They’re all guys

Saturday night, TCM showed the film Saint Jack, which is about Jack Flowers, an American hustler in early 1970s Singapore, who dreams of building a fortune by running a brothel and returning to the States to lead a life of luxury. 

Ben Gazzara plays Jack and early on in the film, he escorts a visitor through a red-light district of Singapore where beautiful ladies abound.

Jack’s visitor comments, “The women here are all so attractive.”

Jack responds, “They’re all guys.”

Wow – I did not see that coming!

“Singapore’s Bugis Street was renowned as a meeting place for trans women to mix, mingle and have fun during the 1950s-1980s. Each evening, a fabulous parade of glamorous trans women would walk up-and-down the rundown streets at Bugis Junction, flirting with tourists, sailors and G.I.s, often charging them to have their photograph taken, inviting them to a bar for a drink, or taking them to a quiet room (or rooftop) for sex.

“Bugis Street was a popular area for touring British servicemen in the 1950s, who became fans/lovers of many of the trans women, and rechristened the area ‘Boogie Street’—a mispronunciation of the district’s name that stuck in 1970s with the rise of disco.

“For thirty years, Bugis Street thrived as a haven for trans women and their admirers, until the government cracked down on what was described as ‘shameful’ and ‘lewd behavior’ in the 1970s. Many servicemen were arrested at gunpoint, tourists were threatened and frightened away, the bars were closed and many trans women were arrested. Eventually the hard-line puritans won and old Bugis Street was demolished in the mid-1980s and replaced by a shopping mall and entertainment outlet.” (source: dangerousminds.net)

The image above is not from the film; rather, it is a collage of the girls who actually populated Bugis Street, circa 1970.

By the way, Saint Jack was very good and Ben Gazzara was excellent.

Wearing Venus

Singapore’s Bugis Street ladies, circa 1970

Slipped My Mind

I am so old that when I started femulating, nylon stockings had seams (that a lady had to keep straight). Beneath her outfit, a lady always wore a girdle and a slip. And to complete her outfit, a hat and gloves. Except for hats, I admit to wearing all those items. 

Early on as a novice femulator, seamed stockings gave way to seamless stockings, which soon gave way to pantyhose, Meanwhile, gloves, hats, girdles and slips disappeared from most ladies’ wardrobes.

To this day, I still wear a girdle and my hosiery switches between thigh-highs and pantyhose depending on the length (or lack thereof) of my skirt. I gave up wearing gloves long ago because gloves did not get along with my press-on nails. But it slipped my mind why I stopped wearing slips.

Slips are helpful when you are wearing other layers like bras or shapewear, since slips smooth over any bumps from hardware, closures or digging waistbands. Without a slip, your outer layers of a blouse or dress may hug to these other items, but wearing a slip gives you more coverage for smooth lines. Spanx sells undies that serve a similar purpose, but they are not as elegant as a classic slip.

I invite you to read Angela Friedman’s “Top reasons to wear a silk slip.” Here is a summary of her top seven reasons...

1. Keep your legs from sticking to your skirt fabric

2. Keep your fancy dresses clean for a 2nd wearing

3. Add a layer under a semi-sheer outfit

4. Feel like a glamorous, Old Hollywood starlet

5. For a peek of lace - and prevent wardrobe malfunctions

6. Smooth your silhouette and hide VPL

7. Life is too short to wear ugly pajamas!

...but read the whole article and you will be motivated to slip on a slip like I am. 

By the way, last week I watched one of my favorite science fiction films, The Time Machine, and I noted that in the year 802,701, all men and women wore dresses (see photo above). I also noted that no one wore slips under their dresses. How unladylike!

Wearing Bebe

Femulating in the mid-1960’s