Happy Birthday, Sandie Shaw

Luiss San Murgia, male model.

Wearing Erin Fetherston.

Send Me Your Polaroids

As I mentioned here yesterday, I think it would be fun (as Mindy suggested) to share old Polaroids of our early femulating days. If you would like to share your old instant photos, please send them to me and I will post them here in the very near future.

Please limit your shares to clothed presentations. I sure don't want to see your private parts, so keep those photos to yourself.

Also, I am always happy to consider your femulation adventures for future blog posts. It is nice to read other girls' real world experiences like Carolyn's Ascot adventure. Write up your story and send it along with a photo or two and see your name at the top of this page real soon now!

Happy Birthday, George (of John, Paul, George and Ringo Fame)

Actor Caleb Goh femulating in the 1998 film That's the Way I Like It via Elaine Armen (thanks, Elaine).

Wearing Metrostyle.

The Great Purge of 1983

I started femulating regularly around the age of 12. Whenever I was home alone, I would experiment with my mother's and sister's wardrobes and cosmetics.

Soon, I began building my own female wardrobe. Initially, I collected discarded clothing or sewed my own (simple A-line miniskirts) using remnants that my mother had in her sewing nook.

The first item of female clothing that I purchased were three pairs of nylon stockings. I went to the hosiery store downtown and told the saleswoman that I was buying stockings as a gift for my tall girlfriend. The saleswoman did not bat an eye and I scored my first purchase of female finery with ease.

After that successful shopping trip, I used my tall girlfriend excuse to expand my wardrobe. And whenever Halloween was on the horizon, I could use that holiday as an excuse to try on and buy wigs, dresses, shoes, and foundation garments.

In addition to building a wardrobe, I clipped femulation-related items from newspapers and magazines. I also had a couple of books including the eye-opening A Year Among the Girls by Darryl Radnor and a couple of issues of Drag magazine. And there was also my collection of Polaroids, which documented my progress on the Good Ship Lollipop.

I stored everything in boxes hidden behind boxes containing my American Flyer train set, all stored behind the false back panel of a built-in bookcase in my bedroom.

Due to that limited storage space, I occasionally whittled down my collection - out with the old to make room for the new - but I never purged everything while I was actively femulating. I loved being a girl, so there was no desire to purge.

Fast-forward to 1983.

I had been dating my future wife for over two years and during that time, I stopped femulating. I had no desire to femulate and I bought into the old wives'/husbands' tale that when a femulator got married, he stopped femulating.

Realize that there was little information available to vent that tale. There was no Internet as we know it today and the serious literature on the topic was minimal and hard to find in my neck of the woods.

So about two weeks before our wedding, I purged everything.

One month after our wedding, we were invited to a Halloween party. I femulated for the event (see photo) and bought a new dress, wig, pantyhose, bra, girdle, high heels, etc. for the occasion. I was back on the Good Ship Lollipop and never stopped femulating again.

In retrospect, I so regret the purge. I could replace the wardrobe (which I did), but I could never replace my Polaroids.

Speaking of Polaroids...

My Friday post about Polaroids moved sister Mindy to dig out some of her old Polaroids and send them to me.

Mindy recalls that Polaroids were the only way we could keep our remembrances. She suggested that other readers might have old Polaroids that they would like to share for viewing here.

Great idea! So if you would like to share, please send me your instant photographs and I will post them here in the very near future.

On the Red Carpet

Actor Ryan Eggold femulating in the film Queen, 2011.

Wearing Donna Karan.

Hats Off to Larry

Sasha Mikailyan, male model.

 

Wearing Spiegel.

Say "Cheese"

As headlined here, yesterday was the 66th anniversary of Edwin Land demonstrating the first instant camera - the Polaroid Land Camera - an invention that was significant in the lives of many femulators in the second half of the 20th Century.

A joke: How many femulators does it take to change a light bulb?

Punch line: Three. One to climb the ladder to change the light bulb, one to hold the ladder, and one to take photos of the event.

Before Polaroid, in order to see the photos of the changing of the light bulb, you had to take the film somewhere to be developed, such as a camera store, drug store, etc. These establishments were just middle-men and sent the film out to a photo lab to be developed, but you had to wonder, did Mr. Gower take a peek at the photos when they arrived back from the lab? Did he see you and your "girlfriends" changing that light bulb in all your feminine glory?

You never knew and that lack of knowledge dissuaded many girls from taking photos of their femulations unless they had their own darkroom. (I know of one instance where a femulator built and equipped a darkroom just so she could avoid having her "pretty photos" developed by strangers.)

The Polaroid camera changed all that.

For example, the only photos of my earliest days of femulating were from my first Halloween outing en femme. I did not dare take any photos of my deep-in-the-closet femulations until I obtained a Polaroid SX-70 camera. The camera did not have a self-timer, so I rigged up a mechanical remote control in order to take "pretty pictures" of myself.

And despite their expense, I took a lot of pretty Polaroids. But sadly, many were lost in "The Great Purge of 1983."

And so it goes.

Happy Birthday, George Washington

Actor Jai Rodriguez (left) femulating on television’s Harry’s Law, 2011.

 

Wearing Rachel Zoe.

A Lovely Group of Femulators

Holmes Community College in Goodman, Mississippi recently held a womanless beauty pageant to benefit breast cancer awareness. There are photos documenting the event on Facebook here and here and here.

I am sure you will agree that the "women" competing in this event are a lovely group of femulators. A few are so good that their presentations may raise some eyebrows, if you know what I mean.  

Thanks to Aunty Marlena for the heads-up regarding this event.

66th anniversary: Land demos first Polaroid camera

A brolita (male goth lolita).

Wearing Beyond the Rack.

links, eyes and hairs

Femulate Links

I am in the process of updating the links in the sidebar of the blog.

What precipitated this was an e-mail I received from someone whose link had been listed here for years. She wrote that she did not like my blog, so I deleted her link.

If anyone else would like me to remove their link for any reason, I will gladly comply. Just let me know.

Also, if anyone would like me to add a link, send me your suggestion and I will queue it up.

Perfect Everyday Eye Makeup

Over at Makeup.com, Kristen Oldham Giordani highlighted Dana Fox's viral Pinterest tutorial for everyday eye makeup application.

It is not complicated and actually similar to the routine I use. I recommend it. 

Hairstyles Over 50

If you are over 50 (also known as "the new 40") and looking to try something new with your lovely locks, check out the 10 x 3 hairstyles for women over 50 in the Style section of Life Goes Strong.

There is something for everyone:

• 10 short hairstyles for women over 50
  
• 10 medium length hairstyles for women over 50  
  
• 10 long hairstyles for women over 50

About half the celebrities modeling the hairstyles are actually over 60 (like actress Christine Lahti pictured above) and two are in their 70s, so there is even something for an old lady like me!

Happy Birthday, Calpernia Addams

Artyom Eduardovic. male model.

 

Wearing Cefian.

Happy Birthday, Nicolaus Copernicus

Allison, a Femulate reader from Virginia.

 

 

Wearing ABS by Allen Schwartz.

Royal Ascot Adventure

 

Every June, I see photos of people dressed to kill attending Royal Ascot thoroughbred horse races at Ascot Racecourse in the UK.

The women are dressed to the nines and I often thought that if I lived the UK, I would make an effort to attend the event en femme.

It seems that I am not the only femulator to come up with that idea. Over the years, I have noticed an occasional femulator showing up in the photos from Ascot.

Turns out, a Femulate reader, Carolyn Stevenson of Carolyn's Classy Closet fame, is a regular attendee at Royal Ascot and she volunteered to tell her story. So without further adieu, here is Carolyn's “Royal Ascot Adventure.”

For you thrill-seeking femulators out there, nothing comes even close for the most fun, ego-massaging, glamorous event anywhere.

In the middle of flaming June (well most years) a horse race meeting takes place 30 or so miles west of London to which almost 300,000 flock over six days. Travel is easy as long as you take the train; driving is a two-hour traffic jam nightmare as are the parking fees.

Ascot Racecourse is just three miles from Windsor Castle and the Queen and her entourage drive along an avenue from the castle in horse drawn carriages, arriving every day at 2 o'clock.

I mentioned fun. Everyone who comes has been preparing carefully, some for months to get the outfit just right. So on the day, nothing is going to get in the way of a good time. The 170,000 or so bottles of champagne consumed during the week may have something to do with it!

One can pay several hundred pounds to have lunch in the tented village around the Royal enclosure, but most people bring some lovely food and wine to picnic alfresco in the usually lovely weather.

I took just a sandwich and a wine glass last year and my glass was never empty! The friendliness and generosity is simply overwhelming.

As one moves around, people beg to have their photo taken with you, to share a glass or two, or ask you to join the many groups sitting on the grass overlooking the course. Being a trannie never felt so good!

There are so few it seems, opperchancities to dress up these days, that those who have made an effort appreciate those who have too and we sit chatting and exchanging tips and mutual admiration. The ladies and some gentlemen are glad to have in their midst a "special" lady, who in most cases outshines the "real" ones.

Ladies' Day is the time to see some extravagant examples of the milliner's art, but I tend avoid that day as some of the ladies get a bit too merry and it's not a pretty sight. No matter which day you go, you will see some lovely outfits; the colours and combinations worn by young and old are sometimes breathtaking. I've never embraced so many attractive women in such short time and space.

I was asked, "Why do you dress?"

I answered, "How many men do you see around here with four ladies on their arms?"

Once lunch is over and the Queen has arrived the race program begins. Some of the best horses in the world race here, but I have to confess, such was the hectic nature the socializing, I never saw a race last year! Saved me loosing my shirt, pardon me, blouse on that occasion!

You may judge by the above that I love the glamour and general party atmosphere, so many radiant beautifully dressed people all there for a fabulous day out. The party even continues on the train where a glass or two is still being raised on the way home. Some even gather after reaching London on the Embankment next to Houses of Parliament to continue the merriment well into the evening.

I forget how many times I've been, starting about 12 years ago and on the last occasion, I went on my own after a friend dropped out and I had the best time ever.

Start looking for your big hat now and I'll see you there. It's not too long 'til June!

Carolyn Stevenson at Royal Ascot

 

Royal Ascot attendees.

Never on a Sunday

 

Wearing Jason Wu.

Old School Femulations

Starla presented me with 80 new femulation findings from the online high school yearbook collection. This time, Starla did some real digging and came up with some old school femulations… from as far back as 1928 (Canton, IL high school, see above).

I uploaded the 80 images to the flickr Yearbook Femulations, which now has over 2,300 images for your viewing pleasure.

To view the latest additions to the collection:

Method 1: Open one of the Yearbooks sets (A through Z) and you will find the newest uploads at the end/bottom of the set. (The oldest uploads appear at the beginning/top of the set.)

Method 2: Open my photostream and you will find the newest uploads at the top of page 1. The uploads get older as the page numbers get higher with the oldest uploads on the last page.

By the way, the contents of the Yearbook A through Z sets are organized according to school name, for example, the photos from Hard Knox High School would be in the Yearbooks H set.

Wearing Herve Leger.