A fancy dress party turned into a life-changing event for a dance student who realised she was transgender after wearing women's clothes.

Cal Fox, 25, from Liverpool, decided to go in drag to her sixth form party as a joke but quickly discovered that she actually felt more normal dressed as female than she did in man's clothes.

Cal, who describes Kim Kardashian as her style inspiration, is now living as a woman full-time and plans to undergo breast augmentation in a bid to see her dream of becoming a transgender model realised.

Scroll down for video

New me! 25-year-old Cal Fox, formerly Calvin (pictured left), became confused over her identity during her adolescence. However, a night out in drag as a teen made her realise that she might be more comfortable living as a woman, which she now is (right)

Growing up with all male siblings, Cal would play basketball with brothers Ashton, left, and Keenan, centre

Cal spent five years as a drag performer in her native Liverpool but has now given up to concentrate on becoming a model and spread her message to other people struggling with gender identity

Cal, formerly known as Calvin, grew up playing basketball with her two brothers and said she was 'petrified' of dressing in drag but thought 'it would be funny'.

She said: 'I felt amazing in my hot pants, heavy make-up and blonde wig - and I loved the attention. I'd always thought I was a gay man, but dressing as a woman, I felt like myself for the first time.'

Cal says that when she was younger, she had worn girls' clothes for fancy dress parties and had struggled with her identity as a teenager.

'I found school difficult - I didn't know who I was. Some days I would dress like Tupac, other days I'd look really preppy,' she said.

'Dancing helped me to feel confident but because I liked men and most of my friends were female, I just assumed I was a gay man.

'I worked as a male dancer in a nightclub when I turned 18 and I'd see the drag queens parading around. I didn't particularly identify with them but thought it looked like fun.'

Ahead of the big night, Cal bought a blonde crimped wig, leopard-print tights in Primark and borrowed some clothes from her aunt.

The dancer also called on her friend Tiara, who'd worn drag before, to apply her make-up for her, before the pair headed out into Liverpool.

Light-bulb moment: Aspiring model Cal Fox (pictured above as a male) realised that she was transgender after dressing up in women's clothes as a joke for a sixth form party

Early adventures: Cal struggled to feel comfortable with her identity while at secondary school and, after dressing up once for a party, began to experiment more frequently with hair and make-up

Strike a pose! Although Cal has no plans to go through a full gender reassignment operation, she is currently living as a woman full-time

Cal said: 'I almost had a panic attack while I was getting ready, I was so nervous. But at the same time I had butterflies. It was such a new experience.

'The nerves were partly because we were going out in Concert Square - a no-go area for drag queens a few years ago. Tiara had dressed in drag a lot and was so proud of me. I think of her now as my "drag mum"!

'The reaction from friends when we arrived was amazing. Everyone loved my new look and compared me to Katie Price. Some of our teaching staff who'd joined us for a drink weren't so keen, but I didn't care.'

A few days after the party, one of Cal's friends posted a photo from the evening online and she decided to reveal her new identity to her mum Lynda.

Cal said: 'Letting my mum see a picture of me dressed in drag was a real turning point. She didn't actually recognise me at first, but she was supportive of my choice and I knew then that if I wanted to be openly transgender, I could.

'I grew up playing basketball with two masculine brothers, but thankfully my family are open-minded.'

A few months later, having dressed as a woman on several nights out, Cal got her first job in drag.

Cal said: 'I was what's known as a 'door whore' - basically standing outside, freezing my balls off for £20 a night getting people to come in for a drink!

Just like Katie: Friends and family say that Cal looks like Katie Price and have fallen in love with the new her

Transformation: Cal, pictured left, has had hair extensions and hopes to have breast augmentation. The dance student describes Kim Kardashian, right, as her style muse

'A parade would sometimes come past from a famous drag club in Liverpool called Garlands and I'd be so jealous. I just wanted to be one of them.

'I eventually got the manager to notice me one night and he called me a diamond in the rough and offered me a job.'

After performing at Garlands for two years, Cal worked as a drag queen elsewhere but recently left her job, needing a break from the party lifestyle.

Despite having now dressed in drag intermittently for more than five years, it was only last year that she began to identify as transgender.

Cal said: 'I decided at the beginning of 2014 to start living full-time as a woman. It just felt right for me at that time. I love women's fashion, so showing off my legs in mini-skirts was amazing. I had lip fillers, manicures and Botox on my forehead.

'In October, I went back to dressing as a man for a while - I grew a beard and everything. But I didn't stay that way for long, as I look and feel better as a female. Having said that, I think there is a grey area within each gender, it isn't just one or the other.

'Now I'm a full-on female again. I'm a size 12 and I wear waist trainers and do specific workouts to help me achieve a womanly figure. The waist trainer sometimes cuts into me, but I say beauty is pain. Kim Kardashian is my inspiration.'

Cal, who is currently unemployed, plans to go into modelling and hopes to inspire other transgender people with her outlook.

She said: 'I have accepted myself for who I am. I am not male or female, I am trans. I would like breast implants at some point, but I won't be having any surgery to take anything away. I am all about adding things, not taking them away!

'Since becoming transgender I haven't dated anybody. Though I'm an exhibitionist and sometimes go out clubbing in just my underwear, I'm shy when it comes to guys and I don't sleep around.