't wear them if I'm not exercising though.

And then I realized that, aside from two flip-flops, that's the entirety of my shoe wardrobe ( :xd: ), and half of it is unwearable because the shoes are broken ( :xd: ).

Gatan do rockOP•7/12/24, 5:39 PM

So... Back to 2024. I'm 21, I'm in college (I don't need to dress business), and I can afford to buy about one or two pairs of low-end branded shoes a month (about three times more if off-brand or second-hand). I'm not in a hurry to do so. I need help on...

Are any of these items are out-of-style? If yes, I'd fix and sell/swap/donate them.
Are any of these items in style, but too feminine? If yes, I'd fix and sell/swap/donate them.
Any items I should look into I'm overseeing? I have thought for a long time now that I need something on leather to go with my casual/"dressier but still not formal" clothes like a blucher moc or desert boots. Also some chelsea boots for the rainy days and when I visit a farm (a very common happening on vacations). Maybe just the chelsea boots but I don't know how common it is to wear chelseas in the city since I grew up in a rural town. help.

J•7/12/24, 6:38 PM

Hey so i am transmasc as well and wanted to give my 2 cents.

In my personal opinion, none of these shoes are particularly stylish right now. However, your decision to replace them with other shoes is totally dependent on what style you want to rock. If the shoes work and you don’t care about being on-trend per se, roll with it! If your goal is to be a bit more on-trend, i agree that you may want to slowly replace some of the shoes in the pictured rotation. Some standard recommendations here are Reebok Club C’s, Adidas Sambas, high top Converse or PF Flyers, Nike Air Max 1s. But get stuff you like. and buy things SLOWLY not all at once.
It’s tricky to answer if any of these are “too feminine.” That really depends on how you want to present yourself. I can understand why you’d maybe want to lean into more traditionally masculine styles if you are transitioning though. Stereotypically speaking, the sandals and the studded black sneakers look like they were intended for a more fem-presenting vibe, but honestly (and for the better) i think walls are being torn down in terms of clothing items on their own invoking a certain gender (this community is pretty cool in that regard.) my advice would be, if you like any of these and want to rock them, you should.
I think mocs, desert boots or Chelsea’s could all be cool additions to your wardrobe. in my city it’s extremely common to see people walking around in chelsea’s and desert boots. Once again, i’d recommend buying things slowly but if you want to incorporate any of these into your wardrobe i’d recommend Blundstones for chelsea’s and Clark’s desert boots but that’s just my opinion.

Good luck

J•7/12/24, 6:42 PM

Also, i’d recommend buying secondhand as much as humanly possible (Ebay, Depop, local thrift stores.) This is for a few reasons: It’ll save you money and you can get nice, well made clothes for cheaper. Your style will likely change as time goes on. And, my body shape and fat distribution is a lot different now 5+ years into hrt than it was when i started. Buying secondhand has allowed me to replace things in a way that fits me better, for less money and more sustainably.