My first time in public was at an open air mall. I was probably semi passable, i.e. not terribly, but enough so that I wasn’t harassed or attracting open stares (in my sight!) from passers by. It was early in 2013 and a good nine months before I started HRT.
Even though I wasn’t terribly passable I was treated fairly well by sales staff and allowed entry into dressing rooms. There is, I believe a hierarchy of such things where the more believable you are the less hassle you get and I was at least a bit believable.
I didn’t help that I was not dressed terribly well in guy jeans – but our daughter was home and I had to change in the car.
I’d go on to spend considerable time in public as the months went by and become more passable, but it wasn’t until I was on HRT for some months and had a year of electrolysis that I really stopped seeing signs that I wasn’t passable such as being misgendered by sales clerks.
My Gifted Life 