Observed

While taking inventory earlier this week, I made the following observations.

Bad Sizes

Sizes are all over the map. Not only are dress sizes inconsistent between labels, the sizes of dresses from the same label are inconsistent, too. I knew this before, but doing inventory affirmed what I already knew.

I bought a black sequins cocktail dress from a consignment shop a few years ago. The label was Dress Barn; the size was 14. I was wearing a size 16 or 18 back then and I was surprised that the size 14 Dress Barn confection was actually a little big on me (go figure), but I purchased it anyway because it was only $5. Needless to say, I was swimming in the dress when I tried it on this week and it ended up in the discard pile.

And although I am usually a size 12 these days, some of my old size 14's and 16's fit fine and were keepers.

Dead Brands

I own many nice dresses from labels that no longer exist: Newport News, Spiegel, Fashion Bug.

Back when I did all my womenswear shopping online, Newport News and Spiegel were my best friends. When I finally started shopping in person (in girl and boy mode), Fashion Bug became my new friend.

I miss my old friends.

Wearing Unique Vintage (Source: Unique Vintage)

Enrie Scielzo, male womenswear model

Perfect Storm

Saturday night, I will attend One Big Event at the Connecticut Convention Center in downtown Hartford. The event benefits the Hartford Gay & Lesbian Heath Collective.

It will be my fourth time attending this event, which includes a cocktail hour, dinner, and dancing to a live band. The photo is me after dressing for the 2010 installment of the event. Last year, the Hartford Courant recorded my appearance with a photo in the print edition of the newspaper!

This is a dress-up affair; men in tuxedos and women in evening gowns and cocktail dresses. I plan to wear the $190 gold metallic brocade sheath cocktail dress that I purchased from Spiegel's Ultimate Outlet store for $10. My shoes will be the Nine West nude platform pumps that I just bought last week. I will wear a gold sequins clutch, but my jewelry accessories are still in the undecided category. I also am not sure how I will wear my hair.

Saturday night turns out to be a "perfect storm."

For some reason, the date of One Big Event was moved from mid-November to Saturday night. Coincidentally, Real Art Ways moved their Odd Ball from mid-March to Saturday night. Fantasia Fair also has their Gala Awards Banquet on Saturday night. And the Red Sox will be playing in the World Series Saturday night.

The Red Sox's World Series appearance was impossible to plan for and I did not go to Fantasia Fair this year, but I would have attended One Big Event and the Odd Ball if they were on different nights. I had to decide between the two and chose One Big Event.

And so I go.

 

 

 

Actor John Hurt in British television’s The Naked Civil Servant, 1975.

 

 

 

Wearing Metrostyle.

$10 Dress Sale Today

I just bought three dresses for $10 each from Ultimate Outlet. The original prices for the three were $189, $159, and $139… $487 total. (That’s the $189 dress in the photo.) The sale is today only. The link to the sale is here.

The Joke Known as "Sizes"

About two weeks ago, I complained here about the "new" Spiegel, specifically that "their sizes now run small --- so small that their largest sizes no longer fit me."

So what possessed me to buy a Spiegel dress a few days later?

It was a very nice looking dress (just my style), but its $8.85 price tag (marked down from $149) is what pushed me over the edge.

I figured that if it did not fit, I would not return it because the shipping cost would eat up its sale price. Instead, I would sell it on eBay, let someone else pay for the shipping and I would probably make my money back (Even Steven!) or maybe make a profit.

The mailman delivered the dress in the middle of last week. I quickly stripped down to my manly underwear and tried it on. I managed to get it on, but it seemed a little tight and I had visions of eBay in its future.

During a break from all the Father's Day festivities (wasn't the parade fantastic!), I found time to slip into my unmentionables and try on the dress as it was intended to be tried on.

It fit perfectly and looked gorgeous!

Back in March, I had to return two size 16 dresses to Spiegel because they were way too small. One was so small that I could not get it on at all and the other was not much better --- I got it on, but it looked terrible because it was so tight.

The $8.85 dress is also a Spiegel size 16, so go figure!

 

Actor Walton Goggins femulating on television’s Sons of Anarchy, 2012.

 

Wearing DressBarn.

Bad News

Last year, Fashion Bug announced that it was closing the doors on their chain of women's clothing stores.

Over the years, my wife and I did a lot of shopping at Fashion Bug; so much so that one store assistant manager asked me if I would like to be a model in one of their seasonal fashion shows.

I bought some very nice tops, sweaters, and dresses at Fashion Bug and they almost always had my size. Also, their sizes were very consistent; Size 12 fit the same no matter what item you tried on.

My favorite Fashion Bug purchase was a cocktail dress (see photo) that I found on a clearance rack. It was beautiful and I always received compliments when I wore it.

I miss the Bug and now I realized another one of my favorite clothing stores has fallen by the wayside: Newport-News.

I go way back with Newport-News --- so far back that I bought frocks from their mail-order catalog when they were called “Avon Fashions.” The first time I attended a trans support group meeting, I was wearing a Newport-News dress and over the years, my wardrobe has included many dresses, skirts, tops, and shoes from Newport-News, which I purchased at very reasonable prices.

Spiegel basically absorbed Newport-News and although it still uses the Newport-News brand at its online outlet store, Newport-News is essentially dead. Their URL (www.newport-news.com/‎) sends you to the Spiegel website, where you will find nothing new in the Newport-News line.

Like the Bug, I miss Newport-News and I also miss the old Spiegel. Their prices were always higher than Newport-News, but not sky-high as they are today. And worse, their sizes now run small --- so small that their largest sizes no longer fit me.

C'est la vie!

 

Contestant femulating in the Covington County (Mississippi) Hospital womanless beauty pageant, 2012.

 

Wearing Armani.

Fit

I have had no luck buying online lately.

Two dresses I bought from Spiegel last month went back for a refund because they were too small. Two dresses I bought from ideeli this month went back for the same reason.

Sizes are all over the map. Not only do sizes from different makers differ, but sizes from the same maker differ! And this phenomena is not an online aberration; I’ve experienced the same problems in brick and mortar stores.

So last week, I hesitated ordering the Albert Nipon suit pictured in the photo above. This is a $395 100% silk suit that ideeli had on close-out for $130. The description claimed that the brand is “true to size,” so I took a chance and ordered it in my “true size,” which is 18.

The suit arrived on Thursday and when I opened the box, I was impressed with the beauty and quality of the suit. But would it fit?

I slipped out of my boy clothes, then slipped into my girl undies, held my breath and tried on the suit.

It fit!

I happily hung it in my closet and plan to wear it to one (or both) of the banquets I will attend next month at the Hamvention in Dayton.

 

Professional femulator Lypsinka appearing in the 1997 film Dragtime.

 

 

Wearing Lisa Perry.

Easter dress for boys and men

"Easter dress for boys and men" was the "Subject" of an e-mail I received yesterday. It came from Payless Shoes and it refers to Easter dress shoes for boys and men, not Easter dresses for boys and men. But it gave me pause when I received it and saw its Subject line.

However, some men have been shopping for dresses recently. Not for Easter, but for the Sturgis (SD) Crisis Intervention Shelter Service's Womanless Beauty Pageant. The Meade County Times-Tribune has the whole story and it is the source of the photo (right).

My dress-shopping at Spiegel last week was a big disappointment. I was elated by the super fast delivery, but neither dress I purchased fit - not even close.

Over the years, I have purchased a lot of clothing from Spiegel, but recently their sizes have shrunk. Sizes that used to work for me are now too small and they offer nothing larger (and, no, I have not gained any weight). I guess I can cross Spiegel off my shopping list.

I'd like to buy a new dress (or two) to wear at the Dayton Hamvention in May, so I will keep an eye on the daily offerings from ideeli and I will probably visit DressBarn real soon now.

Hung Up On Hangers

I have bought a lot of clothes online from Spiegel and Newport News in the past, but now I can’t recall the last time I made a purchase from either outfit.

In the past, Spiegel and Newport News offered different lines of clothing; the Spiegel line was more expensive and usually of better quality than the Newport News line.

“Since 2004, Spiegel and the women's fashion catalog Newport News have operated under the name Spiegel Brands, Inc.” (source: Wikipedia)

During the past few years, the lines have been merging. I first noticed the merger in their footwear offerings; shoes Spiegel sold were also available from Newport News and vice versa. Now it seems their clothing lines are merging, too. As a result, Newport News' offerings are as expensive as Spiegel's offerings.

That doesn't bother me and is not the reason I stopped buying from Spiegel and Newport News.

Besides buying more in person in brick and mortar stores, the other reason I have not been buying from Spiegel or Newport News is because I do not like the way they display their clothing.

In the past, they showed models wearing the clothing they sold. Today, they show most of their offerings without models; their clothing looks as if it is on invisible hangers.

I don't know about you, but I prefer to see the clothing modeled by models, not wire hangers because I get a much better idea of how the clothes look on a real person when they are worn by a real person.

Buying from a catalog that does not use models is like buying clothing off the rack without trying the clothing on before purchasing.

Sure I know that the body of a model in the Victoria's Secret catalog in no way represents my body, but at least I can see how the clothing is supposed to look on a real person and gauge how it might look on me. Whereas clothing displayed on a hanger in a catalog tells me nothing except how it will look hanging in my closet!

Fashionista Trivia

How many fashionistas remember when Newport News was known as Avon Fashions?