I knew something wasn't quite right, but it wasn't until some visitors to my web page pointed out that my body shape (except for the bust) was too masculine, that I realized I needed some help in that respect. The choice was either to cinch my waist, and/or pad my hips to emphasize the female curvature. So I searched the TG shops on the Web and decided to start with the padding (I'm trying hard to loose weight around my tummy, but it's a real struggle - especially since I love to eat. Maybe a waist cincher or corset will come next.

In the end I decided to try the original "Veronica" by Classic Curves, and made all the necessary measurements. (This was before the Veronica II and III were available). I decided on the average woman size since I tend to think of myself as having an average build.

Espy Lopez at Classic Curves delivered the garment pretty quickly and I tried it out the first chance I got. My first impression was that although there didn't seem to be that much padding, the effect was very noticeable - too noticeable. My inclination was to send back the pads and go for the smaller "slender woman" size instead of the "average woman" size I had ordered. But after wearing the 'Veronica' for a while, I got used to the look and now feel that anything less would be too little. The stronger the visual clues to my desired gender, the better - within reason of course.

I have tried on all my skirts with the garment, and only my denim one won't slither on over the wider hips. So I think I am going to keep the padding proportions as they currently are, and not reduce them. I took some photos to try and get a better idea if the shape was actually what I wanted... and I think it is***.

Interestingly enough, I have found that I can actually 'feel' the extra girth around my hips. And in the same way that wearing heels makes me feel more feminine, the hip pads also give me a little extra psychological push in the feminine direction. I like it!

***Update: The Veronica is a good attempt at achieving the greater hip width. However, having owned the garment for some time I have stopped using it altogether. There are two reasons:

1.  One big drawback is re-inserting the pads after you've washed it. The foam rubber material the pads are made from is so "grippy" that it takes a very long time to get them back in and adjusted correctly. Like everything, it probably gets easier with practice, but having done it a number of times now, I still find it quite a chore.

2. The most serious problem I had, was with the tops of the foam pads. They tended to ride up and form a "ledge" just below the level of the reinforced waistband. This ledge was an abrupt, right-angle and was very visible through just about any garment. Because of this problem, I stopped using the Veronica. (I'd owned it too long by that stage to even think of trying to return it to Classic Curves.)