Let’s start with what the goal is, you’re a trans woman or trans man and you want to travel through life unhassled by people. To do so you need to fade into the woodwork. My advice is going to be centered around trans women, but it applies as well to trans men.
Trans men, generally and as I’ve heard, have less issues passing. Grow facial hair and you’re halfway there, yet still the comments I have to give probably apply.
Many of the comments below come originally from other sources, but alas I cannot quote the sources, just that they’ve proven helpful.
Presentation
More then half the battle is how you present yourself. Body posture telegraphs a great deal about a person and the wrong body language can scream “man” for a transwoman, Women do not generally try to dominate conversations or people through physical displays of any kind.
Stand a bit softer. Speak as a woman speaks with emphasis made by pitch and not volume. Speaking in the right tone is more important than pitch. Keep your voice out of your chest and up into your face – a speech therapist should be able to help with this. Having all this appropriate helps a great deal.
Vocabulary
Men and women do not use the same words. Surely both genders can use all the words but when’s the last time you heard a woman talk about her gut or a man about his pooch? The use of words is a serious marker and you should study the words women use and don’t use. Don’t go to the John, go to the ladies, the restroom and definitely don’t go to the head.
Clothing
Definitely wear clothing 🙂
Choose clothing appropriate for a woman your age and body type. Don’t be sixty and go prancing about in a mini, you’ll look embarrassing and draw attention when you should be blending in. This doesn’t mean don’t dress attractively, by all means do that.
Make up
This can’t be overemphasized. Less is more when it comes to make up. Cindy Crawford has a lovely small book on basic make up that I recommend as a starting point.
Make up shouldn’t be visible for the most part for daily wear, with the exception on lipstick. Sure, you can see the effects of make up, but hopefully not the make up itself.
… more to come …
My Gifted Life 