I attended my K-8 grammar school reunion yesterday afternoon. It was a multi-year reunion, that is, it included classes from the 1910s through the the 1970s.
I knew about 25 of the people in attendance; some were classmates and some were friends from my old neighborhood. I had not seen most of them in 45 years or more.
I had a wonderful time.
Looking back at the afternoon, I found it telling that I spent most of the time reunioning with my old female friends rather than my old male friends.
I received a phone call Friday afternoon that threw my Halloween at work en femme plans up in the air. My sister is having surgery on the 31st and I may have to take her to the hospital that morning.
She will not know what her schedule is for that day until the 29th, so my plans are in limbo until then.
I have absolutely no problem taking my sister to the hospital en femme, but she has a big problem with it.
In consideration of the stress that she will already have facing surgery, I will not press the matter.
Even though she has no interest in meeting her sister face-to-face, she has been supportive from afar and I plan to be there for her when she needs her brother.
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| Halloween 2009 |
Big Woman on Campus
My friend Patty is now a professor at a local college. This semester is her first; she is teaching two classes and asked me to speak to one of her classes about being a woman, although male.
So I plan to take a vacation day off from work to speak to her class and field questions from her students.
Since the class is only an hour long, I will have time to do other things that day en femme (like "inspect" the fall fashions at the malls).
All Hallows' Eve
Halloween is just a little over two weeks away and there has been no official announcement at work regarding any events celebrating the holiday. Time is running out, so if they don't announce something real soon now, I expect that nothing is in the works.
Nevertheless, I am going to work en femme on the 31st whether there is an official celebration or not.
Womanly Yours,
Stana
You can view a slideshow of the amazing photoshoot here and an amazing video here.
I am sure you will enjoy and appreciate them as much as I did.
Womanly Yours,
Stana
After seeing my visage in yesterday's post here, Patio asked me how I do my eyes.
I am happy to share my makeup regime, so here it is eye-wise.
First things first: I cleanse my face and apply moisturizer.
Now concentrating on the eyes, here are the steps I follow:
1. I use a concealer under my eyes to hide my eye baggage.
2. I apply an eyeshadow primer on my eyelids and brow bone, that is, between my eyelids and eyebrows.
3. While the primer dries, I tend to my eyebrows plucking strays and trimming longs.
4. I use a light brown eyebrow pencil (Anastasia Perfect Brow Pencil's "Soft Brown") to outline and fill in my brows. I have been femulating Keira Knightly's eyebrows (see photo) and I think I have been successful.
5. I curl my eyelashes lashes for at least 30 seconds per eye.
6. I use a large eyeshadow brush and apply a light beige eyeshadow all over my upper eyelids and browbone.
7. I use a small eyeshdow brush and apply a dark eyeshadow (purple, brown, dark gray, etc.) along crease between eyelids and brow bone.
This is tricky to describe, but let me try.
Using the eyebrow brush, I pick up a tiny bit of dark eyeshadow on only one side of the brush. Then I bring the shadow side of the brush up to the center of the brow bone along the crease and move it towards the outer side of my eye to deposit most of the shadow on that portion of my eye.
Then I use a windshield wiper-like motion to go back and forth along the whole crease. My goal is to make the outer portion of the crease and brow bone darker than the inner portion with a smooth transition from light to dark; the wiper motion blends the shadow to create the smooth transition.
Overall, I try to use less shadow for daytime femulations and more shadow for nighttime femulations.
8. I reapply some light beige shadow just below my brows and blend it with the darker shadow below. Sometimes this will lead me to reapply the dark eyeshadow until I get it just right (or nearly so).
9. I pick up a tiny bit more of the dark eyeshadow and apply it to the outer third of the lid and use the windshield wiper motion again to blend the shadow on the lid.
10. I use a second small eyeshadow brush to pick up a tiny bit of a light eyeshadow (light beige, light gray, white, etc.) and dab the color near the center of the lid, then blend it with the dark eyeshadow already on your lid.
11. I use black eyeshadow as my eyeliner and apply it using an eyeliner brush intended for powder eyeliner. I find it less prone to error than using an eyeliner pencil or a liquid eyeliner.
I dab the tip (not the side) of the eyeliner brush in black eyeshadow and apply it to the upper eyelid as close as possible to the lash line. I start in the center of the lid and work my way out to the outer part of the lid, then I work my way in to the inner part of the lid. I go back and forth until the line is consistent (no breaks or fades) and as dark as I want it. At the outer edge of the lid, I extend the line beyond the lid, making it narrower until it comes to a point. Sometimes I give it a little curl upward, sometimes not.
12. I dab the side of the eyeliner brush and swipe it along the lower lid as close to the lash line as possible, then I use a cotton swab to smudge the line and blend it so that it is consistent.
13. I am always experimenting with different mascaras. Since I am an Avon Lady, I always try their latest mascara offerings, but for what it's worth, lately I have been using Rimmel brand mascara. I apply it once to the upper and lower lashes and let it dry. Then I use a metal lash comb to separate any lashes that are stuck together.
I always apply a second coat of mascara. Sometimes I will apply a third coat.
By the way, my eyelashes are amazingly long, so that augments the overall look of my eyes. I have been using the Avon's Anew eyelash growth serum religiously every morning for nearly two years and it has had a profound effect on the length and thickness of my eyelashes. Sorry to say that Avon discontinued the product, however, there are competitive products that may work just as well if you have sparse and/or short lashes.
After doing all the above steps, there is always some touch-up and clean-up involved. To help avoid messy clean-ups, use a brush to apply some loose face powder below your eyes. When you are done doing your eyes, simply brush away this loose powder along with any eye makeup crumbs that may have landed there.
All this sounds very complicated and I will admit that doing my eyes takes longer than doing the rest of my makeup, but I think the results are worth the effort. And the more you do it, the more quickly you will do it!
If you have any questions, I will try to answer them.
Womanly Yours,
Stana
I was in the closet for a very long time.
Although my interests in feminine things go back to my earliest memories, I did not take up crossdressing until I was 12-years-old. But once I began, I crossdressed at every opportunity, typically whenever I found myself alone at home.
When I was 19, I reached my tipping point and had to let Stana out of the closet. So I dressed en femme on Halloween despite the fact that I had nowhere to go.
Unlike today, where there is a Halloween event everywhere you turn, back in the late-1970s, there was not much Halloween-wise for a young adult. I had not been invited to any Halloween parties (I didn't even know of any Halloween parties) and I was too young to go to any bar that might be celebrating Halloween. So, Mom let her "daughter" borrow the car and I visited some friends and relatives to "trick 'n' treat." (How desperate is that?)
Post-Halloween, I was back in the closet honing my femulating skills while waiting for next year's Halloween party invitations. I never went out en femme to trick 'n' treat again, but I did get a few party invitations over the years.
I always attended the parties dressed as a woman, not as a woman wearing a woman's costume. Invariably, some party-goer would wonder why I wasn't wearing a costume and I would explain to their astonishment that I was in costume. Post-Halloween, I would be back in the closet again, but at least I realized that all the practice in the closet was not for naught.
Online (via Compuserve's Genderline), I discovered and joined a local support group in the early 1980s. Now, I was able to get out of the house en femme on days besides the last day of months beginning with the letter O. I attended meetings once or twice per month, always dressing at home and driving to the meeting place 25 miles away.
On occasion, the support group sponsored outings --- usually dinners at local restaurants, which sheltered us in a private room so we would not to mix with their "normal" clientele. I always attended, but being a rebel, I made a point of using the public ladies' restroom instead of the private restroom that had been assigned to us.
I wanted more and began attending trans conventions, which gave me the opportunity to have the run of a whole hotel for a long weekend en femme.
But I realized that I was still in the closet. I just had more closet-space: in my home, in my support group's meeting places, and in trans convention hotels.
I still wanted more, so I became a little more adventurous. On my way to support group meetings, I would stop off to buy a refreshment at a convenience store or fast food joint. Amazingly, no one seemed to notice or care that I was en femme. I was passing or at least, I was accepted and that emboldened me to do more.
It took 55 years, but I finally summoned up enough courage to go out in public en femme. I decided to make that leap by going to the mall. I dressed en femme, drove to the mall, arrived just as it opened, and sat in my car for a half-hour trying to muster the courage to exit the car and walk across the parking lot to the mall entrance.
I finally pushed myself and did it and I spent the better part of day at the mall having the time of my life. Some people read me, but it was not the end of the world, and once I got a taste of the world en femme, I wanted more.
Subsequently, I picked my days and spent them en femme, shopping, dining, being entertained, enjoying the arts, etc., etc., and I loved it, doing what other women did when they were out.
It all felt so natural to me. I was always feminine. As I have written here before, I was not a female trapped in a male body, rather I was me trapped by society's expectations of what a male was supposed to be. The "problem" was that I preferred to fulfill society's expectations of what a woman was supposed to be.
Finally, I realized I was a woman, who happened to have a male body, but I was not going to let that little handicap hinder me from being the best woman I could be.
And so it goes.
“Miss Kadenan Umatuiya was crowned Miss Guahan in the transgender beauty pageant held in Guam.
“The pageant was organised by a local arts group who used the event to raise money to go to the upcoming Pacific Arts Festival in Solomon Islands.
“Unlike other transgender pageants, it was a serious contest with a focus on indigenous culture. This pageant is about representing and preserving the indigenous Chamorro culture and promoting acceptance of transgender people.”
Read the rest of the story on the Radio Australia website and at Guampdn.com, which was the source of the photo above.
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| Glenn Koetznr photo for TheRainbowTimesNews.com |
Friday night, I was a model in a fashion show, which was a fundraiser for the Connecticut TransAdvocacy Coalition (CTAC).
There were five models, four male-to-female and one female-to-male transgenders. We each modeled two outfits, "business" and "casual" wear.
You can see the outfits I wore in the photos in this and my previous blog posts. You can see the outfits everyone wore here.
I received compliments on both outfits. Some people appreciated the purple skirt-suit for its vintageness and other people wanted to know where I bought the patterned tights (the answer: Avon).
The female-to-male trans model paid me the highest compliment; he was convinced that I was a post-op transexual.
I modeled in the same show four years ago in the same venue and the contrast between the two shows could not be greater.
In 2007, the bar at Tommy's Restaurant was packed with people. It was so crowded that it was difficult to wade through the crowd to model our outfits
In 2011, the crowd was thin. I estimate that there were only 50 to 75 people in the audience, which was a far cry from the 2007 crowd.
The explanation I heard for the meager attendance was a lack of advertising. Whatever the reason, it was a little disappointing, but the show went on despite the small crowd and I had a wonderful time modeling and schmoozing with new and old friends.
I had a fab time modeling at the fashion show last night. I don't have time to write much about it now, but my good friend Diana (of Diana's Little Corner in the Nutmeg State fame) posted a link in yesterday's comments pointing to a slew of photos from yesterday's event taken by Glenn Koetzner.
Here is the link. Enjoy!
If you are in the area of central Connecticut tonight, I invite you to the transgender fashion show at Tommy's Restaurant in Middletown at 7 PM. The event is a fundraiser for the Connecticut TransAdvocacy Coalition; admission is $10.
I will be modeling in the show, but I am not sure what I will be modeling. My "business" outfit is picked out and ready to wear, but I am unsure about my "casual" outfit.
The cocktail dress I wanted to wear arrived in the mail yesterday. I had another engagement after work last night, so I only had time to quickly slip the dress on without my shapewear and it seemed just a wee bit too small.
When I get home today, I will try again wearing shapewear and maybe it will fit. The dress is gorgeous, so I am hoping that will do the trick. If not, I will resort to Plan B and wear my other new dress from Ideeli.
I am taking a half-day off from work this afternoon to get ready for the show. I want to look my best and that takes time especially since both "casual" dresses show more skin than I've shown in awhile, which means some extra hair removal will be necessary.
But it’s worth it... it's all for a good cause and it will make me feel that much more womanly.
I arrived at work yesterday and noticed that the seam on one of my walkers was broken exposing my sock-covered toes.
Since the weather was wet, I decided that I needed a new pair of walkers as soon as possible. (I hate wearing wet socks, don't you?)
Payless is having a BOGO sale, that is, buy one pair of shoes and get a second pair at half price. So, I decided to go to Payless during lunch, replace my broken walkers and buy something in the women's aisles of the store.
Before I went to Payless, I swapped my socks for a pair of knee-highs so when I tried on women's shoes, I would get a better idea how they fit.
I arrived at Payless and perused my size in the women's section and found absolutely nothing of interest. I did find walkers in my size in the men's aisle and I took advantage of the sale and both two pairs.
Back at work, I swapped my knee-high for my socks and swapped my broken walkers for a new pair. Whereas the walkers fit comfortably when I tried them on in the store wearing knee-highs, they were uncomfortably tight wearing socks.
So I go back to Payless today wearing socks.
Your Halloween Photos
Thank you all who sent me your femulating Halloween photos for display in THE FEMULATED slot during the month of October. There is room for more, so send me yours if you haven't already.
I had a wrestling match with YouTube last night and I lost as you can see by the broken video in the AND HER, TOO slot. I will attempt to fix it as soon as I can.
Looks like I will get my new cocktail dress in time to model at the fashion show on Friday, that is, assuming it fits. Ideeli shipped it yesterday and according to the UPS tracker, it arrived at the local UPS facility this morning, so I will probably get it tomorrow.
I was on vacation last week. Stayed up late most nights and slept in late most mornings.
So getting up at 5:30 AM Monday morning was difficult. To make matters worse, I now find Orion peeking through the bathroom skylight instead of rays from Mr. Sun.
Day Three of reality and I am still not acclimated to my normal schedule!
Twenty-six days until Halloween and my intention is to feature a femulator in Halloween garb in THE FEMULATED: slot of this blog through the 31st of the month.
I assure you I have an adequate number of images to complete the task, but I would love to use Femulate reader Halloween images in THE FEMULATED: slot instead of the images of strangers. So if you are so inclined, send me a femulating image of you from a Halloween past and I will use it before the month is over.
By the way, there have been no announcements at work yet concerning any Halloween doings on the job. It is probably too early; most announcements of that sort arrive in our mailboxes two weeks or so before the event, so there is still time for that. Nevertheless, I plan to work en femme on Halloween whether anything is doing or not.
Friday evening, I dress up to model a couple of outfits in a transgender fashion show for the benefit of the Connecticut TransAdvocacy Coalition (CTAC).
The event starts at 7 PM at Tommy’s Restaurant (825 Saybrook Road, Middletown, CT 06457), just off Route 9 Exit 11. Admission is $10 at the door; you must be 21 or older to attend.
The dress I planned to model in the casual wear portion of the show has not arrived from Ideeli yet, so I may have to resort to Plan B and model the dress I previously received from Ideeli. But the week is young and if they ship in a day or two, I should receive the dress by show time.
If you are in the area, I hope you will consider attending the show. The venue is very diverse and you will have no issues fitting in and being accepted by the other attendees, so come on down!
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| Thora Birch in Ghost World |
I am a big film fan (maybe too big). I have over 700 films on DVD and probably 100 or more films on videotapes that I have not upgraded to DVD yet.
Synecdoche, New York is one film I have on DVD. I added it to my collection because it looked like an unusual film and it starred one of my favorite actors, Philip Seymour Hoffman.
The film was weird and I was disappointed. I assumed I would never watch the DVD again. That is, until I received an e-mail from Gwen today.
Gwen wrote, "I saw this film yesterday and it was really weird in many ways. The
strangest being that at the end of the film, the main character, a man,
takes on the persona of a woman, called Ellen. She's a cleaning lady,
so he cleans. And his role is taken by a woman. No male to female cross
dressing involved. But there's a definite gender bluring going on,
that you don't often see in mainstream films."
I totally missed it. My guess is that the film was so weird that I tuned out mentally by the time the transgender scene(s) occurred. So, I guess I will be watching Synecdoche, New York again real soon now.
A film I can watch again and again is Ghost World, which I happened to catch on the dish last night. It is another unusual film (based on a comic book) and stars another of my favorite actors, Steve Buscemi. It also includes a great performance by Thora Birch, who plays the female lead in the film.
There is nothing transgender in the film, but it is definitely worth watching if you have never seen it.
Beauty expert, Louis Licari, wrote about blurring on Huffington Post... not gender blurring, but age blurring. It is an interesting blog post and includes tips on how you too can blur your age and look "young" despite how many birthdays you have celebrated (or not).
You can read Mr. Licari's post here. Enjoy!
Yesterday, I added the following note below the And Her, Too image: (Viewing in Full Screen mode is best!)
The Full Screen mode provides a big enhancement to the video. It is
like the difference between night and day --- I highly recommend it.
To enter the Full Screen mode, click on the button (image above) in the lower left corner of the And Her, Too window.
To exit the Full Screen mode, press the Escape key (ESC) on your computer's keyboard.
Saw the mailman make a delivery, so I took a break from my housework to see what he brought.
Opened the mailbox and among the usual collection of junk mail was a thick catalog. It looked about the size of the old Sears catalogs, but I knew it was not from Sears and I could not imagine what it was.
I pulled the hefty book out of the mailbox to discover that it is the September issue of Vogue --- 758 pages of fall fashionista heaven.
I can't wait to finish my housework so I can peruse it!
"The week of Sept 24 - Oct 1 is Banned Books Week, a time when libraries, schools, and bookstores celebrate our First Amendment freedom to read while drawing attention to the harms that censorship does to our society and our individual freedoms," so wrote Molly Raphael in today's edition of HuffPost.
"...far more often than we may realize, individuals and groups have sought to restrict access to library books they believed were objectionable on religious, moral, or political grounds, thereby restricting the rights of every reader in their community. For example, this summer the Republic (Mo.) school board voted to remove Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five and Sarah Ockler's Twenty Boy Summer from the school library as a result of a complaint that the book 'teaches principles contrary to Biblical morality and truth.'
You can read the entire article here.
And remember, after they ban books, people (like us) are next.
"Annually, a group of gentlemen from the Atlanta gay community participate as 'debutantes' in a unique fundraising concept to benefit HIV/AIDS charities. Each participant is given a financial goal; how they reach and, almost always, exceed that goal depends on their creativity, resources and passion for helping those affected by HIV/AIDS. Since 2002 the Atlanta Cotillion has not only donated over $750,000, but has also become one of the single largest donors of unrestricted funds to AID Atlanta, the largest AIDS service organization in the southeast.
"After months of creative individual fundraising efforts, the Atlanta Cotillion social season culminates in the lively and entertaining Atlanta Cotillion Ball. In keeping to tradition the escorted debutantes are presented on stage to celebrate their fundraising successes. As the highlight of the evening, the debutante who has raised the most funds is crowned Queen of the Atlanta Cotillion Ball."
The dress requirements for the event are interesting to say the least.
"Women’s formal evening attire is required for invited guests who have made donations of $75 or more (regardless of gender or sexual orientation). Guests who have made donations of $150 or more may attend in formal evening attire (Black Tie). Please note that no table may have more than five guests in Black Tie.
"Those attending in formal female attire are required to be free of visible facial or body hair and appropriately dressed for a formal event. Thank you for adhering to these dress requirements, which will be strictly enforced for admittance."
Sounds like my kind of place.
Photos from the 2009 and 2010 Balls are on flickr here and here. The femulations are fabulous!
Thank-you Aunty Marlena for this fine femulation find.
Wednesday evening, I was sitting in front of the television while I was answering e-mails on my computer. I was not paying close attention to the television, which I think was tuned to ABC.
An advertisement came on for a new television show, a situation comedy. The ad showed a male and female in conversation. The female said something (sarcastic?) about the male's clothing choice. Next thing you know, the male was wearing a dress, and the female said something sarcastic about him wearing a dress.
It happened so fast that I missed the name of the show and I am not sure what I really saw.
Anybody else see this? Or was it just my 'magination?
Since most us played on the other team most of our lives, femulating can be challenging. We try to be mature women, yet we are still learning the basics that young women take for granted.
Personally, I willingly accept all the help I can get. One source of help I find very useful is Ginger Burr, an image consultant, who I had the pleasure of meeting last fall. Ginger runs Total Image Consultants, an image consultant business in the Boston area and has both cis and transgender women as clients.
Ginger also has an online presence. She writes a blog and sends out sage advice via e-mail.
Today her blog asks "Do You Have a One-Dimensional Wardrobe?"
Ginger writes, "Here’s something to ponder: There’s a fine line between ‘knowing’ yourself (for instance, feeling genuinely confident that harem pants are not for you) and ‘limiting’ yourself, and your style when it’s not necessary.
"Many women pigeon hole themselves into a prescribed way of dressing and thereby limit their options and often squelch their sense of delight. Their wardrobe becomes functional and one-dimensional — devoid of any personal style and their boredom level escalates."
I highly recommend reading the rest of the article; you can find it here.
You can also subscribe to Ginger’s e-mails here.
And may your weekend be femulating!
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| Candy Darling and Andrej Pejic |
Who would have thought that Gwyneth Paltrow wore Spanx shapewear, but according to this Daily Makeover article, she is not the only "sexy" celebrity that dons shapewear. Jennifer Garner, Tyra Banks, Jessica Alba, Cate Blanchett, Katherine Heigl, and other svelte stars are big proponents of that line of shapewear.
Now I don't feel like such a fatty when I squeeze into my shapewear!
After my first successful purchase from Ideeli, I made a second purchase from Ideeli yesterday: a black and gold brocade "pull through" cocktail dress (photo right) from R&M Richards.
If it arrives in time and fits, I plan to model it in the fashion show on October 7.
On Friday, October 7, I will walk the runway in a trans fashion show to raise funds for the Connecticut TransAdvocacy Coalition (CTAC).
The fun begins at 7 PM at Tommy’s Restaurant (825 Saybrook Road, Middletown, CT 06457), just seconds from Route 9 Exit 11. Admission is $10 at the door; you must be 21 or older to attend.
I modeled in this show four years ago and Tommy’s was packed and rockin'. I had a great time and it seemed that most of the attendees did, too. So come early and please say, "Hello" ...I'd love to meet you all in person!
By the way, we will be modeling "business" and "casual" outfits. For business, I will wear the purple retro skirt-suit that I also plan to wear to work on Halloween. For casual, I will wear one of the new dresses I purchased from Ideeli.
I hope I will see you there!
(Thank you Meg and SoCalSecrets for your input.)
5'8"
Catherine Keener – actress – film, The 40-Year-Old Virgin – source: SoCalSecrets
Minka Kelly – actress – television, Parenthood; Friday Night Lights – source: SoCalSecrets
5'9"
Joy Bryant – actress – television, Parenthood – source: SoCalSecrets
Rachel Taylor – actress – film, Transformers – source: SoCalSecrets
Odette Yustman – actress – film, Cloverfield – source: SoCalSecrets
5'10"
Cody Horn – actress – television, The Office – source: Stana
Khlo̩ Kardashian Рne'er-do-well Рsource: SoCalSecrets
Leila Lopes – Miss Universe 2011 – source: Meg Winters
Stacey Oristano – actress – television, Friday Night Lights – SoCalSecrets
Heidi Watney (photo above) – sports reporter – NESN / Boston Red Sox – source: Stana
5'11"
Monique Ganderton – stunt woman – source: SoCalSecrets
Ivanka Trump – ne'er-do-well – source: SoCalSecrets
6'0"
Kendall Jenner – ne'er-do-well – source: SoCalSecrets
“Originally, Hartjesdag (Day of Hearts) was a festival celebrated on the third Monday in August in the Dutch areas of Haarlem and Bloemendaal and in various parts of Amsterdam, particularly around the Haarlemmerplein, in the Jordaan, and in the Dapperbuurt. On Hartjesdag fires were kindled and children collected money.
“Later it developed itself into a type of cross-dressing carnival, where men dressed as women, and women dressed as men. A typical scene was captured in the oil painting entitled Hartjesdag, by the artist Johan Braakensiek in 1926.
“During the German occupation in 1943, the Hartjesdag was prohibited, and after the war it eventually became obsolete.
“In 1997 a local committee in the Zeedijk, Amsterdam, decided to see if they could revive the tradition. Each year since then, the festival has flourished into a two-day event on the 3rd weekend in August.”
Perry “Meteorry” Tak posted the previous description from Wikipedia to introduce a collection of his 2011 Hartjesdag photos on flickr.
Also, there are over a thousand other Hartjesdag photos in the flickr Amsterdam Hartjesdagen Zeedijk Group Pool.
(Thank you, Aunty Marlena for alerting me about Meteorry’s photos.)
Two stories appeared in Saturday's Mail OnLine that may be of interest to you.Why I let my son live as a girl: Mother of boy who returned to school in a skirt bravely tells her extraordinary story
He walked out of the school gates in July as a boy wearing trousers, polo shirt and trainers, and returned in September, with the school’s agreement, as a girl.
Read the rest of the story here. (Thank you, Accro, for alerting me to this story.)
'I always felt more feminine than male': Poland's Next Top Model favourite tells judges how she was born a hermaphrodite
With her flawless skin and versatile look, it is little surprise that Michalina Manios is a favourite to win Poland's Next Top Model.
Read the rest of the story here.
Over the years, my company has downsized to the point that I am now a one-person department (in contrast to the four-person department I joined when I was hired 14 years ago).
In one way, it is a good thing. As the last person standing, it indicates that someone thinks I am a valuable employee. I will probably have a job as long as the company exists. (And despite the sputtering economy, my company has done well, so its future prospects are very good.)
On the other hand, as a one-person department, I have no back-up. When my department has to make an appearance or put out a fire, I am the one who makes the appearance or puts out the fire.
My boss informed me two weeks ago not to make any plans this week because all the company bigwigs will be here and that I had to absolutely be here Thursday to demo a website I am building for some of the bigwigs.
The ham radio groups I am involved with are co-sponsoring a conference this weekend. I had planned to go and attend the conference en femme, but I had to forget about it because my one-person department needs me.
I hate it when that happens!
The dress I ordered from Ideeli arrived today only five days after I ordered it online.
They shipped the dress in a cardboard box rather than a plastic bag that many online/mail-order retailers use.
Inside the box, there was a heavy duty clear plastic bag containing the dress on a heavy duty plastic hangar.
Examining the dress, I thought it was quality clothing (Ellen Tracy is the brand) and might even be a good fit.
I stripped off my clothes, slipped on my shapewear, and slipped on the dress. It was a perfect fit! Yay!
According to Ideeli's size chart for Ellen Tracy dresses, size 14 should fit me. That is the size I ordered (and as luck would have it, it was the only size they had left for that dress style).
I only own one other size 14 dress and it is a snug fit; most of my other dresses are size 16, so I did not have high hopes that the 14 would fit.
Overall, I was very happy with my purchase from Ideeli and I won't hesitate to order from them again now that I know I can trust their size charts.
Zagria of A Gender Variance Who's Who fame has written a five-part series of posts titled "TG, concepts and usages," which describes her findings regarding the history/etymology of the terms we use and bandy about in the trans community.
Parts 1 and 2 were very interesting. I look forward to the rest of the series and recommend it to my readers. It begins here.
I made up my mind to do business-woman drag for Halloween and now I had to decide what to wear.
I went through my closets looking for suitable skirt-suits. My search returned a half-dozen suits, but they were all too big.
Your Miss Stana has lost nine pounds and is more than half way to her goal of losing 16 pounds. As a result, I have undergrown some of my wardrobe and by Halloween, will have undergrown even more.
Good news is that some of the items in my wardrobe that were too tight, now fit or should fit real soon now.
I own a purple (my favorite color) retro skirt-suit that I absolutely love, but I have never worn out because it was too tight. So tight that when I modeled it for the first time, I popped a button.
Even though it was too small, I liked it so much that I kept it hoping that maybe it would fit someday.
Friday, I got the suit out of storage, tried it on, and it fit like a glove, but Houston, we have a problem: it was missing the popped button.
I was sure I saved the button, but where did I save it? I had a collection of buttons in a box in the top drawer of my clothes bureau and another box of buttons in my jewelry box, so I searched through both.
I was very surprised how many buttons I had collected over the years, but neither collection had the missing button.
I started contemplating buying a new set of buttons --- six for the skirt and four for the jacket. Replacing ten buttons was not a job I relished and I would probably have my seamstress do it.
But before I had to resort to that, I continued my search in less likely places: my lingerie box, my wig box, my hosiery box, my makeup box, my other makeup box.
Eureka! The button was in my other makeup box.
So now I have the skirt-suit for my Halloween business-woman drag costume. I plan to wear it with black or off-black pantyhose, a scarf, and a pair of pumps, which are yet to be determined.
I can't wait!
Jaye Anne wrote, "I absolutely loved today's Avon Lady posting and I have several questions I think your devoted admirers and fellow Femulators would be interested in."
One is are you aware that there are any other Femulator Avon Ladies besides yourself? And if there are, do you know them?
Stana: It seems that there are according to this forum thread on crossdressers.com, but I personally do not know any. Although I did see a couple of women at the Avon Foxwoods event that may have been trans.
Jaye Anne: Also, I assume that Avon management in your area is aware that you are a Femulator and that they are okay and even supportive of it.
Stana: My current and previous district managers were aware and there was never a discouraging word.
Jaye Anne: Also, is Avon aware that they may have a market of feminine males who would welcome either Avon Ladies or Avon Femulators into their homes under proper circumstances (i.e. wife approval, etc)?
Stana: My guess is that as far as Avon is concerned, a sale is a sale no matter who the buyer. By the way, I am aware (via stories on the Internet) of Avon ladies who have femulating customers.
Jaye Anne: Also, I'd love to know how active in your Avon sales and marketing you are able to be. How are you received in the homes of the women you so graciously help?
Stana: In my experience, selling Avon is simply a matter of distributing the catalogs to your customers and collecting their orders before they are due. I can count on one hand the number of times I have made sales in someone's home and all those occurrences were in boy mode, long before I exited the closet (I've been an Avon rep for over 15 years).
All my current customers are aware of Stana and have no qualms about dealing with her (me).
Avon offers its representatives a website to sell online and I often thought about jumping on that bandwagon and promoting it via my blog. I intended to discuss the matter with my District Manager at the Foxwoods get-together, but she had her hands full, so I will talk to her about it at another time.
Ideeli reran the sale of the dress I decided to buy after you all gave me your input three weeks ago.
As you may recall, when I originally made up my mind to buy it, Ideeli's time-limited sale had ended and my only hope was that they might rerun the sale, which is what they often do with leftover items.
After three weeks, I had just about given up hope that the dress would reappear for sale. I assumed that they sold all they had to sell first time around.
Lo and behold, yesterday's daily e-mail from Ideeli indicated that the dress was for sale, but when I went to the website to view it, I was disappointed that all they had left was size 14.
As you know, today's size 14 could be yesterday's size 16 and the day before yesterday's size 18, so for the heck of it, I checked the size chart and their size 14 is my size du jour!
I could not click on the order button fast enough. Lucky I did because after I finished ordering the dress, I went back to view it and it was sold out!
My day started earlier than usual because I had to get up, get en femme, and drive to the other end of the state by 10 AM to attend Avon's "Come Home for the Holidays 2011" show. The show was attended to acquaint us Avon representatives with new products to sell during the holidays. Besides the opportunity to see the new products and hobnob with the other Avon ladies, a $50 gift bag awaited each attendee. How could I resist?
The show took place at the Foxwoods casino, the biggest casino in the USA. Problem is that you can't get there from here. It is only 70 miles away, but the route is so convoluted that it takes 90 minutes over some bad roads to get there.
I was on the road at 8:20 and the weather was terrible. The Northeast was being deluged again, flash floods and traffic accidents here and there throughout the state, Noah was gathering wood... not ideal driving under the gun conditions, but I managed to pull into a Foxwoods parking garage at 10 AM on the dot.
I wore my mid-heel Mary Janes, a very comfortable shoe, probably my most comfortable shoe. It occasionally shows up at Payless for sale. When I bought the shoe, the salesman said that it sells out quickly because of its reputation as being comfortable, yet it is a nice-looking shoe. Anyway, I needed the comfort because now I had to sprint to the other side of the casino.
The casino is very big and I had to walk about one-third of a mile to get from my parked car to the site of the show, the Grand Pequot Ballroom. I arrived at the Ballroom at about 10:15 along with a huge throng of other Avon representatives. Turns out that they opened the doors at 10 AM, but that the show was continuous all morning long. There was no need to be there at 10 AM on the dot, so I did not have to hurry to get there. C'est la vie.
I joined the throng, which was about 99% female and 1% male and probably 75% of the males were with their spouses, so I assume the wife in these couples was the Avon rep and the male was their supportive husband.
Just about everyone I encountered treated me nicely... as if I belonged. I only noticed one or two in the huge crowd that might have had some transphobia, but that is only my take on them --- they just might have been having a bad day or they could not handle crowds.
As far as I can tell, I was just one of the girls. I chatted with a few and everyone I asked, graciously took my photo. I must have made a positive impression because whenever I encountered someone I had chatted with earlier, they acknowledged me with a wave and a smile.
One woman said that she loved my dress (she was also wearing a dress). I'd estimate that about 10% of the women wore dresses or skirts; the rest wore slacks, but almost all the outfits would be considered "business casual" garb.
By the way, I was not the tallest woman in attendance. I counted three that were as tall, if not taller than me. And there were perhaps a dozen six-footers in the crowd. This was the first time I had the opportunity to get up close to my manager and she is tall, too.
I saw a couple of items that I will definitely order for myself (for myself or as gifts). After 90 minutes, I repaired to the ladies' room to fix my makeup, then I proceeded to the various casinos in the complex to try my luck at the slot machines.
I usually play 25-cent slot machines and I had to search for them because it seems that the penny slot machines are taking over. The first quarter machine I played, I walked away up $20. That was an auspicious start.
The second machine I played, I won 600 quarters ($150) on the third spin! It occurred to me that whenever I play the slots en femme, I am always successful --- maybe the gods are trying to tell me something. After that, I held my own and managed to walk away $180 ahead at day's end. Nice!
I exited the casino at 2:30 PM headed for home. The weather had cleared and the drive way pleasant and my mind wandered trying to think of any stores to visit before returning home.
There is a DSW Shoe Warehouse along the way, so I decided to do some shoe shopping. I parked my car and checked my makeup. Yuck! A 5 o'clock shadow at 3 o'clock! In my rush to get going in the morning, I obviously had not shaved as well as I should have. Normally, a close shave would be good well into the evening, but not today.
I tried to cover the stubble with my powder foundation to no avail. No one would likely notice, but I lost my confidence and decided to abandon shoe shopping and go home.
Despite that, I had a wonderful day out en femme. I was a tired by the time I exited girl mode, physically tired, not tired of being en femme. I will never tire of being the woman that I really am.
Writing here about Chaz Bono and the effort to hang him out to dry for his Dancing With The Stars (DWTS) stint is like preaching to the choir.
I am sure that most Femulate readers support Mr. Bono and hope he does well on the television show, so there is no need convincing you that his DWTS apperance is a good thing.
However, you may want to show your support in a public manner by going to the Vote For Chaz Bono on DWTS Facebook page. (If I still had a Facebook account, I'd do it in a New York minute.)
Anyway, in my opinion, anything that mainstreams transgender folks in a positive manner is a big win for the transgender community. The fact that this mainstreaming is occurring on a very popular television show is even better. The more people who see Chaz on DWTS, the more opportunities there are to convince the civilian population that transgenders are just plain folks who are no stranger than Buzz Aldrin, Bristol Palin, Lance Bass, Margaret Cho, or any of the other diverse cast of characters, who have appeared on the show.
And maybe next fall, DWTS will have a male-to-female transgender compete on the show. My toe should be completely mended by then!
As I mentioned here last Sunday, I am going out en femme on Thursday, but I don't have a thing to wear!
That's a lie. Actually, I have plenty of things to wear, but I can't decide what to wear.
My manager says we should dress "business casual." That eliminates evening gowns and cocktail dresses, but still leaves a lot to choose from my closet.
In deference to my healing toe, I know I plan to wear my most comfortable shoes, so I guess I will build my outfit around my choice of footwear.
