A transvestite is dressing like someone from the opposite sex, a woman dresses like a man and the other way around. So you can say that is common for both sexes.
A transvestite is someone who at times dressed as the opposite sex. This was formerly very common for women, Because the women in history had fewer rights then a man so benefits to pretend to be a man. An transvestite generally love this kind of costume play and it's also a great part of his/her lifestyle. When you look in history there is one personality who was well known for being a transvestite, Joan of Arc. She dressed like a man when she headed out to battle, too feel more confident and stronger.
In The Old Testament(The Bible) but also in The Koran transvestite is emphatically forbidden , by having clearly described dress codes.
Transvestite is a sort of fetishism, because some people are sexual stimulated by it. This is also the main reason for people to do this.
Travesty can be divided into 5 groups:
An transvestite is not a transsexual or a shemale because an transvestite doesn't have a personal or psychological relation with the opposite gender. An transvestite feels fine with her/his body and doesn't have any need to change it like a transsexual.
Other word for transvestite is drag queen. There are many competitions world wide to see who is the best drag queen.
When we look specific to escortservices and their relation with transvestites you will see that it's possible to book an transvestite escort. This can be a man but also a woman. The difference with an shemale or transsexual is that the escort really is the same as when he/she was born...