All dressed up and nowhere to go... again

I did it again! I ordered a cocktail dress to wear to upcoming holiday get-togethers, but I don’t know if I will be attending any.

Last year was a washout due to the pandemic. And this year, the pandemic hangover turned the biggest local LGBT event into a virtual affair and may wipe out other events, too.

After I retired, my company invited me back for their annual holiday luncheon two years in a row, but since then, the company was bought out and I don’t know if the new owners even bankroll holiday luncheons or if anyone there remembers me.

A group of my girl friends used to get together and go out to dinner and a show during the holidays, but we have not done that since before the pandemic. Maybe they would be interested in doing that again this year.

Wearing Ann Taylor

Longtime Femulate reader Mousse

...and a Happy New Year

A White Christmas

Looks like we are going to have a white Christmas here in Connecticut. Mother Nature blessed us with about an inch of snow Christmas Eve morning.

White Christmas is one of my favorite Christmas movies. The plot has so many holes in it that you can drive a Sherman tank through it, but I love the songs and dances. The film even has a very lame femulation scene performed by Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye (I guess Bing and Danny were saving their femulating skills for other films.)

SundanceTV is having a White Christmas marathon as I write this on Christmas Eve and as luck would have it, when I turned on the television, they were showing the femulation scene!

My other favorite Christmas film is A Christmas Story. I was an early adopter of that film because I was a big fan of Jean Shepherd, whose stories were the basis of the film's plot (Jean was also a ham radio operator). I saw the film when it came out in 1983 and I recommended it to all my friends, but they looked at me as if I had lobsters crawling out of my ears.

The film also has a femulating scene when the main character, Ralphie, has to try on the Christmas present his Aunt Clara sewed for him. Problem is that Aunt Clara thinks that Ralphie is a girl and her Christmas gift is a girly bunny outfit. (I should be so lucky!)

I want to wish all my readers and contributors a very Merry Mary Christmas!

Wearing Bebe (Source: Bebe)

A couple in their Christmas outfits (Source: Pinterest)

and a Happy New Year!

Party Notes

Here are some comments regarding the company Christmas party I attended on Thursday.

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All my previous femulations among my co-workers was with blonde hairdos, so when I showed up as a brunette on Thursday, some people did not recognize me.

While standing in line for the buffet, the co-worker in front of me remarked that she had no idea who I was because I looked so different as a brunette. She added that I looked gorgeous as a brunette.

👠👠👠

Although I had a great time celebrating the holidays with my former co-workers, it was also a little depressing to hear the news I missed during the past year. One co-worker's son committed suicide, another co-worker was diagnosed with colon cancer, and the company is being sold (again), which may result in my division disappearing.

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Good news is that I reached my weight loss goal this week. Bad news is that I now have a closet full of shoes that no longer fit. I had no idea that losing weight would result in reducing my shoe size as well as my dress size.

I plan to go through my collection and see what fits and what doesn't fit. Every cloud has a silver lining, so I assume I will also find shoes that were too small six months ago that now fit.

I discovered my shrinking foot problem when I tried on the Nine West metallic platform pumps a few days before wearing them out. They were very loose and after a few steps, I would lose one shoe or the other.

Being a stubborn fashionista, I was determined to wear those shoes with my new dress to the Christmas party, so I inserted heel liners in each shoe. The liners helped and I did not lose a shoe throughout the day, but often I had to clench my foot when it felt like a shoe was not going my way. So they are destined for the "do not fit" division of my shoe wardrobe.

Wearing Boston Proper (Source: Boston Proper)

Alan Sues femulates Jo Anne Worley on television's Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In.

Company Christmas Party

Thursday, I attended my former employer's Christmas luncheon party.

I wore the Julia Jordan gunmetal fit-and-flare dress, Dress Barn off-black pin-dot tights and Nine West metallic platform pumps. Instead of accessorizing with silver jewelry as I originally planned, my wife suggested I wear something colorful for the holidays, so I wore a red necklace and red earrings.

As I began to fill my old tired-looking black handbag, my daughter gave me an early Christmas present: a red Kate Spade handbag! I was so surprised and happy with her generous gift that I almost started to cry, but I held back my tears so as not to ruin my makeup.

I left the house and drove to the banquet hall hosting the luncheon. Usually I wear my heels when I drive, but the platform pumps are about a half-inch higher than my usual footwear and that half-inch or so made it difficult to manipulate the three pedals under the dashboard, so I wore flats to drive and switched to heels when I arrived at the banquet hall.

I entered the hall and when I checked my coat, the three women staffing the front of the hall said they loved my outfit. One said she wanted to buy shoes like mine.

I found a seat at a table with my former co-workers and it was just like last year's Christmas luncheon when I wrote, "It was as if I showed up in boy mode." Folks greeted and chatted with me like old times. The fact that I was presenting as a woman made no difference.

Reflecting on what I wrote last year "...as if I showed up in boy mode," I realize now that it did not matter if I showed up in boy mode or girl mode. Rather it mattered that I showed up in Stan mode. In a dress or slacks, I am the same person that my former co-workers knew for 20 years and I think most of them were glad to know me just as I was glad to know them.

Wearing Unique Vintage (Source: Unique Vintage)

Joe Regalbuto femulates in a 1990 episode of television's The Love Boat.

Party Time

My very sparkly outfit!

Today, I will attend my former employer's Christmas luncheon.

I retired in the summer of 2017, but was invited back to the 2017 Christmas luncheon. I dressed in a very sparkly outfit befitting the woman I am and it left no doubts in my co-workers' minds that I was trans-something. (Showing up at work dressed as an office girl the previous five Halloweens put those doubts in their minds in the first place.)

This year, the only surprise will be that I show up (for those who did not know I was invited). No one will be surprised how I will be dressed.

Thanks to your input, I decided to wear the Julia Jordan gunmetal fit-and-flare dress, Dress Barn off-black pin-dot tights and Nine West metallic platform pumps ("Outfit #2" in my "For the Holidays" post). I will accessorize with silver jewelry and perhaps a colorful scarf. Outerwear is dependent on the weather, but if the the "partly sunny 43 °F" forecast holds, I will probably wear my purple swing coat.

I am so looking forward to the luncheon and as usual, you can expect a full report in the days after.

Wearing Intermix (Source: Intermix)

The "Professor" (Russell Johnson) asks "Mary Ann" (Dawn Wells) if he passes as a woman in a 1967 episode of Gilligan's Island.

For the Holidays

Here are three outfits I am putting together for the holidays. What do you think?

Wearing New York and Company (Source: New York and Company)

British femulator Asifa Lahore

All Dressed Up, But...

Shopping this time of year, I often encounter a dress for sale that would be perfect to wear to a holiday party. And I often buy what I find with the hope that I will have the occasion to wear it.

Want to know how many sparkly dresses are hanging in my closet that I have never worn? They are to-die-for dresses and I am dying to wear them if only I get invited to a holiday party.

I did get invited to my former employer's Christmas luncheon/party last year where I did dress pretty, but now that I left the building over a year and a half ago, I doubt I will get invited back this year.

And so it goes!

Wearing Boston Proper (Source: Boston Proper)

My 2017 holiday luncheon outfit.

The Weight

Between Thanksgiving and New Years, we are urged to consume, consume and consume some more. Then right after the big ball drops in Times Square, we are urged to diet, diet, diet!

Maintaining a girlish figure between T-Day and January 1st is a battle. Some years are better or worse than other years. Most years, the battle is lost.

During those worse years, I have had to wear the heavy-duty girdle with the metal stays for any January outings en femme. But this year was better; I maintained my weight throughout the holidays.

I suspect that being a housewife for over a month while my spouse recovered from surgery had something to do with it. Trying to be a good little wife, I cleaned and washed and cooked like I never had before. And most weekdays, I also telecommuted eight hours a day. As a result, I did not gain a pound and I also have a better appreciation for women who are trying to have it all.

And now that the holidays of consumption are over, this housewife should be able to shed a few pounds.

Happy New Dress Size!

 

 

 

Actor Robert Knepper femulates on television’s L.A. Law in 1986.

 

 

 

Wearing J.S. Boutique.

Holiday Dressing When You're Not Out

If you are not completely out of the closet, dressing for the holidays can be a drag.

Sure you can dress to the nines in your new cocktail dress to attend parties hosted by your fellow transpeople, but attending holiday gatherings hosted by civilians, that is, non-trans family and friends, usually means dressing in boring boy mode.

But dressing like a boy does not have to be humdrum if you are willing to push the envelope. You can feminize your boy look just enough to please your inner girl, while maintaining enough boyishness so that civilians won't question your gender.

Dressing like the fellow pictured to the right would allow you to do just that.

His hairdo is decidedly male, but was highlighted by his hairdresser to femme up his crowning glory. He wears minimum makeup --- just foundation, tinted lip gloss, mascara, eyeliner and eyeshadow, which allows him to look pretty, but still maintain a boyish appearance.

His black crepe romper with the silk satin bow tie hints at his feminine side, but still maintains a semblance of masculinity --- after all, he is wearing pants, not a dress. Jumpers and rompers often have no pockets, so he has a perfect excuse for carrying a man-clutch (he has to store his money, keys, hankies and makeup somewhere).

Mantyhose were optional, but depilation was not; no boy would be caught dead with hairy legs in an outfit like this, so a close shave of his manly gams was in order. To complete the look, flats would be a bust --- a pair of sexy man-heels were a must.

Finally, our fashionable fellow added the colorful necklace to make a feminine statement in case anyone missed the other feminine clues.

This ensemble might be too edgy for some of us. Uncle Billy and Ma Bailey might faint dead away at the sight of a male relative showing up for Christmas Eve dinner in this outfit, but on the other hand, it may be acceptable in more diverse family settings. Your mileage will vary.

If this outfit is too over the top for you, you can push the envelope without breaking it like I did today.

It is the last day of work here before the long weekend shutdown. Many of my co-workers are already taking time off. I estimate that we are about half staffed today, so it is a good day to push the envelope a bit; with fewer co-workers in the building, there are fewer chances for confrontations (not that I expect any, but you never know).

With that in mind, I feminized my look when I dressed for work today.

My underwear consists of black panties, waist cincher, black camisole, and black tights.

Over that, I am wearing my long red tunic sweater that falls to the top of my thighs, black slacks with a side zipper and no pockets, and black patent flats with a silver buckle.

I even wore a little makeup: a light coating of mascara along with my standard pink tinted lip balm.

I considered wearing a bra instead of the camisole, but I thought that C-cups would be too noticeable under the sweater. I also considered wearing a purse, but I had to carry my computer bag, so I was able to store everything I needed in the bag.

I made the rounds through the building twice already and no one has mentioned my outfit, but I feel so womanly that I am glowing.

the challenge continues

Tuesday before Thanksgiving, I mentioned how I lost ten pounds since mid-September and I wanted to keep it off, so Thanksgiving would be a challenge for me.

Well, I made it through Thanksgiving and the food- and drink-filled weeks that followed without gaining a pound. I didn't lose anything, but considering all the temptations before me, I think I have been a very good girl maintaining my weight.

The challenge continues through New Year's Day and two weeks from today, I hope to report that the ten pounds I lost are still lost!

'tis the season...

Click on the image to enlarge it.

Happy New Year!

All dressed up, but nowhere to go!

Actually, a snowstorm blowing through here today cancelled my New Year's Eve plans. So I am staying home tonight safe and sound rather than slipping and sliding across the slippery highways of Connecticut.

Happy New Year!

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