But What About Me?

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Only a Real Man

Simplicity Male Dress Patterns (circa 1965)

A Dream Come True

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Nice Suit (Nice Price)

If you read this blog regularly, you know that I am a fashionista, that is, "a woman with a penchant for shopping and a natural flair for combining both current and vintage fashionable trends."

Yeah, that description fits me to a tee or should that be "T"?

I love the classic fashions from the past like the "Chanel suit," a timeless classic introduced way back in the mid-1920's. It is still for sale today and I would love to own one, but I would have to spend about $5000 for a new Chanel suit off the rack, which is a little out of my price range. So I keep an eye out for Chanel suit knock-offs.

Jessica London had one for sale (photo right) earlier this year for $145 ($90 for the jacket and $55 for the skirt).

I seriously considered ordering it, but I was reluctant to spend even that amount of money and forgot about it.

Thursday, I received a new catalog from Jessica London and the suit was in the clearance section for $45 ($25 for the jacket and $20 for the skirt). That was more to my liking, so Friday morning , I ordered the suit on line along with the ivory satin blouse they were showing with the suit (the blouse cost $13).

Minutes after I completed the order, I received an e-mail offer Jessica London: $25 off any order over $50.

My suit and blouse order totaled $58 (excluding shipping), so I called customer service, explained what had happened, and they granted me the $25 discount. So for $33 (excluding shipping), I bought a Chanel suit knock-off and satin blouse.

They shipped my order on Friday and now I anxiously await its arrival.

"Nice shirt, by the way."

Back in the spring, when I informed Human Resources that I am transgender, I actually informed the HR Director of the division of the company that employs me. The HR rep for our location was out on that day and the Director, who happens to have her office in our building, was sitting in for our local rep.

Let me tell you about the our local HR rep. She is a drop-dead gorgeous blond in her late 20s. She seemed to be friendly with some co-workers, but she was always aloof with me.

For example, whenever I encountered her and said "Hello Mandy," she rarely said, "Hello Stan." Usually just a cold "Hello" and sometimes not even a "Hello."

Things changed dramatically after I came out to HR. The HR Director informed our local rep about my transness because I am our local rep's direct "problem," not the HR Director's problem.

Anyway, after coming out to HR, our local HR rep became downright friendly and she never misses calling me by my name when we exchange Hello's.

Today, I wore a shirt that has a blue floral print. I bought it in the men's department of Wal*Mart, so I know it is a male shirt. However, there is no doubting its floral design and some guys might shun such a shirt as being too feminine or at least, too diverse.

Anyway, I ran into our location HR rep today, said "Hello Mandy."

She replied, "Hello Stan" and then she added, "Nice shirt, by the way."

I was very surprised by her compliment and thanked her for it.

Go figure.

Maybe she feels that I am safe now. I am just one of the girls and no longer one of those guys who would like to bed her.

And so it went.

Opportunities

I went to Dress Barn in drag to check out their 50% clearance sale. The Dress Barn staff knows me en femme and en homme and greeted me like an old friend.

Sadly, the pickings were slim and I did nor find anything of interest in my size. There were some new fall items on display that caught my eye, but I was looking for summer wear because I have some summertime opportunities to go out en femme coming up.

Next week, I am taking a mini-vacation and on whatever day I am free of family obligations, I will go out en femme. Not sure what I am going to do, but whatever it is, it will be as a lady.

The following week, I will be doing outreach for a Human Sexuality class at Southern Connecticut State University. This is the same outreach gig that I have been doing for years, however, this is the first time I've done it during the summer; all the previous gigs were during the fall and spring semesters.

Next month, I may attend another ham radio convention en femme. Unlike the Dayton Ohio Hamvention I attended in May, which is an international event attracting 20 to 30,000 attendees, next month’s event is a regional convention, the biennial New England ham radio convention in Boxboro, Mass, which attracts about 1,000 attendees. I have made no definite plans yet, but it is on my radar.

Transsexual Model Bares All in French Vogue

According to Broadsheet in Salon, “When Givenchy's head designer cast his personal assistant, Lea T., in a print ad for the brand, it sparked a frenzy of interest. Calls for interviews and modeling gigs began pouring in.French Vogue, the hipper sister of American Vogue, is running a profile of the Brazilian model alongside a nude portrait in its upcoming issue. But this isn't your typical tale about the feverish discovery of a new face in high-fashion -- because Lea just happens to be a transsexual.”

Please read the rest of the story here.

Life in the Gynocracy

Pat e-mailed me a link to a Newsweek magazine article that asks, "What if men everywhere had to conform to beauty standards set by women?"

"We sure spend a lot of time talking about ideal female beauty—and why women spend so much time obsessing about it. But what if we lived in a world where women had always been the kings, the presidents, the bosses (and, thus, the arbiters of beauty)? Perhaps we’d call it a 'Gynocracy'—a place where superficial women would set the standards for attractiveness, and men would have to conform to them."

You can read the rest of the article here.

Role Reversal Reading

Back in March, I wrote a four-part series here titled What Will Men Wear When Women Wear Trousers?. It described how male and female roles have changed during the past 100 years and what will happen if they continue to follow the 100-year trend, i.e., a complete role reversal with women becoming the "new men" and men becoming the "new women" of the 21st Century.

After posting that series, I discovered a couple of blogs that were on-topic;

Patti's Male Femininity & Gender Role Reversal, which follows and advocates the current trends in role reversal.

Eve's Boys in the Pink, which describes the progression of the role reversal through the remainder of this century.

Restocking My Warpaint

I love experimenting with makeup.

A few years ago, I bought a makeup collection from Sephora that included a huge variety of eye, lip, and cheek colors. Although I use other makeup, the Sephora collection is my go-to makeup.

As a result, I have used up some of the colors. Also, since makeup does not improve with age, I thought I'd buy a replacement collection real soon now.

Since I am a Sephora Beauty Insider, I receive regular e-mail offers from them and their latest e-mail had just what I was looking for! Sixty-five colors; a $150 value for only $29.50. How could I resist!

If you are a femulator who wants to experiment with colors, I recommend buying this collection. And unlike a lot of the collections you will see for sale everywhere during the holidays, the Sephora collection is quality makeup that is a pleasure to use.

I recommend Sephora highly. You can select three free samples with every order, free shipping for orders over $50, and if you become a Beauty Insider (which is free), you earn points to get more free stuff. For example, my Beauty Insider points are getting me a free Lancome mascara with today's order.

In store, they are very trans-friendly. I've shopped en femme in their Manhattan and West Hartford (CT) stores and all my Sephora shopping excursions (including two makeovers) have been very positive. So, go for it, girls!

Eyelash Experiment Week 5

After five weeks of using the Avon eyelash growth stimulator, I am very happy with the results. Even without mascara, my eyelashes look longer and fuller than they looked before I began using the serum. With mascara, they are amazing!

In my case, patience paid off. After two weeks, I was not thrilled with the results, but into week three and beyond, I began noticing a difference. By week five, there was a big difference.

So, if you desire fatter eyelashes, I recommend Avon's eyelash growth stimulator serum.

News Is Good News

Murphy's Law... as soon as I deleted the Womanless News sidebar due to a lack of womanless news, I get some womanless news. So the Womanless News sidebar returns!

No News Is Bad News

I deleted the Womanless News sidebar because there is a dearth of news. When some womanless news occurs, the sidebar will reappear.

Theodore femulates in a Gryphon 'Mercury' embroidered silk dress, wig by Jon Renau, and makeup by Stana

Click on the image for a better color rendition.

Art of Femulation

Throughout my life, drawing and sketching has been an outlet for me being transgender.

When I was a kid, I began drawing as soon as I discovered the business end of a pencil.

In my early teens, when I became fascinated with femulation, my drawing started serving a purpose. When I could not crossdress (which was most of the time), I drew pictures about crossdressing as a release for my frustrated femulations.

Over the years, I have used ballpoint pens, fountain pens, rollerball pens, crayons, colored pencils, and markers for my trans-drawings, but a simple pencil and eraser were my usual tools until I bought a Macintosh computer in 1985.

Now my computer is my primary drawing tool, although I still use a pencil occasionally (see above right) to keep my penciling skills toned.

If you are a regular reader of this blog, you cannot help seeing my trans-artwork on display here. I don't know if you readers prefer reading what I write or seeing what I drew.

For me, drawing is fun, while writing is hard work. As a result, I have a big backlog of trans-art, but almost no backlog of trans-words. The daily content of this blog reflects that.

Now go put on a dress!

Nicholas femulates in a 3.1 Phillip Lim cheetah jacquard minidress with hair and makeup by Stana

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My Horoscope

For her amusement, my wife reads the daily horoscope from the local newspaper. If I am within earshot, she will read mine aloud to me.

Yesterday was such a day. Here is my horoscope (and yours if you are a Pisces):

Let others get to know the real you. Being authentic is more likely right now. Others might be startled, but once they relax, they will enjoy the person they get to know.

Those are insightful and truthful words.

I have found that whenever I come out to people about my transness, most are surprised or startled, but after the words sink in and they interact with me, they seemed to enjoy the new (to them) me. 

Peacock

Last night, I watched Peacock, a 2010 film starring Cillian Murphy, Ellen Page, and Susan Sarandon. I knew nothing about this film going in except that Murphy crossdressed in it; after his great crossdressing performance in Breakfast on Pluto, I thought I would give Peacock a look.

It was a very interesting film and held my attention from beginning to end. It really was not a film about being trans, although there are trans elements in the film that many of us can identify with.

I am not a psychologist, nor do I play one on television, so I am not sure what to call the mental condition that Murphy played in the film. I guess he had a multiple personality disorder (distinct male and a female personalities) and his deceased abusive mother was the cause.

Murphy's femulation was very good. As a female, he/she passed and none of the other characters in the film figured him/her out. In reality, I think that someone might have put two and two together, but that did not occur in this story.

One thing that bothered me about Murphy's femulation is that he/she wore male underwear (a T-shirt and briefs) under his/her female clothing. In my humble opinion, someone with his/her disorder would wear female underwear when he/she was in female mode, but that is just my opinion.

The underwear issue did not ruin the film for me and I recommend Peacock to all.

Brandon femulates in a Dolce&Gabbana polka dot dress, Noriko Millie wig, and makeup by Stana

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Millard femulates in a Dolce&Gabbana pleated bottom, cap sleeve dress, Noriko Brooke wig, and makeup by Stana

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In His Shoes

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Making Ladies

Making Ladies is a song performed by Scissor Sisters. Although they recorded the tune about three years ago, I heard it for the first time last night.

It sounds like an advertisement for a male-to-female transformation salon and I like it.

If you can’t stand the heat, then put on a sundress!

It is hot and humid in the Femulation City. The temperature should get up to 93 or 94 this afternoon with relative humidity in the 50% neighborhood.

It was so hot yesterday afternoon that the little woman suggested that I put on a dress. She must have been joking because she knows darn well that I do not own a sundress or any other dress that is comfortable in hot and humid weather.

On the other hand, with the air-conditioner cranking away at full blast, I could have followed her suggestion, dressed to the nines, cooked our Independence Day leftovers on the grill, and lounged around the house the rest of the day.

Maybe next time.

a ticklish situation

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Happy Independence Day!

(Will Elder's rendition of Diana Prince in Mad #10)

three men out

fat lashes

On Sunday, I wrote about the Avon eyelash growth stimulator that I had been using for two weeks to make my lashes lusher.

I had not noticed much improvement at that point in time, but now I am happy to report that my persistence is paying off. About half way through Week 3 of the experiment, I suddenly noticed a significant improvement on the lash line. My lashes look fuller and longer even without mascara!

I will continue using the serum and let you know if there is further improvement. 

TV TV

overdressing

I am an overdresser.

There --- I admitted it. I got it off my chest and now I don't have to worry about people accusing me of being an "overdresser" because I have come out to the world about it.

It is hard to overdress when you attend a crossdresser support group meeting; many of the attendees overdress because the meeting may be their only opportunity to dress at all, so they dress to kill.

That being said, when attended crossdresser support group meetings, I was usually the most overdressed girl at the meeting. Hands down. No question about it.

I carried on my overdressing when I began going out in public en femme. The woman in a cocktail dress and high heels shopping at Wal*Mart --- that was me. The woman in the sequin evening gown seated in the centerfield bleachers at Fenway Park --- that was me. The woman in the little black dress and pearls dining at Taco Bell --- you guessed it --- that was me, too.

At first, I worried about it because overdressing drew attention to me and by drawing attention to me, civilians might scrutinize me too closely and figure out that I was packing something extra underneath my periwinkle bridesmaid gown.

I sure did not want to out myself, so I began toning it down. But I soon found out that toned-down dressing was Boring (with a capital B).

Blending in with all the other babes at Home Depot was just not my thing. I wanted to be outstanding in my field in heels, not flats.

So, I began overdressing again and I have never looked back because in the words of blogger Kate Fridkis, "Being overdressed is fun. You have to pull it off with confidence. You have to walk with your shoulders back, like you planned it. Like you're dressed up because you live a dramatic, impressive life. I mean, why not? Maybe you do."

Ms. Fridkis' "The Art of Overdressing" on The Huffington Post inspired this posting and I urge you to go read it yourself; maybe it will inspire you to buy a bright red dress to wear to the grocery store.

Shiloh Jolie-Pitt wants to be a boy!

Did you hear the news that the 4-year-old daughter of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt wants to be a boy?

Whether you did or not, I direct you to Mary Elizabeth William’s excellent commentary on the matter that appears in today’s Salon.

the joy of modeling

Many fashion models strut down the runway with expressions of "I wish I was anywhere but here" pasted on their faces.

Why not a smile or other indication that the model finds some enjoyment from wearing the clothing she is modeling?

Do the fashion models hate their jobs? Are they underpaid? Is modeling an onerous occupation?

I don't get it.

Personally, I find that the zombie-look that many models brandish detracts from the clothing they are modeling. A smile would do wonders to improve the overall presentation, don't you think?

Twice I was a fashion model and although I was nervous, I had a smile on my face because I enjoyed what I was doing and wanted to impart my joy to the audience. Most of my fellow trans-models did the same.

Maybe it is time to fire all the zombies (above left) and replace them with T-girls (above right) who love dressing like women!

next time outfit

I plan to go out en femme and this is the outfit I plan to wear.

I have a black and white bag that will go nicely with this outfit. And instead of the black tights and pumps, I might wear suntan pantyhose and black and white strappy sandals.

putting on weight

Back on June 11, I mentioned here that I was going to try to add some heft to my skinny eyelashes and that I purchased an eyelash growth stimulator from Avon to do the job.

For over two weeks, I have been religious about applying the serum each morning and evening. It was difficult to detect any difference because my eyelashes are blond, so yesterday, I took a black mascara to my lashes to see if the serum was doing any good.

It looks like there is some improvement, but it is not overwhelming.

I will continue applying the serum twice a day until it runs out and keep you all updated on my lash progress.

summertime blues… no more

Summer was my favorite season until I began going out en femme in the late 1980s.

Back then, going out en femme meant attending support group meetings. However, there were no meetings during the summer because the meeting hall was not air-conditioned and the fear was that the average femulator in wig, makeup, and foundation garments, would melt away without air-conditioning.

I bought into the summer meltdown theory and did not dress en femme during the summer. As a result, I could not wait for summer to end so that I could start dressing again in the fall and I began to hate summers.

In the ensuing years, I had a few occasions to go out en femme on hot summer-like days in the spring and fall and lo and behold, I discovered that I did not melt away like the Wicked Witch of the West. I did glisten, but the heat was never a deal-breaker. So my attitude gradually changed and now I no longer shun summer forays en femme.

More significantly, I realized that genetic women can not pick and choose which days to be women; they are women in all kinds of weather. So, if I am truly the woman that I feel that I am, I must be that woman in rain, snow, sleet, hail, and heat, as well as on nice mild sunny days.

get the Get Smart look

I was not a fan of the 1960s television series Get Smart, but I occasionally watched an episode because I admired the look and style of Agent 99, as played by Barbara Feldon.

I liked the 2008 Get Smart film more than the old television series because I admired the look and style of Agent 99, as played by Anne Hathaway, even more than Barbara Feldon's take on Agent 99.

Makeup artist Napoleon Perdis wrote a piece in The Huffiington Post describing how to achieve the look of Anne Hathaway's Agent 99, as well as some other film femme fatales, most notably Angelina Jolie in the new film Salt.

You can read his informative article here.

coincidentally

I made a Wal*Mart run during lunch today to buy food for the menagerie.

The shoppers at this particular Wal*Mart are a diverse bunch especially during the lunch hour. In addition to your normal Wal*Mart crowd, there is a mix of better-dressed girls and boys from the various corporate parks in the area.

As I was wheeling my cart towards check-out, I admired a nicely-dressed woman in a skirt set and heels. Suddenly I realized she was wearing the exact same skirt set that I recently bought at JCPenney (see photo and click on it to see it better)!

I never before ran into a woman wearing the same clothes I own. Moreover, it was weirdly coincidental in light of my previous blog posting!

maybe both

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Tall Tuesday

Tuesday bring three new tall additions to our Famous Females of Height List:

5'8" actress Merrin Dungey of King of Queens television fame

5'9" actress Elizabeth Regen, brought to you by DLM

5'10" Victoria's Secret model Doutzen Kroes, whose image accompanies this post.

Also, a correction moves actress Amanda Byrnes down two notches from 5'10" to 5'8".

why men prefer T-women over G-women

“It is known that most of the bisexual and straight men are mad after transgender people, but why is it so?”

That is the question asked and answered in yesterday’s posting on Dark Q’s Gay Blog.

It is a good read, makes sense, and I recommend that you read it, too.

a good question

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my girdle is killing me... not

Mom, who was my role model wore girdles, so I wore girdles, too.

Truth be told, my first girdles were her girdles. They were "mine" only in a temporary sense; I wore them when I was home alone and returned them to her dresser drawer when my dressing session ended.

She owned a variety of girdle styles and it was wonderful experimenting with them all, but my favorites were the high-waisted, short-legged variety, which is the style I bought for myself when I began buying my own. And it is the style I favored throughout my lady life, until now.

I recently discovered the Spanx line of body-shaping undergarments and its copycats. Avon sells some of the copycats and since I am an Avon representative, I could not resist buying one with my representative discount.

I purchased a high-waisted panty-style body shaper and during my recent trip to Dayton, I wore it instead of my normal girdle and waist cincher combo.

The body-shaper is lighter in weight and more comfortable than the girdle-cincher combo. Its body-shaping capabilities were equal to if not better than the girdle-cincher combo. Since the body-shaper is a smooth, one-piece garment, I was not concerned about revealing any lumps or bumps that the various parts of the girdle-cincher combo sometimes show through my clothes.

"My girdle is killing me," is now a thing of the past. I am sold on these body-shaper undergarments and am adding other styles to my wardrobe.

However, a word of caution: these new body-shapers grip your body like a steel trap, so if you feel the need to attend to mother nature, don't wait until the last minute to visit the ladies' room because slipping out of these body-shapers can be challenging.

The Femulated readers

Today's The Femulated image is a photo of Femulate reader, Cyrsti, who sent in two photos "for consideration."

I did not solicit the photos, but I think it is a great idea to use reader photos in The Femulated spot occasionally. Therefore, I welcome all Femulate readers to send me photos of their femulations for consideration.

slashdotted

Slashdot slashdotted Femulate on Monday, which explains the 20% spike in hits that day. (The Femulate reference is buried here.)

I was wrong

One year ago, I had just concluded my long weekend en femme in Manhattan attending a workshop.

Recalling that wonderful experience, it occurred to me that I was in error concerning my aborted girls' night out (GNO) tonight. I erroneously stated that it would be "be my very first GNO with a genetic female."

Wrong!

When I was in Manhattan last June, I dined at the Metropolitan Museum of Art with one of the women from the workshop and her daughter.

During dinner, I did some outreach.

As I wrote last June, "While we dined, we talked about our lives and during a lull in the conversation, I asked her if she wanted to know about my transness.

"She admitted that she was dying to ask, but did not ask because she respected my privacy. I told her I love to talk about it and I proceeded to do so.

"She got 'it' as was evidenced by her questions."

Jane, a college professor from Kansas, was the first person to engage me in conversation at the workshop. That broke the ice for me and I turned a corner in my life that weekend and have never looked back.

playing with dolls

Yesterday's post "Barbie beats NASCAR" resulted in the following comment from Anonymous, "Boys have been playing with dolls - e.g., G. I Joe."

True, but in my opinion, there is a difference between a boy playing with a G. I. Joe doll and a boy playing with a Barbie doll, i.e., the boy playing with a Barbie probably has all the makings of becoming a girl.

I never played with a G. I. Joe doll because it came out after I stopped playing with toys, however, I did play with my sister's Barbie dolls when no one was watching.

My favorite Barbie outfit was the stewardess uniform. What boy playing with Barbie dolls back then didn't want to be a stewardess when he grew up?

I didn't become a stewardess, but I did become a girl, well sort-of.

Barbie beats NASCAR

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Tony’s femulations

Last night, I watched the Tony Awards television broadcast. I had no intention of watching the broadcast, but my timing was perfect.

When I switched to the channel broadcasting the Awards show, I found six tall and leggy showgirls performing. My T-dar became activated instantaneously and sure enough, the showgirls were from the Broadway revival of La Cage aux Folles, so I decided to watch the show for any other femulations.

My decision paid off.  There was another performance from La Cage and the Awards host, Sean Hayes, appeared in Little Orphan Annie drag. The former was excellent, the latter, not so much.

you can call her Meg

Long time Femulate reader, Meg, plans to fly en femme for the first time and she is documenting the experience at her new blog, Call Me Meg.

I will be following her adventure closely because someday I may fly again and I'd prefer to do it en femme. I think Meg's will be an exciting and informative story, so check out Meg's blog for yourself.

like father, like son

Don't forget, Father's Day is only one week way, so make sure to give your Dad a Father's Day she will remember.

Instead of buying Dad a new tie or a bottle of wine, get her a gift certificate from Victoria's Secret or a bottle of Chanel No. 5. To make Dad's day complete, tell Dad to wear her most feminine outfit, then take Dad out to her favorite restaurant. It will be a Father's Day that she will never forget.

As always, click on the image to make it appear larger!

a friend in need

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I need to put on some weight

Last makeover, the makeover artist mentioned that my eyelashes are blond and thin. She suggested that I try an eyelash growth stimulator to add some heft to my lashes.

I checked out the available products and was taken aback by their price especially in light of some of the articles I have read on the Web that suggest that these products are snake oil.

Perusing the latest Avon catalog last week, my wife mentioned that Avon now has an eyelash growth serum in their product line. Since I am an Avon rep, the rep discount price for the product was very attractive, so I ordered a tube.

This product comes in a three-part tube. There is a sub-tube of mascara on one end, a sub-tube of eyelash serum on the other end, and the applicators are in the middle sub-tube. For what it's worth, one reviewer claims that "The mascara is the best that AVON sells."

My order arrived yesterday and last night, I began the regimen of applying the serum in the AM and PM. I will let you know the results in a couple of weeks.