Infectious Affection

Believe it or not, my previous post ("Affection") was inspired by the Boston Red Sox.

Tuesday evening, the MLB Network showed two documentaries back-to-back. The first was about Alex Cora, the manager of the 2018 World Champion Boston Red Sox. The second was about the 1967 American League Champion Boston Red Sox. Being a diehard Red Sox fan since 1958, I opened a can of 'Gansett and sat back to watch both.

I enjoyed both documentaries; they refreshed my memory about two iconic seasons of my favorite team.

Watching the documentaries, one thing that stood out was the contrast in how the players congratulated each other in 1967 and 2018.

In 1967, a handshake or a slap on the back sufficed. There were no hugs or high fives (high fives had not been invented yet). In 2018, high fives, short hugs, very long hugs and even a few kisses were exchanged.

We've come a long way, baby!

Wearing Botkier (Source: Botkier)

Jared Day femulating in the 2005 film Go For Broke 2. 

Affection

Guys shake hands to signify affection between them. But lately, some guys also hug to signify affection. In my case, I was raised to shake hands — hugging was not an option.

When I began socializing as a transwoman, I discovered that transwomen seldom shake hands.
Just as gals have more options when it comes to fashion, gals have more options when it comes to affection and transwomen follow their lead. Gals shake hands, hug, air kiss or kiss kiss to show affection and so do transwomen.

En femme, I have been hugged, air-kissed, kiss-kissed and even French-kissed by one particular transwoman who wanted to have her way with me. The French kiss was a little disconcerting, but I quickly got used to the other signs of affection and usually hug and occasionally air kiss when greeting gals and transwomen. With guys is something different.

When I came out to my ham radio group, I did so by e-mail because the group was scattered across the globe. However, the group met face-to-face twice a year and my coming out e-mail was sent a few weeks before one of our face-to-face meetings so as to prepare the group for my debut en femme.

When we show up at the face-to-face meetings, we greet each other (long time, no see!) Some shake hands, some do not. I was always a hand-shaker en homme, but not so much en femme.

When I showed up for that first face-to-face en femme, I was early and only one guy was present. I went up to him and without thinking about it, I gave him a hug as was my wont en femme when greeting people.

As I unhugged, he remarked, "So this is the way it's going to be."

Now he was a big supporter when I came out and has continued to be, but I did not know how to take his remark.

I'm probably read more into it than there is in it (I always do), but after that remark, I abandoned  hugging and shook hands when greeting guys who knew me as a guy before they knew me as a girl.

There are exceptions, but that is another story.

By the way, I know that the “boys” in the image at the top of the page are not really boys. Rather, they are female models who look boyish enough, at least for the purpose of the message.

Wearing Sail to Sable (Source: Rue La La)

Femulator street-style, circa 1925

Noted on Tuesday

Here are some follow-up notes regarding my day out at the mall on Tuesday.

Fashion Success Dept.

I was very pleased with my makeup Tuesday. I am finally getting the hang of liquid eyeliner using Avon's True Color SuperExtend liquid pen.

Fashion Failure Dept.

Awhile ago, I stocked up on Kiss stick-on nails that were leftover stock from an affiliated store on Amazon.

I had no problem with the nails until Tuesday morning when a couple of nails popped off shortly after I put them on. I opened a second box of nails to replace the popped nails and the replacements popped off, too. I think the glue on the nails dries out after awhile and lose their holding power. The third box of nails I tried were fine and held on all day long.

After I did my hair Tuesday, I noticed that my eyebrows looked gray, so I had to redo my eyebrows with a darker shade. For years, I used a blond shade of eyebrow pencil. That worked fine when I had blond hair, but now that I am a redhead, the blond eyebrow pencil does not cut it.

These Boots Are Made For Walking Dept.

When I checked my iPhone's Health app, I was surprised that I walked 1.9 miles on Tuesday. Most of that 1.9 miles was at the mall because I did not do much walking otherwise on Tuesday.

My new Christian Siriano Payless "Veronica" kitten-heel boots were very comfortable and served me well walking around the mall, as well as driving to and from the mall. They are one of the most comfortable footwear I own and I highly recommend them, but sadly they are no longer available. (I searched the Internet for other sources and all I could find were black pairs in size 8M on Amazon.)

Wearing Jonathan Simkhai dress and Tibi booties (Source: Intermix)

Nina Chareese, professional femulator

Something New

I am a big fan of Kiss Express Stick-On artificial nails. They go on fast and easy, stay on until you want them off and look good. Friday night, the first thing the girls did when I met up with them is compliment my nails!

The only problem I have with the Kiss Express Stick-On nails is that they are only available in one style. Years ago, Kiss sold other Express Stick-On styles, but not anymore. So I am stuck with one style and although they always look great, I am bored with them.

Looking for alternatives, I discovered Kiss Impress Gel Manicure nails. They are available in over 20 styles and are pre-glued stick-ons like the Express Stick-On brand, but better; Kiss claims the glue on their Impress nails is "3X stronger than other pre-glued nails."

I was intrigued, but wondered about the size of the Kiss Impress nails. I have long, thin lady-like fingers, but in the past, I have purchased artificial nails that were not large enough to cover my own natural nails. If the size of the fake thumbnail doesn't match the size of my natural thumbnail (5/8 of an inch wide), then the whole set is useless to me.

There is only one way to solve find out if the size is right: buy a set and try them on. So I purchased a set at my local Rite Aid this morning and took them home to measure them up. And I was pleased to discover that like their kissing cousins, the size of the Impress thumbnails are a perfect match for my natural thumbnails.

I did not try on the new nails because I want to save them for a nice day out as a woman. When I do, I will let you know how well they survive out in the wild!

Wearing Elizabeth Kennedy (Source: Moda Operandi)

Jeremy Stockwell femulating in the 1970 film Dinah East.

Affection

Guys shake hands to signify affection between them. But lately, some guys also hug to signify affection. In my case, I was raised to shake hands --- hugging was not an option.

When I began socializing as a tranny, I discovered that trannies seldom shake hands.
Just as gals have more options when it comes to fashion, gals have more options when it comes to affection and trannies follow their lead. Gals shake hands, hug, air kiss, or kiss kiss to show affection and so do trannies.

En femme, I have been hugged, air-kissed, kiss-kissed and even French-kissed by one particular tranny who wanted her way with me. The French kiss was a little disconcerting, but I quickly got used to the other signs of affection and usually hug and occasionally air kiss when greeting gals and trannies. With guys is something different.

When I came out to my ham radio group, I did so by e-mail because the group was scattered across the globe. However, the group met face-to-face twice a year and my coming out email was sent a few weeks before one of our face-to-face meetings so as to prepare the group for my debut en femme.

When we show up at the face-to-face meetings, we greet each other (long time, no see!). Some shake hands, some do not. I was always a hand-shaker en homme, but not so much en femme.

When I showed up for that first face-to-face en femme, I was early and only one guy was present. I went up to him and without thinking about it, I gave him a hug as was my wont en femme when greeting people.

As I unhugged, he remarked, "So this is the way it's going to be."

Now he was a big supporter when I came out and has continued to be, but I did not know how to take his remark.

I'm probably reading more into it than there is in it (I always do), but after that remark, I abandoned  hugging and shook hands when greeting guys who knew me as a guy before they knew me as a girl.

There are exceptions, but that is another story.

By the way, I know that the “boys” in the image at the top of the page are not really boys. Rather, they are female models who look boyish enough, at least for the purposes of the message.

Femulator street style, circa 1925.

 

Wearing Bebe.

Femulating Mom

Fortunato Castro femulating his mother

A lot of us femulate our mothers to some degree. I, for one, wear styles that my mother would wear. And growing up under her tutelage, I act like the lady she was.

A 27-year-old artist named Fortunato Castro femulated his mother for his senior thesis at Cooper Union. He "turned his lens on himself, for a series of powerful self-portraits. But, unlike most self-portraits, he posed in an unusual way: as his mother.”

You can read all about it and see a slideshow at The Cut.

Anti-Aging

On Tuesday, Daily Makeover had some excellent advice about makeup mistakes that make you look older. I don't know about you, but at my age, I want to look younger, not older, so I am taking their advice to heart.

Daily Makeover is a good source for good advice on hair and makeup. I subscribe to their daily e-mails and I recommend a free subscription to any girl who wants to improve her femulating skills.

Nailing It

I am a big fan of the Kiss brand of pre-glued press-on nails. They go on quick, stray on forever and are large enough to cover my Amazonian finger nails. But lately, they have been scarce.

I usually purchase my Kiss pre-glued press-on nails at CVS, Rite Aid or Walgreen, but for the past month or so, they have been missing from the racks of those stores. They have other Kiss brand nail products on their racks, but not the pre-glued press-ons that I know and love.

The Kiss website stills show them, so either my stores are no longer carrying them or there was a big run on them during the holidays.

My personal stock of nails is running low, so I wanted to find out what was going on. I went online to check the stores' websites and bingo! I struck paydirt at the first website I visited. Walgreen has them in stock and they are on sale: $3.17 per set.

I cannot recall them ever being that cheap, so I ordered enough sets to qualify for free shipping ($25 minimum) and await their delivery in 3 to 5 days.

Stop Me If You Heard This One Before

Meanwhile, here is a story about me buying Kiss nails at Rite Aid last year. (This is a rerun, but some of you might have missed it.)

The cashier was a middle-aged woman like myself and as she rang up my purchase, she joked,

"Doing your nails?"

Although I knew she was joking, I responded, "Yes, they're for me. I do drag."

"You do?"

"Yes, I do. I wish I had a photo to show you."

I don't know if she believed me or not, but since then i made sure that I have a photo of me en femme handy on my iPhone.

Professional femulator Billy Bigwood in 1921.

Wearing Nha Khanh.