the girly ways of The Fab Four

I am a huge Beatles fan and this has been a huge week for us fans with the release of their remastered CDs and their new video game. I don't play video games, so I have no interest in the new game, but I will likely purchase all the remastered CDs sooner or later.

In the midst of this new surge of Beatlemania, I recalled my first impressions of the group back in the winter of 1963-1964 before their first US television appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show. My first encounter with The Beatles back then was not with their music, but with their appearance in a photo in a local newspaper.

My first impression was that The Beatles wore their hair like girls!!!

At that time, I was just beginning my first experiments in femulation. I knew I liked femulating, but I was very confused as to why I liked it, why I was doing it, and if I would go to hell for doing it.

The Beatles added to my confusion. Was their long hair the wave of the future? Would all boys start wearing their hair like girls? When I discovered that The Beatles also wore high-heeled boots, I wondered if skirts and dresses would soon be in the offing, too.

Part of me hoped and prayed that boys would dress like girls real soon now, but part of me was scared silly about the prospect of actually dressing like a girl in public. It might ruin my image as an all-American boy, although, I was not what anyone would consider an "all-American boy."

Nevertheless, I was so concerned that showing any interest in The Beatles would ruin my image (whatever that may have been) that I pretended to dislike The Beatles, their music, and their girly ways.

Eventually, I overcame my fears, embraced their music, and journeyed far beyond the "girly ways" of The Fab Four.

P.S. Being a huge Beatles fan, I almost took "Loretta Martin" as my name when I was selecting a femme nome de plume.

almost perfect

I received an e-mail this morning from a girl overseas, who is hesitant about going out en femme because she wants to make sure she passes. (Crossdressing in public can result in a jail term in her country of residence.)

She attached a photo to her e-mail and asked if I could offer any advice.

She looked absolutely beautiful. Her hair and makeup were perfect. Her femulation was almost perfect, but there was one telltale sign that gave her away: her beard.

I assume she shaved as closely as possible, so what appeared in her photo were the hairs of her beard just beneath the skin. They are more obvious in photographs, but they are also likely visible with the naked eye and might give her away if she goes out en femme.

So, I recommended that she use a beard cover under her foundation.

Beard cover is readily available stateside, but I don't know about its availability where she lives now. I wish her the best of luck.

(By the way, the photo accompanying this post is not the photo of the girl who asked me for advice.)

three tall talents

It’s time to update the Famous Females of Height list with three tall talents.

Actress Jessica Stroup (left) of 90210 television fame is 5’8” tall.

Actress Amanda Bynes (center) of She’s the Man film fame is definitely tall, but I am not sure how tall. Various sources list her as low as 5’7.5” and as tall as 5’10”. We aim high here, so I will list her as 5’10”

Actress Olga Kurylenko (right) of Quantum of Solace film fame is 5’10” tall.

(Thank you DLM for the Bynes and Kurylenko listings.)

why I am girly

My mother had a miscarriage before she had me.

Back then, physicians prescribed Diethylstilbestrol (DES) to prevent miscarriages in women who had had previous miscarriages.

Did my mother take DES? She is deceased, so I will never know. But, if she did take DES, then that may explain why I am the way I am.

DES can cause feminization of the male fetus and some studies suggest that otherwise-male children exposed to DES before birth may be more likely to be transsexual women than otherwise-male children who have not been exposed.

Although I will never know if my mother took DES, there are other indications that she did. For example, I have Gynecomastia and although the causes of common Gynecomastia remain uncertain, it has generally been attributed to an imbalance of sex hormones, that is, too much estrogen.

In addition to Gynecomastia, I am more womanly than the average guy in other ways. For example, my mannerisms and speech patterns have feminine traits and my emotions are more feminine than masculine.

A few years ago, I was doing outreach with three transsexuals at a local college and a student asked how the transsexuals' hormone regimen affected them. All three transsexuals admitted that they became more emotional after they began their hormone regimen, for example, one stated that she never cried at movies before taking hormones, but after taking hormones, she cried at movies all the time. I spoke up that I never took hormones and that I cry at movies all the time!

An overabundance of female hormones may be the cause of my proclivity for the feminine. And as I wrote here on Friday, my parents may have nurtured that proclivity.

Repeating what I wrote on Friday, "Dad was absent in my early life working two jobs to support his wife and kids. Mom cherished her firstborn child (me), coddled and pampered me, and instilled in me many traits that were considered 'feminine.' With Dad absent early-on, Mom was all I had to model myself after and that I did, which just compounded my feminization."

I had two strikes against me (too many female hormones and too little male role modeling) and when my third opportunity to swing came, I just stood there with the bat on my shoulder and was called out (of the male gender) on a called third strike.

I did not bother swinging because I liked myself. I was very satisfied with the results of the first two strikes. I liked the way things were turning out. I did not mind being a girly boy.

Except for some abuse from the macho boys and rejection by their female followers, being a girly boy was a pretty good deal. I could partake in whatever boy or girl pursuits interested me and not have to worry about tarnishing my image.

And when I took up the male pursuit of female impersonation, I found that I excelled at it because I already spoke and acted like a lady, I took to the art of cosmetics like a swan takes to water, and I could nearly fill a size 38B bra without any padding.

And so it goes.

(Wikipedia is the source for the medical information cited above.)

cool

During the past few days, the weather here has turned the corner from summer to fall, which means that I shed as much body hair as possible and begins dressing like a girl at every opportunity.

The first opportunity arrives this Saturday when I attend a wedding en femme, which will be a new experience for me. Too bad I am spoken for because I would have loved to try and catch the bride's bouquet; my height and long arms might have been an advantage there!

In preparation for my first time out since my June Manhattan adventure, I have begun the process of hair removal. I do it in steps over a few days to make it less daunting. Once I remove my summer layer of fur, I maintain it over the cooler months so that it is less of a chore each time I go out.

I bought three new dresses with the intention of wearing one to the wedding. I almost bought new shoes, too, but I already own so many pairs that match my outfit that I decided to skip another new pair.

Also, I bought new hair, which will make its debut at the wedding and I bought some new makeup to replenish my warpaint collection.

So, I am good to go and look forward to Saturday.

back to the barn

I went back to Dress Barn yesterday.

Last week, I rejected one of the dresses that I tried on because I thought it looked too similar to a dress I already owned. Returning home, I discovered that my memory was faulty and that except for the collars, the dresses are otherwise very different. So, I went back to buy the dress assuming that it was still available.

I found it on the clearance rack in my size in chocolate brown. It is very similar to the dress pictured above left except for the colors and the lack of a bow on my dress.

Also, since last week, they updated the Dress Barn web site with some new fall items including the cable sweater dress pictured above right. I intended to try on the sweater dress and purchase it if it was the right fit and look, but the dress had not come in yet, so I will have to try again on a later date.

Parents Cause Kids' Gender Differences

Sharon Begley, Newsweek's science editor, has an interesting piece on the Newsweek web site that explains why parents may cause gender differences in their kids and that at birth, there really is no difference in the male and female brains.

You can read the whole piece here.

It makes sense to me.

Dad was absent in my early life working two jobs to support his wife and kids. Mom cherished her firstborn child (me), coddled and pampered me, and instilled in me many traits that were considered "feminine." With Dad absent early-on, Mom was all I had to model myself after and that I did, which just compounded my feminization.

And so it goes.

(The image above is titled The Pink Boy and is Gainsborough's companion piece to his famous painting The Blue Boy.)

shopping for novices

A shopping novice asked how do I shop.

I shop from mail order catalogs, online stores, and in person in stores. I prefer "in person in stores" because I have instant feedback concerning the look and fit of an item and if the look and/or fit is an issue, I do not have to package the item and ship it back to the seller.

In person in stores, I shop in boy mode and in girl mode. In either mode, I have tried on items in dressing rooms and have never had a problem with store personnel being reluctant about me doing so. Before using the dressing room, I always ask first if I am in boy mode, but almost never ask if I am in girl mode.

In person in stores, I prefer to shop in girl mode because in that mode, I wear a wig and makeup and have properly adjusted my body so that it is curvy instead of flatty. So attired, I get instant feedback about how an item looks and fits on Staci, and not a male approximation of Staci.

If the other customer's perception of you shopping for girl stuff in boy mode is a concern, another advantage of shopping in girl mode is that the other customers usually pay less attention to a girl looking through the dress racks than a guy doing the same. Also, they will have no concerns about a girl (rather than a guy) trying on a dress in the next stall of the dressing room.

No matter how many times it has occurred, it still surprises me how store personnel are willing to let a guy try on women's clothing. So do not be afraid to shop for woman's clothing if you must do so in boy mode. Shopping in girl mode is preferable and more fun, but money talks and high heels walk no matter who is wearing them.

which actors and actresses pass best

For what it's worth (not much), Huffington Post has a poll where you can vote on which film actors and actresses pass best playing the opposite sex. You can pick the top five from 24 nominees and currently, Cillian Murphy in Breakfast on Pluto is in the lead.

It is not a very good poll. Some of the nominees are there because of their notoriety and not their femulating skills. As a result, there are some major omissions, for example, Wesley Snipes and Patrick Swayze from To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar are among the nominees, but their fellow drag queen, John Leguizamo (photo above right), is not among the 24, and in my humble opinion, he passed the best of the three.

Also missing are Steven Mackintosh from Different For Girls, Robinson Stévenin from Transfixed, Michael Cavadias from Wonder Boys, Adrian Pasdar from Just Like a Woman, Helmut Berger from The Damned, etc., etc. etc.

I can come up with many more who are more deserving and I am sure you can, too.

Halloween planning

For past Halloweens, I have dressed as Jacqueline Kennedy, Marilyn Monroe, French maid, Playboy bunny, Catholic schoolgirl, bat girl, office girl, go-go girl, and cheerleader. (You can see most of my costumes here on flickr.)

Except for the French maid costume that I bought off the rack at K*Mart, I assembled all the other costumes myself. I was particularly proud of the Playboy bunny costume. Unlike the off-the-rack bunny costumes on sale every Halloween, I was going for the authenticity of the original Playboy bunny costume and in my humble opinion, I came pretty close to achieving it.

With two months to go, I am trying to decide what to wear this Halloween, that is, assuming I will need anything to wear this Halloween. Last year, I did not costume up because I had no place to go. My support group usually has a Halloween party, but last year, I could not attend because I was out of town attending Fantasia Fair.

It is too early to know what will be on tap to celebrate Halloween at the end of next month. My support group will likely do something and my workplace might do something, so although there are no plans in place yet, like a girly Boy Scout, I want to be prepared.

I am my own girlfriend

I love females. Always did, always will.

When I reached dating age, I dreamed about dating the vast number of females that I found attractive. But I was very shy with the opposite sex and not at all skilled at chatting up females in order to get a date.

My attempts usually resulted in rejection. As I accumulated rejections, I became gun-shy and more reluctant to try again. As a result, I did not date very often.

On those rare occasions that I did date, it was usually of the blind variety. And there were seldom any second dates because (1) I did not find my blind date attractive or (2) if I did find my blind date to be attractive, my shyness kicked in and turned off my blind date. I was a sad sack on the dating scene.

Lacking a female companion, did I become my own girlfriend?

I studied the art of female emulation (femulation) and after years of practice, I managed to femulate myself into a female, who could look attractive under the right lighting conditions and/or from the correct viewing angle.

As I femulated more and more, dating a female became less important, but I continued to make my feeble attempts in the dating scene and accepted blind dates whenever the opportunity arose. One blind date was "love at first sight" and we dated for over two years, married, and had a child.

While I dated my future spouse, I stopped being my own girlfriend, that is, I stopped femulating all together and did not take up the cause again until we were invited to a Halloween party a month after our wedding day.

After nearly three years of not femulating, I was out of practice and having purged all my female paraphenalia before marriage, I had to borrow clothes for that Halloween outing. As a result, my femulation was just so-so in my humble opinion. Nevertheless, my skills were still good enough to fool some of the people some of the time and a female in a cat costume asked me point blank if I was male, because she was not sure.

That outing caused me to recall how I had enjoyed femulating in the past, so I began anew, first in secret, than slowly out into the public after my spouse put two and two together and asked me if I liked to crossdress on days that weren't October 31. (Her query was prompted by the French Maid costume I wore the preceding Halloween.)

I came clean about my hobby and she was very supportive and encouraged me to join a support group, which moved my femulation out of the closet of my home into the closet of my support group's meeting hall where I learned how to take my femulation out into public places.

Did I become my own girlfriend again?

I believe that when I was dateless and desperately seeking female companionship, I truly was my own girlfriend. But now I believe that the female I emulate is really me.

When I became my own girlfriend in the past, I was really becoming me, but did not realize it at the time. Now I realize that when I femulate I am presenting myself to society in the way I feel that best expresses me.

our pretty cashier

My spouse and I went grocery shopping this afternoon.

When we were ready to check out, I maneuvered our shopping cart to the shortest line. While we waited for the customer ahead of us to ante up, I noticed that our 20-something cashier had straight shoulder-length dark brown hair parted down the middle and that he was wearing eyeliner (on both upper and lower lids) and mascara (on both upper and lower eyelashes).

I checked his name badge to confirm that he was male and when he spoke, his voice added further proof.

As we left the store, I asked my spouse if she noticed the cashier.

She responded, "Yes, I noticed her... she had such a deep voice!"

I surprised my spouse when I told her that our cashier was male.

Don't know if our cashier was trans-something or not, but he sure was pretty.

shopping for a wedding guest dress

This afternoon, I went shopping for a new dress to wear to the wedding. I went in boy mode to a Dress Barn I had never shopped at before. Good timing on my part because Dress Barn was having a clearance sale - 50% off - on summer dresses.

I perused the clearance racks and found five dresses that I liked. A salewoman asked how I was doing and I said I'd like to try on the dresses I had in hand. Without batting an eye, she found an empty dressing room for me and let me at it.

All five dresses fit (three were sized 14W and two 16W), but I did not like one at all after I tried it on, another was similar to one I already owned, and I eliminated a third dress because it was similar to the fourth dress, which I liked much better. The fifth dress was lovely and perfect for a wedding, so I bought the fourth and the fifth.

The fourth dress is a white satin sheath with large black swirls and a narrow black belt. This knee-length dress has a boat neck collar with a asymmetrical v-shaped slit on one side that reveals a little skin below the neckline. It is a beautiful dress and certainly suitable for a wedding, but the fifth dress is the one I plan to wear to the nuptials.

My wedding guest dress is a two-piece: a dress and a jacket. The dress piece is two tone. The black top looks like a jumper top: a square collar with wide straps (no sleeves). The white skirt is a lightly pleated, flared and lined with a black floral print at the hem that extends upward about four-fifths the length of the skirt. A wide black patent belt bisects the top and skirt. A black short-sleeved buttonless short jacket with white stitching completes the two-pieces. It is absolutely gorgeous and I look forward to wearing it.

The fourth dress listed for $59.99 and the fifth dress for $69.99. With the clearance sale and a 30% discount coupon I had, I paid only $54.49 for the two.

By the way, I was the only customer in boy mode in Dress Barn. All the other customers were in girl mode and paid me no mind even when I entered and exited the dressing room area with a fist full of dresses.

a tall addition

Leslie Ann e-mailed me that Hoda Kotb of the Today Show is 5’9”, so I will add her to my Famous Females of Height List.

While I was looking through some blog files of works in progress, I stumbled upon a list I compiled months ago of tall females of note that were missing from my Famous Females of Height List. Problem is that I cannot recall the source. But I will add them all to my list ASAP.

5’8”
Kirstie Alley --- US actress
Catherine Bach --- US actress
Sandra Bullock --- US actress
Cathy Lee Crosby --- US actress
Denise Crosby --- US actress
Portia De Rossi --- Australian actress
Amanda Donohoe --- UK actress
Sarah Ferguson --- UK royalty
Linda Gray --- US actress
Mariska Hargitay --- US actress
Katherine Hepburn --- US actress
Elizabeth Hurley --- UK actress and model
Lauren Hutton --- US model and actress
Martina Navratilova --- Czech tennis player
Geraldine Page --- US actress
Natasha Richardson --- UK actress
Susan Saint James --- US actress
Xenia Seeberg --- German Actress
Madeleine Stowe --- US actress
Leslie Ann Warren --- US actress

5’9”
Hoda Kotb --- US television host


5’10”
Colleen Porch --- US actress
Frederique Van Der Wal --- actress

5’11”
Nicole Steinwedell --- US actress

6’1”
Miranda Hart --- UK actress
Adriana Sklenarikova --- Slovakian model
Michelle Wie --- US golfer

6’2”
Hope Emerson --- US actress, who appears on stage in the 1930’s in the photo (above right) with 5’5” comedian Joe Laurie, Jr.

A man's work is from sun to sun, but...

Click on the image to enlarge it.

femulate a cow

Check this out. I found it during a Google search yesterday and I still cannot believe it.

she's not a man

The Femulated: image (photo right) I posted last night was an error.

My source for the image claimed that the person in the photo was a male. Elaine Armen of Elaine's T* Art Blog fame, commented that she thought that the person looked like fashion model Agyness Deyn. Later, Elaine e-mailed me with proof that the person was indeed Agyness Deyn and not a male.

Sorry about the error and thank you Elaine for the correction.

an invitation

As if I need an excuse to get dressed up, I, Staci, not my boy mode persona, received a wedding invitation today. I was very surprised to receive it. It is the first wedding invitation that I have ever received en femme and I intend to attend.

What to wear to a wedding?

I've never faced that problem before from the feminine side of my closet, but it is a very nice problem for a fashionista like me to have.

It will still be summer on the wedding day, so I have a few summer outfits to consider. Or maybe I should buy something new; with summer winding down, there should be some good deals on summer dresses in the stores.

And, I can't think of a better place than to wear my new hairdo for the first time.

technical difficulty

Regular readers here may have noticed that my posts have been haphazard lately. In the past, I would compose a post before I went to bed and publish it in the morning. Or I would compose and publish during my lunch hour at work.

I dunno what's going on, but during the last month or so, I have had a difficult time logging into Blogger from work. I can view my blog and other Blogger blogs without difficulty, but logging in is another matter. My browser opens a new tab and attempts to access the log-in page, but the page never appears. The situation has gotten worse everyday and has reached a point that today I was unable to log in at all from work.

The problem is not browser-related because I have tried three different browsers and they all failed to let me access the Blogger log-in page. I don't believe that the boss is intentionally blocking access because when the boss does blocks a Web site, a message appears indicating that the block is intentional. Also, I have not experienced this problem with any other Web sites, just Blogger, but not the Blogger blogs themselves.

The Internet Explorer connection diagnosis tool suggests that network congestion might be the cause. But for what it's worth, I have no problem logging in from home day or night, weekday or weekend.

Until this problem goes away, I will publish my blog posts in the evening from hereon.

tall television viewing

While watching television recently, Petra of Voyages en Rose fame, noted the tall competition in the women's track and field events. After researching the matter, she came up with the following Famous Females of Height of the track and field variety and e-mailed the following stats to me:

6'4" Blanka Vlašić of Croatia

6'2" Amy Acuff, who also graced the cover of Playboy in September 2004

5'11" Anna Chicherova of Russia

5'10" Ariane Friedrich of Germany

5'9" Chaunte Howard Lowe of the USA

While watching television recently, I noted a tall spokesperson wearing a beautiful blue dress in a Mercury automobile commercial. After researching the matter, I found that the Mercury spokesperson is Jill Wagner (photo right) and that she is 5'8".

I added the six ladies to my Famous Females of Height List.

By the way, does anyone know the height of Holly Mordini, the beautiful Smashbox cosmetics spokesperson? I have seen her on QVC a few times and she dwarfs the other women who appear with her, but I have been unable to determine her exact height. One writer guessed 6 feet, but that was just a guess. Does anybody have a more reliable figure?

new hair on my mind

I have been considering getting a new hairdo in a medium auburn shade with dark roots. And I have narrowed down the styles to the four above.

What do you think?

(You can click on the image to enlarge it.)

on my mind on Friday

On weekdays, I am up at 5:45 AM to get ready to go to work. I am the first one up and it is very quiet in the house with no distractions, so my mind wanders and wonders.

After a shave and a shower, I get dressed and as I pull up my briefs, I fantasize that I am pulling up a panty girdle and as I pull up my socks, I fantasize that I am pulling up pantyhose.

I have this same fantasy nearly everyday that I get dressed to go to work. I think it helps me maintain my Staci identity on those days I know I won't be en femme.

***

I often say that I am "trans-something" because I am not sure what I am. I don't feel comfortable identifying as transsexual, transgender, transvestite, transgenderist, crossdresser, etc. because none of those labels fit me like a T.

Parts of me scream "crossdresser," just as parts of me scream "transsexual," but there are other parts that whisper "crossdresser... not" and "transsexual... not." Even the label I invented, femulator, does not say it all for me.

I think part of it is I don't want to be pigeon-holed or rather I don't want to pigeon-hole myself. Like Groucho Marx said, "I refuse to join any club that would have me as a member."

I think more of it has to do with the fact that we are all unique and we do not fit perfectly in any pigeon hole. I know I certainly don't feel that I fit perfectly in any of the trans pigeon holes because I see parts of me in the other trans pigeon holes.

So, I have concluded that I am not trans-something, rather I am Staci.

Erin Andrews, 5'10"

Erin Andrews is an American sportscaster, who currently works for ESPN as a sideline reporter at sporting events.

Andrews has become an Internet sensation, as she is popular among male sports fans for her physical appearance and knowledge of sports. In 2007 and 2008, she was voted "America's Sexiest Sportscaster" by Playboy Magazine. (Source: Wikipedia)

Ms. Andrews is 5'10", so I added her to the Famous Females of Height List.

Newcomers to this blog may wonder why I maintain the list. You can read all about it here, but in a nutshell...

I became interested in tall women because they affirmed my existence as a tall woman, i.e., I was not the only tall woman out and about in society. Few were as tall as me, but maybe there were enough out there so that I could blend in more easily as just another tall woman.

The list is my attempt to show tall femulators that there are tall women out there including famous ones and that tall femulators should be out there too, strutting their stuff just like tall women do.

first commemorative stamp en femme... almost

The US Postal Service recently issued a pane of stamps commemorating early TV (television, not transvestite) memories. The first stamp in the pane honors Texaco Star Theater and depicts the star of the show, Milton Berle.

According to the back of the stamp, "Comedian Milton Berle worked successfully in radio and film before moving to TV, where he became the new medium's first superstar. His show was known for his clowning, often in outlandish costume..." and often in drag.

The stamp depicts Uncle Miltie en homme, but he does appear en femme in the header above the stamps. I feel that the USPS should have used the en femme image on the stamp, but that's just my opinion.

a dream come true

Click on the image to enlarge it.

ENDA vs. health care reform

In case you missed it...

ENDA introduced in Senate
Supporters optimistic about swift passage in Congress
By Lisa Keen

An inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act is now on the move in the U.S. Senate. Long-time sponsor Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) introduced the bill on Aug. 5 along with Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine).

The Human Rights Campaign launched a lobby effort today to muster support for the legislation, asking supporters to send e-mails to their senators urging their support. (www.passendanow.org) The e-mail notes that in 29 states, there is no law to prevent an employer from firing someone because he or she is gay and, in 38 states, no law to prohibit an employer from firing someone for being transgender.

The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, the first national gay political organization to push for a federal law to prohibit job discrimination against gays, in 1974, said it hopes the stated support of President Obama will "play a role in assisting with (the bill's) swift passage in both the House and the Senate."

Read all about it here.

I'm just worried that ENDA is going to end up on the back burner and forgotten in light of all the attention that health care reform is receiving. To avoid that, contact your people in Washington and ask them to support ENDA.

do the dont's

The September issue of Harper's Bazaar arrived in today's mail. It is the "Fall Fashion Issue" and contains 484 pages.

I flipped threw the magazine as I walked from the curbside mailbox to my home and as I did, I spotted an advertisement from Juicy Couture (above) with a male (left) semi-femulating with long hair, pink tulle skirt, leopard skin cropped jacket, and pocketbook.

The caption of the advertisement reads "Do the Dont's" and seems to be encouraging the fashions that the ad displays.

only 78 days left!!!

I was grocery shopping this afternoon and I was taken aback by the displays of Halloween candy throughout the store. Only then did I realize that there are only 78 days left to do my Halloween/National Crossdressers' Day shopping!

As panic set in, I loaded my shopping cart with products from Mars and when I arrived home, I got on the Internet and started browsing the costume web sites to decide what to wear for the big night out.

Next, I will start working on my Christmas wish list.

peace, love, and crossdressing

I attended the Woodstock Music & Art Fair in 1969. I was deep in the closet back then and I had not even made my first appearance on Halloween en femme. Needless to say, I went to Woodstock in boy mode.

Taking Woodstock is a new film about the event that comes out later this month. In the film, Liev Schreiber plays a crossdresser named Vilma (photo left).

Back in 1994, Mr. Schreiber played a crossdresser named Chris in the film Mixed Nuts (photo right).

Talking about his feminine film roles in a New York magazine article, Mr. Schreiber made the following interesting comment, "Putting on women's clothing and acting like a woman is something that comes naturally to men. All men do it, whether publicly or privately. I personally believe that all men enjoy it."

I agree.

just one of the girls

Click on the image to enlarge it.

what I will be wearing this fall... maybe

I am starting to see some fall fashions that interest me!

Above left is a dress that appeared in the Kmart flyer that came with Sunday's newspaper. It is a Jaclyn Smith style and the price is right, but I am not going to Kmart to buy it because I hate the local Kmart! It is a pigsty and I refuse to shop there. Also, I have problems with Kmart clothing fitting me properly, so it probably looks a lot better on Jaclyn than it would look on me.

The other two dresses are now appearing in the Metrostyle catalogs. The sheath in the center might look fabulous on me, whereas I have my doubts about the peasant top dress.

Despite its appearance, the peasant top "outfit" is a one-piece dress, not a separate top and a skirt. I love the way it looks on the model. However, in my opinion, the peasant top adds width to the upper body, while the pencil skirt subtracts width from the lower body, which is just the opposite of what I need.

I will add the two Metrostyle dresses to my wish list and forget about the Kmart dress.

his crowning glory

Click on the image to enlarge it.

scent of a woman

As usual, click on the image to see it better.

yet another dream

I remembered five dreams during the past five days and four contained trans bits. So, I'm beginning to think that most of my dreams contain trans bits, which makes a lot of sense because during my waking hours, there are a lot of trans bits in my life.

Last night's was another with trans bits. I dreamed I was on a cruise with my immediate family and I am en femme the whole time. No one mentioned that I was en femme, no one had any issues that I was en femme; t'was as if being en femme was the most natural thing in the world.

The cruise ends as we dock in New York City. As we leave the ship, I realize I am wearing a dress (a dark green ankle-length peasant dress, a style which is so unlike me) and I panic because the relatives who are picking us up to drive us home do not know about my transness. I awake just as I begin searching through my luggage for something more boy-like to wear.

I hope I am not boring your with my dreams, but I am very surprised that I am remembering dreams night-after-night after years of seldom remembering dreams.

dreaming and Cousin Serena

I am on a roll when it comes to remembering dreams this week.

Overnight, I dreamed I was back in college. I was good friends with a girl I greatly admired and I finally asked her out on a date. While she was accepting my invitation, she mentioned that she was OK with my trans thing. There were other bits of the dream that I remembered, but nothing else was trans-related.

Last night, I watched The Twilight Zone episode from 1961 titled "Two" featuring Elizabeth Montgomery and Charles Bronson. While watching the show, I noticed that the future Mrs. Darren Stephens stacked up favorably with Mr. Bronson height-wise, so I looked her up and discovered that she was 5'8.5" tall, which rounds out nicely to 5'9" on the Famous Females of Height list.

In my youth, I watched Bewitched a lot until it jumped the shark. I dunno about you, but I preferred cousin Serena over Samantha. Serena was sexier and sassier and I preferred her wardrobe over Sammy's Donna Reed housewife drag. If I had to choose which witch to be, Serena would be my choice.

Wednesday's wash

Femulate This (Not):

As a counterpoint to this blog's "Femulate This:" feature (on the left), the devil often prods me to feature females not to femulate. And after seeing Orly Taitz's act, the devil almost pushed me over the brink.

Fall Fashions

The fall fashions are turning up here and there in dribs and drabs and so far, I have seen nothing to die for!

Transhibernation: Month Two

Speaking of fall, Month Two of my annual transhibernation is underway and I am so looking forward to the cooler months when I can go out en femme again especially since I feel so confident now. It is like I had a complete makeover and I am anxious to go out to strut my stuff.

Just What The World Needs...

Sometimes I think about writing a book about all this.

transdreaming again

(updated below)

As I wrote yesterday, "I seldom remember my dreams, but when I do, it is usually a trans-related dream."

Also, I remember dreams in batches, i.e., if I remembered a dream last night, I am more likely to remember a dream tonight and maybe tomorrow night.

And so I remembered a dream from last night after remembering a dream the previous night, and last night's remembered dream was trans-related.

In last night's remembered dream, I went to work en femme. Nobody in the office seemed surprised by my office girl drag appearance. Everyone acted as if there was nothing unusual about what I was wearing. I do remember having a minor wardrobe malfunction that needed adjustment, but that is all I remember.

I am anxious to find out what is in store for me in dreamland tonight!

UPDATE:

I did remember a dream from last night and it was very weird, but was completely unrelated to my trans-ness.

transdreaming

I've mentioned this here in the past: I seldom remember my dreams, but when I do, it is usually a trans-related dream.

I have had a few trans-related dreams lately, but nothing unusual. (The plot of most of them lately is that I am getting dressed en femme somewhere and my dream ends before I finish dressing because I misplaced some of my wardrobe.)

Last night's trans-related dream was completely different.

I dreamed I was watching a film starring Will Ferrell.

Why Will Ferrell? He is not one of my favorite actors, so maybe he turned up in my dream because I just finished reading a book about Saturday Night Live.

For whatever reason, Mr. Ferrell was the star of the film in my dream. The film was a comedy in which he is married and has two pre-teenaged daughters.

I don't recall what happened in the film until the last scene, which occurs outside the front door of the Ferrell's suburban home. In that last scene, the door opens and Ferrell's film wife comes out in her Sunday best. Next, his two film daughters come out, also in their Sunday best.

The two girls line up next to their mother along the front walk and they all look toward the front door with a lot of anticipation.

The door opens and Ferrell comes out in wig, full makeup, heels, and ankle-length silver dress. His wife and daughters are so happy for him.

And so it goes.

more additional height

The lovely Miss Petra of Voyages en Rose fame wrote, "The other night on Colbert, I fell in love with Kathryn Bigelow, the director of The Hurt Locker. IMDB.com has her at an impressive 5'11.5" and god bless the girl, she had at least 4 inches of strappy joy on her gorgeous legs."

I had a similar experience last night watching The Graham Norton Show on BBC. Actress Jessica Biel was a guest and wore ultra high heels, at least 4 inches high, probably higher.

I looked her up and there is some dispute regarding her height, but at some time she admitted to being 5'8" tall, so I have added her (above right) and Ms. Bigelow (above left) to my world Famous Females of Height list.

additional height

Yvonne x mentioned that actress Alana de la Garza (left) of Law and Order fame, is 5'9" tall.

And today, I noticed leggy actress Ashley Scott (right) on The Bonnie Hunt Show and turns out she is 5'9", too, so both Ms. de la Garza and Ms. Scott join the Famous Females of Height list.

winsome, lose some

Click on the image to enlarge it.

Are you a Peggy or a Joan?

Today's installment of Salon's Broadsheet asks "Are you a Peggy or a Joan?"

After reading Broadsheet, I had to find out for myself and generated my own Mad Men paper doll here.

On the right, are the results, i.e., the way I would have looked circa 1960 working for a Madison Avenue advertising agency. To tell you the truth, except for the hem line, it is very similar to the way I look today en femme.

look femme, feel femme, be femme

Click on the image to enlarge it.

first Korean trans model

Choi Han Bit, a Korean transgender, has advanced to the finals in the SBS 'Open Hall' supermodel contest. According to allkpop.com, "A spot in the finals is an almost guaranteed ticket to becoming a supermodel, regardless of the outcome of the contest."

You can read all about it here.

crossplay

While digging the Internet yesterday, I viewed some photos of the costumed attendees at this past weekend's San Diego Comic Con. As an old comic book and science fiction fan, as well as a costume maker and wearer, I find the work that some of the attendees put into their costumes amazing.

Looking at the hundreds of photos online, my T-Dar kicked in and I believe I spotted a few males in female cosplay costume.

I have seen males in female cosplay costumes on a handful of occasions in the past, but it seemed to be more prevalent at the Comic-Con. This piqued my interest, so I decided to investigate and it did not take long to find out about the phenomena called "crossplay."

According to Wikipedia, "crossplay is cosplay in which the person dresses up as a character of the opposite gender." It is more popular with female cosplayers, but it is has picked up momentum among male cosplayers, too.

I poked around the Internet to find out more and a simple search of flickr on the word "crossplay" turned up 1200 photos like the one of Steve (above) dressed as a maid (note the convincing cleavage).

I also found a forum on Cosplay.com that reminds me of the forums I've seen on crossdressing Web sites covering such topics as how to tuck (for guys) and how to bind (for gals), how to add curves (for guys) and how to hide curves (for gals), and for guys and gals both, which bathroom to use?

Sometimes, it seems like I live in a cave and have to get out more. I knew nothing about crossplay until yesterday and now I am fascinated by the subject.

Although teenagers and young adults seem to represent the majority of cosplayers/crossplayers, older adults are participating, too. So, my age would not prevent me from crossplaying and the best part is that I would not have to dress my age!

New England Trans Pride On October 3

The New England Trans United Pride March & Rally has an additional community organizing meeting to help with the planning of the upcoming regional transgender rights march on October 3, 2009, in Northampton, MA.

The Community Organizing meeting, open to all trans people and our allies, will be at Tapestry Health, 365 Bay St. in Springfield, MA 01109 this Thursday, July 30 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

We need lots of volunteer hands to help with a march and rally of this size -- the hottest event of the year! We are looking for folks to help with security, fund-raising, rally setup and cleanup, outreach to contingents, sign-making, blogging, social media networking, videography, photography, and more.

Come out with your good ideas and energy to lend a hand to build your trans rights movement! Join us ... and please spread the word to your friends and lists!

Thanks!

Bet Power
Steering Committee Member
New England Trans United Pride March & Rally

***

Yours truly attended the first Trans Pride March & Rally in June 2008. The "Big T" was an amazing day and I plan to attend this year's installment, too, but this time, I will bring comfortable shoes!

Ladies or Gentlemen

A few months ago, a new bookstore opened in the vacated Linens 'N Things store nearby. It sells remainder books at 75% off list price.

I bought a stack of books there for $30 when I visited the store shortly after it opened earlier this year and I returned Friday to see if there was anything new of interest to buy.

I walked out with three books for $25. Two books were excellent buys, but my big score was Ladies or Gentlemen: A Pictorial History of Male Cross-Dressing in the Movies.

Published in 2005, Ladies or Gentlemen is a coffee table size book that lists for $65, but I bought it for $16.50. (What a deal!) According to Amazon.com, the 407-page book is a "pictorial history" that "examines the grand tradition of male cross-dressing in the movies through more than 700 photos, more than half of which are previously unpublished."

The book is very comprehensive and seems to document every noteworthy appearance of an actor appearing en femme in a film, both foreign and domestic. I have followed the en femme film genre very closely over the years, yet there are films in this book that were new to me, for example, the comely Robert Livingston appearing in the 1944 film Goodnight Sweetheart (pictured above right).

I know I would not have paid list price for this book or even the discounted Amazon price ($45), but at $16.50, I could not resist. If you can make a similar score, I highly recommend adding Ladies or Gentlemen to your library especially if you are a big film fan like I am.

While on the topic of books, please read and consider responding to my Book Report posting below. So far, seven thoughtful comments follow the post and I hope you will add yours, too.

outed at Barnes & Noble

Please read and consider responding to the Book Report posting below. Thank-you.

book report

Over the years, I have bought enough non-fiction books on the topic of transgender to fill a library.

I started reading every book I bought, but I finished reading few.

Maybe it's just me, but I found the majority of transgender-related non-fiction books to be boring. I read a few from cover-to-cover, but most did not hold my interest and I added them to my tall stack of unfinished books.

So, I'm curious which transgender-related non-fiction books you liked and why?

I'm also curious about what would be your "ideal" trans non-fiction book, i.e., what would you like to see in a trans book that you have never or seldom seen before?

Please answer using the Comments feature of this blog or by e-mail.

Wednesday's wash

Lots of stress around here these days, but none of it is trans-related.

I have not femulated in over five weeks; a day out en femme would sure take my mind off all the mundane matters that are a bother these days. But I am in transhibernation until September when the weather is more compatible with with the wig, makeup, and the variety of foundation garments I wear in order to present as a member of the distaff side of the family of man.

To tell you the truth, this summer has been unseasonably cool and most days, I could have gone out en femme without working up much of a sweat. But I know if I plan a day out en femme next Tuesday, Mother Nature will crank up the temperature and humidity to 99 and I will be a wet tranny mess. So, I will play it safe and continue hibernating until Labor Day.

Actually, I lucked out with the weather last month. When I planned my Womanhattan trip, I worried that it might be too hot for Staci in The City in mid-June. But the weather has also been unseasonably cool in Zip Code 10001, so Secret had me covered for my NYC adventure.

Meanwhile, I await the mail order catalogs and the fall fashions to keep me in a femulating mood for the next five weeks.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't the fall fashion mail-order catalogs late this year? By now, I am usually drooling over all the fall stuff I'd like to buy and narrowing my choices down to a few must-have to-die-for items. But nothing.

My favorite on-line coutures (Spiegel, Newport-News, Metrostyle) are still pushing summer stuff (at some great prices, by the way). I assume sales are down as a result of the hangover from the "Bush Era of Prosperity" and they want to get rid of as much old stuff as they can before they bring in the new, but I am getting a little anxious.

I hope you like today's cartoon. (Actually, I hope you like all my cartoons.) There actually is a little truth buried in today's 'toon. Halloween 1983, we were invited to a costume party and the Missus and I reversed roles; I went as she and she went as me and we helped each other fine tune our costumes. I passed, she didn't, when a young lady in a cat costume at the party asked me why I was not wearing a costume.

And so it goes.